ITA positive on skills talks

By Christelle du Toit, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 08 Aug 2007

The Information Technology Association (ITA) is to report back to the presidency in 14 days on how exactly it can feed into the country's current skills acquisition programmes.

Yesterday, the entire management committee of the ITA met with the presidential Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) secretariat on how the industry body could get involved with programmes such as the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for SA (Asgisa).

According to Keith Anderson, COO of Axiz and ITA president, the initial contact-making session was "very positive".

"From the presidency we got a good insight into JIPSA and how it links with Asgisa," says Anderson. "We can now go back to our members and be more focused on prioritising skills development aligned to the development priorities."

Anderson says the issue of defining and quantifying the current ICT skills shortage is high on the agenda, with the ITA suggesting that the matter be broken down into "bite-size chunks".

"Nobody, and I mean nobody, can stand up and say with authority what the skills shortage is," says Anderson. "Current figures are anywhere from 30 000 to 70 000 and that is directly from the president himself."

According to Anderson, the ITA will now investigate how many skilled ICT professionals are needed at various levels of business, from SMEs to large corporations and multi-nationals.

"We can then better say what is needed and at what level."

Bridging corporate divide

The presidency, according to Anderson, is mainly focused on school-leavers and gradates who are not receiving ICT skills, whereas industry is more concerned with top-level skills needs.

"When you move into the corporate world you need different skills that are not catered for, not even by the ISETT SETA [Information Systems Electronics and Telecommunication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority]," says Anderson, who also serves on the ISETT SETA board.

"We need to deliver skills across a wider spectrum, and what we can do is create business opportunities for young people. Rather than trying to move all of them into business, which can't work, we can work closely with SMEs to create opportunities for them."

The ITA's breakdown model of the skills needed, as well as the ways it can support SMEs, will form part of the report it will present to the presidency for further discussion.