Line of Business
Tech firms partner with Ottawa schools to battle IT talent crunch
Government agencies, local tech companies, and Ottawa high schools are joining forces to provide kids hands-on experience with technology in a bid to spark interest in IT once more.6/9/2009 6:00:00 AM By: Nestor E. Arellano
David Dapaah and his gang descend on the BlackBerry smartphone on the table with one intent- crack it wide open and spill its guts out. Just as they've done with the desktop PC, and the XO laptop.
No, they're not a bunch of kids on a destructive binge. Dapaah and his group mates actually want to find out what makes the devices tick. "The XO laptop was pretty complicated and the group struggled at first but it was interesting ... the BlackBerry was not hard at all," says the Grade 12 student.
He and his colleagues are part of the Ottawa High School Technology Program (OHSTP), a pilot project initiated by the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI), the Ontario Centres for Excellence and several technology companies intent on boosting youth interest in the IT industry.
The alliance wants the program -- currently tapping some 48 students from the Earl of March and All Saints Catholic High School in Kanata -- to eventually be expanded throughout the country and hopefully reverse an IT talent shortage that threatens to cost the Canadian economy at least $10.8 billion.
Related stories:
Despite recession, many IT posts still difficult to fill
Amid layoffs many companies still hiring IT workers
Page Navigation 1) Letting loose a bunch of teenagers on an unsuspecting BlackBerry. - Page 12) Students' creations will be loaded in XO laptops bound for third world countries. - Page 2
3) Ottawa has been hard hit by recession. - Page 3
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