When the Internet was first launched, people didn't know what to do with it. So companies put their brochures online and basically created unappealing Web sites. But eventually we started realising we could change how we do things when we saw what the digital medium can do.
But while we would like to think things have changed, we really haven't changed that much.
This was the sentiment from Rapelang Rabana, founder of communications software development company YeigoCommunications, and founder and CEO of Rekindle Learning. She was speaking during the opening morning of Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2015 taking place in Cape Town this week.
HR, management, training, learning and development are pretty much still stuck in those days of poorly designed Web pages, she said. "We put PowerPoint presentations and PDFs online and we call it e-learning. But we haven't really changed the efficiency of how we learn. This is the next step."
Given the fact that 35% of global employers are struggling to find people with the right skills, it is pretty evident there is a problem, noted Rabana. "But what if we could turn that situation on its head?"
She used the idea of travelling to a different country for the first time and not knowing where to go as an example of how new digital tools can replace a lack of contextual knowledge in a particular situation. "If I gave you a GPS, you would be guided at every turn and ultimately get to your destination. It replaces your lack of experience and expertise so that you can behave like an expert even though you have no knowledge about that place."
Using similar logic, Rabana suggested this kind of intelligence could be used to capture organisational complexity so that we can embed processes and complex decisions into a digital tool. This tool would take into consideration the company's products, systems and processes, and ultimately design methodologies that assist in the achievement of business outcomes. "There are always better solutions and if we can capture organisational complexity in digital tools, we can avoid situations where it takes years of training and experience for people to understand things."
This type of solution would be of exceptional value in the healthcare industry, for example, said Rabana. We all know there are huge limitations in terms of healthcare access on our continent and we are trying to use healthcare workers and clinical associates to fill this gap. But these people have significantly less training than a doctor or nurse. "If we armed them with a real-time guide or the necessary tools, we could help them to make better decisions so that they can escalate the right conditions to the professionals."
We can essentially mimic the way an expert would make a decision; a person who is able to diagnose a problem, solve that problem, act on the right solutions and make these best practices available to employees who don't have the necessary level of skill and experience. "At any point in time you need to have the best expertise at your fingertips so that problems can be solved in real-time."
In order for Africa to become a global player, we really can leverage technology to bridge the knowledge gap, stressed Rabana. "If we are going to be able to capture the demographic dividend, we have to be able to empower people with the right kind of tools to perform well in their environments."
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