Leading Australian ICT academics met last week to form the Council of Deans of ICT Education, intended to represent ICT education with a single voice. The move has since been lauded by industry spokesperson Sheryle Moon.
The heads of 31 Australian universities gathered at the University of Wollongong’s Sydney Business School to formally launch the council. The group covers several disciplines, including electrical, computer, and telecommunications engineering, as well as computer science, information technology and information systems.
“This is a very significant development,” said Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) CEO Sheryle Moon. “For the first time we have an influential group of academics who will work closely with ICT industry leaders to resolve the perceived disparity between the skills being taught in universities and the skills that are in demand by the industry to accelerate economic growth.
“The council will work to provide students with better employment prospects, industry with stronger skill sets and universities with more attractive courses.”
AIIA Director Ian Birks, who represented the AIIA at the council’s launch, said the council’s initial focus would be on promoting careers in ICT.
“One of our first priorities will be to develop programs to ensure careers in ICT are promoted in a consistent and meaningful way across the university sector,” Birks said.
“We will also move quickly to poll the ICT industry to find what skills ICT companies are currently demanding in graduates.”
