IT specialisations that have been developed according to industry needs and feedback will now be available for interested Australians.
According to a recent report, the University of Canberra’s brand-new IT specialisations for undergraduate and postgraduate courses are geared to keep graduates ahead in a technoscape where the only constant is change.
Experts from industry giants and government have contributed by weighing on who and what they need on and in the future.
The IT specialisations
The new specialisations were introduced to meet industry demand, and to make the courses even more relevant and responsive to today’s IT landscape.
These specialisations include of Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics, Data Science, and Cloud Computing and Internet of Things (IoT).
Graduates will be equipped with computer crime-fighting skills and digital forensics know-how if they opt to specialise in Cybersecurity.
Specialising in AI and Robotics will put graduates on the razor edge of technology, exploring everything from humanoid robots to mobile robotic platforms.
There is an increasing demand for data scientists worldwide. The generation and influx of big data makes their skills particularly crucial in the digital economy.
This specialisation includes social informatics, data analysis related to social media platforms and the data they generate.
Graduates will be able to analyse vast amounts of data and translate them into practical insights for the private and public sectors.
Skilled Cloud Computing and IoT experts are already the architects driving change, expanding the capabilities and potential of the Future Internet.
The courses are designed to be broad enough in scope so that the students can build a solid knowledge base, including business and communication systems.
Well-roundedness is the key
Well-rounded IT graduates, who have specialised skills coupled with an understanding of the larger context in which the IT industry operates, is very important.
A lot of IT systems are fairly homogenous instead of catering to diverse groups. Moving into the future entails discussing of cultural, social and linguistic diversity, and incorporating that into the systems.
Once strong foundation is built, graduates can opt to either widen that knowledge base further, or drill down to build depth in the particular specialisations.
Forecasting emerging tech trends in the near and far future has been a cornerstone in the curriculum update.
The new specialisations will see graduates in serious demand for the next 10 years, which build on an already stellar employability rate for the University’s IT graduates.
The University’s IT graduates develop skills at three levels. These are:
- Core discipline skills in IT, information systems or engineering,
- The constantly evolving, industry-focused specialised skills
- Professional or “soft” skills such as communications and project management
People should be able to communicate and work with clients in order to co-design and develop products and solutions that are not off the shelf.
Having strong technical skills and complementing them with the communication skills and understanding to translate them into real life, is invaluable.
This approach prepares the graduates to be world-ready and future-ready, and not just work-ready.