A series of events from the School of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at The University of Tasmania is helping to bridge the gap between university students and the global tech industry.
The first event, held in early July, was hugely popular with more than 100 students across several specialisations in ICT coming together to hear from leaders in cyber security, technical aspects of internet technology and governance discuss their work and career paths.
They also talked about the current skills shortage in the Tasmanian digital workforce, and what a career on the island state can offer to graduates.
A 2022 report from the Australian Computer Society (ACS) found the state’s technology sector employs 9,663 workers, and that the year before, Tasmania led the nation with a 17% jump in tech sector workers.
Nationally, the industry has grown by more than 8%, with Australia’s IT workforce now totalling 870,000. This number is expected to reach 1.2 million by 2027, with plenty of room for growth in Tasmania and beyond.
University of Tasmania’s Academic Lead for Industry Integration, Professor Anna Shillabeer said it was critical to show students clear pathways into fulfilling careers while they’re still studying.
“We want our students to see the impact their skills can have on the organisations and communities they’ll work with when they graduate,” Professor Shillabeer said.
“Technology isn’t just all about massive brands like Apple and Google– 96% of all Tasmanian businesses are small businesses, and many don’t have IT skills on hand.
“Helping to get a small family business set up online and accessing bigger markets so they can stay afloat in these difficult financial times, or showing community organisations how to stay cyber safe in an increasingly complex online security environment – these are things that can be make or break for these people and their small businesses .
“Students are well prepared to provide expertise to support small and large businesses throughout and after their studies, we just need to help them connect the dots with where they’re needed most,” Professor Shillabeer said.
Thank you to the industry representatives who sat on the first panel from a range of leading companies, including Heath Clark from Hydro Tasmania, Georgi Brown from TasICT and Redappleit, Nick Rands from ITechnologies, Chris Jackson from AISA and Fortinet, and Martin Anderson from TasICT and Ionata.
Upcoming event – July 2023
The next event for students will be held on Thursday 27 July, consisting of two sessions:
- The role of the Domain Name System to the Digital Economy
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a vital part of our digital life. It’s the phone book of the Internet and it maps names to numbers. But what does this really mean? How does the DNS work and why does it impact almost every online service we use today? In this presentation we will discuss the components of the DNS, who runs them and who gives the authority to run them. We’ll walk through the most common DNS transactions, how communication pathways are established in the DNS and how transactions can be secured.
Presenter: Adam King, Chief Technology Officer, .au Domain Administration (auDA)
- Understanding the Multi-stakeholder model of Internet Governance
Despite it impacting almost every aspect of our personal and professional lives, few people understand how the internet is governed and who makes decisions about its direction and security. The multi-stakeholder model of internet governance, whereby industry, government, registry operators (like auDA) and users collaborate and make appropriate decisions through consensus is both unique and under constant threat. In this presentation we’ll outline the key participants in internet governance and also the competing threats to the model from around the world.
Presenter: Annaliese Williams, Internet Governance & Policy Analyst, .au Domain Administration (auDA)
University of Tasmania students can register to attend this FREE event here.