There is hardly ever an instance where a government official will talk of the future and not mention the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
But in order for South Africa to enjoy a digital future, we need to address the ICT skills shortage and brain drain that seems to constantly be a concern. In 2020 board members of the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) said the ICT skills shortages is the single biggest challenge facing the sector in the next ten years.
In a bid to help South Africans enter learnership programmes related to ICT, a trio of local industry bodies have come together to launch the ICT Skills Registry.
The registry was created as part of a partnership between the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), Wireless Access Providers Association (WAPA) and the Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association (WASPA).
The registry is open to candidates as well as firms, but the real value here is for candidates hoping to improve their skillset through internships and learnership programmes.
“It is a critical priority for South African ICT companies to nurture nascent talent in the sector now or risk a chronic lack of human capital constraining growth later on,” explains Aurora Vani, chairperson of ISPA’s social development working group.
“We are very excited to be launching this ICT skills development portal which provides potential employers with a simple and intuitive faceted search engine to locate nearby candidates matching their skills and demographic profile requirements. The Skills Registry will go a long way towards providing skills development and employment opportunities in the ICT sector,” Vani adds.
Employers are able to search for specific certifications and job functions using a “faceted” search interface. Employers can also search for potential candidates based on their geographic location.
This is a rather nifty tool and we highly recommend signing up here whether you’re an employer or somebody that is looking for an opportunity.
[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]
