The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) today welcomed the creation of the Council of Deans of ICT Education as an invaluable boost for the development of ICT skills designed to meet current industry demand.

“This is a very significant development,” said 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 was formally established last week at a meeting of deans and ICT school heads from 31 Australian universities, each of which will be represented on the council. Tertiary ICT education covers a broad range of disciplines, from electrical, computer and software engineering to computer science, information systems and telecommunications.

“To date there has been no uniform approach to the diversity of ICT-related curriculums, and no formal relationship with industry to ensure the ongoing relevance of graduate skills,” Ms Moon said.
“The council will work to provide students with better employment prospects, industry with stronger skill sets and universities with more attractive courses.”

AIIA has been a strong driver of the council’s creation, along with the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education.

“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,” said AIIA Director Ian Birks, who represented the association at last week’s meeting.

“We will also move quickly to poll the ICT industry to find what skills ICT companies are currently demanding in graduates.”

AIIA will continue to work closely with the Council of Deans of ICT Education to ensure a clear ongoing relationship with the wider ICT industry. “We welcome this initiative and look forward to productive relationship between the ICT and university sectors into the future,” said Ms Moon.


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For more information, contact:

Sheryle Moon
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Information Industry Association
Mobile: 0419 708 675
s.moon@aiia.com.au

Professor Joe Chicharo
Dean, Faculty of Informatics
Professor of Telecommunications Engineering
University of Wollongong
Phone: 02 4221 3843
chicharo@uow.edu.au