Conclusion
The Mapping Digital and ICT Roles and Demand for South Africa Survey provides some optimistic insights in an otherwise discouraging economic outlook. Despite a global recession, the digital economy continues to grow and requires digital and ICT skills to fuel its requirements.
Conventional areas of ICT that include software development, cloud solutions, systems development or engineering, database management, network management and IT architecture are earmarked for further growth and investment to provide the foundational technologies required for the next wave of computing. This next wave of cyberphysical systems, which includes robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, biotech, nanotech, quantum computing and the Internet of Things, are in rapid growth and require future skills that are particularly scarce. In addition, the tech giants and solution providers are enabling enterprises and end-users to deploy elements of this business-critical technology with certified skill-sets that support these solutions.
The job roles, functions, competencies and certifications required to bolster current and future skills requirements have been plotted and mapped at a granular level in this Mapping Digital and ICT Roles and Demand for South Africa Survey. However, all partners within the skills ecosystem have decisive roles to play to enable and empower all South Africans, inclusively, to develop these skills, apply this talent locally, and harvest and export the innovative inventions, products and services they create to trade internationally. Notably, employers need to be realistic and open-minded to hire problem-solvers and creative thinkers along with the qualified tech-heads and logical reasoners. This will require that they place more focus on their attributes, aptitude, cognitive abilities and emotional intelligence as opposed to degrees, diplomas and unrealistic functions or expectations for job roles.
What is clear is that the digital, information and knowledge-enabled economy is a growth area where current and next generation digital and ICT skills are highly in-demand. These skills can be relatively and easily acquired, readied, trained, tooled and given life-long learning and career opportunities that enable them to contribute significantly to the economic growth and development of South Africa.
About Harambee
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator builds African solutions for the global challenge of youth unemployment. We work closely with government and the private sector to catalyse job growth, link young people to opportunities, and provide evidence and insights to inform policy and practice. Harambee is a core implementing partner to government in South Africa and Rwanda and a thought partner to others across Africa and globally. Since 2011, Harambee has worked with over 500 businesses, government stakeholders at all levels, and young people. To date, we have supported a network of over 800,000 job seekers to improve their employability and facilitated over 175,000 jobs and work experiences. We have established platforms for developing collaborative solutions to address youth unemployment at scale. Harambee’s pathway management network has been formally adopted in the Presidential Jobs Summit Framework Agreement and the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention in South Africa.
About Genesis GBS | Knowledge Executive
Genesis Global Business Services and Knowledge Executive empower and enable global Knowledge Leaders. We co-create and publish business, trade and investment research, market intelligence and insights for executives of today’s Experience Economy. This includes commissioned and syndicated research reports and qualitative/quantitative surveys covering business process outsourcing and services (BPO, BPS), IT-enabled services (ITES), employee experience (EX) and customer experience (CX).
About Harambee
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator builds African solutions for the global challenge of youth unemployment. We work closely with government and the private sector to catalyse job growth, link young people to opportunities, and provide evidence and insights to inform policy and practice. Harambee is a core implementing partner to government in South Africa and Rwanda and a thought partner to others across Africa and globally. Since 2011, Harambee has worked with over 500 businesses, government stakeholders at all levels, and young people. To date, we have supported a network of over 800,000 job seekers to improve their employability and facilitated over 175,000 jobs and work experiences. We have established platforms for developing collaborative solutions to address youth unemployment at scale. Harambee’s pathway management network has been formally adopted in the Presidential Jobs Summit Framework Agreement and the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention in South Africa.
About Genesis GBS | Knowledge Executive
Genesis Global Business Services and Knowledge Executive empower and enable global Knowledge Leaders. We co-create and publish business, trade and investment research, market intelligence and insights for executives of today’s Experience Economy. This includes commissioned and syndicated research reports and qualitative/quantitative surveys covering business process outsourcing and services (BPO, BPS), IT-enabled services (ITES), employee experience (EX) and customer experience (CX).
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