Zimkhita Buwa, chief operations officer of digital solutions provider Britehouse, believes SA can do more to leverage technology for job creation, as well as promote gender equality in the workplace.
In an interview with ITWeb, Buwa detailed the areas she feels need attention if SA is to realise its full potential using digital technologies.
She is of the view that SA and the rest of the continent have the potential to compete on a global level when it comes to tech disruption and innovation.
“The opportunity is there for the taking if you consider the fact that by 2025, Africa’s Internet-related services economy could be worth well over R4.3 trillion.”
According to Buwa, one of the factors driving innovation is the promise of cloud, with companies like Microsoft opening its Azure data centres locally.
This creates a world of possibilities for South African enterprises, she says, adding that Amazon Web Services is also investing heavily in the region and SA should hear more about its data centres opening in 2020.
“South Africa has the potential to be a disruptor in the technology space, but to do so, we cannot be passive users. We must be innovative and leverage our own technology.
“As an emerging market, there are great opportunities for us to use technology for the advancement of economic prospects and for solving some of our most challenging social issues. With the use of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, South Africa can position itself as a major tech hub, not only on the continent, but in the rest of Africa.”
Skills development
Britehouse, which is owned by systems integrator Dimension Data, is driving several initiatives that Buwa believes could have an impact on SA.
The company has partnered with some non-profit organisations to assist in the development of South African youth in skills, education and enterprise.
Some of these organisations include Girlhype Coders, Hello Tutor, Diepsloot Preschools Project and Britehouse GOT-GAME.
Girlhype’s primary focus is to empower women and girls by giving females from under-serviced communities the knowledge and skills to pursue and build careers in the IT industry.
“We work closely with Girlhype as we have identified that we can only grow a diverse pipeline of young women in tech by exposing them to tech from a young age. We also need to make this industry inclusive and change the perception that there are no female role models,” Buwa says.
The Hope Educare Early Childhood Development Centre in Diepsloot is the result of a collaborative project driven by the Diepsloot Preschools Project.
“As one of the key sponsors, we helped make the centre a reality. The centre accommodates between 160 and 200 preschool children from the surrounding community and is proud of its extensive vegetable garden,” she notes.
Britehouse also collaborates with the Diepsloot Preschools Project and Training Force, with the aim of training previously unemployed women in townships around SA.
Hello Tutor is a knowledge-sharing platform whereby approved teachers and other professionals can upload video tutorials based on SA’s high school maths, science and accounting curriculums.
“We sponsor access to Hello Tutor for underprivileged schools, extending the reach of high-quality educational resources through the GOT-GAME digital pop-up hub, which is housed on Sunrise Secondary School’s premises.”
Buwa explains the Britehouse GOT-GAME pop-up digital hub is designed to provide underserved communities with a facility (that can be set up anywhere) to support teachers, learners, local enterprises and host community development projects.
These hubs are equipped with smart technology, Internet access and stocked with an online repository of accredited education resources.
Equality progress
Regarding promoting gender equality in the workplace, Buwa comments that there are some changes in the industry, as there are more women taking up senior leadership positions and more funding and programmes being aimed at women entrepreneurs.
She points out that one of the drivers is broad-based black economic empowerment, which incentivises organisations to support female-owned organisations.
“We cannot solely rely on legislation to drive diversity; more needs to be done to drive gender equality. There’s no shortage of research that proves it’s necessary for businesses to have diverse leadership, as this will likely lead to improved profits. PwC economists estimate that if we close the gender gap in both representation and pay by just 10%, South Africa could achieve higher economic growth.
“I have always maintained that diversity is a differentiator for any organisation wanting to remain relevant in the future. We cannot create products or solutions for a diverse market if we don’t have leaders that represent our market.”
She adds that Britehouse has been running and will continue to run a number of talent development programmes, including Key Talent and Fast Track, through the IE Business School.
“These programmes enable us to identify and nurture upcoming talent. For the last few years, the diversity in these programmes is at least 50% female and African individuals.”
She points out Britehouse complements these programmes with mentors that provide guidance for women.
Mentors are able to assist participants to navigate challenges in the workplace, as well as help with the development of their careers and provide the necessary support, she adds.
“We also run various diversity and inclusion workshops in order to educate leaders on the importance of identifying bias behaviour and the benefits of cultivating an inclusive workspace. In such an innovative organisation, we understand the need to have people from diverse backgrounds and diverse perspectives, and that will lead to greater innovation.”
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