Short - but not for long

Published by the Communications and Development Department

 

21 July 2004

 

The University of Canterbury has formed a new partnership with other tertiary institutions and business organisations to help address skill shortages in the Information and Communication Technologies sector.

 

The government has contributed $1.765 million from its Growth and Innovation Fund to the ICT in Canterbury Project, which will co-ordinate industry-based research to identify future skill demands.

 

The findings will be used by the project’s partners and the Tertiary Education Commission to develop a talent pipeline that will ensure an adequate supply of suitably qualified graduates.

Canterbury University’s tertiary partners in the project are Lincoln University, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology and Christchurch College of Education.

 

Its business partners are the Canterbury Electronics Group, Electronics South, Canterbury Software Incorporated, the Institution of Professional Engineers of New Zealand, Canterbury Innovation Incubator and Canterbury Development Corporation.

 

The Economic Development Minister, Jim Anderton, describes the project as groundbreaking.

 

"The ICT sector is growing faster in Canterbury than anywhere else in the country, but skill shortages are a major barrier to the sector's potential growth. This project will help ensure we met the challenges of building tomorrow's ICT workforce by aligning courses, qualifications and training with the industry's skill needs.”

For further information please contact:

John MacDonald
Communications Manager
University of Canterbury

Tel: +64-3-364 2910
Fax: +64-3-364 2679
Mob: +64-27-441 7280
john.macdonald@canterbury.ac.nz