Stellenbosch University (SU) and IBM yesterday opened SA's inaugural Software Centre of Excellence.
The initiative will help address the shortage of computer science skills in the country by providing equipment and training resources to postgraduate computer science students, helping them develop technical skills.
SA is currently facing a dire IT skills shortage, which is threatening to cripple the industry. The problem has frequently been traced to the schooling system, which has been blamed for not producing enough matriculants with the mathematics and science marks they need to enrol for computer science or electronic engineering degrees at universities.
SU and IBM aim to build strong software development skills among students. The Centre of Excellence includes a postgraduate computer laboratory, in the SU computer science division, providing a software production environment for students to hone their skills.
According to the institutions, the centre intends to significantly boost the training and support of computer science professionals at the university. Students will also benefit from an ongoing training and development programme offered by IBM, the company adds.
Rewitzky adds that IBM's provision of state-of-the-art software and technology makes it possible for academics and postgraduate students to use the latest technology in their teaching, learning and research initiatives.
“This supports our efforts to train highly skilled computer scientists, and to meet the industry demands for such skills in SA and beyond.”
“In order to nurture sufficient highly skilled computer professionals to support our growing technological environment, we need to match high-quality education with exposure to state-of-the-art and emerging technologies that matter to business,” says Sean McLean, IBM's university relations manager.
McLean adds that the centre will be open to students to perform practicals after they finish their lessons. He also says IBM targeted SU because the company has a long-standing relationship with the university and it is also well known for producing high-quality talent.
“We expect the Centre of Excellence at Stellenbosch and others like it to be fully independent in the next five years.”
In an interview with ITWeb, professor Lynette van Zijl, also from the Department of Mathematical Sciences, pointed out that the skills dearth in SA is mainly a result of low enrolment levels for computer science at most higher learning institutes, and singled out failure in school mathematics as the biggest challenge.
She believes the Centre of Excellence will play a crucial role in making computer science a desirable career path.
“The centre also makes our students more marketable in the job market,” she added.
IBM says it is already supporting similar centres at other colleges and universities worldwide, including in Nigeria and India, to develop graduates with business and technology skills. According to McLean, the company will also roll out similar centres to other South African universities in future.
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