Dunedin to Co-Host ICT Graduate School

Dunedin (Thursday, 16 July 2015) – A South Island collaboration has created a dynamic ICT Graduate School to be located in Dunedin and Christchurch.

Dunedin City Council Director Enterprise Dunedin John Christie says, “It’s wonderful to see this initiative going ahead and shows what can be achieved when we work collaboratively.”

In June 2014, the Government announced it was investing $28.6 million over four years in graduate schools in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Christchurch and Dunedin have joined forces to develop the South Island ICT Graduate School or SIGNAL (the South Island Graduate Network and Laboratory). The School will be a partnership bringing together education and industry in the two South Island cities.

The concept to host the School in two locations has come from a South Island tertiary alliance, led by the University of Canterbury. The other partners are Lincoln University, the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, Otago Polytechnic and the University of Otago.

Mr Christie says the Canterbury Development Corporation and Enterprise Dunedin have helped develop the SIGNAL proposal by bringing together local industry and tertiary representatives.

Enterprise Dunedin Business Development Advisor Chanel O’Brien says the next step is for the key parties to negotiate the establishment of the school. The location has yet to be decided, but it is hoped the school will be up and running next year in the vicinity of the city’s tech companies.

University of Otago Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Enterprise, Richard Blaikie says, “We are delighted the SIGNAL initiative is going ahead. This is good for the University of
Otago, Otago Polytechnic, the city and the South Island. SIGNAL will increase the pipeline of students studying ICT with us and our partners and better prepare these students for roles within industry.

“The outcomes should be far reaching as the SIGNAL programmes give South Island corporates and small and medium sized enterprises the opportunity to have students embedded within their workplaces for long periods of time. This will lead to a vibrant new workforce comprising the ICT leaders of the future.”

SIGNAL aims to encourage the combining of technical expertise and creativity across industry and education in a way that has not been achieved previously. SIGNAL will champion enthusiasm for IT, and for growing New Zealand’s IT capability, across all sectors.

ADInstruments Ltd Chief Technical Officer John Enlow says, “The ICT Graduate School is an exciting initiative which will increase the number of graduates with the skills we need. We’re delighted with the close involvement of businesses in designing and delivering the School. We think it has great potential.”

Otago Polytechnic Professor of Information Technology Samuel Mann comments, “The new model has enormous potential for Otago Polytechnic, the city and the ICT sector. It draws on the Polytechnic’s strengths in working with businesses and developing work-based learning opportunities to resolve real problems. The graduate school creates a further platform to make the most of the great talent in the city and develop our proven potential as a hub for digital innovation.

“We are delighted to have received this support from the Government to take this opportunity even further.”

ENDS

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