Kenyan Universities Work With IBM To Develop IT Leaders Of The Future

As more organizations turn to technology to solve tough business challenges, the need for skilled IT professionals continues to grow in all industries around the world. Strengthening the IT skills base at the university level will help students drive local economic growth and innovation and prepare them to compete in the global IT market.

"This partnership with IBM will help build the next generation of IT business leaders and entrepreneurs by fostering innovation, local application of the latest technological advances and knowledge of industrial best practices. This is in line with Kenya's development goals as outlined in the Vision 2030 framework," said Dr. George Njenga, deputy vice-chancellor and dean for research at Strathmore University. "This partnership aspires to aid in the development of the relevant skills in the classroom that will rapidly accelerate learning and keep students and scholars at par with the fast-paced growth of the world IT market."

According to Dr. Muliaro Wafula, the director for ICT at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, "this collaboration will drive our efforts in offering quality and relevant training, research and innovation in ICT through our Institute of Computer Science and Information Technology."

"Working with universities is a way to speed up the skills development required for the next generation of experts that companies such as IBM and other international and local enterprises need to enhance and grow the IT sector in Kenya," said Tony Mwai, IBM general manager for East Africa. "Curriculum development and collaborative research reaches a much wider student population."

This collaboration with three Kenyan universities includes the IBM Global Academic Initiative. Recently, IBM expanded this program to provide faculty with new resources in the areas of cyber security, big data, commerce and mobile computing. There are more than 30,000 global university faculty that use the no-charge resources in the IBM Academic Initiative to help close the IT skills gap. The program endeavors to support universities as they strengthen their educational programs so graduates can compete at the top of any industry.

The 2012 IBM Tech Trends Report reveals that only 1 in 10 managers feel that his/her organization has the right combination of business and technology skills to be positioned for growth. Meanwhile, nearly half of surveyed educators and students identified a major gap in their institution's current ability to teach those skills.

For more information:About JKUAT: www.jkuat.ac.ke About Riara University: www.riarauniversity.ac.ke About Strathmore University: www.strathmore.edu About IBM's academic & skills initiatives: www.ibm.com/press/skills

Media Contact Vera RosauerIBM Media Relations [e-mail] [phone]

SOURCE IBM

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