Swinburne University of Technology has been announced as a founding employment and training partner of the Digital Employment Forum – an initiative established through a partnership between the Tech Council of Australia (TCA) and Digital Skills Organisation (DSO) to solve Australia’s tech talent crisis.
The Digital Employment Forum will bring together major tech employers and educators to transform Australia’s approach to attracting and training tech workers.
Swinburne’s vice-chancellor and president, Professor Pascale Quester (main photo) said joining forces with the TCA and DSO was a real and practical way of addressing Australia’s tech talent crisis.
“Swinburne fundamentally believes in bringing people and technology together to build a better world. It has been well established that emerging technologies are essential for tackling Australia’s critical challenges. By coming together, as a founding partner of the Digital Employment Forum, Swinburne can lend its expertise to address these challenges, together,” Professor Quester said.
“As a founding partner, we will advise and lead to help address Australia’s technology opportunities. We will work as a member of the Digital Employment Forum to produce an innovative, data-driven research program that defines and identifies tech employment needs, develop a cross-economy digital employment workforce strategy, produce the best tech graduates for the new tech workforce, and support opportunities for students through work integrated learning and employment programs.
“The TCA have set an ambitious goal to reach one million tech jobs by 2025. Whilst it is an ambitious goal, it is also an achievable one that Swinburne believes in. As a university of technology, we are well positioned to help Australia overcome the tech talent crisis.
“Over recent years, the technology sector has increased exponentially and is a crucial pillar of the Australian economy. If the technology sector were an industry, it would be Australia’s largest, behind mining and banking, and Australia’s seventh largest employing sector. We must collaborate, across all sectors and industries, to ensure that Australia has the skills and expertise to meet the growing demand of tech jobs in the near future,” she said.
Swinburne will join other industry partners, organisations and educational institutions as part of the new Digital Employment Forum.
