The first HP Education Centre in Malta was officially opened last week at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST).

The new centre will provide students with more in-depth professional expertise in a number of mainstream IT and related technologies and is a direct result of an agreement signed between HP and MCAST 18 months ago and the support of the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA). The centre hosts quite a bit of very expensive and modern equipment that will be used by students in the areas of networking, cloud computing, storage systems and VOIP. All higher national diploma and BSc students will be using this centre in the coming academic year. The centre will also be used to host part-time students in the evening.

HP has not only donated the hardware but has also made available its curriculum and teaching material. This material will be used both as part of the normal day and evening courses but also for stand-alone courses which will lead to HP certification.

HP said the technologies in the centre are the same that power the “infrastructure” products and services provided by the ICT industry and are the drivers behind a wide range of online services, including movies-on-demand, virtual operating theatres or flexible and dynamic business tools and services through the cloud.

Since 2006, 1,345 students graduated with diplomas and degrees from the MCAST Institute of ICT. The number of graduates during the last academic year, 358, represents a 208 per cent increase over the same figure five years earlier.