Mobile app developers in SA show very little understanding of app users, according to preliminary results of an online survey by the Gauteng e-Skills Hub.
It is currently doing research on mobile applications, and the survey forms part of the research, showing up “surprising results”.
Earlier this month, the Gauteng e-Skills Knowledge Production and Co-ordination Hub, based at the University of Pretoria, hosted the third Gauteng e-Skills Multi-Stakeholders' meeting.
The focus of the meeting was on the South African mobile industry, its growth and development needs, and how participation in the industry can be encouraged across the country. The topics covered included digital innovation in the creative industries, mobile technology and industry opportunities for SA and for women.
Carina de Villiers, professor at the Department of Informatics, at the University of Pretoria, and research co-ordinator of the Gauteng e-Skills Hub, presented preliminary results of a mobile apps development and creative industries survey currently being conducted.
“There were some surprising results from the interim data that suggests how little app developers understand app users,” says the Hub.
It adds that, as a result, many areas are untapped, for example the need for shopping apps that make the shopping experience more exciting.
“The creative industries are increasingly recognised as a rapidly growing and untapped area of income generation in developing economies, which, when combined with digital media, have the potential for exponential growth,” says the Hub.
For this reason, it recently launched the BlackBerry Innovation Applications Lab, which supports local application development and innovation for learning, effective service delivery and new opportunities, with the focus on mobile and smart devices.
Throwing resources
With regard to the e-skills gap in SA, Wallace Taylor, professor at the Information Society Institute and a consultant with the research arm of the e-Skills Institute, later said the traditional deterministic approach of throwing resources at the problem has never worked, and never will.
“The solution is not to bring experts in from the outside world, and neither is it in painting over the cracks in ICT skills.” He argued that the key is in considering both the demand and supply side of ICT skills in SA.
Stakeholders emphasised the need for collaboration across not only government, but also the private sector, organised labour and communities, with education playing a strong role in ensuring learning is not lost.
The Gauteng e-Skills Hub has a specific focus on e-entrepreneurship within the creative industries and mobile applications development. It explains that the underlying purpose is job creation, and social and economic upliftment in SA.
Share