The Academy is being set up through a strategic partnership with Wray Castle; the first programme is being launched today, dedicated to telecoms
UIC, the worldwide rail organisation, is today launching its UIC Rail Academy.
On this occasion, François Davenne, UIC Director General, underlined this important step taken by the UIC, for the benefit of the sector as a whole, specifying that this Academy is part of the association's strategic objectives for the period 2023-2025: "There is a need to rethink learning strategies to develop the skills of staff and to attract the talent of the future. A flexible, well-trained and motivated workforce is key to a competitive and innovative sector. To this end, several types of training will be proposed with the establishment of a UIC Rail Academy. This objective is to quickly offer the rail sector an express route to upskill staff, enabling them to confidently face the challenges ahead. In this way, UIC wishes to extend the rail sector's capacity for innovation and improve the sector's competitiveness by making full use of the knowhow of its rail experts. UIC will go on supporting regional training centres and create synergies between them in order to meet the specific needs of members in the regions within a common framework"
This Academy is set up in partnership with the leading provider of telecoms technology training solutions, Wray Castle. At UIC, this ambitious project is being led by Jean-Michel Evanghelou, Director Telecom, Signalling Digital Applications, Meryem Belhaj-Clot, Deputy HR Director and Head of Talent Expertise development, Charles Rosseel, Head of Transversal projects.
UIC and Wray Castle will collaborate to develop the UIC Rail Academy featuring a suite of specialists training solutions.
Launch of the Telecom part today at the UIC FRMCS conference
With the introduction of FRMCS, a technology based upon the latest 5G technologies, the international rail industry faces a period of transition from the existing GSM-R technology first introduced in 2000. The partnership is designed to build knowledge and upskill experienced engineers as well as those new to rail radio engineering and associated industries.
The partnership will provide those within the railway industry the opportunity to benefit from the following learning programmes:
- FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) - Developed in partnership with the UIC, the new course explores the latest developments in the specification for FRMCS.
- Legacy Rail Radio Engineering Courses Ensuring participants understand existing technologies including GSM-R.
- Foundation telecom training courses enabling participants to get up to speed with the foundation of telecoms technologies.
Jean-Michel Evanghelou, Director Telecom, Signalling Digital Applications at UICsaid: "In working with Wray Castle, we have a partner who understands both our existing GSM-R technology and the latest 5G technology that UIC members need to understand to ensure a smooth and successful deployment of FRMCS. UIC's ambition is for the first FRMCS test networks to go live in 2026 and this partnership fulfils UIC's role to facilitate the realisation of this ambition by delivering effective training programmes, available now, to help member organisations upskill their workforce
Andrew White, Group CEO of Wray Castlesaid "With over 60 years' experience, Wray Castle is regarded as the gold standard in technical training within the global telecoms' world. During a technology transition as significant as GSM-R to FRMCS, it's critical to fully understand the existing GSM-R system as well as the new 5G technology upon which FRMCS is based. We are committed to working together, in partnership with UIC and its members to realise UIC's ambitions
As new training programmes become available, the UIC will not hesitate to communicate them in due course. The training courses will concern the UIC's areas of expertise.
About UIC (Union Internationale des Chemins de fer)
UIC is the worldwide organisation for the promotion of rail transport at a global level and collaborative development of the railway system. It brings together some 200 members on all 5 continents, among them rail operators, infrastructure managers, railway service providers, etc. UIC maintains close cooperation links with all actors in the rail transport domain around the world, including manufacturers, railway associations, public authorities and stakeholders in other domains and sectors whose experiences may be beneficial to rail development. UIC's main tasks include understanding the business needs of the rail community, developing innovation programmes to identify solutions to those needs, as well as preparing and publishing a series of documents such as reports, specifications, guidelines and IRS that facilitate the implementation of the innovative solutions. www.uic.org
About Wray Castle
Wray Castle empowers the global telecoms world by developing the specialist knowledge, skills and competencies organisations need to build, maintain, optimise and operate the cutting-edge communications networks of today and tomorrow that support national critical infrastructure.
Trusted by the global telecoms industry since 1958, we've helped upskill over 300,000 industry professionals from over 85 countries worldwide. Our learners come from many major mobile and fixed operators, vendors, regulators, consultants, rail operators, energy suppliers and government organisations. www.wraycastle.com
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Contacts:
UIC: Communications Department: com@uic.orgacademy@uic.org
Wray Castle Limited: Paul Waite, Marketing Director (pwaite@wraycastle.com) +44 7718 513328
