Photo: Max Potts The Earth Village Community, Jenny Barber, Victoria University Polytechnic, Archana Chanddrabu Victoria University [Source: DJSIR] SummerTech LIVE program helps students become job ready and businesses boost digital skills Thanks to a Victorian Government program, more than 170 technology students used their summer break to get hands-on experience while also helping Victorian businesses solve real-world tech challenges. The highly successful SummerTech LIVE program operates as a paid 10–12-week studentship during the summer break. Students and graduates receive $5,000 each for their participation and the program is delivered at no cost to businesses. The program has matched more than 500 students with 290 Victorian businesses since it began in 2017. Last year, the Victorian Government announced it would inject a further $2.5 million over two years, allowing even more students to kickstart their digital careers, while also providing much-needed digital skills to Victorian businesses. STL2023 Showcase On 18 April, students and employers presented their projects at a showcase event, sharing their learnings and achievements. Photo: Kelly Hutchinson returned as MC for the fourth year and kept the teams on track with their 3-minute pitches. [Source: DJSIR] Besides supporting students to gain vital professional skills and build their networks, SummerTech LIVE is also focused on increasing cyber security by connecting businesses with a workforce that can develop solutions and tackle constant threats head-on. SummerTech LIVE is delivered on behalf of the Victorian Government by the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). The next round of SummerTech LIVE is expected to open later this year. For more information, please visit SummerTech LIVE. Originally published by Victorian Connection on 19 April 2023
Abhi and Smit in an online meeting with Mountoken Working with a startup has been an exciting experience for students taking part in SummerTech LIVE. "I’ve enjoyed putting my skills into practice working with this startup,” says Smit, one of more than 140 tech students and recent graduates who have taken part in the Victorian Government’s SummerTech LIVE program this year. ”I never realised how much I’d learn on the job, and how good it is to be introduced to so many new networks and connections in the industry.” Smit is completing his final year in a computer science degree at RMIT and was partnered to work on Mountoken, a social impact startup venture at RMIT activator, alongside Abhi, a recent RMIT Masters graduate in Cloud Computing. Abhi has enjoyed the collaborative approach to solving problems. At the time of writing, the team are in their final weeks of the project. “We’re collaborating closely on our work, which is right out at the forefront of tech,” says Abhi. "Working on a project for a startup like this is very special, as we get to work with cutting edge technologies, which are experimental.” Abhi and Smit (centre L-R) have enjoyed working on a new tech project with Sonia and Erin (outside L and R) from startup, Mountoken SummerTech LIVE is a paid 10–12-week studentship which matches students with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across Victoria to help solve their digital problems, taking place over the summer break. Delivered on behalf of the Victorian Government by the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, SummerTech LIVE is designed to give students valuable industry experience and a chance to kickstart their career. It also helps small to medium businesses boost their competitiveness and solve problems with new and emerging technologies. According to Sonia Komaravalli from Mountoken, the support Smit and Abhi have provided to the Mountoken project has helped progress the IT development of their social impact platform in ways that would not have been possible otherwise. “I am thrilled to be working with Smit and Abhi. They’re helping us design a digital art platform that will enable emerging, under-represented, Indigenous and remote artists to embrace blockchain technology so they can protect their intellectual property and sell work internationally. “The coding knowledge and expertise Smit and Abhi have contributed is amazing and highly professional. Thanks to them we are all looking forward to launching a successful project very soon.” For more information visit SummerTech LIVE.