Ericsson has initiated an IMS and SDS training project in cooperation with Argentina’s National University of La Plata. The project will result in a university course and an IMS application competition, starting in October.
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Patrik Hedlund |
Patrik Hedlund, Director for Business Innovation at Ericsson Argentina and manager for the project, says the market unit has worked together with the university before, but that this is the first time they have cooperated within multimedia and application development.
The training, starting in October, will run until March.
The purpose of the cooperation, Hedlund explains, is twofold:
- To train students in IMS and application development for possible future positions at Ericsson (or at partners to Ericsson, such as operators)
- To demonstrate how easy it is to develop IMS applications using SDS.
So far, work has concentrated on “training the trainer,” with three teachers from the university receiving IMS and SDS training from Ericsson IMS experts.
The course has attracted a lot of interest from students, Hedlund says. It will be limited to 12-15 students, so there will unfortunately not be room for all applicants.
Hedlund sees the cooperation with the university as important because most operators now have some kind of IMS operations, or plan some for the near future. “It is important to prepare students in IMS so they can work with it directly after graduation,” he says.
If all goes well, the project will probably continue by going deeper into specific areas of IMS.
Hedlund emphasizes the importance of not only recruiting students, but also ensuring continuity by strengthening already-close relations with key university staff.
Ericsson Argentina is also receiving valuable cooperation on the project from Sun Microsystems, Hedlund says. Sun will contribute with a prize for the winners of the competition, as well as by giving necessary Java training. Sun is already cooperating with the university and has equipped one of the lecture rooms, Sala Sun, with computers.
Hedlund says the project has deliberately not involved any operators in the cooperation. It is still too early, he says, but the intention is to do so next year, for application deployment.
La Plata, with about 600,000 inhabitants, is the capital of Buenos Aires province. Its state-owned university is one of the most renowned in Argentina.
Faculty of Computer Science, National University of La Plata, Argentina
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By Benny Ritzén
