Northern Ireland’s two universities have joined forces with Momentum, the trade association for the ICT industry to encourage more school leavers to choose an ICT course at college.

This morning, the partners delivered an ICT careers convention at The University of Ulster, Jordanstown campus. This event was supported by the European Social Fund – Peace II Programme.

More than 250 young people from 10 schools across the region attended the event to hear from ICT business giants like Kainos and Northbrook Technologies.

The 15 to 19-year-olds were given the opportunity to explore different career paths with well-known local businesses there on tap to hand out advice.

The event, focused on dispelling any negative attitudes to the world of information and communications technology.

“The ICT sector has undergone a lot of change in the past six years since the dotcom bubble burst in 2000,” said Dr Ian Graham, chief executive of Momentum. “With a 14 per cent increase over the past year, it is now the fastest growing employment sector in Northern Ireland.

“Currently employing over 13,000 people, figures are set to rise much higher so we need to encourage young people to pursue a career which adds real value to the Northern Ireland economy and provides exciting and rewarding long-term employment opportunities.”
 
With an ever increasing demand for ICT skills the careers event couldn’t have happened at a better time.

Giving students a taste of everything from life as an ICT undergraduate to the pressures of owning their own IT company, the talk is sure to have inspired a few future Bill Gates among those attending the convention!

ENDS

PODCAST:David Young talks to Sylvia Alexander (UU), Pat Corr (QUB), Olwen Black ( Boys Model and Helen Taylor ( Momentum) about employment prospects in the IT and computing industry in Northern Ireland. Click to listen

http://news.ulster.ac.uk/podcasts/Momentum.mp3

Notes to editor

About Momentum
www.momentumni.org Momentum is the trade association for Northern Ireland’s ICT industry. It helps member companies by offering support services, networking events, providing industry news and tracing potential ICT suppliers.

For further information, please contact:

David Young
Telephone: 028 90366074
Email: David Young