NIIT moulds Botswana entrepreneurs
Business studies should instill a sense of entrepreneurship in the minds of those studying it, Botswana’s Assistant Minister of Education, Peter Siele said at the NIIT graduation ceremony in Gaborone
He commended NIIT for their contribution towards provision of Information Communication Technology (ICT) training at a time when the country had to embrace the changes brought about by the IT age. He also commended the Institution for having been among some of the private institutions offering tertiary education even at a time when government was not sponsoring students in private institutions.
Around 200 graduates were awarded their Professional Diplomas in Information Technology and the Honours Diploma in Applied Management and Business Skills. The 10 year old institution has 65% of staff members as locals, which was in line with the localization and training policy.
Etisalat and BT unite for research
The Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (etisalat), British Telecommunications Plc (BT) and Khalifa University will establish a joint research and innovation centre in the UAE.
Through collaboration with industries, universities and governmental organisations, the centre will encourage international collaboration, research and innovation in the fields of next generation networks, systems and services.
The merge will further enhance Etisalat’s competitive position among the telecommunication companies in the world and increase business relations in the region.
South Africa Academy to enhance ICT skills
The newly inaugurated e-Skills Academy of South Africa aims at increasing the country’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) systems and public awareness in the area.
The e-Skills Academy is aimed at accelerating the development of professional qualifications and ‘job-ready’ skills in the ICT sector. It offers internationally accredited courses and certified qualifications that are designed to meet requirements defined by technology users throughout, both the private and public sectors of the South African economy.
Uganda’s Nationwide data backbone completes first phase
The first phase of the National Data Backbone, capable of delivering ICT services to 28 million Ugandans has been completed, making Uganda the first country in the other East African Community (EAC) member states to deployed ICT infrastructure at such a scale.
Uganda’s ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) together with Chinese technology company, Huawei, bore the cost of the first phase, approximately USD30 million.
The first phase covers the capital Kampala, Entebbe, Bombo and Jinja is complete and is being tested. IP enabled phones with videoconference facilities have been installed in all government ministries and departments/agencies. The second phase of the e-Ghana project will see fiber-optic cables laid from the southern coast to its northern border with Burkina Faso. This project will link to the other submarine cable initiatives that are planned for the eastern Africa coast.
Before the National Data Transmission backbone government unveiled plans, private players had moved to lay their own fibre networks. The national backbone comprises two technologies and will be laid mainly around Kampala and along the transmission routes in the East, West and the North.
Ireland attractive for Indian students
Ireland is slowly but surely treading upwards as one of the most preferred destination of students in India wanting to study aboard. The country has carved a niche for itself in teaching various courses in English at all top colleges and Universities.
Over 1,000 Indian students are spread across various universities and colleges in Ireland, mostly enrolled into various courses in Bio-Sciences, Business Administration, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering among others.
Studies reveal that Ireland has been seeing a consistent increase of foreign students at 10% per annum. Ireland housed nearly 25,000 international students in 2006.
Because of its booming economy (which is growing at a steady 8.5% every year) most IT majors and Pharma companies such as Intel, Microsoft, Dell, IBM and Hewlett Packard.
With nearly 37% students attaining tertiary level of education in Colleges, Technology Institutes and Universities (as against the overall European Union average of 27%) the government has earmarked nearly 20.7 billion Euros for various education related causes in Ireland.