A landmark project to boost Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in information technology has reached a new phase with the first Indigenous student accepted into the prestigious Bachelor of Information Technology (BinfTech) at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Eighteen-year-old Daniel Neilson of Campbelltown has entered the select, industry-sponsored BInfTech with a $40,000 Indigenous Scholarship provided jointly by Unisys and the Australian Computer Society Foundation.

Daniel will be supported in his studies by the Indigenous Participation in Information Technology Project, a pioneering program launched in July 2003 by the UTS Faculty of Information Technology in collaboration with the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at UTS.

Project Manager Ray Leslie said Daniel's success in winning a place in the highly-competitive BInfTech was an important example to promote what has been a "non-traditional" area of study for Indigenous Australians.

"The Indigenous Participation in IT project was begun in response to research findings that not only were few Aboriginal people employed in information and communications technology, it wasn't even on their radar as a career option," he said.

"We're looking at this as a long-term effort. As we build up the numbers of graduates from university, or TAFE, or through industry certification, we'll have the mentors and role models to inspire the next generation."

UTS has had two Indigenous graduates from the UTS Bachelor of Science in Information Technology program. There are two current Indigenous postgraduate IT students and three current Indigenous undergraduate students in the Bachelor of Science in IT, besides Daniel in the BInfTech program.

Daniel, who attended Hurlstone Agricultural High School, demonstrated an early and active interest in computing. He helped set up his school website and another site to help graduates of the school keep in touch.

He also developed some systems for local small businesses, including an information system for monitoring and charging user time at an internet café.

Daniel is looking forward to the extensive practical industry experience that comes with the BinfTech, but hasn't yet decided where he'll end up in the industry.

"I'm thinking about systems analysis or network engineering, but I'm not sure about it yet" he said. "I'll see what I like after a few years of study and experience."