SLTC Partners with Wawiwa Tech Training to Reskill Data Scientists in Sri Lanka

Masters Corporate Education of Sri Lanka Technological Campus (SLTC) announced today that it has partnered with Wawiwa Tech Training, a technology vocational education provider from Israel, to offer specialized programs to reskill people in Sri Lanka to tech professions in high demand.

As part of the partnership, Masters Corporate Education will launch a new Wawiwa-powered program in May 2021, for the reskilling of Data Scientists.

The need for Data Scientists is huge

In today’s digital economy , where web and mobile applications help us manage nearly every aspect of our lives, data is king. Every digital action is visible and trackable, enabling corporations to accumulate and analyze vast amounts of both personal and business data. 

The use of ‘Big Data’ is driving disruption in every field — from vehicle navigation, through medicine, to cybersecurity.  Over the last decade, the new profession of Data Scientist has appeared on the market. The job of Data Scientists is to create business value from the ever-increasing amounts of data that has become available.

The problem is, there simply aren’t enough qualified Data Scientists to go around. According to research from IBM, in 2020 the number of vacant data science positions in the U.S. alone will grow by 364,000 to 2,720,000. Sri Lanka’a Daily Mirror confirmed this shortage exists also in Sri Lanka: “Sri Lanka fails to meet the expected demand for data scientists due to a lack of skilled graduates from a data science background. 

This has hindered the country’s ability to reap the benefits offered by the industry.” In 2019, LinkedIn co-founder Allen Blue said, “there are very few data scientists passing out their resumes. Data scientists are almost all already employed, because they’re so much in demand.”

Wawiwa Tech Training and the Israeli advantage

Wawiwa is a tech education provider from Israel, the Startup Nation, which establishes local tech training centers with partners around the world, with a mission to bridge the tech skills gap by reskilling people for tech professions in high demand. 

The company offers cutting-edge programs for the reskilling to tech jobs in high demand — such as full-stack developers, cybersecurity specialists, and data scientists — and utilizes a proven blended  training methodology that was developed in Israel, the Startup Nation. 

Israel earned that nickname due to its global technology dominance. The country is home for 18,000 startups and boasts as #1 in Startups per Capita, #1 in R&D employees rate (more than the U.S. in #2), #3 in Nasdaq-listed companies (after U.S. & China), #1 in VC investment per Capita, and #2 as the most highly-educated country in the world. 

Wawiwa perfected the training methodologies used in the Israeli army to train new soldiers with no technological experience to become savvy professionals in programming, data science, and cybersecurity within a few months.

Wawiwa uses a proprietary JET Design methodology, which would be passed on to SriLankan trainers from the local industry, to blend its cutting-edge content, digital learning platforms, and strong industry relations, and deliver tech training programs that result in high employability and graduate satisfaction.

More than Knowledge: Job-Readiness

Wawiwa focuses its programs on hands-on exercise and post-program employability. Lasser says: “In the past, a computer science degree was enough to get a job, but times are changing. The job market gets more competitive and university curriculums may not necessarily get updated to reflect industry requirements. 

With rising unemployment and many candidates competing for available jobs, employability is a key factor. Employers are looking for employees that would hit the ground running and create value on the job with as little training as possible. A college degree may show a candidate’s ability to study, but it is not an indicator of certain technical skills or the ability to solve problems. Job readiness is therefore more important than ever in today’s business environment.”

Wawiwa therefore dedicates 70% of the training program to actual hands-on practice of the taught materials and skills – performed both independently and in small groups. Student projects are reviewed by trainers and industry mentors and feedback is provided – on both knowledge and skills – so that students can learn, improve, and grow. 

Wawiwa also works with its local partners to establish a local Advisory Committee of leading tech companies, who get to influence the programs’ curriculum so that students are taught the exact knowledge and skills that would be useful for them to get hired upon graduation. 

The Data Science Program is 12-month long, which ensures the depth of the studies and the practice on the one hand, and the relevance of the taught lessons on the other hand. This results in very high employment rates among Wawiwa programs’ graduates.

Soft skills are also being taken care of during the training. “Looking back on my experience training software programmers and data scientists in the Israeli military and in the private sector later in my career, Apart from learning the latest programming languages and software development tools, training programs need to include the development of soft skills, such as teamwork, communications, time management, and resilience, which employers are looking for.”

Data Science is not for everyone. Who is it for?

Data Scientists need some skills to begin with before they enroll, they cannot start from scratch. In order to be admitted to Wawiwa’s Data Scientist Program, candidates would need to demonstrate basic math and statistics skills and some experience with programming (but any coding language would do).

Other Wawiwa programs  offered by Masters might fit people with no technical background looking to reskill for tech jobs in high demand.

Putting Sri Lanka on the Fast Track to Tech

Eng. Ranjith Rubasinghe, Founder President and CEO of SLTC, said at the signing ceremony of the partnership with Wawiwa: “Israel is known for its tech talent across the world. This partnership is important to SLTC and brings value even beyond SLTC, to the country.

 I personally believe that bringing valuable technology upskilling programmes around data science will help evolve the entire economy and Sri Lankan Tech industry to the next level. This partnership will create a new standard for IT upskilling in Sri Lanka.”

Nuwan Dilshan, Head of SLTC’s Masters Corporate Education, said: “We’re excited about the partnership with Wawiwa Tech Training. At Masters, we believe in growth through insights and exploring new disruptive business models. Data-driven decision making is really important for any business beyond pandemic. 

We look forward to helping Sri Lankan organizations to reskill and upskill their talented employees to Data Scientists to take advantage of the global era of data, and to strengthening the Sri Lankan technology ecosystem.”

You can get more information about the Data Scientist Program from Masters Corporate Education at events@themastersworld.com, or by visiting our website at https://themastersworld.com/