Johannesburg, 09 Jun 2009
The HP Business Institute, which was launched two years ago, has seen its first intake of learners and small to medium enterprises graduate after a “rigorous training curriculum”.
HP SA acting MD Gois Fouche said, at the graduation ceremony, in Newtown, the company was proud of the first groups that have completed the programme. “It is rewarding to see how smaller enterprises have grown through this programme, and it is even more gratifying to see the impact it has had on the lives of learners.”
Graduate Terrence Tuwe, employed by HP partner Aisel Systems, says the programme provided him with an excellent foundation for his foray into the ICT sector.
“The programme has opened doors for many of us to succeed in the industry. The training extended beyond just technical skills and provided us with the business, administrative and soft skills that the industry requires,” he notes.
Empowerment
The institute was launched as HP SA's equity equivalent and - in doing so - HP became the first ICT multinational in SA to obtain government approval for its equity equivalent proposal.
HP says its institute is a core part of its local broad-based black economic empowerment strategy. At the time the initiative was announced, in 2007, HP SA's investments in all seven pillars of empowerment totalled more than R150 million.
The institute is a large-scale enterprise development programme that is driven mostly through skills development. It aims to help small to medium enterprises break into the higher-end, more sustainable sector of the ICT market and, at the same time, grow the pool of skilled IT professionals in SA.
In 2009, the institute launched three enterprise development programmes, as well as a large-scale graduate programme, known as Techie 101, after assessing the current offerings.
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