IT industry uploads potential

In this high-tech age, a computer literate workforce has never been more important. Human resource development in the information technology (IT) service industry was the topic of discussion at a meeting at the National University of Laos (NUOL) Sokpaluang Campus on April 24. Attendees looked at progress on the five-year Information Technology Service Industry Project which seeks to put Laos in league with regional leaders in IT development.

Representatives of the Department of Computer Engineering and Information Technology, Faculty of Engineering, NUOL, were in attendance, as were two experts from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Project director and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Associate Professor Dr Boualinh Soysouvanh, said information technology was growing rapidly and had become a necessary tool for daily life. He said the government was very aware of IT importance, as shown by the set up of an important e-government project under auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office. “However, Laos has some problems with a shortage of IT specialists as our developing economy has an increasing demand for highly skilled employees which can’t be satisfied by existing academic programmes,” Dr Boualinh said.

The overall goals of the Information Technology Service Industry Project include software development, consulting and outsourcing as well as increasing the ratio of IT service sales as a percentage of GDP. An increase is also sought in the ratio of the working population in the IT service industry. Human resource development is key to achieving these goals, Dr Boualinh said.

In response to market demand a postgraduate course at the Department of Computer Engineering and Information Technology will provide students with practical IT skills and enable them to find jobs. “This five year project aims to introduce a graduate diploma course in IT to primarily improve the qualifications of teaching staff by establishing an IT Training Centre under the Faculty of Engineering,” Dr Boualinh said. The centre will provide advanced IT training courses and business-oriented training in CISCO (network), Oracle (database) and Sun Microsystems (programming) systems, aiming to create a strong base of IT engineers and job opportunities. The project also includes an IT business unit, an on campus company providing on-the-job training, income development and employment opportunity promotion.