Australia is on the road towards the edge of an ICT skills cliff, said Professor Michael Blumenstein, of Griffith University’s School for ICT.
“We’re contacted nearly every week by companies wanting to snap up our graduates,” he said. “Some students have been employed before they have actually finished their degrees.”
Blumenstein points to one undergraduate who was taken on board by IBM, and continues to work for Big Blue alongside finishing his degree.
However, Blumenstein said there’s a more sinister reason behind Australia’s need for more ICT graduates – cyber security.
The number and severity, especially of targeted attacks has increased globally and in Australia in recent times. In particular, there has been a recent spate of Queensland businesses targeted in so-called ransomware attacks, whereby villains hold company's core IT assets and data hostage until money is exchanged for their release.
So cheap and easy to use are the kits for such attacks that young children have reportedly been fingered as perpetrators.
“The ICT skills shortage must be addressed urgently in order to be prepared for the future of cyber-terrorism, he said.
“Many businesses are leaving themselves open to cyber attack because basic security provisions are being overlooked,” he added.
Some of the methods for avoiding driving off the skills cliff include making ICT degrees more attractive, and changing the perception a job in technology is simply about sitting in a cubicle writing code.
“It now requires sound business knowledge including being able to deal with clients, understanding business models and knowing how ICT can enhance a business's bottom line,” he said.
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