Microsoft bridges gap between study, industry

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.