Smart, CSB renew partnership to produce industry-ready graduates

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) recently signed a memorandum of agreement to renew its partnership to enhance Information and Communications Technology (ICT) courses to prepare students for the needs of the telco industry.

On hand to sign the agreement were PLDT and Smart chief information officer Wilma Cruz and DLS-CSB School of Management and Information Technology dean Benhur Ong.

Since 2008, Smart and DLS-CSB have been working together to enhance IT education, particularly in the offering of the Applied Developers Intro School (ADIS), a special course developed by Smart’s IT group for new hires and which is being offered as an elective at the DLS-CSB.

In the second semester of schoolyear 2011-2012, DLS-CSB will also be offering Development Programming, an Android elective that resulted from a five-day Android training program that Smart conducted for IT and ECE faculty of partner schools offering ADIS as well as those under the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP).

To help faculty and students perform actual installation of their applications on a real Android device, Cruz turned over two Netphones or Android phones to be used as test phones in the conduct of the Android elective.

“Smart is working with DLS-CSB to shorten the learning curve of those wishing to be an IT practitioner in the telco industry. When this happens, it’s not only the school and the students who benefit, but also Smart and the rest of the telco and IT industry, and the country as well,” she said.

There are also plans to offer an elective on Wholesale Applications Community (WAC) applications development.