HCT students to boost career prospects with cutting-edge IT training

The initiative will significantly boost graduate employability locally and internationally, and follows on from a successful pilot program running at the HCT Dubai Women's College (DWC) campus since April 2012.

Throughout 2013 - 2014, significant numbers of HCT students will graduate with the latest skills and qualifications in many of SAP's key business solutions, which will be applicable to over 25 industries including oil and gas, purchasing, banking, sales, marketing, HR and supply chain management.

Key to the program's success is its ability to provide students with hands-on classroom and lab experiences with SAP software - a core component of the HCT's learning by doing philosophy. Benefits include access to software licenses, instructional workshops and conferences for professors, course materials, and other instructional aides.

"Teaming up with SAP provides HCT IT and Business students with a cutting-edge learning experience and builds their technical skills and business competencies. In particular, the training will provide business students with the SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) skills needed to bridge the gap between industry and academia. This is an important collaboration, and we are looking forward to our students successfully filling many SAP ERP-relevant industry positions," said Dr. Howard Reed, Senior Director - Higher Colleges of Technology.

The project forms part of SAP's globally acclaimed University Alliances Program (UAP), which is explcitly designed to support existing business, engineering and IT programs.

"In order to develop an innovative curriculum within HCT's Business Division, I am constantly seeking creative ways for students improve their employability through application and action. Our relationship with SAP, and the associated tools and case studies, allows us to design projects that truly integrate students' understanding of how information management supports decision-making at an enterprise level. In addition, we hope to use SAP's resources to create inter-disciplinary projects where our Computer and Information Science students act as consultants to our Business students," said Nick Nunnington, Associate vice Provost, Professional Programs- Higher Colleges of Technology.

SAP's UAP now counts five UAE universities as members, the others being Zayed University, UAE University, American University of Sharjah and the American University of Dubai. A total of 26 institutions across Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have signed up to date, and SAP hopes to double that figure within the next four years

"SAP is committed to helping UAE students gain a competitive edge, and this ambitious training initiative will undoubtedly help to produce dynamic workers capable of making important contributions this country's burgeoning and continually evolving economy," said Qais Gharaibeh, UAE Managing Director, SAP MENA.