Government commits to digital skills revolution
South Africa is committing to the delivery of a ‘skills revolution’ to enable human capital to match the rapid evolution of the digital economy.
President Cyril Ramaphosa promised the training of one-million youth in data science and related skills by 2030, as well as the embedding of critical digital subjects within the basic education system.
“We are introducing subjects such as coding and data analytics at primary school level to prepare our people for the jobs of the future,” Ramaphosa says.
“The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) has taken a conscious decision to ensure that, at the heart of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) conversation, [lies] a people-centred response that speaks to jobs, skills and broad economic participation,” adds Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.
“Thus, we have endeavoured to ensure that skills development is an important pillar to position the nation for 4IR,” she assures.
Speaking at the recent Digital Economy Summit, University of the Witwatersrand vice chancellor and principal Professor Adam Habib said that scholars needed to be trained to deal with the known and unexpected challenges of the twenty-first century.
“We need to work across sectors to develop the technology required for us to leapfrog across eons of poverty, unemployment and inequality, and, in so doing, create a new world order that prioritises humanity before profits and power.”
Government is working closely with sector education and training authorities and various partners to develop systems to improve resources and efficiencies in various sectors, such as health, utilities, crime prevention, education and transport, besides others, to improve service delivery.
The DCDT previously commissioned a digital skills study which showed that skills such as artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data, cybersecurity, digital communications, digital modelling, machine learning, mechatronics and cloud computing would be required to equip South Africans for future occupations.
“That is why we have developed initiatives such as the Building a Capable 4IR Army programme – to ensure that our communities, especially the youth, are equipped to take advantage of new digital technologies, unlock future jobs and drive competitiveness,” Ndabeni-Abrahams adds.
Further, the Department of Science and Innovation is contributing to building the required capabilities through support programmes, such as the South African Research Chairs Initiative and other targeted human capital and development initiatives.
These include programmes in data science, analytics, additives manufacturing, AI, robotics and quantum technologies.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation