The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) is looking to build sustainable technologies focusing on ICT skills challenges in rural communities.
The Black Information Technology Forum (BITF) held a formal discussion about these challenges with Nedbank, EOH and ITWeb, at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton, last week. The event provided a platform for the discussion of issues affecting the development and growth of ICT skills in black communities.
Thenji Mjoli, SITA executive for supply chain management, was one of the main speakers at the event. She outlined SITA's focus on modernising government services, one of the aims of which is to improve access to technology for disadvantaged communities in SA.
According to Mjoli, there is a need for government to move towards electronic systems, noting it still faces challenges like digital literacy and ghost employees. Insufficient access to learning materials at schools is also a concern, said Mjoli.
However, Mjoli described limited budgets, high reliance on international skills and limited maturity of ICT as the challenges SITA faces when it comes to modernising technology in government.
She views platforms, such as the discussion with Nedbank, ITWeb, EOH and the BITF, as a way to improve participation from the industry itself, allowing for the streamlining of policies and strategies, and helping the agency and government build a common vision, which could also help address issues of women empowerment in the ICT sector.
According to SITA, 30% of its budget would be spent on SMEs as part of its transformation strategy, which is aimed at developing businesses that will create job opportunities and contribute to the economy.
Issues raised by SME representatives at the forum included the lack of balance between local businesses and multinationals. Concerns that most multinationals outsource ICT skills and do not hire youths in the country were also raised, as were issues of restrictive rules that hinder participation of SMEs, which lead to only a handful of these businesses surviving.
The agency was challenged to look at regionalising services and allocating more to SMEs in the regional municipalities. Both SITA and the forum were told to become active in municipalities by using local technologies to regionalise services in areas where multinationals are dominant.
According to Mjoli, SITA introduced an ICT academy to deal with addressing skills shortages in the sector. However, entrepreneurs stressed that local technologies need to be tapped so that businesses can produce more local content. Financial institutions like Nedbank were challenged to offer tailored financial solutions that will sustain SMEs at an affordable cost.
Mjoli concluded that SITA's vision is to build more sustainable technologies that will focus on these issues. She called for an economic reformation committed to services outcomes.
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