SIGNAL – an ICT Graduate School aimed at boosting New Zealand’s local ICT talent,
skills and leadership – is now open for business.
In a New Zealand first, five South Island tertiary institutes – Ara Institute of Canterbury,
Lincoln University, Otago Polytechnic, the University of Canterbury and the University of
Otago – are working together as SIGNAL, so students can tap into the best that each
institution has to offer in the field of IT education, research and development.
SIGNAL, funded by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), is also closely aligned with
local industry, with the primary aim of meeting the technology sector’s demand for highlyskilled
graduates.
Interim chair of SIGNAL, Professor Sonia Mazey, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of
Canterbury’s College of Business and Law, says the graduate school’s mission is two-fold
– to boost the number of skilled professionals in the fast-growing ICT sector and to
support the sector with in-work training of ICT employees.
“SIGNAL has been informed by business needs and very well supported by the
Canterbury Development Corporation (CDC) and Dunedin City Council’s Enterprise
Dunedin.
“Their input was vital to the success of our tender, and we will continue that partnership
with business to ensure everything we do is aligned with their needs.”
As well as producing highly-skilled ICT graduates with work-relevant skills, SIGNAL will
provide more effective pathways for graduates from ICT education into employment and
will help grow New Zealand’s ICT talent and knowledge to support business growth,
innovation and productivity.
SIGNAL is now open for enrolments across its four industry-aligned programmes:
Educate, Xtend, Accelerate and Shift, and will open its doors at two physical locations:
The Granary in Dunedin’s burgeoning Warehouse Precinct and in the Innovation Precinct,
Christchurch - in February 2017.
For more information on SIGNAL go to: www.signal.ac.nz
