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DCU's Enterprising Graduates fill ICT gap

DCU School of Computing has graduated its first students in Enterprise Computing. This unique four year honours undergraduate program was established in 2008 to produce graduates who have an understanding of business needs and technological possibilities, and the skills to design and implement creative I.T. solutions. Or as one prospective employer put it, "Enterprise Computing graduates are business graduates with practical skills". At the recent graduation ceremony in the Helix Theatre, President Brian McCraith presented the first 26 graduates with their parchments.

The programme design began in 2007 to address the serious skills gap in the ICT industry. Industry needed graduates who were business-aware, tech-savvy, creative and with strong personal and customer-facing skills. Five years later, the Enterprise Computing graduates are emerging into a business world with less certainty and little growth. Yet the demand for high-skill I.T. professionals hasn't abated. Twenty of the new graduates are already placed in industry, and three more are pursuing Masters degrees. Their new employers include familiar multinationals such as Goldman Sachs, Colgate Palmolive, IBM, Deloitte & Touche, CitiGroup, and Captiva (a division of EMC Corporation).

The popularity of the programme increases apace, with approximately 40 students on track to graduate next year, and 50 in two years' time.