Telkom Outlines Future Plans to Minister
According to Mosibudi, government has recognized the need to invest more in the South African ICT sector. Currently South Africa invests 0.81% of their GDP on ICT whilst countries like Switzerland invest 2.27%.
One of the aims of the meeting was to discover what is happening in the telecommunications industry to assist government to make informed decisions regarding investment.
Telkom’s presentation outlined their involvement regarding education within the IT industry and a summary of their networks and technologies used.
One of the core contributions made by Telkom regarding education in the IT sector is sponsoring Centre’s of Excellence. The aim of this initiative is to invest more in the development of skills in the IT industry.
These Centres’s are financed by a tri-party alliance between the Department of Science and Technology, Telkom and various private industry partners and run through a variety of local Universities nationwide. Each University focuses on a specific area of research.
During the panel discussions the Minister mentioned that whilst South Africa is still behind when compared with other international countries regarding skilled workers in Science and Technology he was glad to have Telkom on board.
WiMax was a key focus regarding Telkom’s future initiatives and mentioned as one of the possible options for rural areas and specifically schools.
Telkom is currently testing this technology and according to Xolisa Vapi, Telkom’s senior specialist media relations, the results are positive.
Loading ...