HITEC honors Thaddeus Arroyo with the 2012 HITEC Estrella Award

On Friday, February 10, 2012, the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC) awarded the 2012 HITEC Estella Award to Thaddeus Arroyo, Chief Information Officer of AT&T, during the 8th Annual ITSMF/HITEC IT Executive Achievement Awards at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD.

The following excerpt is the acceptance remarks from Thaddeus Arroyo:

"I appreciate the opportunity to be here with so many enthusiastic professionals who recognize the importance of inspiring diversity in information technology leadership careers. This isn’t only about equity; it’s also about innovation, workforce sustainability, and the preservation of a technologically strong society.

The good news is that demand for information technology jobs in the U.S. continues to grow. The bad news is that the number of people graduating from colleges with computer-related degrees has been decreasing steadily since 2004. This is coming at a time when changes in technology led by advances in powerful mobile computing devices, connected to fast and ubiquities networks and increasingly accessing services in the cloud are driving a tectonic shift that is changing the way business does business. An influx of human talent into the information technology field is necessary to accelerate the innovation that will ultimately change companies, people, and society as a whole for the better.

But it’s not just about numbers, it’s also about diversity. Our greatest opportunity to innovate is through inclusion. A diverse team brings diversity of thought, approach, and understanding. In a global economy driven by innovation, competitive advantage comes from the ability to create technology that is as broad and creative as the people it serves. In an older but powerful study, it was found that the stock market performance of S&P 500 companies employing diversity programs was 2.4 times higher than those that did not.

We need organizations like HITEC and ITSMF to aid in, and accelerate, the development of these future IT leaders. We all must inspire the spirit of technological curiosity and passion for continuous life-long learning . And to do this we must strive to be mentors, teachers, and at times, simply a friend in order to keep tomorrow’s talent on the technology path.

Thank you for the recognition and honor of being here with you this evening, and congratulations to my colleagues and peers who are also being recognized tonight."

About HITEC
The Hispanic IT Executive Council: HITEC (Hispanic IT Executive Council) is a premiere global executive leadership organization of senior business and IT executives who have built outstanding careers in information technology. HITEC's premiere network spans the Americas and is focused on building stronger technology and executive leaders, leadership teams, corporations, and role models in a rapidly changing, flatter, and information technology centric world. These global leaders include executives leading Global 1000 corporations while others lead some of the largest Hispanic-owned IT firms across the Americas. For more information about the HITEC organization, visit http://www.hitecglobal.org/.