JOHANNESBURG, NOVEMBER 30, 2022, –/ African Journalists Center (CAJ News) – Developing ICT skills is essential for South Africa to participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and reap the benefits of a digital economy. That was the consensus of various speakers at Huawei South Africa’s annual ICT Talent Development Awards ceremony at its Woodmead campus yesterday.
The event celebrated partner higher education institutions and facilitators of the Huawei ICT Academy program, which was established to identify, cultivate and develop top talent through collaboration between industry, educational institutions and the public sector.
“The ICT sector is growing rapidly and we need to meet its needs, especially when it comes to the future workforce. The Huawei ICT Academy is designed to bridge the gap between the demand for skills from businesses and the supply from schools,” said Zhang Yi, Director of Huawei Enterprise Business in South Africa. “Huawei hopes to provide more technical and skilled talent, more advanced technologies and more emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship to support the sustainable development of the ICT industry in South Africa.”
South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, who delivered a keynote address at the event, noted that the 4IR imperatives require drastic digital transformation. and skills development to support a digital economy. “Digital transformation cannot happen without acquiring skills,” the minister said on Monday.
“Partnerships between businesses, universities and colleges are an important means of maximizing skills development in South Africa, as they have the potential to align curriculum design with the skills needed by industry,” said said Nzimande. “This is particularly important for young people aged 15 to 24, whose unemployment rate remains high at 61%, as this is the most critical period in a person’s life to determine whether you move on to a better life or if you remain trapped in poverty.”
The Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation has identified significant skills gaps in the digital economy in areas such as cloud architecture, cybersecurity, data science, blockchain, machine learning and robotic automation.
“The skills provided by initiatives such as the Huawei ICT Academy are part of the future of South Africa, because we will need a lot of people with different levels of skills for the whole country to can enjoy the benefits of 4IR,” he added. . “We don’t just want to train people who are consumers of 4IR technologies, we want to train people who learn to be innovators and who will help create new solutions and technologies.”
The minister commended Huawei’s overall involvement in supporting the department’s post-school education and training sector, including working with TVET colleges and universities.
“I have received a report that you are involved in all ICT and digital capacity development such as training certification, curriculum development and customization, updates on the latest trends, connecting students with employers, student internship opportunities offered by Huawei and its partners, internship, train-the-trainer program, e-learning resources and simulation tools. we need in South Africa,” he said.
Under the ICT Academy program, Huawei has partnered with 72 academies in South Africa to provide internationally accredited training, development and certification to instructors and students across the country. Today, more than 150 instructors have participated in the instructor training program, more than 3,500 students have participated in online training programs, and nearly 5,000 students have registered for this year’s ICT competition.
“This program acts as a bridge between business and academic institutions to create a talent ecosystem for the ICT industry by preparing students with the latest technologies and practical skills to make them more employable and help jump-start their careers,” said George Mothapo, Principal of Sedibeng TVET College.
During the event, Professor Pitshou Ntambu Bokoro, Head of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology, University of Johannesburg, noted that initiatives such as Huawei ICT Academy, ICT Center and ICT talent development were key to spreading ICT skills throughout the length and breadth of South Africa and, by extension, to bridging the gap created by the digital divide.
Kudakwashe Madzima, Lecturer and PhD Candidate in Computer Science at the University of Venda, added: “The physical location of our university is remote and isolated from major cities, which makes it difficult to develop meaningful relationships with large players in the ICT industry. That’s why, when we heard about Huawei’s ICT talent development programs, we quickly jumped at the chance to improve the delivery of relevant practical ICT skills to our students.
Huawei has developed over 1,500 ICT Academies around the world, with over 3,000 certified instructors and over 125,000 students trained each year. Huawei South Africa has also developed the Graduate Institute of South Africa as the first Academy Support Center and 40 Huawei Clubs from various institutions that play an important role in providing operational support to the ICT Academy program.
Distributed by Center for African Journalists (CAJ News) on behalf of Huawei
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