CGI is one of over forty companies that have supported the Digital Skills Partnership (DSP) in the past twelve months.
They are active members of the DSP’s Industry Advisory Group, have participated in Scotland wide discussions on graduate skills and are contributing to the development of an innovative software development project for students.
Justene Ewing Vice President, Consulting Services at CGI, wants to see her company’s continued expansion in Scotland. To enable this growth, she says,
“CGI are keen to support universities and colleges to produce world class graduates in computing and digital technologies. As an organisation committed to growing in Scotland, CGI will require a multitude of skills and experience as we grow. We want to be able to recruit the right talent at the right time and our involvement with the DSP has enabled us to be part of a community of like-minded organisations who are committed to ensuring that college leavers and graduates have the right blend of technical and interpersonal skills for the modern workforce.”
CGI is currently engaged in a key DSP project working with lecturers from Scotland’s colleges and universities, Computer Application Services Ltd and the SQA to create a collaborative software development project for college and university students. This curriculum project aims to increase the employability of students by engaging them in a live project which replicates industry practices in software development. Within the project, college and university students will work together in teams using industry tools, such as Slack and GitHub and they’ll be expected to work in different locations and remotely. It is hoped that this multi-site, cross year and cross experience level project will help prepare students in a more realistic way for the software development process in industry. It will also help to support articulation pathways by creating stronger co-delivery across partner networks, so that students arrive at university having a greater knowledge and understanding of the university environment.
CGI will work with Computer Application Services Ltd to sense check the teaching scenario for the project and approve the final version.
Justene says, “Through this curriculum development project we are helping to shape the graduates of the future. We believe that supporting students in this way enables them to make a better transition from university to full-time work.”
CGI also participated in one of the DSP’s round table discussions on graduate skills, which considered:
- what technical and interpersonal skills are important when hiring computer science / software engineering graduates in to software development roles and
- what knowledge and skills appear to be missing in computer science / software engineering graduates.
The findings from these discussions can be accessed here.
Justene’s view is that Scotland produces some of the best graduates in the world, and she wants this level of accomplishment to be maintained. However, she thinks it’s important to consider how colleges and universities can better prepare their students for a successful and happy career in the industry. She adds, “The employer intelligence from these discussions will hopefully provide useful insights to lecturers across the country.”
In all, Justene believes that the DSP is providing CGI with a fantastic opportunity to help shape the employability of future graduates in Scotland.