The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) has partnered with Huawei to run a certification curriculum to address the demand for professionals trained to set up and run tech networks. The curriculum known as Datacomm, is designed to enable students to obtain industry-level training directly at the university.
JKUAT Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Robert Kinyua said at the official commencement of the course that the training is a deliberate effort by the university to integrate teaching, research and innovations. This according to him, will spur development of students and both public and private sector partners.
“We have started off with an initial cohort of 100 students signaling a strong beginning that will see the institution significantly raise the number of specialized graduates who will have definite industry knowledge gained from practicing with organizations such as Huawei,” he explained.
He added that as Kenya kicks off exploring the use of 5G network technologies, there is an urgent need to align university training with industry needs. The Datacomm program, offered though JKUAT’s Department of Information Technology, is one of such initiatives that are designed to achieve this alignment.
Huawei Deputy CEO Public Affairs Ms. Fiona Pan, noted that the course content is designed to help trainees gain the knowledge and skills needed for the future of intelligent IP networks saying, “Collaboration between the training institutions and the industry players is one of the key ways to provide graduates with quality knowledge and skills that will enable them take up all the opportunities in the ICT Industry,” she said, adding that globally, the firm intends to train and certify 150,000 Datacom engineers in the next three years to increase the size of the Datacom network talent ecosystem and shape the future of intelligent IP networks.