The tech industry has significantly changed the world-- from William Henry “Bill” Gates III coding tic-tac-toe games and creating the MS-DOS or more commonly known now as Microsoft Windows, to Margaret Hamilton developing the in-flight software controlling the Apollo command that created a new era for space exploration. However, multiple challenges are faced by the industry in encouraging the younger generation into coding as there are multiple misconceptions as to why coding and programming are difficult and expensive professions. The hurdles of accessibility and inclusivity are the most common problems that hinder more younger people from getting into coding. Low-code development is one of the foreseeable solutions to these hurdles.
LOW-CODING TO THE YOUTH
Lyndsey Scott mentioned how Low-code is a gateway into creation and accessibility as she talked into Creatio’s Low-Code Marathon, a series of talks guiding IT and digital leaders into kick-starting their digital-first organization with the use of low-code/no-code technology with the assurance with success and positive results. Anyway, to begin with, what really is low-code/no-code technology? Low-code is a new and modern visual approach to software development. Different platforms, including Creatio, provide various methods in aiding companies and even non-programmers in creating and building custom applications in the cloud. Its highlight is its Visual development environment and different methods offered by the platforms, such as drag-and-drop methods helping to build the apps smoothly. The lifecycle of the application can be abstracted and automated within its every step, which breaks traditional processes, systems, and programs of business and IT. Lyndsey Scott described that Low-code is a means to an end and something that everyone in the industry will be doing at one point.
Now, how do low-code platforms help the people out of the tech industry and the younger generation who may be interested in coding get into tech? Low-code is so accessible and is uber easy to use that multiple YouTubers have created trends in creating 30 apps in 30 days with the use of these methods. Low-code makes working and developing agile since it is faster to build apps with low-code and the pre-built modules in its visual environment. This also gives the advantage of making low-code a method that is easy to learn and get used to. Low-code platforms make their methods easy to use and develop any idea anyone has. The younger generation is composed of children who were exposed to technology as soon as they were born. The age of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and the age of accessible computer gaming from games such as Minecraft and Roblox is enabling this younger generation’s immersion towards technology and modernity, which then leads to IT and development. Their creativity and innate nature towards technology, being digital natives, makes them ahead of their time or the time of the older generation. Low-code can be the gateway of the youth to get into IT development.
LOW-CODING AND THE TECH INDUSTRY
Lyndsey Scott said something about Low-code and its effects on the industry. She narrated that Low-code is easy and quick, even saying that “the code of today was the low-code of yesterday and the low-code of today is the code of tomorrow. What does she imply with this, and how is this even possible? Low-code development enables the creation of apps in less time compared to traditional code development. Time becomes a friend with low-code since development only takes days and even minutes to innovate. It also creates the opportunity of the arising of citizen developers. Changing app characteristics and functions are also quick in Low-code development as it does not require complex coding. If something needs changing, Low-code easily delivers. The rise of low-code platforms can mean faster transformation for the IT and development industry. Limiting the complexity in building and innovating means transformation, creativity, and doing the impossible is ever yet the most possible thing through low-code.
Not only does low-code have a significant effect that brings an advantage to the IT and development industry, but it also changes everything for the business sectors. Low-code can be made quickly, applied, and implemented efficiently, and typically costs much less than creating a development operations team in a company. Companies that developed apps such as Snapchat and Pokemon Go rely on the technology and methods of Low-code development. This is also one factor wherein it has greatly affected the apps’ virality, or basically, its fame. Snapchat and Pokemon Go make use of Google Cloud, one of the many low-code platforms, which enable the apps to connect to other Google apps. This creates a certain functionality of multiple-use and smooth-sailing experience for the regular user. This is one of the many benefits that low-code development provides, a great customer experience. App Developers easily adapt and change to the customer’s wants and demands because of the uncomplicated and smooth methods that low-code provides. This method of development is revolutionizing the software industry by making the process of learning to innovate and develop much easier and much speedy. This implies that software development will become simple, quicker, and effortless, which makes the IT and development industry accessible as it should be.
LOW-CODE AMIDST THE PANDEMIC
Low-code can develop various applications, from portals and web applications, Back Office applications, and Mobile Applications. What does this mean to the various sectors and businesses? Low-code can be a solution, or to Lyndsey’s words, “a means to an end.” It can be instrumental in terms of functionality towards management, information processing, and even internal and external affairs in a company. Not only is Low-code used in these situations, but it can also be used towards decision-making which allows users to design and create automated workflows which can reach multiple information systems.
