Although there's a general shortage of ICT skills globally, the networking professionals skills shortage is more profound.
That's according to Cisco, which calls on governments to urgently deploy policy and training programmes to help fill this fastest-growing gap.
The networking solutions giant says the global shortage of skilled Internet protocol (IP) networking professionals will total at least 1.2 million people by the end of the year, citing the INSEAD Business School's Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2014.
The Global Talent Competitiveness Index is an annual benchmarking study, encompassing 103 countries.
Specifically looking at SA, Cisco estimates 30 000 to 70 000 skilled information technology workers are needed.
However, it says local tertiary institutions are not producing enough ICT graduates to meet this demand.
According to the latest Cisco Visual Networking Index, Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast: 2014-2019 forecast, mobile data traffic is expected to grow 11-fold over the next five years in SA, which is a compound annual growth rate of 63% - two times faster than expected fixed IP traffic growth.
This highlights that connectivity is accelerating at a fast pace in the country, therefore creating a growing need for skilled ICT professionals, says Cisco. The lack of young ICT professionals is not limited to just SA - increased connectivity, the Internet of everything, rising digitisation of all business activity, globalisation of trade and travel, and economic growth globally has created the same problem in a number of countries across the globe, it adds.
"Specific programmes and targeted policies are needed to expand the total pool of qualified people in South Africa, as well as globally," says Alfie Hamid, regional manager of Cisco Systems: Corporate Affairs Sub-Saharan Africa.
"More effort is particularly needed to expand the pool of qualified networking talent by first increasing the number of new networking employees (graduates); secondly, encouraging and enabling mid-career professionals to transition to ICT and networking; and thirdly increasing a country's total talent by encouraging immigration."
Hamid calls on government to expand efforts to increase the number of trained ICT professionals from universities, vocational programmes and technical training centres, particularly by integrating elements of computer science and IP networking into general education curricula at the primary and secondary levels.
He also believes increased mentoring can make a difference. Mentoring students provides opportunities to experience and learn about careers in technology-related fields, he says.
Another solution will be to reduce limits on the number of temporary and immigrant visas for skilled workers, says Hamid, explaining the current immigration policies directly impact the immediate supply of skilled networking employees.
Tailored training programmes can accelerate the number of skilled networking employees that enter the global workforce, he points out. Cisco's Networking Academy Programme prepares students for entry-level ICT jobs through the public private partnerships model. To date, it has trained over five million students globally and over 34 000 in SA, he notes.
"The ongoing adoption of more powerful mobile devices and wider deployments of emerging M2M [machine-to-machine] applications, combined with broader access to faster wireless networks, will be key contributors to significant mobile traffic growth in South Africa and the rest of the world in the coming years.
"While this phenomenal growth highlights the presence of the IP networking gap, with dedicated public policy, specific training programmes, and public involvement on the part of governments, citizens and private enterprise, we can solve the talent gap," Hamid concludes.
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