Waikato Business News December 2016/January 2017

4 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS December 2016/January 2017
Wintec and local
businesses team up to
address IT skills shortage
From the editor
December has been a
month for the southern
suburbs of Hamilton to
celebrate.
For many years now, most of
the city’s investment has been to
the north through development
of The Base or through residential
and commercial growth in
Rototuna.
While the growth has been
positive in many ways, it has
not served more established
areas of Hamilton to the south
and east so well. There hasn’t
been significant commercial
development in these area for
years.
A perfect example has been
the dearth of DIY stores in the
south, forcing anyone contemplating
a spot of work in the
back yard in the weekend to
troop north for supplies.
Now with Mitre 10 MEGA
Ruakura and Bunnings
Warehouse South Hamilton,
all that has changed. The full
carparks in each of these locations
since they opened is testament
to how badly they were
needed. It is high time the
south received such investment.
Other than the obvious practical
advantages for residents, such
investment is an overdue signal
that the city actually cares about
some of the more established
parts of town.
There’s more development
to come in the south as Hamilton
City Council eyes development
of the Peacocke subdivision and
a resurgent Hamilton Airport
makes land around it available
for commercial development.
These are good signs, not
just for southern suburbs,
but for the overall health of
Hamilton City.
Geoff Taylor
Editor
A three-year collaboration between Wintec
and local businesses is about to come to
fruition early next year.
Three post-graduate
IT programmes to be
launched in February
will allow people already in
IT roles to upskill in ways that
directly relate to their work.
Aimed at Waikato-based
IT professionals and their
employers, the programmes
include a Postgraduate
Certificate in Applied IT,
a Postgraduate Diploma
in Applied Informatics
or Applied IT, and Master
of Applied Information
Technology.
Klaus Reiter, Wintec’s
director of the Centre for
Business, Information
Technology and Enterprise,
says the programme addresses
a “huge employment gap”.
“Two years ago, the government
started talking about
10,000 unallocated jobs in IT
due to a lack of specialists.
“What’s more, IT is changing
so fast that even people
with years of work experience
can easily fall behind.
“We’ve been looking at
how we can bridge the gap in
a way that supports students
and business.”
The answer, it turns out,
was to build on existing partnerships
with local enterprise.
The Wintec centre already
had strong partnerships with
Waikato-based IT businesses,
so made the decision to
approach them about co-designing
an innovative solution.
“We worked together for
three years in the design of
this programme,” says Mr
Reiter. “One big difference
between our approach and
that of other tertiary institutes
is we said this must be
strongly focussed on industry
problems.”
Students in the
Postgraduate Certificate and
Diploma course will undertake
a mix of theory and
practical study, with industry
placements also playing a key
role. In fact, many students
will already be employed in
an IT company – and will
continue working there during
their study.
To ensure programmes are
relevant, industry partners can
suggest areas for students to
research. It’s then up to each
student whether they choose
a suggested area or something
else that interests them.
“We expect many will
choose industry-suggested
topics, and then go on placement
at the firms who’ve suggested
them,” says Mr Reiter.
“The students will benefit
from applying their knowledge
to practical situations,
and employers will get highly
motivated people with the latest
knowledge contributing to
the business.
“It’s a win-win.”
David Hallett, a director
of multiple IT businesses in
Waikato, agrees. “We need
people going through ICT and
learning vocationally useful
skills. Internships are especially
useful. Companies can
work with people through
their degree and also build
their own workforce. When a
student graduates, they know
the company, its ethos, its culture
and its values. And they
can also bring new skills and
knowledge into the business.”
Mr Hallett is also a big fan
of Wintec’s Master of Applied
Technology. “It means the student
will graduate with deep
knowledge in a specialist area
– and that has immense vocational
value too.”
Hamilton is the perfect
city to house such a smart
programme, he adds. “It’s the
fastest growing of the four
main centres in New Zealand.
It’s the only city whose young
population is growing faster
than its over-60 age group.
You tell me a city that’s better
suited as a hub for innovation.”
Key facts
• The New Zealand IT
industry is growing at the
rate of about 3000 new
jobs a year.
• Science and Innovation
Minister Steven Joyce
says approximately 1850
students a year are graduating
out of tertiary programmes.
• Creating new graduates
doesn’t address the whole
issue. Training current IT
specialists so they keep
pace in a fast-changing
world is also critical.
• Wintec and local IT enterprises
have been collaborating
for more than 10
years, creating strong,
vocationally-oriented
training that benefits both
students and business.
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