The IT industry in Australia is booming again; however the number of IT graduates continues to decline.
According to the Australian Computer Society, national university enrolments in ICT are half what they were a decade ago, yet an additional 14,000 jobs are forecast to be created in 2012, a figure which does not include the myriad of expanded IT roles and career opportunities in businesses making use of IT.
This demand for jobs, which is expected to continue upwards, is resulting in a shortage of workers with skills and knowledge in the latest IT trends.
Bond University’s School of Information Technology is doing its best to alleviate the problem by offering a suite of undergraduate and postgraduate programs that match the current and emerging demand for graduates with skills in IT and business.
“The nature of the IT industry is ever-changing. As such, our IT degrees constantly evolve to ensure they are up-to-date with the latest technology, developments and trends and match graduate learning outcomes and professional attributes to high demand career pathways,” said Head of School, Professor Iain Morrison.
“Our academic staff closely monitor developments in the IT industry and in information-rich organisations, ensuring they are aware of the latest research and knowledge reports.
“The School of Information Technology has a wide range of industry partnerships and offers highly valued industry internships, as an integral part of its courses, which also help ensure that we know what skills businesses are seeking in their employees and what the important trends are in business innovation using IT.”
This knowledge has led the School of Information Technology to recently introduce new study options in cloud computing, information assurance and mobile applications, to ensure their graduates come out work-ready and able to engage in high-value work environments in fast-moving career pathways.
It seems this decision is on the mark, as a recent survey conducted by IBM highlighted that organisations are adopting the emerging IT capabilities and increasing investments in these areas. Similarly industry projections from the EU and US highlight job demand in these areas is already high and growing rapidly.
This continued growth and investment in the industry world-wide has opened up a wider range of career paths in business and IT, in addition to traditional IT jobs. At Bond, students are able to undertake a range of study plans to underpin this broad set of career options. There has never been a better time to equip yourself with the IT skills and knowledge, and business orientation, the industry is crying out for.
For more information about Bond University’s IT study options, visit www.bond.edu.au/it.