Low-code development, being agile and easy to use, can serve as tools and a piece of machinery in solving the world’s modern-day problems. Lyndsey Scott mentioned that her love for programming, IT, and development not only translates to her work but also in the types of projects that she takes on. She mentioned that she is currently working on a project that is dealing with the creating of COVID-19 vaccines, which is highly relevant and significant to the current situation the world is in today. For more than a year now, when the vaccines are being rolled out over the world, Low-code development can provide the speedy and quality assistance that it offers. Moreover, because Low-code development enables quick and easy creation and innovation, this can be used in producing contact-tracing applications, which can highly increase the health sector’s efficiency in tracing COVID-19 cases in a country and even in the world. The world is currently plagued by this pandemic. However, IT innovation and development never stops and still aims to assist and forward modernity. Low-code also solves the problem of accessibility that is the common hurdle in the industry. Because of how easy it is to learn and apply Low-code development, anyone can learn to create and innovate all of their ideas.
GENDER, RACE, AND STEREOTYPES IN I.T.
Whether we like it or not, the IT and development industry, just like any industry and sector, has its own set of stereotypes, especially when it comes to the developers. Men dominate the industry of IT, and it becomes a challenge when people of other genders would like to enter the industry. Lyndsey Scott is an African-American model, actress, and, most importantly, a software developer. She narrated her journey into becoming what she is now, and it involved a lot of breaking the norms and stereotypes. She said that people in the IT industry were always surprised as to what she can do because she is a woman and also a person of color. Lyndsey narrated that she was not shocked at the common reaction at all, but she was challenged and even more empowered to empower others, especially the youth and women.
According to Gartner Research, that in 2020 only 28% to 42% made up the GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft) workforce, and that only 31% of the population of IT employees are women. Lyndsey added that the number is even smaller when it comes to software developers, considering that the statistics may have included women in administrative work in IT companies. The problem of inclusivity and the lack of diversity has always been present in the industry. Not only was she one of the few women, but she was also one of the few software developers who are people of color. She iterated that what is needed is to inspire and encourage more women and members of the younger generation. However, the problem of accessibility always arises, not only in society but also in school. Lyndsey recalled that she was not taught in school what developing and coding was and that she discovered it herself. She hopes that children, through low-code, would be reached by various ways into experimenting easily with technology and software development. She hopes for more women and the youth to create something useful out of what they have experimented on. Accessibility must be given in all industries of IT, coding, and business. According to the Women In Tech Network, women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) tend to leave the first year of their service due to the lack of role models and having numerous significant personal sacrifices to prove themselves worthy in the workforce or field. Lyndsey said that she was grateful that she is already established in her field and that she has nothing to prove already because she knows what she is capable of. Her concern leads towards the younger generation and other people of color who face the daily challenge of needing to prove themselves more because they are not the stereotype. She also narrates that this should not be the case in any workplace because IT and development must be accessible to everyone.
This becomes an eye-opener arising with the question of when and how? It is already 2021, yet, discrimination and prejudice are still present in the workforce. It is a miss for the IT industry since this affects the more chances of increasing the number of software developers, which also helps in the opening of jobs. Underpaid workers are also one of the challenges seen in the IT industry. The pay gap between men and women software developers is still alarmingly high, which results in women resigning to seek better opportunities in other fields and companies. Lyndsey highlighted that software development has nothing to do with how one looks, what they wear, how they dress, and what their gender is. Workplace culture enables this discrimination, especially in countries that are highly patriarchal and where racism strives on. The struggle of women and people of color in the industry still continues. Lyndsey Scott is one of the inspirations for the IT industry in hopes to devoid the field of discrimination towards gender and race in software development.
Low-code development fosters Creativity, Innovation, and Accessibility in the IT industry as it provides easy access for all who may or may not be in the field or even “techy.” The easy and fast creation of applications can help enable the impossible ideas into the possible. Not only does this help the IT industry, but it also helps the world in finding solutions with the use of software development through low-code development. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, software development never stops. Instead, it still fosters and even becomes a tool in helping to solve the pandemic. Despite the success and rise of the IT industry, discrimination of gender and race is still prevalent as what Lyndsey Scott has experienced in her journey in becoming the successful software developer she is today.
REFERENCES:
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilkerkoksal/2020/04/29/the-rise-of-low-code-app-development/?sh=34638e4c6807
- https://appian.com/low-code-basics/introduction.html
- https://www.mendix.com/low-code-guide/
- https://whatis.techtarget.com/feature/Women-in-tech-statistics-The-latest-research-and-trends#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20women%20made%20up,women%2C%20according%20to%20Gartner%20research.
by: @gofemm3
