IBM, Charles Sturt sign multi-year alliance

IBM and Charles Sturt University have announced a multi-year partnership aimed at supporting job creation and accelerating digital skills development in regional NSW.

As part of the collaboration, IBM plans to establish a new Client Innovation Centre (CIC) with its regional hub based in Bathurst.

Once fully operational, the CIC will aim to employ over 300 professionals engaged in supporting IBM clients’ demands across Australia by providing technical expertise in areas including data science, cybersecurity, AI and hybrid cloud.

The partnership will also involve the creation of scholarships for Charles Sturt students at the CIC, as well as collaboration on applied research in cybersecurity, data and digital services. IBM also plans to aid in the co-creation of courses focused on the intersection of technology and business transformation for innovation.

IBM Australia and New Zealand Managing Director Katrina Troughton said the collaboration will help address Australia’s growing digital skills shortage, which has been exacerbated by the impacts of COVID-19.

“Students today must have digital acumen and literacy to be able to fully contribute to and participate in tomorrow’s digital economy,” she said.

“Industry–academic partnerships, such as the one we are co-creating with Charles Sturt University, and other higher learning institutions across Australia, are key to providing deeper, more relevant experience that will better equip students to enter today’s workforce.”

The partnership is being modelled after the long-standing alliance between IBM and regional Victoria’s Federation University, which was estimated to have contributed $629 million in economic value to the Victorian economy between 2018 and 2019.

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