Microsoft bridges gap between study, industry
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
"How many of you are students of IT?" A great show of hands followed the question posed by Kurt Messersmith, Microsoft operations's developer and platform group for the Asia-Pacific region, in front of Bina Nusantara University students last Wednesday.
But when asked whether they were confident of getting a job after graduation, not one of the approximately 100 students attending the forum raised their hands.
There is no doubt that Information Technology (IT) is one of the fastest growing industries in the world today, but here in Indonesia it is a relatively new field, that although recognized as important, has little government support.
"The Malaysian government, for example, subsidizes infrastructure so that unlimited Internet access only costs 50 Malaysian ringgit (about US$13) a month, while here it costs Rp 2 million (US$206) a month," Microsoft Indonesia's academic developer Zeddy Iskandar Gunawan said in his presentation.
He said that more than 85,000 Indonesians have opted to study IT abroad since 2001, because Indonesia spent very little on education and there were too few efforts to bridge the gap between university study and industry.
However, the rapid growth in IT and its importance in almost all aspects of modern life, ensures that IT graduates will be in high demand in the near future, Messersmith said.
"During the next three years, there will be more than 500,000 jobs in IT, software and services. Even in health care, behind all medical research, there's IT research," he said, explaining the opportunities will grow even more as governments realize that if they want to be competitive, they must be competitive in IT.
Realizing, however, that the university curriculum could not continually change to keep up with the industry, Microsoft organized Campus Launch in 10 universities that have an IT major.
"Students have to always update their knowledge in view of the rapid development of the industry. What usually happens is that we find the knowledge taught at university is not up to date with what the industry expects," Bina Nusantara University's Microsoft student ambassador, Wilson Partogi, told The Jakarta Post.
By regularly introducing new technology to universities, Microsoft hopes to cut down training time of new employees, and prepare students for when they graduate, Messersmith said.
This month's Campus Launch is organized at the School of Information Management and Computer Technology (Stikom) in Surabaya, East Java; Tanjung Pura University in Pontianak, West Kalimantan; STT Telkom in Bandung, West Java; and Budiluhur University and Bina Nusantara University in Jakarta.
It will launch at Duta Wacana Christian University in Yogyakarta and Atma Jaya Catholic University in Jakarta in January, and at Maranatha University and Bandung Technological Institute (ITB) in Bandung in February.
At the Campus Launch in Bina Nusantara University in West Jakarta on Wednesday, Microsoft introduced its latest software development tools Visual Studio 2005, Biztalk Server 2006 and SQL Server 2005.
Free training for about 250 students will also be organized following the Campus Launch, Wilson said.
During the launch, Microsoft also invites students to participate in the annual competition for Imagine Cup 2006.
"Since its inception three years ago, participants from Indonesia are still few, and we want to attract more Indonesian participants for next year," Zeddy said, explaining that applications opened in early November. and will close in March 2006.
A total cash prize of US$50,000 will be available for winners in six categories. The competition is open to all students regardless of whether they are baccalaureate, masters, or doctorate students.
More information on Imagine Cup is available on the Internet at www.imaginecup.com.