IBMs Academic Initiative and Centre for Advanced Studies will help equip 3500 students per year with IT skills to become a more competitive workforce.
IBM has released details of two new programmes in Singapore aimed at promoting open standards and open source skills development in the country's tertiary education sector. The company's new Academic Initiative (AI) and virtual Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) will provide free technologies to better prepare universities, polytechnics and institutes of education to meet industry needs three or more years from now.
IBM is collaborating with nine tertiary institutions to skill about 3500 students on open standards-based technologies, encourage knowledge exchange and undertake joint research with academics to fulfil the growing demand for highly skilled information technology professionals in Singapore.
Upon graduation, students will possess skills relevant to an open, on demand computing environment, such as mastery of J2EE and Linux. Additionally, the programme will provide the right skills to meet the requirements of emerging and next generation information technologies such as grid computing and RFID. This will also help the students stay in touch with the most current and up to date technologies that are required in the near future.
According to industry analysts, Linux continues to be the fastest growing operating system, and some analysts project it will overtake Windows in new server shipments in the next few years. Meanwhile, 70 per cent of enterprises surveyed by analysts use Java technology, and Java developers are expected to quadruple from 700,000 in 2003 to 2.8 million by 2007 worldwide. By collaborating with tertiary institutions, the AI aims to fulfill this growing demand of highly skilled professionals in Linux and Java in Singapore.
IBM's Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS), a global organisation for academic and corporate technology research, is equipped to provide academic and government researchers with access to IBM research areas, technical staff and other resources. Students will gain access to IBMs industry-leading source code and top-notch developers for research purposes.
The two programmes also address the growing challenges of a maturing workforce in Singapore. A recent study by IBM emphasises the importance of transferring vital technical skills and knowledge to the next generation as the current generation nears retirement age and phases out of full-time work.
More
|
