Subscribe

Skills survey to reveal 'real' shortage

Admire Moyo
By Admire Moyo, ITWeb's news editor.
Johannesburg, 08 Jul 2010

Unless something radical is done, SA will continue to face a critical shortage of skilled ICT personnel, which will affect the socio-economic development of the country. These were the sentiments echoed by stakeholders involved in the 2010 ICT Skills Survey.

To combat this, they decided to conduct a skills survey to find out the root cause of the problem.

The survey, a collaborative effort between the Department of Communications, the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE), ITWeb, ISETT SETA and the e-Skills Institute, is now in its final stages.

According to Adrian Schofield, manager of the JSCE's applied research unit, the findings will be made available after 31 August. Prior to the release of the results, partners will present an update on the survey process during a workshop at the e-Skills Summit, to be held in Cape Town at the end of July.

This year, the survey saw two new partners coming onboard - ISETT SETA and the e-Skills Institute. Schofield says: “These two organisations saw the potential value in their operations with this type of research data available.

“Our plan is to analyse the data gathered up to mid-July, prepare reports for the partners and publish the findings during August and September,” he added.

The ICT Skills Survey was initiated after the partners recognised the contributions made by the ICT sector to the socio-economic growth of SA. However, stressed Schofield, these contributions were likely to come to naught because the country was not producing adequate ICT professionals, leaving a massive shortage in the sector.

“The goal of the survey at this stage is to provide objective research data, to give 'real' skills shortage information in SA's ICT sector; to comment on trends and methods of knowledge transfer, as well as to provide guidelines for decision-makers in academia and industry on interventions required for the future,” he said.

He added the survey also aims to identify the most pressing skills needs in the country's corporate environment, asses the current skills capacity of practitioners, and discover their intentions.

According to Schofield, the survey provides invaluable baseline data and has become the first step in identifying common trends in the ICT industry. The stakeholders, added Schofield, after discussing the 2009 findings, resolved to step up their involvement in 2010 in order to bring the survey to its conclusion.

“It was following the roundtable discussion of the 2009 results that ISETT SETA's CEO, Oupa Mopaki, and the acting CEO of the e-Skills Institute, Dr Harold Wesso, agreed that their institutions wished to add value to the process, “ he said.

Share