Datapac Inspires Clane College Technology Students

Datapac, Ireland’s largest indigenous ICT solutions provider, continued its strong commitment to supporting further education and developing the skills of students and graduates in Ireland, when it hosted seventeen students from the PC maintenance course run by Clane College in the Wexford Enterprise Centre.

The students, along with their Industry Liason Officer, Perri Williams, were invited to Datapac’s facility and support centre in Enniscorthy, where they met with employees and senior management, and were provided with real-life experience of some of the world’s leading technologies.

Datapac collaborates with many Irish third level institutions and has a successful work placement programme in operation for almost a decade. Since the programme’s inception, more than 100 students and graduates have gained valuable work experience, with many going on to work full-time in Datapac.

The aim of Clane College’s visit was to enable the students to put into practice the theory they are learning and to discover the types of roles and career opportunities that are currently available for skilled IT graduates.

Karen O’Connor, general manager for service delivery and Owen Kirwan, senior systems engineer from Datapac escorted the students through the facility and detailed the skills expected for each of the positions within the company and outlined the day-to-day activities of the IT professionals.

Perri Williams, Industry Liason Officer, Clane College, who joined the students on their visit said, “It was fantastic for the students of the PC Maintenance course to be invited to Datapac’s premises and gain first-hand insight into the types of roles that are open to them when they graduate.

“The students were particularly excited to hear from some of Datapac’s IT professionals who joined the company as graduates and progressed to more senior roles, where they now provide technology solutions in collaboration with many of the world’s leading technology companies such as Microsoft, HP, Cisco and EMC. We all came away from the event with heightened knowledge levels and there has been a general feeling of elevated motivation and enthusiasm among the students following their hands-on experience.”

Karen O’Connor, general manager service delivery, Datapac said, ‘”As a leading ICT provider, we are excited by the opportunities open to skilled technology graduates. We want to stimulate IT students’ interests in real-world technology and highlight the careers available to them. Ireland is predicting 44,000 ICT jobs to become available in the next six years, so we need to have colleges like Clane producing highly skilled graduates. Datapac can then look forward to bringing them to the next level.

“The talent of some of the students coming through our third level colleges is very exciting and we are honoured to be in the position to meet with these eager students and support them on their career paths.”

Clane College, owned and managed by Vaeni McDonnell, is a private educational institute that offers a range of business, accounting and technology courses. Clane College aims to provide a practical, hands on educational experience to students, with the view of having them ready to tackle real work related situations.

-Ends-