Coding and programming, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things (IOT) are part of a student skills transfer programme that will be fostered by a twining agreement between Walter Sisulu University (WSU) and Samsung through the Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (CfERI).
The Samsung Innovation Campus programme is designed to have educational themes that combine in-demand technology skills with core future technology capabilities as well as soft skills and job preparation. The focus for 2022 will be on laying the foundation by offering coding and programming.
WSU is only one of two institutions of higher education and training in South Africa to be identified for the programme.
“We are targeting youth who are at a university going stage and want to develop skills in 4IR that will enable them to be future leaders. We offer basic coding & programming education as a core skill for the Artificial Intelligence and/or IOT courses - in response to particular regional demands,” said Samsung Transformation Manager, Lenhle Khoza.
WSU’s Community Engagement and Internationalisation director, Mzolisi Payi, said the programme intends to empower graduates to be skilled in their respective fields, and to enable them to have the necessary skills to start their own enterprises.
“In terms of our vision 2030, these kind of projects would assist in ensuring that we produce graduates that are sector competitive and able to start their own enterprises; and access jobs easily. We believe that the sustainability of the project will be a success because of the commitment Samsung has shown,” he said.
According to a 2022 State of the ICT Sector in SA report, South Africa’s Information and Communication Technology sector is reported to show signs of growth, recording R243.6 billion in revenue in 2021, up from R243 billion in 2020.
This shows an overall increase of 0.3% in total sector revenue, while in the first quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate was 63,9% for those aged 15-24 and 42,1% for those aged 25-34 years.
WSU’s Centre for Entrepreneurship director, Dr Thobekani Lose said technology, especially in rural areas was lagging compared to urban areas and institutions.
“We need to have more engagement and ideas for the rural demographic of the Eastern Cape Province. We need to train and develop our students to ready them for the tech savvy trajectory the world has taken following the Covid-19 pandemic. Our students need to compete on par with other South African universities,” said Dr Lose.
The ICT sector is larger than the agriculture industry. This is one of the findings from Stats SA’s latest Information and communication technology satellite account for the South Africa report.
Through its core business, WSU responds to societal needs in ethical, scholarly, sustainable, and entrepreneurial ways, while guiding future-ready graduates.
By: Sinawo Hermans