Bermuda's budding young technology leaders of the future were unveiled at the Technology Leadership Forum (TLF) held by the Department of E-Commerce.

The TLF graduates announced at the event were Colin Outerbridge, Tyray Lathan, Cyniqua Anderson, Brent Guntl, and Alex Styche graduating with Merit; Trevin Ming, Ayanna Wolfe, Zarinah Codrington, Alje Talbot and Shaun Richards.

The TLF, which was founded two years ago, is made up of key influencers and leaders in the Island's technology industry with the objective to encourage dialogue, address issues, propose action steps, and to be a networking group amongst peers. It is also designed to create a sustainable, qualified and professional ICT leadership pool of resources in Bermuda.

Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce Michael Scott said: "The most important component of this programme is the access that the interns have to the TLF network. Since the programme's launch in June, the interns have interacted with all levels of the ICT business community through networking breakfasts, company tours, workshops, and the TLF's Student Networking Event.

"I must say that due to the proactive nature of the 2009 interns, they have leveraged the access that they have had to these individuals to glean career and education advice, develop mentoring relationships and learn from the experiences of the TLF's ICT professionals."

The students worked in various Government departments, including the Department of E-Government, IT office. There were also students placed at Belco, the Bermuda Hospitals Board, Ernst and Young, Capital G, Renaissance Re, and IBM/BSC. During their internship the students received training in data warehousing, business intelligence, security, networking, project management and other IT tools.

The technology leadership forum was designed to represent the interests of the ICT industry, both for large local and international businesses, in partnership with the Department of E-Commerce and other government partners, to assess and work out how to address the shortage of qualified individuals in the IT sector.

In May 2009 this programme was launched with the TLF Summer Internship Programme, which was developed to provide hands-on experience working in a business environment while exposing the interns to theory, work skills and knowledge in the various areas of ICT. The programme also provided interns with information to enable them to make sound career choices and provided the interns with details on the educational and experience requirements to enhance their potential for employment in the future.

The TLF will be accepting applications for their 2010 internship programme starting in October and a TLF networking evening will be held on Thursday December 17.

To submit an application or for more information visit www.TLF.bm