South Africa is still facing challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment. It's important that all ICT professionals understand the role technology can play to address these key issues.
So said Vuyani Jarana, chief officer of Vodacom Business, speaking at the GovTech conference in Durban yesterday.
According to Jarana, SA is a relatively small economy in global and world terms; it is an open economy that is impacted by movements in global capital, as well as the shifting economic centre of gravity from the West to the East.
This is impacting the South African economy, whether it be commodities or the need for some of the services the world economy requires, he said.
"It's, therefore, important as a country to take cognisance of all these factors in terms of making sure we strengthen our economy and also have everybody interested in executing the National Development Plan, especially as it applies to ICT in this country," said Jarana.
He believes there are opportunities the ICT sector provides, whether it's in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, or ICT's role as a catalyst for economic development.
Every 10% in the improvement of broadband penetration has an impact of 1.38% on the GDP, he pointed out. "This is important if you look at the results of the World Competitive Report from the World Economic Forum where South Africa improved by seven points on the back of innovation and ICT.
"As South Africa is competing in a global village, the country's competitiveness becomes very important; thus, it is important for every sector and industry to make sure we advance our position in the global economy."
From a Vodacom point of view, Jarana said the focus is around investing in people in order for them to be able to help themselves. "It's all about helping people become better. The second area is around the technology itself. We should roll out technology aggressively. When all of us have access to technology, we should see an improvement in human life."
He noted Vodacom is investing in e-learning capabilities, e-learning platforms and also looking at areas such as content, as well as the delivery of services from tablets and access to data.
"However, we should be in a position to see if our educators are ready to play a role in the fast digitising economy. Can they be successful in changing the teaching methods; are they fit for the future to deliver the kind of content?
"We will continue to engage government to ensure the prices of tablets continue to fall and we will also engage OEMs to improve year-on-year the cost of the device."
Jarana noted ICT has the ability to create jobs besides being a catalyst to economic development.
"If you look at the fact that the economy is digitising across the world - I had the privilege of engaging with some global ICT outsourcers in Europe and in the US. They are looking for new destinations for BPO. I am not talking about call centres but about digital services.
"When Microsoft launched Windows 10, they needed a lot of support across the globe. SA needed to take its own position and say 'we can support locally because we've got people who understand how to configure applications and support clients, etc'."
Businesses and governments have had to shape their own systems to allow channel engagement between citizens and government; between government and service providers, said Jarana.
He added the Philippines and India have been leading in regards to this as they have made a clear strategy around energy, broadband and connectivity.
"If we don't make the right conditions for the big outsourcers to come, we are going to lose a big opportunity and jobs will go elsewhere and we have got young people who need them," he concluded.
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