South Africa has not yet decided to set stock in a strong IT economy; however, the country is on the cusp of a decision.
This is according to Gartner research VP and fellow Mark Raskino, in his presentation on skills development in SA, at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2008, in Cape Town.
He said the opportunities that exist in India and other emerging markets also exist in SA. The problem is SA is not aggressively pursuing the industry as a possible economic driver, he added. "SA now has a choice: it can decide to actively grow the skills it needs in ICT, or it can do what the UK did, and offshore the ICT capabilities."
At the moment, SA appears to be leaving the issue on the shelf, he explained. "It's no accident that India is leading the ICT market and supplying the labour. It is because it is very aggressive on its growth strategy for the sector."
Many large international corporates will soon start looking to SA to target Africa as a whole, because Africa is the next big thing for these companies, he said. "SA inherits the mantle for confidence in the entire continent."
In fact, SA has more going for it than countries like India and China. "For a start, to outsource here within a similar time zone to Europe is just one possible highlight. The accent is easier to understand and language is less of a barrier."
Raskino noted India had committed to a 40% growth target for ICT skills development. The country also plans to keep that growth scale in the double digits.
Companies like the Tata Group process in the region of one million CVs per year to find the necessary skills, he explained. India is also not waiting for government to create the industry, but is actively building it, he added.
SA needs to pick a direction and work as an industry to solve whatever skills trouble it is experiencing, he said. CIOs and CEOs are far too fond of decrying the brain drain, added Raskino.
However, there are also far too few companies seeking out the "diaspora" and trying to repatriate them within the ICT industry locally. "Within the current global economy, there must be people feeling much less stable in their new chosen countries. Why are companies not trying to get them back?"
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