REANNZ has announced a new scholarship to help boost IT, education and research in New Zealand, the Crown-owned company announced today.
The initiative is in response to a limited growth currently occurring in the New Zealand IT sector.
The REANNZ Future Fund initiative will see three students selected from around the country take part in a six-week paid placement from December 2015 to February 2016, based at REANNZ's head office in Wellington.
“The scholarship programme provides us with a unique opportunity to strengthen ties between REANNZ and the wealth of developing talent that can be found across New Zealand's student sector,” says Steve Cotter, REANNZ CEO.
The scholarship is open to anyone who is currently undertaking a bachelor or postgraduate programme in ICT sciences, business or systems engineering from relevant tertiary institutions and polytechnics across New Zealand.
“With the current levels of growth we're experiencing within the IT sector, and the resulting shortage of talent that we, and other IT firms are seeing, we want to contribute where we can to the up-skilling of the nation's future IT workforce, particularly in the areas of research and education,” Cotter explains.
“If we are to keep pace with our international counterparts, we need to see more investment like this, to help foster and fuel New Zealand's next generation of home grown IT specialists,” he says.
"This internship is designed to help fund the future talent we need to thrive and prosper.
Each scholarship will include internal mentoring and professional business guidance to the value of $5,000, as well as the opportunity to apply for an additional $3,000 for further training and professional development, based on the merit of their project. Students will also receive a $5,000 stipend for accommodation and living costs for the duration of the internship, the company explains.
Successful applicants will also have the opportunity to attend and submit a talk at e-Research NZ's annual conference, held in Queenstown in February 2016.