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Internships aid skills development initiative

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:37

Michael Ferreira

By Michael Ferreira

One of the biggest challenges that South Africa is facing is the big technology divide between the aspirations of the public sector and the actual skill levels of the masses in both rural as well as urban settlements.

It is of utmost importance to think differently to resolve this problem. One of the possible solutions is actually located in the government domain where, in cooperation with the industry, the utilization of internships can be used as a mechanism to upskill the technology-challenged society.

The internship model is one that has been accepted by the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) as a feasible mechanism to train groups of people. Gijima, the listed IT Company which is a major partner of government, is currently hosting learners for the Department of Education and other clients. By looking at a formal development initiative linked to the needs of the e-government initiative, there is an opportunity to push skilled facilitators into the general public domain to assist with the implementation challenges.

The suggestion is similar to the concept of the end-user computing support person that has played a role in the commercial sector to assist users with the application of technology. The internship can enable large groups of people to understand the applications that are intended to be rolled out, and also equip the interns to assist the general public through a help desk, social media or face to face to engagement with technology offerings.

The scope of the idea can initially be seen as very broad, but we believe that linked to the increased utilization of the mobile platform, more and more citizens will have access to the solutions but will not necessarily have the technology understanding and insight to be able to make use of it.

An initiative like this will enable the ICT training providers in the industry to become more involved with the e- Government roll out and especially with the local and provincial government, enable better understanding as well as improved utilization of systems and solutions.

A further benefit of such an initiative is the creation of new job opportunities as well as a better utilization of the SETA skills levies, through a process of creating a skills pool where people understand the basic principles of the e-Government solutions and have the ability to transfer that skill to the ordinary citizen to use the technology.

The success that Gijima has with the Department of Education is proof that such a programme can be extended to other areas in the Public Sector as well. Together we can assist the country to improve delivery, moving towards general citizen satisfaction and better engagement.