IBM opens innovation camp to address IT skills gap in PH – Back End News
The IT (information technology) skills gap is set to widen as organizations accelerate their digital transformation and emerging technologies present more opportunities for innovation. To address the imminent skills gap, IBM (Philippines) is offering its SkillsBuild Innovation Camp to be hosted by Asia Pacific College (APC).
APC is a private tertiary education institution in Makati. It was established in 1991 as a non-profit joint venture between IBM Philippines and the SM Foundation.
IBM SkillsBuild Innovation Camp, which was introduced in 2019, will provide training to 154 APC students in Multimedia Arts, Game Development, Information Technology, and Computer Science. The IT company will tap professionals in helping the students develop skills in coding, front-end web development, and design thinking.
“The camp’s disaster resilience theme is also very significant and timely given the recent natural disasters that have caused the Philippines the loss of lives, infrastructure, and natural resources,” said Aileen Judan-Jiao, president and country general manager for IBM Philippines. “What makes me really hopeful is that young minds will take on the challenge, through this camp, to become socially responsible citizens who make a difference by developing innovative, sustainable, and impactful solutions.”
Web solutions
The 12-week SkillsBuild Innovation Camp for Web Developers will see participants present their innovative human-centered web solutions for disaster resiliency at the end of the program on March 10, 2021. Its curriculum is built from IBM’s SkillsBuild online learning platform and offers purposefully curated relevant technology and professional content, skills badges, coaching, and project-based learning.
IBM also partnered with the Department of Science and Technology–Science and Technology Information Institute (DOST-STII) and Arise Philippines, a private sector alliance for disaster-resilient societies, to provide the disaster risk reduction and resiliency content. CodeDoor, a non-profit organization, will enable the students to learn how to code and reach professional levels as developers and digital training content.
At the end of the camp, participants are expected to acquire skills in front-end web development and programming including HTML, GIT, Javascript, CSS-Pre-processors, and CSS. They will also receive globally recognized IBM SkillsBuild badges which can be used for employment.
IBM said the as a badge earner, a student will be able to demonstrate a foundational understanding of front-end web development concepts, principles, and practices, and a deep understanding of how to use programming languages and frameworks to create web applications. They can also use these skills to pursue and advance their career as a web developer when they graduate.
The program also provides personalized coaching and experiential learning. Students will be participating in weekly touchpoints together with a small team and a coach. They will also have the opportunity to meet web development experts from around the world and grow their professional network.