THE Bring IT On Roadshow celebrates four years of inspiring young people in Northern Ireland into IT, at its second event held at St Malachy’s High School, Castlewellan.
The roadshows, delivered by e-skills UK, Momentum, Department for Employment and Learning and Invest NI, provide young people with information about the exciting range of career opportunities available in Northern Ireland’s IT sector.
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Shimna Intergrated College Newcastle with Leona Devin and Anne Tagerty, class room assistants.[/caption]
Pupils from the host school St Malachy’s Year groups 11 and 12 attended the event held last Wednesday and a group of pupils travelled from Shimna Integrated College, Newcastle to take part.
During the event information about the Digital Sector in Northern Ireland and Computing Careers was delivered through presentations and videos by Momentum’s Michael Noble and Kate Wilson.
The pupils also worked together in teams through computing quizzes and fun challenges. The guest Ambassador for the day was Seamus Garland, a Software Development Manager from the area; he talked to the pupils about his career path and his company Openwave explaining what they do and how they serve a global market. Daniel O’Reilly and Jamie Kelly from the AmmA Centre in Armagh ran a session on coding and demonstrated programming through the navigation of a flying drone.
The roadshows aim to inspire young people aged 14 – 19 years old to consider a career in IT, by showcasing the wealth of job opportunities available. Young people receive practical careers guidance and learn about routes into the sector including through higher education and apprenticeships. They also learn about the key skills that IT employers are looking for from new recruits.
Bring IT On is part of a larger initiative to tackle skills shortages in Northern Ireland’s IT sector. Research by e-skills UK in 2011 concluded that the growth of the country’s IT sector will continue strongly to 2019, with employment in the industry forecast to grow nine times faster than the average employment growth in the country.
Mark Feeney, Northern Ireland Manager for e-skills UK said: “Northern Ireland needs more than nine thousand new entrants to the IT sector over the next five years to meet planned growth. The Bring IT On initiative will help to realise this growth by inspiring young people to join this fast-moving and rewarding sector.
“We’re delighted that the Bring IT On roadshows are back, which is testament to the outstanding reception the events have received in recent years.”
e-skills UK is the employer-led organisation responsible for ensuring the UK has the technology skills to compete in the global economy.
www.e-skills.com * www.momentumni.org • www.bringitonni.info
or email carol.govett@e-skills.com
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