Four university students who are aspiring to build careers in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) field began an intensive three-month internship with various companies in the industry as the seventh annual Technology Leadership Forum (TLF) internship programme kicked off today with a brief ceremony at the Craig Appin House.
Charnea Richardson, Chris Wellman, Yuzaire Bean and Alexis Burgess will begin interning with Logic, Nova, ACT and CCS respectively.
The TLF is a registered charity that was originally formed to accommodate the growing need for qualified Bermudians in the ICT field.
The primary goal of the TLF has been to promote and foster technology education for college-level students which is successfully achieved through the annual summer internship. The organization plans on broadening its outreach in the coming year by expanding its programmes to younger students and exploring opportunities that would attract them to the field.
The internship gives students hands on experience and exposure to the field via classroom learning, team projects and assignments. The students are not only trained in technology related materials but they are also provided with soft skills training which industry partners deem to be as important as technical skills for professional development.
At the completion of the programme, the interns will receive a certificate of excellence, which, in the future, will allow industry partners to know the level of expertise they bring to the table because they successfully completed the curriculum designed by the TLF partners.
TLF Vice-Chair Ronnie Viera explained why he is committed to mentoring young, local talent in the industry: “I am passionate about developing and growing our local talent in the area of technology. I think that we need to do everything we can so that as a country we have a solid talent pool and knowledge base to draw on for the next era of technological developments and initiatives both in academia and in the business world.”
Minister of Economic Development, Dr. Grant Gibbons told the interns: “I hope that you are ready to work hard this summer as you will be challenged at every turn. Through your achievements and your work ethic so far, you have earned your spot in this internship.”
“It is now your job to make sure that, over the next three months, you turn it into growth and progress towards your career aspirations. Make sure that it helps you move forward and attain more significant goals both professionally and personally.”
The TLF Internship Programme is sponsored by CCS, the Department of E-Commerce, Nova, Logic Communications, ICS, ACT, The Elbow Beach Resort, RenRe and IBM/BCS.