Waterford Institute to address chronic shortfall in IT graduates

WATERFORD Institute of Technology is spearheading a major drive to address a chronic shortfall in IT graduates.

With a recent survey having shown there are now more than 8,000 vacancies in Ireland for computing and technology graduates, WIT is to introduce a number of additional courses for the 2005-’06 academic year that are specifically tailored to address a clear skills shortage that threatens Ireland’s economic prosperity.

The dot com collapse four years ago prompted a major fall-off in demand for computer studies and other technology-related courses.

A recent survey by the Information Technology Association of America showed that the resulting shortage of skilled graduates is not unique to Ireland with more than 190,000 Information and Communications Technology (ICT) jobs in the United States unfilled because of a shortage of qualified workers there.

Dr Micheál Ó hÉigeartaigh, head of the Department of Physical and Quantitative Sciences at the Waterford Institute said that it is now timely for the Institute to introduce a new four-year full-time BSc degree programme in Physics with Computing that is being offered to Leaving Certificate and mature applicants through the CAO process which allows change-of-mind applications until July 1.

“The combination of physics with computing in this new undergraduate degree will leave graduates with excellent employment prospects in telecoms, photonics, semiconductors, biomedical devices, meteorology, software development and other ICT-related sectors.

“The degree will also provide a very strong foundation for further studies.”

Dr Ó hÉigeartaigh’s department is also expanding its Higher Certificate/BSc in IT Support (commonly referred to as the accelerated technician programme). This will be offered in block release and full-time mode and should be attractive to people wishing to change career into computing.

It also hopes to launch a four year BSc in Multi-media and the Arts that will focus on creativity and professional skills.

In addition, the Waterford Institute is introducing two new taught masters degree programmes that have secured Higher Education Authority funding to allow students defray a significant proportion of the fees if they pursue the course full time for one year.

The MSc in Computing Programmes covering Information Systems and Communications Software will allow graduates to upgrade their skills to meet the growing industry demand for masters level expertise. Masters candidates will also have a unique opportunity to work closely with the ISOL (Information Systems and Organisational Learning) and TSSG (Telecommunications Software and Systems Group) research teams which both enjoy excellent national and international reputations.

“These masters degree programmes, also available part-time over two years, underpin the Institute’s role as a key agent for change in the South-East region and nationally. They come in direct response to industry requirements and will also allow us to retain a higher proportion of graduates from our well established BSc in Applied Computing when they come to postgraduate level.”

Returning to the possible reasons behind the fall-off in the number of students seeking places on computing and technology courses, Dr Ó hÉigeartaigh said that the message the ICT sector was in freefall after the dot com bubble burst was unhelpful but he also said that computer studies need to be much more thoroughly integrated into second level education.