In a time where skills shortage in SA is in crisis mode, particularly in the ICT sector, a coding academy to unconventionally develop and hone young aspiring developers in SA has been unveiled.
The academy, called Code Tribe, opened its doors two weeks ago at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria.
Speaking during the Mobile Web Africa 2014 conference yesterday, Aubrey Malabie, entrepreneur in residence, mentor and strategist at MLab SA, said Code Tribe is currently training 10 young, aspiring developers.
"What the academy does on a daily basis is build apps, focusing on things that interest the trainees as there is no curriculum." According to Malabie, at the moment the academy is building mobile and cloud apps - focusing on the Internet of things.
"We are currently fiddling around with proximity beacons and sensor technologies. And we have ideas of working with wearable devices that will allow the monitoring, in townships, of the elderly with chronic diseases. These devices will be able to notify a designated centre about the condition of the person concerned."
Malabie said the academy uses different recruitment mechanisms, like social media platforms such as Geek Culture; and going out to universities and technical colleges to talk to students about the academy.
To be enrolled at the academy, an individual must have basic development skills, picked up individually or while studying, said Malabie.
How long a trainee stays in the academy depends on how quickly they can build their evidence of work and credibility and their sense of confidence in the market to allow them to find jobs or become entrepreneurs, he added.
"The skills shortage in South Africa is one of our biggest problems and it creates the potential for the country to lose another generation of brilliant minds. The purpose for the academy is to equip trainees with skills that will get them in the job market as capable people who are confident in the skills they possess," he explained.
He noted the potential employers for the trainees will find their repositories online. The trainee would give the potential employer a link containing all the work they have done. And trainees must also be able to do demonstrations when required to, he pointed out.
The academy is the brainchild of Malabie, in partnership with the Innovation Hub and MLab.
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