ThoughtWorks, an international IT consultancy firm with a mission to revolutionize software creation, early this month trained software engineers at this year’s JAMS session at Uganda’s Makerere University.
The 14-day event, dubbed JAMS session, that aimed at equipping the learners with business analysis and software development skills expected the learners to pass through the skills tests and use the skills developed to create new products in the market, as well as provide innovative solutions to the communities.
“Apart from software development, we want the students to learn how to think from the customers’ perspectives,” said Kishore Yekkanti, a software developer with Thoughtworks.
The Makerere software engineering students were trained in software skills including Test Driven Development (TDD), Object Oriented Programming. They were also exposed to Linux and Unix operating systems, which are becoming popular in the job market and experience in customer handling.
“This is good news for many employers currently grappling with an ICT skills gap in their organisations in Europe and Africa,” Zaynab Leeya, a programme manager at Thoughtworks, told HumanIPO.
The consultancy firm also trained the learners in Agile Analysis skills essential for understanding how to gather, express and manage changing business and technical requirements in responsive environments.
Early last year, Eric Kamara a technology manager at Grameen Foundation, had promised the firm would conduct a series of trainings to build the students’ software development skills in readiness for the competitive job market.
“We want to avail more mentorship opportunities for these students and also share our skills to them to meet the needs of the current competitive job environment,” Kamara said.
ThoughtWorks collaborated with UNICEF, Grameen Foundation, Yo and SMS Media in training the software engineering students at Makerere University’s College of Computing and Information Sciences..
Roy Singham founded ThoughtWorks in 1993.
