UJ to train digital ambassadors

AUCKLAND PARK – City of Joburg Executive Mayor councillor Parks Tau and UJ Vice-Chancellor Prof Ihron Rensburg will launch the programme at Kingsway Campus.

August 4, 2015

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UJ will train 3 000 ambassadors who will train about 700 000 residents as the City of Joburg rolls out Wi-Fi hotspots.

University of Johannesburg (UJ) will launch the Jozi Digital Ambassadors programme on 7 August to train about 700 000 residents over the period of 18 months in digital literacy.

City of Joburg Executive Mayor councillor Parks Tau and UJ Vice-Chancellor Professor Ihron Rensburg will launch the programme at Kingsway Campus.

The training is part of the roll out of 1 000 Wi-Fi hotspots as the City of Johannesburg will require about 3 000 digital ambassadors to train residents. The training will enable residents to utilise and benefit from the broadband connections in their areas. The digital ambassadors will be trained at UJ lecture facilities through a cloud-based learner management system incorporating open source learning.

University media liaison Therese van Wyk indicated the programme is hosted by UJ’s School of Electrical Engineering within the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment.

“UJ staff and students drawn from engineering, IT, management and education will be delivering training and support to the digital ambassadors,” said Van Wyk.

“The digital ambassadors will enable the broader Johannesburg community to engage with digital technology, for example in online job seeking opportunities, banking applications and access to digital services,” said the head of school at the UJ School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Prof Johan Meyer.

He also pointed out that the digital ambassadors will further be mentored in business insight towards achieving competence in using the digital world as an enabling technology for their own innovation enterprises.