The Ballarat region has a number of adult education providers who offer ICT training and courses. Such providers play an important role in developing the general community's understanding and skills relating to ICT.

The University of Ballarat's School of Information Technology and Mathematical Sciences (ITMS) plays an important role in educating students and providing them with relevant knowledge and skills. ITMS has grown significantly over the last five years to become one of the largest providers of IT education in Australia. It delivers courses not only in Ballarat but also in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Geelong and will commence delivery in China in 2007.

Clusters of excellence are maturing in certain areas. The University's Centre for Informatics and Applied Optimization (CIAO) plays an important role in undertaking research aimed at discovering new technologies in data mining, optimization, simulation and computer games as well as information and e-commerce security. It also provides eHealth technologies for Australia with a national health-messaging laboratory and its centre for health informatics.

The University of Ballarat - TAFE division's School of Business Services, Department of Information Technology provides training, assessment and consultancy services. The department provides training in a range of IT disciplines, including hardware, Internet and multimedia technologies, networking, operating systems, software applications and programming.

The need to develop a curriculum and research agenda that meets the needs of industry was identified as an issue during the ICT 2030 consultation process. It is important that the University of Ballarat establish stronger linkages with the local sector, to ensure that ideas developed at the University are adapted and commercialised by local enterprises, and that graduates are industry ready having had exposure to the latest software products being used in industry.

Specific strategies may need to be introduced to support greater knowledge transfer and interaction between the University and SMEs. Specific options identified through the ICT 2030 consultation included SME sponsored scholarships and a SME version of the successful University of Ballarat and IBM Earn as you Learn program.

Profile 5 - Earn as you Learn

IBM extended its level of operation on the University of Ballarat Technology Park in 2003 by establishing the IBM Regional Software Solutions Centre (RSSC). A key initiative of the Centre is the Earn as you Learn program linked to the Bachelor of Information Technology (Professional Practice) with the University of Ballarat. Through this program students gain valuable hands-on experience in what is required for a demanding future IT career. The program aims to ensure that students graduate with the skills required to enhance their employment opportunities in the IT industry. In the period to June 2006 more than 80 students participated in the Earn as your Learn program. IBM actively participates in curriculum development for the program, and has funded 69 scholarships at the university since 2003. University of Ballarat records confirm 80 percent of the 2006 graduates have found employment in IT with 72 percent offered ongoing employment with IBM