As part of their commitment to fostering innovation and building digital skills, even in the remotest part of the country, Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa, today heralded in a new digital dawn in the Eastern Cape with the opening of the first Innovation and Digital Skills Centre (IDSC) in Mthatha.
Through this initiative, communities close to the centres will be exposed to local learning and business opportunities. The IDSC will serve as a technology hub where learners and entrepreneurs can equip themselves with the latest and most relevant digital skills. The IDSC is equipped with state-of-the-art classroom learning facilities with high-speed connectivity, helping positively impact the education system in the city.
As part of the learnerships, the courses on offer will include:
- Microsoft Office Fundamentals: In this training course, learners will learn basic Word, Excel, and Outlook skills.
- Introduction to Design Thinking: This course will introduce learners to the Design Thinking process and illustrate best practices for each step along the way.
- Introduction to C#: This is part of a three-part course where learners will be taken through the fundamentals, object-oriented programming concepts and instruction on data structures and algorithms
Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Ms Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams says, “A key aspect of economic development and growth is the ability to enhance competitiveness through skills and competencies that are on par with international markets. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies pro-actively developed the National Digital and Future Skills strategy to keep pace with the advancement of technology.”
Commenting on the opening of the centre, Honourable Premier: Eastern Cape Provincial Government, Mr L. O. Mabuyane said, “It is indeed heartening to see social partners, across the spectrum, including business, heed the call by government, to join in the pact towards a better life for all – of our people. The mastery of the set of skills that, in particular, an evolving curriculum and a refocused education outcomes agenda – towards a workforce that will be ready for the 4th Industrial Revolution, will place all of us and the future of generations to come on the right footing towards exponential growth and development in our province. Through innovation and digital technologies, we have the potential to tap into the full potential of the Eastern Cape and her peoples”.
According to Deon Geyser, Chief Executive Officer Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa, “As we stand at the cusp of the 4IR, digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, Big Data, Robotics, 3D technologies and many more have become the means and solutions to many of the world’s problems. We believe that empowering the youth with the necessary technological skills will prepare them to thrive in today’s digital age and become part of the digital revolution. The opening of the centre is a realisation of our commitment to future-ready local communities, upskilling the youth and accelerating digital adoption among entrepreneurs based in the Eastern Cape.”
Empowering South African youth and communities has always been at the core of Liquid SA. The organisation has implemented learnership programmes for 93 students in the Eastern Cape covering ICT while also awarding 20 bursaries to students through the Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu Universities for the 2020 Academic year.
To date, 140 underprivileged students benefitted from bursaries to leading tertiary institutions; 811 learnerships and internships have been implemented in various courses for learners, including those with disabilities. 50 unemployed youth were trained on Introduction to Programming, 630 mainstream schools and 20 learners with disabilities benefitted from ICT equipment and expos, while 389 learners went through The Virtual Mathematician maths and science schools in the Eastern Cape.
