IT skills crisis
DELEGATES from hundreds of companies attending a technology conference in Cape Town have been urged not to expect the government to solve the education problem, but rather to sponsor a school themselves.
“If every enterprise represented in this room were to adopt a school to improve the output, or each of us were to sponsor one disadvantaged child, it could alleviate the stranglehold of poverty and crime,” said Gartner Africa MD Rene Jacobs.
It would also grow the available IT skills pool, Jacobs said at the opening of the Gartner conference yesterday.
The dire shortage of qualified technicians and business leaders is biting so hard that it is inhibiting the performance of IT companies around the world.
The crisis was worse in SA, where emigration was depleting the pool, Jacobs said.
“You need to dismiss the thought that the disadvantaged people in our society are the sole responsibility of the government,” she said.
“We as business leaders need to lead the change. You have to get involved in education.”
Hi-tech companies needed to make IT more attractive to young people.
“Between now and 2010 the demand for qualified IT professionals will outstrip supply globally,” said Peter Sondergaard, Gartner senior vice-president.
Salaries for technicians who also had a sound grasp of business practices would outpace average salary hikes by two to one, Sondergaard said.
Gartner Africa funds after-school computer lessons for about a dozen children in an informal settlement in Hout Bay.
The equipment was donated by Sanlam and is used in the evenings for adult computer training.
IT Skills crisis – give your views
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