By Emily Jacobs
A program aimed at attracting and retaining young ICT talent will be rolled out nationally following the appointment of ex-SAP Research head Karsten Schulz as national manager.
GroupX is a collaborative initiative that involves representatives from the Australian Information Industry Association, Australian Computer Society and professionals from the education and government sectors.
It will work on engaging students in ICT and improving ICT education in primary, secondary and tertiary levels, through the promotion of programs such as RoboCup, Club KidPreneur, SAP Young ICT Explorers and the National Computer Science Summer School.
Its funding will come from the government’s Digital Careers Program.
In 2013, the initiative held 60 school visits and events, involving 165 schools and 40 000 students across Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria.
“The development of programs for states and territories beyond Queensland is underway. We are also looking to inject additional resources into successful programs already in place that address the very real ICT skills shortage we are suffering,” said Schulz.
Schulz joined NICTA as commercial manager in infrastructure, transport and logistics earlier this year. He created SAP’s Young ICT Explorers and has started several research centres in Australia, China, India and Singapore.
“Karsten has a proven track record of working with young professionals in ICT and seeing them grow into the type of industry leaders Australia so badly needs,” said Simon Kaplan, NICTA director of skills and industry transformation.
Kaplan was in charge of the original GroupX program in Queensland, which resulted in a 50 per cent increase in ICT enrolments.
“If Australia fails to establish a critical mass of imaginative, creative, digitally-literate graduates, we will never be intentionally competitive. There is no reason that we shouldn’t have a vibrant, entrepreneurial digitally-enabled economy,” he said.
