5 South African Education Institutions Are Leveraging Technology To Close The IT Skills Gap

5 South African education institutions are leveraging technology to close the IT skills gap

Businesses in South Africa are facing a skills shortage, particularly in technology-related fields such as software development and data science. The good news is that an increasing number of start-ups and established education companies are offering a diverse range of online courses for coders and other tech professionals, as well as platforms for enterprises to develop their own tech-related training.

According to Xpatweb's Critical Skills Survey 2020/21, approximately 77% of organizations are having difficulty recruiting and acquiring critical skills in South Africa for their local and cross-border operations. As a result, many (76%) are looking for work abroad. However, simply expanding the net may not be sufficient.

According to the World Economic Forum, digital transformation will generate approximately 133 million new jobs by 2022. However, the international non-governmental organization warns that this massive increase in demand is likely to result in a global reskilling emergency.

We've compiled a list of several South African companies that provide solutions to the country's digital skills gap.

Digemy

Digemy is a cloud-based learning management system that enables businesses to create and deliver training materials. The start-up provides audio, video, and text-based content for PCs and mobile devices. Digemy's mission is to assist learners in acquiring and retaining knowledge. The start-white-labeled up's content creation system takes a gamified approach to learning, continuously assessing each learner's knowledge in order to repeat information at the optimal frequency to maximize long-term knowledge retention while minimizing learning time.

Getsmarter

GetSmarter's initial goal was to offer short online courses in collaboration with major tertiary institutions. It all started with two South African universities — Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town (UCT). Today, GetSmarter is the poster child for education technology in Southern Africa, offering premium online short courses from world-renowned universities such as the University of Cambridge, Harvard University, and MIT.

HyperionDev

HyperionDev provides online coding courses, dubbed boot camps, with the goal of closing the skills gap by providing an affordable alternative to traditional university degrees. These courses are available online or on-site at one of the college's two locations. With course content ranging from web development and software engineering to data science, the company wants to enable individuals to enter or transition into a career in technology quickly.

MasterStart

MasterStart offers a variety of online short courses for working professionals. The Gordon Institute of Business Science, the University of Stellenbosch Business School, the University of Cape Town Graduate Business School, and MasterStart themselves offer these courses. Digital Transformation and Risk Management are among the course topics, as are Developing Female Leaders and Negotiation Skills.

DFI

The Digital Frontiers Institute (DFI) offers a variety of courses related to digital money, finance, technology, and business. DFI provides an interactive platform for international students to connect and collaborate via monthly webcasts and the ability to participate in debates via blogs, forums, and live chats. Additionally, they provide a data repository for materials, such as ongoing research and case studies.