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i-ignite - Developing the next generation of IBM i talent across the UK
Overview The i-UG is a United Kingdom-based user group dedicated to supporting the IBM i community. It is a community-driven group that brings together IBM i application developers, system administrators, and all kinds of enthusiasts to share knowledge, best practices, and innovation relating to the IBM i platform. It is run by and for IBM i users, aiming to foster collaboration, networking, and skill development. They organize regular events, including technical conferences, webinars, and workshops where experts and users present on topics like RPG, Db2 for i, modernization, security, and more. i-UG advocates for the continued growth of IBM i and the community, often working with IBM and vendors to ensure the voice of the user community is heard. Bridging the skills gap i-UG noticed a trend in the IBM i talent pool and wanted to use their community and platform to address the issue of education to help develop the next generation. The user group looked to partner with the University of Wolverhampton to make inroads with local computer science and software engineering students to get them interested in a career working with IBM i and IBM® Power®. A computer science professor at the University of Wolverhampton challenged the user group to find a “skateboard” to get students interested in IBM i. Like mastering a skateboard, learning new technologies and languages requires persistence, risk, and passion, but there needed to be a satisfactory end game. The “skateboard” in this case turned out to be the ability to control IoT devices like LED lights and temperature sensors over a global network using Power processor-based servers and Node-RED, an open source programming tool originally developed by IBM. Collaborating for success

Key members of the i-UG were encouraged to create then deliver a complete educational course that could engage students and introduce them to IBM i and Power. i-UG then collaborated with the University of Wolverhampton to deploy the course as a pilot, which was a resounding success. The course is now called i-ignite, and combines Power with Node-RED to create an end-to-end course designed to take students with no IBM i experience to full proficiency using open source tools, IoT sensors, and Db2 for i. By the end of the program, students have the knowledge and ability to modernize a pre-built brewery simulation running on IBM i and Node-RED, and show a demonstratable increase in output, efficiency, and management. One of the most powerful and attractive features of the course is that the students are not just working with the usual course notes, they are logging on to a real Power server running IBM i on a global network from their very first lesson.

 Growing demand

Demand for the i-ignite program is growing fast and the impact has been profound. Already three cohorts have completed the course at the University of Wolverhampton, and other local universities such as Leeds Beckett, Bedford, and Hertfordshire are now asking for cohorts of 60 or even 120 students. To meet that need, i-UG is looking at automating and streamlining enrollment. They’re also expanding the curriculum for i-ignite, with a new AI module teaching students how to train models using the data they’re already collecting in their brewery simulations. Perhaps most importantly, the program is changing how young developers perceive IBM i, as well as how vendors and members perceive these new developers. Several have already secured high-paying jobs working with IBM i at companies that are members of i-UG.


The course is designed and delivered by Mike Ryan at Essist and is supported by Andy Youens of Formaserve and Steve Bradshaw of Rowton IT. The course is available to be run at your local university through i-UG.