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African ICT job opportunities high, skills lacking

A new survey published on Tuesday reveals that as telecom jobs in Africa booms, the continent still lacks skilled workers, calling on universities and governments to do more to boost the output of telecom and IT specialists in Africa.

Landelahni CEO Sandra Burmeister. (image: creamermedia.co.za)

The 2012 Telecommunications Survey, carried out by global Amrop executive search group member, Landelahni Business Leaders, highlights the skills gaps in the African ICT sector.

“Information and communications technology is a pre-condition for socio-economic development and national competitiveness. However, a shortage of key skills is a huge constraint,” Landelahni CEO Sandra Burmeister said in the report.

“Opportunities abound throughout Africa, despite the challenges of poor infrastructure, disparate regulatory environments and ferocious competition. Spending on ICT infrastructure is expected to total more than US$23 billion a year over the next few years. South Africa and the rest of the continent need to skill up to maximise this opportunity.

“(South African) minister of science and technology Naledi Pandor has acknowledged that the telecommunications industry holds promise as the backbone of this country’s economic, industrial and innovative advancement. Similarly, the Green Paper for Post School Education and Training released in January (2012) states that ‘ICT is increasingly becoming a critical ingredient for participation in a globalised world’.”

It also called on governments to do more to boost young people’s ability to enter the fast-paced ICT world with the skills needed to bring Africa into the global technology world.

Joseph Mayton

March 29, 2012/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Rwanda launches next stage of their ICT development plan

Rwanda on Tuesday said it had officially launched the third phase of their National Information and Communication Infrastructure Policy aimed at increasing the country’s IT infrastructure and offering new services to its citizens which were established during the first two phases.

Minister in the Presidency managing ICT Ignace Gatare. (image: biztechafrica.com)

The government’s 2000 national ICT plan was created using the four five-year cycle idea in order to gauge where the country was heading and what could be created and established. The first cycle, which ended in 2005, laid the groundwork for the last five years ICT initiatives to be established.

The government said that the second cycle, from 2006 to 2010, placed emphasis on the development of key ICT infrastructure such as fiber optic cable layout.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday evening, the Minister in the Presidency managing ICT Ignace Gatare said, the third phase has been “broadly divided into five areas, ICT skills development, private sector development, ICT for community development, e-Government and cyber security,” which the country hopes will propel the nation into the technological age to compete with other East African nations.

“Under this plan we are looking at improving formal and non-formal education. With the use of fiber optic cable, we want to ensure that there is much of open distance learning in the country,” said Gatare.

He said that the private sector will be instrumental in the third phase, and that government hopes to unveil an electronic payment system to improve mobile finance.

“We also want to take the ICT facilities down to the people by digitalizing all the government programs, increase the tele-centers in the country as well as use of tele-medicine,” Gatare added.

Joseph Mayton

March 21, 2012/by actualize

Economic Growth & Trade, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Workforce Development

Incubating IT programming capacity in the West Bank

In downtown Ramallah, West Bank, five programmers at the Palestine Information and Communications Technology Incubator (PICTI) are forging a new future for the Palestinian IT industry through a unique collaboration with US-based tech giant Microsoft. The partnership between Microsoft’s Innovation Labs (or iLabs) in Tel Aviv, Israel, and USAID’s Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion project (managed by CARANA) led to a one-year outsourcing pilot, new iLabs products and the evolution of a long-term relationship—as well as a model for private sector alliances between Israeli and Palestinian firms.

Palestinian programmers at work on the iLabs project

Since 2009, the PICTI-based team has developed three new products for iLabs to be marketed globally: Mixer, which links users’ online profiles (e.g., Facebook) with their registered Bluetooth devices to recognize them when they enter a room; Ark, which gathers online information about movies and television shows to make personalized recommendations, including an active learning component that adapts to user likes and dislikes; and HomeVideoX, which applies face-recognition capability to videos.

Microsoft recently spoke with PICTI about creating another five-person team in Ramallah to work on Bing Mobile applications. Ultimately, the PICTI team hopes to form an independent Microsoft research center in Palestine. The collaboration has exposed Palestinian IT professionals to new technologies, helping the industry developing a more qualified labor force and demonstrating Palestinians’ ability to work with leading global technology firms. Team members have also become an in-house resource for PICTI, helping the incubator evaluate new projects and coach future entrepreneurs.

The collaboration leverages the unique situation in the West Bank—including proximity to Israel’s leading IT industry and the willingness of both parties to set aside political differences for business success. The Microsoft initiative and similar projects with other leading IT innovators such as Cisco and Salesforce.com are fostering an important new Palestinian industry.

“I see the future of the IT sector in this vital project with Microsoft which proves that Palestinians have huge talent, skill and expertise not only in the deployment of IT services but also in the research and Development field,” said PICTI’s chairman, Hassan Kassem. “This is the real path for development in Palestine.”

This post was originally published in July 2011 by Carana Corporation.

August 11, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Morocco’s attractive broadband network

Morocco has a rather attractive broadband network

Morocco’s growing broadband network and an increase in competition for video has placed the region at the forefront for regional ICT investments.

“Whether it be VOIP providers, broadband Internet repackaging, or pay-TV installers, the smaller companies will be called to duty and therefore present a viable option for investors looking to capture a share of the projected $1.44-billion data segment by 2015, or other promising indicators,” says Majd Hosn, a telecoms analyst for Pyramid.

The North African country’s telecom sector revenue will see a 4.1% annual growth rate over the next five years. The telecommunications projections position the industry at $5.47-billion in 2015.

Moroccan communications ministry official Ibrahim Saeed told ITNewsAfrica that he is hopeful that these projections will maintain excellent prospects.

“We have worked hard to build a strong IT and telecom sector and hopefully Pyramid’s report will turn out true,” says Saeed.

“The leadership changes and popular uprisings that have spread in North Africa will take their toll on the stability and growth of Morocco,” adds Pyramid.

“However, (the country will) maintain a strong position compared to other Middle Eastern and North African communications markets.”

Jonathan Terry

July 18, 2011/by actualize