Indigenous students encouraged to study IT

By Staff Writers

Mar 18 2005 2:04PM

A scholarship has been granted to the first indigenous student in the Bachelor of Information Technology degree at the University of Technology Sydney.

A scholarship has been granted to the first indigenous student in the Bachelor of Information Technology (BInfTech) degree at the University of Technology Sydney.

The university’s Indigenous Scholarship was awarded to Daniel Neilson of Campbelltown and covers the period of the degree.

"The project was begun in response to research findings that not only were few Aboriginal people employed in information and communications technology, it wasn't even on their radar as a career option," said Ray Leslie, UTS indigenous participation in IT project manager.

The Scholarship is funded by IT services company Unisys Australia and the Australian Computer Society Foundation who have each contributed $20,000.

“IT multinationals such as Unisys have a duty to invest in the countries in which they operate…clearly, it’s in the Unisys interest to invest in our future, by investing in the development of skills of young people interested in careers in IT,” said Mike Ettling, managing director Unisys Australia-New Zealand.

Leslie said Daniel's success in winning a place in the highly competitive BInfTech was an important example to promote what has been a ‘non-traditional’ area of study for Indigenous Australians.

“As we build up the numbers of graduates from university, or TAFE, or through industry certification, we'll have the mentors and role models to inspire the next generation,” Leslie said.