Sydney partners with Telstra to prepare future workforce

Today the University of Sydney and Telstra announced a partnership to jointly develop the skills and capabilities of students to prepare them for the future of work.

The partnership will build on the University’s focus on transforming the undergraduate curriculum and will give students real-world experience in network and software engineering, cyber security and data analytics.

Telstra will work with the University of Sydney to enhance student learning through industry placements and integrated work experiences, research and innovation opportunities, and early access to career opportunities.

New opportunities for students and academics

University of Sydney Vice-Principal of External Relations, Tania Rhodes-Taylor, said the partnership would provide new opportunities for University of Sydney students.

“We are delighted to be expanding our relationship with Telstra. This partnership will provide collaborative research and education opportunities for both our academics and students across a range of disciplines,” she said.

Telstra signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the University of Sydney, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and the University of Technology Sydney.

Increasing Australia's tech talent pool

Chief Executive Officer of Telstra, Andrew Penn said the partnerships were one way the company planned to build Australia’s technology talent and close the gap between the demand and supply of highly-skilled professionals.

“Telstra is committed to working with education institutions, industry partners and government to build a bigger pipeline of technology graduates in Australia, for the overall benefit of the nation,” said Mr Penn.

“By investing time, money and energy into these partnerships, we aim to provide clarity on the skills we need and create more opportunities for students to develop them. Together with universities, we will boost the supply of diverse technology graduates for our own workforce, and the nation,” he said.

A chance to tackle society's "biggest issues"

University of Sydney academic from the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Professor Branka Vucetic is a pioneer in telecommunications and Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies. She has worked with Telstra to develop the 5G network.

“Following the success of our existing work with Telstra within the Faculty of Engineering, this new education partnership will offer our students and researchers the chance to tackle some of the biggest issues disrupting society today,” said Professor Vucetic.

The partnership will continue for a minimum two-year term and Telstra is currently working with each university to prioritise the first set of initiatives under each agreement.