Wits Business School will be expanding its Digital Business research programmes to introduce digital skills to business managers and leaders in SA and the continent.
This week Telkom and Wits Business School announced a new vacant opportunity for Africa's first chairperson in Digital Business, saying the chair will spawn numerous initiatives through the five-year funding commitment from Telkom.
According to Wits Business School, the incumbent will build a team and formalise the value proposition for the academic digital programmes and the research agenda.
Professor Steve Bluen, head of the Wits Business School, says this position is a first for SA and the continent and will ensure that Wits is at the forefront of delivering important research and relevant programmes that are essential for doing business in today's digitised world.
"The impact of this chair is significant. Not only will it contribute to the economy by developing essential skills that will boost employment and encourage start-ups, but it responds directly to the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy adopted by the African Union in 2014.
"This strategy aims to reposition the continent as a collection of technology-driven economies, ensuring the sustainable growth of the countries within," he explains.
Nearly every company or institution has online operations and many businesses now operate solely online, adds Bluen.
In addition to its initial R32.7 million funding over five years, Telkom says it would create a BEE internship programme for Wits Business School students. The company will also offer free digital business training to its own staff, and particularly executives studying for a master's degree in digital business.
Sipho Maseko, group chief executive at Telkom, says the availability of studies in digital business was an essential development for Africa and SA.
"The next generation of business people will be even more exposed to new technologies, along with the threats and opportunities of digital disruption. Unless digital business is part of the business model, companies won't survive.
"The old analogue approach is history. Digitalisation is helping companies achieve their business goals in a new real-time and information-rich marketplace. This is the world our young people are entering," explained Maseko.
The collaboration with the Wits Business School would also help to identify and develop black South African and African talent in the field of digital business, he noted.
Professor Chris van der Hoven, academic director at the Wits Business School, says a digital business removes the barriers of time and distance, creating local jobs that can compete in a global market.
"As we stand on the brink of the fourth industrial revolution, business persons must understand the challenges, opportunities and risks of digital business. They should be able to develop and implement digital business strategies, including digital management, Web and data analytics and digital marketing in order to remain competitive locally and globally," he asserts.
The domain of knowledge, he adds, will include business-related aspects of big data and data analytics, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data storage, integrity and security and more.
"The various business courses will shine a bright light on the needs and challenges of digitally enabled businesses, and those moving from analogue to digital modes.
"Telkom has specialists in numerous fields and expertise in areas that will either be complementary or help to leverage what Wits Business School has to offer. They can help us to learn from specialists and customers and also from businesses as we have similar values and aspirations, in many respects, around social upliftment.
Professor Adam Habib, vice-chancellor and principal of Wits University, says the development of a successful technology ecosystem is crucial to economic growth and international competitiveness.
"The Telkom Chair is a welcome addition to Wits' suite of data science and big data courses and research, as well as to our new innovation hub, the Tshimologong Precinct, in Braamfontein.
Wits Business School aims to run the first Digital Business masters and post graduate programmes from January 2018.
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