CSE wins Chinese
training contract


25 Aug 2003

Top technical personnel from several leading Chinese software firms are being given advanced technical and management training at the Centre for Software Engineering (CSE) at Dublin City University, as a result of an agreement signed with the China International Talent Exchange Foundation (CITEF).

The delegates aim to improve their technical and management skills, and learn from the successes of the Irish software industry. They also hope to develop commercial relationships with Ireland.

The group comprises 13 senior technical personnel, including six vice-presidents, from eight well known software firms, including Hunan Computer Company (HCC), part of the China Great Wall Computer Group (CGC), the largest manufacturer of PCs and hard disks in China; Supertech Data Systems, which develop smart cards readers and writers and related applications; Hunan Wilfar Information Technology, a developer of software for electric utilities; CVIC Software Engineering, described as the market leading software development and IT services company in China; Wuhan Gemway Information Systems, which develops GIS applications for telcos and electric utilities; and Sobey Digital Technology, an IT services provider to the media industry.

The training contract was agreed at a 2002 meeting between Michael O’Duffy, CEO of the Centre for Software Engineering (CSE), and a number of officials from CITEF. CSE had been providing training and mentoring support services to the software industry in Ireland for ten years and CITEF decided to make a formal arrangement with the CSE to assist in the development of China’s large and emerging software industry. The CSE devised a comprehensive software engineering programme, tailored for China’s top software organisations.

The deal will come as a welcome boost to the CSE, which, as previously reported in siliconrepublic.com, was rescued from closure in March after a last-minute restructuring deal was agreed between O’Duffy and the CSE board.

In operation for the past 12 years, the CSE has gradually built up an overseas client base to supplement its work in the home market, where it provides a range of services across the spectrum of technical and management issues to over 50 technology organisations.

The CSE assists start-up and early stage companies, many fitting into high growth or the high-potential start-up model, to achieve business organisation, clear focus and good technical base for product architecture and use of technologies. Mature technology companies also draw on CSE expertise, where more formal and structured capabilities are put in place to achieve efficiencies and continued success. Other significant software operations with whom CSE works include the IT division of organisations in the public sector and a number of the larger enterprises.

Organisations maintain their association with the CSE to avail of keynote industry developments through corporate membership.

The CSE also enjoys ongoing relationships with educational institutes with significant programmes in computing and with the key State support agencies such as Enterprise Ireland.

By Brian Skelly