Citrix and IT Sligo announce IT education alliance
Cloud computing and IT careers of the future

Citrix and IT Sligo announce IT education alliance

24 Feb 2012

The Minister for Jobs and Skills Ruairí Quinn TD is launching the Citrix Academy Network at IT Sligo this afternoon. The aim of the network is to equip students from computing programmes at IT Sligo with advanced technical skills so they can pursue IT careers in areas such as virtualisation or cloud computing.

IT Sligo is the first higher education institution in Ireland to join the network. The first 25 students have recently started the course at the institute, while an additional 55 students are expected to begin the accreditation process by the end of the year.

Via the Citrix Academy Network, students of the computing programmes at IT Sligo are undertaking a skills-led course to achieve industry certification across emerging technologies, such as virtualisation and cloud computing.

The accreditation will also include potential opportunities to undertake work experience with channel partners, so the students can put theory into practice.

IT Sligo is anticipating that more than 100 students will complete the modules this year.

And by September 2012, the course will also be available to those that wish to take the accreditation as a stand-alone course, without studying for a degree. IT Sligo announced today it will also be investing in infrastructure to support a range of computing qualifications.

Cloud computing and jobs

With cloud computing especially having come to the IT fore of late, Citrix is enabling the students to prepare for IT careers in the area.
Speaking this afternoon, Quinn said technology is one of Ireland’s most promising sectors.

“We currently have widespread demand from IT employers for skilled workers in the areas of virtualisation and networking,” he said.

Quinn also touched on how the initiative between Citrix and IT Sligo showed how to create a direct education-to-jobs opportunity.

John Kelly, senior director, Customer Technical Support and Education Services, EMEA at Citrix, said the course would be “highly valued” by the ICT industry in Ireland.

“There is an obligation on industry and third-level institutions to proactively work together to reach out and achieve shared goals. By doing this, we can fill knowledge jobs, drive higher value, help automate processes and lower costs – all of which will help steer Ireland’s competitiveness and efficiency forward as a place to do business,” added Kelly.

Siliconrepublic.com is hosting Skills February, a month dedicated to news, reports, interviews and videos covering a range of topics on the digital skills debate.

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Carmel Doyle
By Carmel Doyle

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic. She reported on clean tech, innovation and start-ups, covering everything from renewable energy to electric vehicles, the smart grid, nanotech, space exploration, university spin-outs and technology transfer.

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