Digital skills deemed critical for future jobs

The national Department of Communications and Digital Technologies is looking to form partnerships to assist young people to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the digital economy.
This is according to the Minister of Communications, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, who stated digital skills have been identified as critical for future jobs.
This was said during a recent youth master class webinar.
The event was intended to empower young people with digital skills and knowledge.
The minister said government, the private sector, youth organisations and NPOs have an important role in the digital skilling of the youth, as well as to ensure they have access to the necessary infrastructure.

Also read: Youth master class on digital skills

“The youth is presented with opportunities brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and requires the youth to be fully equipped with the necessary digital skills.
“This will empower them to contribute to the digital economy, while addressing other pressing issues that are facing our country.
“The 4IR era presents various technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), big data, data science, Blockchain and other technologies that are bringing transformation in all dimensions of life.
“It provides an opportunity to advance socio-economic development,” she said.
She added that her department would be partnering with the Department of Higher Education to establish high technology classrooms in the technical and vocational education and training colleges countrywide.
These classrooms will also benefit unemployed youth.
Young people are urged to utilise the free digital skills courses available online offered by Digify Africa and Google Africa.

Also read: 4 ways organisations can embrace digital transformation, securely

Digify Africa’s Xolani Sedibe said the future of work lies in marketing automation, data science and analytics, audio and video production and e-commerce.
He said there are opportunities for young people to do user-experience design, which is about the front-end of most digital technologies.
Young people who are interested in learning about data science can do so on the IBM Digital Nation Africa Portal.
Google Skills Shop provides data analytics skills and the Facebook Blue Print platform provides learning about digital marketing.
The Hotspots Academy provides skills on marketing automation, while the YouTube Creator Academy provides opportunities for content creation.

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