The Maltese government this month launched a free GNU/Linux training program. The courses are sponsored by IT services giant IBM, and are open to IT employees both within the public and the private sector. Malta hopes the courses will increase knowledge on Linux and stimulate interest in other Open Source technologies.
IBM is also providing foreign trainers to come to Malta for the four week training programme. All courses are given free of charge to a maximum of 60 trainees. If completed successfully, the trainees will be certified as Linux Entry Level Administrators.
The classes are spread out over four weeks and cover four major topics, Linux Power User, Linux System Administration, Linux TCP/IP Administration, and a course combining selected topics, such as Linux Bash Programming, Linux as a Firewall, Linux as a web server (Apache) and Linux integrating with Windows (Samba).
The GNU/Linux training programme is an initiative of the ministry of Investment, Industry and IT. It is one of a number of plans developed last year aimed to foster the local information society and engender the local IT industry, explains Joanna Azzopardi, who at the ministry coordinates the programme.
The local IT industry is very important in socio-economic terms for Malta, she says. Malta's government sees promoting local IT skills as a priority: "This should allow our IT sector to grow and prosper."
Local interest in the GNU/Linux course is greater than expected. Azzopardi: "We're very satisfied with the response. The deadline is past by over 2 weeks and we're still receiving phone calls and emails from persons interested to attend. Unfortunately we can't accept late applications."
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Further information:
- Malta's Linux program (English)