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South Africans Urged To “Google” Themselves Out Of Poverty

South Africans Urged To “Google” Themselves Out Of Poverty

The need to enable more users access to internet services through a wide range of speeds is what prompted the launch of the Ikamva National e-Skills Institute (iNeSI) at the DUT Ritson Campus on Friday (21 February 2014).

Also launched as part of implementing South Africa Connect; the country’s broadband policy, plan and strategy, iNeSI brings together government, businesses, schools, FET Colleges, universities, civil society and global development partners to advance the development of local ICT skills that will contribute towards the country’s economic growth and allow it to become globally competitive.

iNeSI was officially launched by Communications Minister; Yunus Carrim, Minister in the Presidency; Trevor Manuel and Communications Deputy Minister; Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.
The Institute is as a result of the realignment of three institutions, namely the National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (NEMISA), e-Skills Institute as well as the Institute of Satellite Software Applications (ISSA).

Professor Ahmed Bawa, DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal, welcomed dignitaries including Dr Molatelo Maloka; Chairperson of the Board of Ikamva National e-Skills Institute, Ayanda Dlodlo; Department of Public Service and Administration Deputy Minister, Sikhumbuzo Kholwane; Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communication as well as eThekwini Municipality officials and MPs who had converged to DUT for the official launch.

Prof Bawa said technology was central to the country meeting its developmental challenges. “The launch of the National e-Skills Institute provides us with the opportunity of a step up. It takes us to another point in time. The fact that we have a broadband policy in place, we need to thank the Ikamva National e-Skills Institute for bringing it to where it is,” he said.
He also added that usage of the internet in Africa was at seven percent of the world population, and that in terms of technology, the continent is operating at a low level and had a long way to go.

Dr Maloka said the Institute recognised the huge task ahead. “South Africa’s global e-readiness rankings have fallen from 47 in 2007 to 70 in 2013 out of a total of 140 countries. We lag behind comparable economies in criterias such as skills, individual usage, government usage, social impacts and affordability. This has serious implications for our country and it lays out a serious agenda needed for our Institute. We simply need to step up to the challenge and recognise that whatever committed effort has been undertaken in the past few years, other countries are doing more and we need to catch up,” said Dr Maloka.

Deputy Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams added that ICTs enabled everyone to do their jobs efficiently, saying that without information, a country would rarely be able to progress. She has urged South Africans to use ICTs in improving their lives.

Communications Minister Yunus Carrim reiterated the fact that South Africa could not afford to be left behind in ICT development and South Africa needed to deepen and advance e-skills in the country.

“We need to become a far more effective knowledge economy and information society. ICT has huge potential to reduce the gaps between the poor and the rich. It also has just as much potential to increase the divides between the haves and the have-nots, the connected and the unconnected. We need to move and move fast. Part of this motion is to give full life to the Ikamva Institute and to do everything we can to deepen and advance e-skills in our society. We formally launch the Ikamva National e-Skills Institute as a new state owned company to more effectively harness the range of capacities across government, business, education, civil society and global development partners,” he said.

Minister Carrim added that access to communication means far more than a voice service, but rather a full range of ways of communicating more cheaply and effectively, finding information and better managing business and banking as well as creating knowledge and innovating. He also stressed that he was pleased that a number of government departments had recognised the importance of developing capacity for the information age and developed programmes around a broad e-skills agenda in order to advance their own mandates.

“Whilst this is understandable, we need to ensure that there is alignment across and within key government departments including the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Public Service and Administration and the Department of Rural Affairs amongst others. I am very pleased that the heads of these aligned departments understand this matter and have expressed a keenness to collaborate with the Institute in this very important work,” he added.

Minister Manuel said part of the establishment and expansion of the Inkamva National e-Skills Institute is to make appropriate investment opportunities for the next generation. “The iPhone has the same ICT level as the super computer in 1965. That’s the level of change we are experiencing,” he said.

– Waheeda Peters

Pictured L-R: Minister in the Presidency, Trevor Manuel, MP-Ms Mina Lesoma, Deputy Minister of Communications Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, Minister of Communications Yunus Carrim, Ms Ayanda Dlodlo, Deputy Minister: Department of Public Service and Administration and Dr Molatelo Maloka, Chairperson: Board of Ikamva National e-Skills Institute, at the official launch.

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