The IBM Academic Initiative is aimed at spreading the adoption of open standards around the world by helping institutions teach high-value job skills on open technologies such as Java, Linux and Eclipse.
"As businesses innovate with new technologies for competitive advantage, companies and training institutions need to make a greater commitment to fill the skill pipeline to feed these new disciplines," Buell Duncan, IBM ISV GM, told a media briefing in Grapevine, Texas.
"There will be increased demand for high-value, high-paying jobs which require a multi-disciplinary skill set of computer services as well as line-of-business insight."
Gina Poole, IBM developer VP, says IBM`s goal is to facilitate "in-demand" skills training for an "on-demand" world. She says IBM will work with select institutions that support open standards to train an IT workforce to fill new jobs emerging across the IT industry, provide the right skills to the next generation of IT workers, and ensure institutions have the most relevant curricula that map to the kinds of jobs that are needed.
"A recent IBM survey of 450 global companies revealed that 75% of CEOs surveyed cited education and the lack of qualified candidates as the issues that will have the greatest impact on their business over the next three years," says Duncan.
"The case for the IBM Academic Initiative is compelling in light of the fact that according to IDC research, Linux is the fastest growing operating system in the world, around 70% of enterprises surveyed by Gartner use Java technology, and the number of Java developers is expected to quadruple from 2003 to 2.8 million in 2007."
Duncan says IBM is seeking to address the lack of IT personnel with the appropriate skills to lead the future of the IT industry by promoting open standards among the next generation of IT professionals.
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