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IT professionals 'can aid global development'
IT News |
13/06/2012
Skilled IT professionals can make a significant difference to people living in under-developed parts of the world, according to one international development charity.
VSO is seeking qualified IT professionals to volunteer in some of the world’s poorest countries, including Ethiopia, Malawi and Bangladesh.
The charity is aiming to send 25 IT experts to struggling nations this September in a bid to help tackle poverty, with the majority of placements lasting one or two years.
Most of the volunteering roles are for IT advisors, with participants needed to create IT centres, train local people on how to use computers, troubleshoot and maintain technology infrastructures.
The minimum requirements for volunteers are an IT degree and three years' industry experience across a range of technology competencies.
Jon Rosser, interim director of VSO UK, said people want to work their way out of poverty and by sharing vital skills, IT professionals can help them do just that.
"You’ll leave behind a lasting legacy and it’s this sustainable approach that makes volunteering such a cost-effective way to fight poverty," he stated.
"We urgently need IT professionals on board. IT volunteers have found the experience rewarding, challenging, exciting and an opportunity to enhance their own career while also helping to make a real difference."
One former participant, Cheltenham-based IT security manager Alan Mercer, said he enjoyed a "wonderful and unique experience" volunteering in Ethiopia.
It was "humbling" to live and work alongside people who had very little but were willing to offer what they had to guests in their country, he added.
"You realise how lucky we are to be able to travel," Mr Mercer stated.
"It also makes you appreciate the things we take for granted in the UK, such as clean water, electricity, free education and healthcare."
Mr Mercer said that while the placement was not geared towards moving his technical IT competencies forward, it certainly helped with the development of softer, personal skills.
"Teaching a group of IT guys was a great experience," he stated.
"I am certainly more confident standing in front of people delivering presentations. Mentoring IT guys was also professionally very rewarding and I got a great sense of satisfaction seeing them implement the skills I had taught them."
Posted by Stephen Wilkinson
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