Strathmore University, IBM extend partnership to lecture halls with new deal

Strathmore University has expanded its innovation partnership with IBM to include IBM z Systems training as part of its computer science undergraduate program. Under the agreement, the initial training of faculty will run during the first week of October and the undergraduate course will officially commence in January 2016.

IBM and Strathmore University’s @iLabAfrica, the region’s leading centre of excellence in ICT research have signed an agreement to expand their partnership into skills training for the IBM z Systems (Mainframe) technology. Following the agreement, Strathmore becomes first university in Africa with the capacity for training on IBM z Systems (Mainframe) technology.

IBM will deliver the training via cloud at @iLabAfrica and impart transferable skills on the technology to 20 senior lecturers at Strathmore’s Faculty of Information Technology.

IBM z Systems enables enterprise-wide infrastructure for cloud delivery, integration of operational data with analytics, and mobile optimization – and are driving new levels of performance and cost efficiency in businesses around the world.

IBM’s z Systems seeks to provide computing infrastructure to companies and governments around recent mega trends including big data, Cloud, Social, mobile & security trends. It provides computing infrastructure for the new apps economy — enabling organizations to transact at the scale and speed of mobile, bring on-time analytics to every transaction, and ensure the highest levels of security and trust in the cloud.

The agreement will:

Enable Strathmore University and IBM to expand the existing innovation partnership through the introduction of skills training in Africa for the IBM z Systems;

Position Strathmore University, through its @iLabAfrica Research centre, as the first university in Africa with the IBM z System technology expertise which can easily be utilized to; deploy cloud services, run big data analytics for real time data insights and facilitate application development for mobile devices;

See 15 faculty members at Strathmore University receive globally recognized training and certification on IBM z Systems over the next week;

Allow @iLabAfrica and IBM to jointly offer IBM z Systems as part of the undergraduate IT program at Strathmore from January 2016;

Enable certified students to work for: IBM, relevant Business partners and vendors in Kenya and globally.

This new academic initiative advances IBM’s leadership and commitment to closing the skills gap between higher education curricula and industry needs and is just one of many ways in which IBM is investing in Africa and helping develop economic capacity. The partnership is hinged on helping faculty strengthen their educational programs so their students can compete in the job market of any industry.