How IBM Is Improving IT Education & Training In South Africa ?

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Information technology has become an integral part of our business, our society and our lives. Advanced technologies are helping our business leaders to reach the next level and significantly contribute towards national development. It is for this reason that currently there is a strong need for individuals with excellent IT skills and knowledge. Many institutes across Africa are taking steps to provide various information technology training programmes to aspiring learners and prepare the next generation of IT professionals.

South Africa Focuses on IT Skills

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IBM South Africa, along with the Department of Trade and Industry, recently introduced the initial phase of probably the largest EEIP (Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes) in South Africa, the R700 million IBM South Africa Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Equity Equivalent Investment Programme. Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry, launched the programme with enthusiasm in January for a duration of 10 years. It is believed the programme will develop a research hub across South Africa and promote enterprise as well as skills development.
During the launch, IBM claimed it was dedicated to facilitate education and skills development in the region, especially in the fields of technology and science. The organisation is focused on building Johannesburg as a research hub and support effective enterprise development. Mzwandile Masina, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, recently spoke at the launch of the EEIP and urged more multinationals to take active part in the programme and help in the national economic development.

He said “The equity equivalent programmes are expected to contribute towards the achievement of enterprise creation and development, foreign direct investment, accelerated growth and development of black rural women and youth, sustainable growth and development, human development with focus on education and skills development, infrastructure investment with an emphasis on developing the country's research and development infrastructure.”

IBM EEIP South Africa 

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The IBM South Africa EEIP includes 3 interdependent and integrated factors, developed and promoted by IBM Research Africa, specifically Enterprise Development Programme, Academic Programme and Research Programme. The first component is primarily meant for supporting businesses owned by black natives, which will especially focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, it will also facilitate in training and educating the youth regarding communication, information and technology industry.

Rob Davies added “In terms of the company's commitment, I have granted IBM South Africa the full 20 points under the ownership element of the B-BBEE codes for their participation in the programme.” Moreover, Masina said “This is a transformation programme that supports industrialisation and entrepreneurship. It will assist in addressing the challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment.”

Developing the Right IT Skills 

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Apart from IBM South Africa, currently many other institutes and organisations are offering IT training and education courses for aspiring learners and empowering them to contribute to the business world and overall community. These IT courses online have been specifically developed for individuals who are already working and want to acquire advanced IT skills. Moreover, it also allows aspiring students to acquire relevant work experience while they study. As online IT courses are highly affordable you can easily acquire the right IT skills without taking out any student loans.
However, if you are concerned about the quality of education & training offered by online computing diploma programmes, then you will be glad to know that most online courses follow the same curriculum and standards as their on-campus counterparts. As the contents are usually developed by in-house faculty, you can be rest assured about the quality of education. Moreover you can communicate and interact with your instructors and fellow learners easily through dedicated online forums and social networks.
Apart from gaining essential IT skills and knowledge, accredited information technology courses online will also help top boost your employability and give you an edge over others. As more and more companies and recruiters are now recognising and accepting online IT degrees, you will surely get the best non-technical and technical job opportunities, not just in the IT sector but in a wide range of industries. You will land a lucrative job in your desired field and add to the national economic development of Africa.


How do you plan to start your IT career? Feel free to share your thoughts and add to the discussion by commenting here.

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Can Science And R&D Help In Africa's Economic Growth ?

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Africa is currently suffering from a number of challenges which are affecting it's social and economic advancement and one of the prime obstacles in the path of overall development is the prevalence of diseases. As it results in high mortality and morbidity, the burden of disease is choking our economic growth. Hence, it has now become imperative that we significantly contribute in discovering effective solutions for health problems across Africa. Finding and developing new medicines for Africa by African citizens is crucial for national development. 

Why Africa needs science

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Kelly Chibale, founder and director of H3D (Drug Discovery and Development Centre) at the University of Cape Town, recently wrote on the topic

“Long-term sustainable provision of new affordable medicines in Africa can only be ensured through committed investments in research and development (R&D) through African-led local and international public-private partnerships so that risks, and not just benefits, are shared. Africa needs science, not aid. ”

This means Africa should be able to utilise and science and technology for helping it's populace create a better life. Traditionally, the capacity to identify and develop medicines was handicapped by a lack of infrastructure and expertise. There are various reasons for this but the main one include mass exodus and shortage of effective investment in research infrastructure by federal governments across the continent. As a result, scientists find it nearly impossible to apply their knowledge and find out feasible solutions. 

