Fifteen Moldovan students or graduates in information technology can benefit from internship at foreign IT companies as part of the “Open I” project initiated by AIESEC Chisinau, Info-Prim Neo reports. At a news conference on Wednesday, project coordinator Ilie Dercaci said that the area of information technology in Moldova has certain shortcomings concerning IT leadership and project management. Therefore, they decided to implement the “Open I” project. “We realized we do not have highly qualified personnel in Moldova and consider that we should learn from the international experience in the mentioned areas. The project aims to combat the stereotypes and train the students in IT marketing, project management and leadership and offers the specialized national and international companies the possibility of cooperating,” Dercaci said. According to the Global Informational Technology Rapport, Moldova ranks 89th out of 117 countries by IT development. Olga Cegoreanu, vice president of the exchange department of AIESEC Chisinau, said that the project has two stages. The first stage includes internships of up to five months at foreign companies. Those interested can file applications on www.open-i.md from 12 to 31 May, 2009. “Until August, there will be provided 15 internship places at IT companies. The internships will end on January 1, 2010, when the participants will return to Moldova after gaining experience that can be very useful for the national companies,” Olga Cegoreanu said. The second stage will be held in February 2010. It will include a conference moderated only by the project beneficiaries and will be attended by 100 national and 50 international delegates as well as representatives of large IT companies. AIESEC, the world's largest student organization, is the international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential so as to have a positive impact on society. In partnership with business and higher education, AIESEC has over 60 years of experience in developing students into globally minded leaders.