PRAGUE, Sept. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) announces that ŠKODA AUTO University has signed an agreement of collaboration which will provide students from ŠKODA AUTO University academic courses in new areas including artificial intelligence, Big Data and high performance computing across a broad range of ŠKODA AUTO University study programs.

"Under the agreement IBM teams will help develop new technical skills for students of this private college. Our mission is to enable students to graduate with direct hands-on experience of 'industrial strength' tools that will help them in their chosen career. Technology, including AI, is now embedded in every industry, and college students will need to constantly evolve and adapt for their future careers as new types of jobs are created," says Zuzana Kocmanikova CGM IBM Czech Republic.

"At ŠKODA AUTO University we try to reflect the market requirements and prepare future graduates for the ever-changing needs of employers with the new study program Business Economics and Management Informatics," explains Pavel Mertlik, rector ŠKODA AUTO University.

The IBM Academic Initiative Program creates new opportunities for internships, studentships and placements in addition to promoting improvement amongst ŠKODA AUTO University graduates' employability through collaboration with a world-leading technology company.

The key focus of this collaboration is to give students consultancy, mentoring and tools to build new skills needed in the digital economy and get real experience from ICT industry. These skills can make them highly demanded in the job market as ŠKODA AUTO University graduates can establish, competences and experiences from real projects. IBM Academic Initiative give faculties and students access to emerging as well as enterprise level technologies and related course materials.

"As a global technology company, we see that the labor market is moving more from a traditional sector to a higher value-added sector that we are supporting. Working with ŠKODA AUTO University fits into our long-term strategy, which helps to create the necessary skills for practical application in applying the latest technology," adds David Enc, CTO IBM Czech Republic.

IBM Czech Republic has within the Academic Initiative longstanding relations with several Czech universities, including the Czech Technical University in Prague and Brno University of Technology. IBM has worked with several Czech Universities on vary projects, including the creation of the IoT Lab, Chatbot Lab and well as launching of P-Tech Program from September 2019. The Academic Initiative Program is educating students in AI, Big Data, and Business Analytics to help them learn more about the latest trends in the IT sector, and support the overall collaboration between the academic sector and business in the whole Czech Republic.

About the Skills Gap
In the next three years, as many as 120 million workers in the world's 12 largest economies may need to be retrained or reskilled as a result of AI and intelligent automation, according to a new IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) study. In addition, only 41 percent of CEOs surveyed say that they have the people, skills and resources required to execute their business strategies. The study, which includes input from more than 5,670 global executives in 48 countries, points to compounding challenges that require a fundamental shift in how companies meet and manage changing workforce needs throughout all levels of the enterprise.

About ŠKODA AUTO University
ŠKODA AUTO University was founded in 2000 as the first and the only company university in the Czech Republic. Its founder is ŠKODA AUTO, seated in MladáBoleslav, is one of the most important and most dynamically evolving companies in the Czech Republic and one of the largest brands of the Volkswagen group.

Contact:

Vladislav Doktor
vladislav.doktor1@ibm.com

SOURCE IBM