Facing funding challenges

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Even though research funding can be rather daunting, I believe that a shortage of funds is a good enough excuse for not investing as we need to set our priorities clearly. Instead of developing regionally relevant research projects that are aligned globally and making the most of available resources, most scientists in Africa often criticise and blame our government.

Chibale further wrote “Money will follow good infrastructure, a good project, a dedicated team with integrated skills and a good network of partners. Our University of Cape Town Drug Discovery and Development Centre, H3D, has shown that the most effective way of building local capacity is to pursue projects.”

He added “Some of the key ingredients to our success have been a good local (South African) research infrastructure, a supportive research environment within the University of Cape Town, South African government support and a network of (local and international) partnerships.”

Focusing on global development 

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Paucity of continuity is another challenge in supporting sustainable R&D along with long-term funding and a continuous pipeline of new projects. You can still find sufficient gaps in fields of scientific development across Africa. The continent will keep relying on overseas partners unless we take steps to narrow the gaps. Currently, there is a strong need for discovering sustainable solutions which utilise local abilities. The field of drug & medicine development must be considered as a continuum, focusing on a single component is simply not enough. The founder of H3D wrote “H3D has demonstrated that health innovation through drug development is possible in Africa and on the road to being sustainable.” He further commented “R&D creates jobs and infrastructure, attracts foreign investment and reverses the brain drain.”

Chibale believes that R&D can provide us the support and solution we are looking for and contribute in overall development in Africa. He concluded “We have demonstrated that R&D is not a luxury. R&D provides solutions, creates jobs and infrastructure, builds capacity as well as expertise, attracts foreign direct investment, can seed an industry and contributes to reversing the brain drain. At the same time H3D has shown that it is possible to debunk the myth that Africa is not, and cannot be, a source of health innovation, and show that we can discover new medicines.”

What are your thoughts on this topic? Feel free to add to the discussion by commenting below.

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Is Digital Technology Changing The Higher Education Culture?

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Changing needs of Learners 

In the last few years, the pattern of students enrollment has changed drastically. This momentous rise in enrollments has become the cause of a prominent diversification of the student population. Now you can find a large chunk of students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds pursuing higher education; and most of these learners are adults with jobs and/or part time students. In England, more than 60 per cent of higher education learners in 2002-2003 were mostly over the age of 21; this figure was merely around 21 per cent back in 1972-73. This significant rise was primarily due to the increasing numbers of part time learners.

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Era of International Students

In developed countries like UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, there has been substantial growth in international student enrollment. In Australia, around 21 per cent of the higher education enrollments in 2002 comprised of international students. According to the OBHE, we will witness over 5.8 million international students worldwide by 2020. Such type of international learners, who are adults and pursue mainly part time courses, tend to have much different beliefs and expectations from traditional learners regarding services and facilities offered by schools to facilitate learning. These students also want more convenience and flexibility in the learning and teaching process as most of them usually pursue distance and online courses.

Most of today's learners are identified as digital natives as they have been raised in a technologically inclined environment and continue to be surrounded by latest technologies in their daily lives. Hence, our students now expect that technological tools will be widely utilised in learning and teaching. As a result, now experts believe that higher education must recognise such learning differences and incorporate more multi sensory, spontaneous and technology-driven learning styles.

How our Students Learn 

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In the past decade, a substantial shift in understanding how learning needs to be facilitated in higher education was noticed, with the trend moving towards student-centred learning, instead of teacher-centered education.

Traditionally, learning is believed to be a passive activity, as knowledge is transferred from the already educated individual to the novice or aspiring learner. In this respect, learning is primarily considered as reproducing knowledge by delivering it to the learner. However, the scenario has changed in the recent past with learning now being considered as a constructive process. Now the students take active participation in the development of knowledge via authentic and situated tasks to facilitate deep comprehension of knowledge.

What do you think about the impact of technology on education? Feel free to share your thoughts and views with us by commenting below. We would love to hear from you.

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