NetRider representing Austria @WorldSkills in Sao Paulo 2015
BIM in Salzburg from 20. to 23. November 2014
On this fair visitors could learn about different professions by practically seeing what a certain profession stands for, what activities and task it comprises and what educational path you need to choose to become just that.
At the same time the National Competition in 15 professions were taking place and visitors could see young talents competing about who is the best of Austria. One of the professions was IT Network and Systems Administrator (Trade39). And this was our question:
Who is going to represent Austria at the WorldSkills 2015 in Sao Paulo?
- Johannes Pinger, HTL Rennweg
- David Rieger, FH St.Pölten
- Philipp Adam, HTL Rennweg
- Florian Hermann, HTL Ungargasse
We congratulate all participants for their exceptional performance and motivation and Johannes Pinger from HTL Rennweg as the winner. It was an honor for me to personally meet you all. Again. I actually just meet Johannes on October 26 where he participated in the Cisco NetRiders competition.
For Johannes it is a start into an intense time of preparing for competing against the Nations best. A scary thing … that we will master. All of our support is yours, Johannes!
The Spirit of Skills Competitions
Everyone who has ever visited a skills competition knows that this is something special – it is like a virus.
A virus that should spread!
A two people team was able to organize that 15 professions had their National competitions at BIM, last year it was 8. Extraordinary help is needed to be able to accomplish this:
- 15 apprentices from ÖBB on duty for the Skills team
- 2 teams of each 8 people from the Vocational School for carpenters in Wals were responsible for wooden construction of booths and installations needed
- machines and material from numerous sponsors (Würth, Siemens, Emco, Cisco … )
- exhibition ground funded by the Chamber of Commerce Salzburg
- and many more hands …
It was possible to welcome 3 teams consisting of the contestant and the accompanying expert from Finland, Germany and Lichtenstein who used the competition as their training event. Cool !
And after the event everybody – contestants and experts – work together to pack everything and leave the place as empty as it was before. Thank you to all contributors to make this learning experience available for so many people.
A real joint effort !
LINKS
More impressions at www.skillsaustria.at
Do you know the Hour of Code?
40,000 classrooms around the world are signed up for the Hour of Code!
4285 events in Italy
598 events in the United Kingdom
633 events in Canada
Don’t let your students miss out on the chance to learn skills that can change the course of their lives.
Ask your school to get involved
Exclusive tutorial for the Hour of Code 2014 – featuring “Frozen” heroines Anna and Elsa! Try it
The activity will soon be translated into 30+ languages. If you can help, visit https://code.org/translate
20 additional Hour of Code tutorials are here – with options for every age, every device, and even “unplugged.”
Anybody can participate. No experience needed, no computers either.
Please help your students learn the basics of computer science during December 8-14 and help the Hour of Code get to 100 million students worldwide!
Sign up your class at http://hourofcode.com
Hadi Partovi, Code.org
Media Zone at Kindercity
“I wished that this kind of introduction to technology would have been there when I was that age.”
Congratulation to Kindercity – Sandrine and Jean Christophe Gostanian for their exceptional concept and implementation of the new Media Zone at Kindercity
What is the Kindercity?
Kindercity is the place to visit for playing with science. It is a perfect combination of fun and knowledge for children of all ages. Sandrine and Jean Christophe Gostanian have been able to run the Kindercity as a private organization, which is very admirable. They advocate for STEM skill education and focus on early childhood understanding of technology and natural sciences. Today the Kindercity stands on its 6’000 square meters with around 250,000 visitors per year.
What is the Media Zone?
The inauguration of the Kindercity Media Zone opened the world of learning about Networking and Communication. The Internet and its good and bad actor are introduced in a very simple way so that understanding is guaranteed. When you think about how to explain the Internet to a child who has been using the Internet and mobile phones with Internet Access for his or her entire life, it becomes clear that this is not such an easy task.
How did they do this?
They had help. Help from young apprentices from companies in the region supporting the Kindercity initiatives and activities. As such both sides were able to learn – they share their knowledge with children of all ages and learn how to explain technical topics like automation, robotics, energy and computing in an understandable way suited for their target group.
Kindercity is the newest member of the Cisco Networking Academy in Switzerland.
Welcome in our program!
Cisco Switzerland supported the Media Zone exhibition with Internet Highway equipment. If you are interested in working with Kindercity or experience it as an innovative event location, Sandrine and Jean Christophe are always looking for more partners.
LINKS
Presse: Kindercity will fuer Informatik & Technik begeistern
@ Kindercity – Chlirietstrasse 12, CH-8604 Volketswil
More than a bridge from industry to education
Taking part in shaping the workforce and gain a competitive advantage with early access to their future IT talent is an alliance indispensable for success.
SUCCESS FACTOR: Collaboration NTS and Cisco Networking Academy FH St.Pölten
Interview with Beatrix Ortner by Jutta Jerlich, Cisco Networking Academy Program Management Austria
What is the relationship between NTS and Cisco Networking Academies?
We closely work with Cisco Networking Academies in several locations in Austria connecting with students during their studies at the academies. We are looking for people with knowledge in the area of Voice, Data Center and Networking Technology.
NTS is closely working with the University of Applied Science FH St.Pölten because they have a strong Cisco focus in their study program. The students at FH St.Pölten usually come from HTL Spengergasse or HTL Rennweg which are among the most renowned Cisco Networking Academies in Austria.
The interaction between the academy and NTS encompasses a close relationship between NTS HR and the manager of the Cisco Networking Academy FH St.Pölten, the offer for a three months internship at NTS to students as well as an exchange of thought between NTS and the Cisco Networking Academy FH St.Pölten about the development of the curricula towards topics needed in the market, such as for example voice and data center knowledge.
The NTS Trainee Program
Studies at a University of Applied Sciences in Austria have the requirement to complete a three months professional internship with a company during their Bachelor-studies. This three months internship is offered to students from the FH St.Pölten. There is no more recruitment or advertising of the internship positions needed because of the close contact resulting in students being selected on a very direct and personal level.
At NTS the three months internship is called trainee program and about 3 to 4 trainees are taken every year. When the students start at NTS, they get a mentor assigned based on their topic of interest. They have the support of this mentor also for a project they have to complete for their studies. At the same time they work with customers from their first day onwards.
During the three months it is easily possible to see if the young talent has the required knowledge and attitude as well as if there is a cultural fit. In return the intern can see if NTS is a company he or she wants to work for. The experience is that all trainees are being offered employment, accept it and stay in the company.
If the students do want to continue their Master studies for another two years. NTS offers them to work part-time for 20 hours and 100% employment after they complete their Masters.
Can you describe the impact this had on NTS?
Due to the closeness to the Cisco Networking Academies NTS is able to plan with and rely on a talent pipeline for their company development plan. The key factors are:
- Very high (almost 100%) employee retention rate
We have almost no loss of employees, they enjoy their work. Giving our young talents responsibilities and valuing their contribution leads them paying back double. - Almost doubled the size of the company in 3 years
NTS managed to grow the company from about 80 employees to almost double the number today in only 3 years. - Have an open company culture with motivated people and a constant new technology inflow
The motivation of the young people is worth a whole lot for NTS. They are open for new ideas and new topics. They also bring new skills into the teams that are very important for the overall development of the company.
We include FH St.Poelten into our development plan, we could not achieve our company goals without them.
Are there other ways you engage with education and society?
NTS is engaging in the new initiative of Cisco Austria and Cisco Networking Academy Austria, the Top Talent Club Austria. Since there were not yet any female applicants for the NTS trainee program, NTS want to support women coming into IT. Therefore NTS and the FH St.Pölten, initiated and supported by the Cisco Networking Academy Program Management Austria, are in the process of designing a program and/or initiative supporting und mentoring female students already during their studies to keep them motivated to actually finish their studies.
There is also an initiative being designed that should help the FH St.Pölten to attract more female students to their study programs.
NTS – CISCO GOLD PARTNER in AUSTRIA www.nts.eu The Company was founded 19 years ago by Herr Albler and Herr Koller in Graz, Austria. The collaboration and early engagement with Networking Academy Students is and has been instrumental for building a pipeline of highly qualified and motivated young talents for their company development.
Cisco Student Day in Lviv
On October 31st the National Polytechnic University in Lviv, Ukraine together with the Krakow Global Support Center (GSC) hosted the Annual Cisco Student Day!
This year’ event marked a ground-braking milestone in the development of the graduate pipeline from Ukraine to Krakow GSC. The collaboration brought about exciting new developments to the event’s agenda including that of training, networking, professional development and employment opportunities.
The event brought together over one hundred participants, who had the opportunity to learn about CISCO’s state-of-the-art technologies and career opportunities at Krakow GSC. The event consisted of three sessions:
- For students and trainees of the academy
- For Academy Instructors
- For students of schools, gymnasiums, lyceums and secondary specialized schools
There were numerous success stories of the graduates, among which:
Sergii Aleksieiev’s story. He is a former student of Lviv Polytechnic National University who is CCNA and CCNP Certified, now works for Krakow GSC as a System Engineer.
The Cisco Academy and Instructor Training Center “Lviv Polytechnic” started Cisco courses in 2006, and trained more than 300 students already.
LINKS
Linux Community Intitiative
In collaboration with The Open University the Cisco Networking Academy is launching an initiative to enable schools, colleges and other educational organizations who are not yet a member of the global Cisco Networking Academy Program to teach Linux skills for free. The initiative was born in the UK but quickly expanded into other countries in Europe.
If you are from a school, college, training provider, educational charity, university or another valid interested party, you can join this community and apply to become a Cisco Networking Academy delivering LPI Linux courses.
Curriculum Objectives and Course modules
Frequently Asked Questions: Linux Essentials
It is an open and free community depending on everyone’s contribution. Volunteers including the Open University are donating 30-60 minutes a week working on the different forums to support the needs of participating members. The Academy Incubator is the framework that gives you as an easy entry into the Cisco Networking Academy program.
The Initiative
How-to-join and community rules
The people behind this initiative
Additional benefits
- Licensed use of Packet Tracer
- Cisco self-enroll courses (Entrepreneurship, Introduction to the IoE, …)
- Career development portal for all students
- Global Community of Educators & Learners
- Competitions, events and ideas
LINKS
Technology in Action 