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DST, Absa pool resources for human capital

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 20 Mar 2012

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) and SA's biggest retail bank, Absa, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to focus on areas that are “critical for SA's economic future” in terms of human capital development.

The MOU was signed in Pretoria yesterday by minister of science and technology Naledi Pandor and Absa's chief executive for retail and business banking, Bobby Malabie. It states that the two entities will focus and cooperate on human capital development, renewable energy technologies, ICT and agricultural business development.

Productive partnerships

Pandor says the DST is committed to establishing “genuine and productive partnerships” within the private sector, because of the sector's vital role in research and innovation.

SA's financial services sector, she says, is “highly-rated” in terms of international competition and innovation indexes. “We believe there are many lessons to be learnt and programmes to be developed from [this partnership].

“This partnership is also timely as it occurs at a time when government is seeking sustainable strategies to increase investment in research and development and stimulate business to do the same.”

Palpable potential

Pandor says two of the areas that hold a vast amount of potential, not only for SA, but for the continent at large, are innovation in goods and services and the Internet.

“We have to excite our scientists to become more focused on innovation and creativity.” She says the partnership is one of the national responses to recent government statements that identify the gap and opportunity in this regard.

Similarly, Pandor says the Internet holds a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for SA. “The Internet is only now arriving, and with a billion people on the continent still mostly offline [this is a] huge untapped local market. Government and business should work together to take advantage of these huge opportunities.”

Tech training

From Absa's side, Malabie said the bank was “fully committed” to supporting government in increasing access to high-level graduate programmes in science, engineering and technology.

He emphasised the importance of partnering with universities to attract quality graduates to advance these fields. “It is only through industrial, governmental and educational partnerships that this can be achieved.” He said Absa would facilitate occupationally directed programmes and develop high-level skills for research and innovation.

Malabie added that the partnership would “certainly benefit [Absa] in the long term” as the bank will seek to employ the graduates, products of the programmes born out of the partnership, as its “next generation of leaders”.

The undertaking with government comes just over a month after Absa redeployed all 1 600 staff members in its group IT division, instructing them to reapply for positions across the company's operations as it undergoes a reorganisation of the department.

ITWeb reported last month that about 200 Absa employees in its IT unit were sent home for three months to wait, on the bank's payroll, for an outcome of the company's reassignment process. While Absa officially denies it is involved in a retrenchment process, staff were informed via internal communication that their jobs were not guaranteed.

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