Sydney, Australia, 26 May 2020: IBM has announced a new partnership with Indigenous charity, Barayamal, to support and drive Indigenous entrepreneurship in the technology sector.

The partnership will see IBM work with Barayamal to help Indigenous Australians interested in a technology career build their skills and knowledge of the industry, including how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cloud technologies are shaping the future for the ICT sector.

Managing Director for IBM A/NZ Katrina Troughton said “We are proud to partner with Barayamal, a leader in the Indigenous entrepreneurship space who have launched a unique accelerator program and hackathon for Indigenous people.

“IBM has worked hard over the past two years to build our foundations in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander reconciliation.  We have engaged IBMers across Australia to not only act, but to listen, learn and find practical ways to create meaningful opportunities with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  We have much to do in our industry and IBM's intention is to respectfully and positively impact this journey. 

“This partnership with Barayamal will help Indigenous Australians to build their ICT and STEM skills for the future.  It is an integral part of our vision of long-term, beneficial and reciprocal partnerships with the Traditional Custodians of our land that are culturally appropriate and inclusive,” Ms Troughton said.

IBM will work with Barayamal to help drive technology and innovation skills and outcomes for emerging Australian indigenous entrepreneurs by providing access to leading experts and mentors, and skills sessions to help participants learn about enterprise grade technologies to help solve problems and bring their innovation ideas to market.

Dean Foley, Barayamal’s founder and CEO said, “IBM is a great example of corporate innovation through engagement with grassroots Indigenous entrepreneurship and we are excited for this partnership.”

“To kick off the partnership we recently hosted our first joint virtual Demo Day where six indigenous start-ups pitched to 80 attendees, showcasing innovative ideas across a range of sectors including design, printing, energy, health and digital identification.”

“At Barayamal, we believe entrepreneurship and technology can change the world for the better. We’re on a mission to close the disparity gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians through rolling out programs, events and providing opportunities to support Indigenous entrepreneurs with the help of IBM,” Mr Foley said.

IBM will provide virtual and face to face ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions where participants can seek technical advice, guidance on their business model and market information to help them better understand the industry.

Further information about Barayamal is available here https://barayamal.com.au/

For further information on IBM visit www.ibm.com