An initiative, through JT’s Community Giving scheme, has seen the company donate some of their older servers and storage equipment, to Highlands College.
The more modern, specialist IT hardware has been gifted to the Computing and Creative Arts Department and although these servers are a decade old, they are more advanced than the college’s current equipment. To comply with required standards, JT needed to replace its current servers and as part of their circular economy commitments, offered them to the local college to repurpose. This donation ensures the servers are put to good use and goes in some way to helping bridge the skills gap and encouraging more people to enter the industry. Students now have access to resources that mirror professional IT environments and creative industry standards, enabling the college to deliver specialised IT training and AV projects, equipping students with industry-relevant skills. Several of JT’s IT team were once students at the collage, so giving something back to support learning for tomorrows talent was a key driver for JT.
Ben Pirozzolo, Technical and Production Services Coordinator at Highlands College, said, ‘Due to the high cost of industrial quality server equipment, Highlands College often relies on donations of modern specialised IT hardware. These valuable donations help support students in not only computing based qualifications, but also Digital AV qualifications such as audio and video technology, digital games, film, journalism and performing and visual arts.
‘This fantastic contribution from JT means we can be more up to date, giving our students an advantage when they enter the local workforce.’
The servers and storage hardware from JT will replace some of the College’s outdated equipment, positively impacting the quality of training and skills Highlands are able to provide students locally.
Pip Carpenter, Head of Consumer Markets and Community Partnerships at JT, commented, ‘Where we can we are committed to providing young people with the equipment needed to teach essential IT skills, which are increasingly important in today’s digital economy. A well-trained workforce supports Jersey’s digital infrastructure, facilitating better communication and business operations across the island. This also contributes to our promise to support a circular economy – we’ve donated equipment that we can no longer use but will be of use to the college for many years to come.
Ben added, ‘’By supplying more modern resources Highlands College can equip students with highly sought-after skills in courses such as Microsoft Azure, Hyper-V virtualisation, Microsoft SQL, and networking fundamentals. JT’s donation helps students to be ‘job ready’ in skills such as data management, analytics and foundational networking abilities, as well as practical and problem-solving skills to meet the needs of businesses in Jersey well into the future.’
