NTT DATA joins hands with Burapha University to produce COBOL programmers to the increasingly demanding market

Mr. Kotaro Oshio, Director of Operations, NTT Data (Thailand) Co., Ltd. was the company representative who signed a cooperation agreement with Burapha University to Implement the NTT DATA Critical Resource Preparation Program. The program's aim is to jointly cater qualified quality IT professionals for the job market, who will become an important force in the development of Thailand's financial industry. The program collaborates with IBM Thailand Co., Ltd. under the IBM Academic Initiative to develop knowledge and skills related to COBOL Programming, Mainframe and Hybrid Cloud systems through providing courses and training as well as forums where the faculty staff can exchange ideas, throughout the semester. Students will be offered free cloud credits to enable them to experience the systems used in real-world business. NTT DATA will support teachers both in terms of answering technical questions and other COBOL-related knowledge to ensure that students reach their full potential when they complete the course. Students who participate in the program will have the opportunity to work with NTT DATA during their internships, as well as upon graduation.

A shortage of COBOL programmers poses a pressing global challenge. Using COBOL for Mainframe's data processing is still a highly stable and efficient option. According to the Tech Channel, 70% of large enterprises and 45 out of 50 of the world's leading banks use COBOL on their systems. Every time a transaction is performed by an ATM card, the central system will run on COBOL 95% of the time.

Associate Professor Dr. Watcharin Kasalak, President of Burapha University said "This cooperation marks the synergies between one of the country's leading higher education institutions with a world-class technology company. Together, they promote and support the development of quality IT professionals, especially those with COBOL expertise for both domestic and international job market. At present, there is a global shortage of COBOL programmers. COBOL experts worldwide have an average age of 55. Yet, there are only 30% of universities worldwide that are offering courses on COBOL on their curriculums. Perceiving it as an outdated technology, most universities in Thailand do not offer courses on COBOL, or offer them only as an elective subject, even though it is still a very relevant technology especially in the finance and banking industries. Although COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) has been a high-level computing language for over 60 years, it is still very important for several mainstream industries such as finance and banking, social security, mutual funds, hotels and hospitals. These businesses run COBOL on their core processing systems, which are necessary to support a high volume of data and process them accurately and fast. The necessity of processing transactions for each business on the Mainframe means a continuing increase in demand for COBOL Programmers. Still, the number of COBOL Programmers are declining."