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. <\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
It would also grow the available IT skills pool, Jacobs said at the opening of the Gartner conference yesterday.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The crisis was worse in SA, where emigration was depleting the pool, Jacobs said.<\/p>\n
“You need to dismiss the thought that the disadvantaged people in our society are the sole responsibility of the government,” she said. <\/p>\n
“We as business leaders need to lead the change. You have to get involved in education.”<\/p>\n
Hi-tech companies needed to make IT more attractive to young people. <\/p>\n
“Between now and 2010 the demand for qualified IT professionals will outstrip supply globally,” said Peter Sondergaard, Gartner senior vice-president.<\/p>\n
Salaries for technicians who also had a sound grasp of business practices would outpace average salary hikes by two to one, Sondergaard said.<\/p>\n
Gartner Africa funds after-school computer lessons for about a dozen children in an informal settlement in Hout Bay. <\/p>\n
The equipment was donated by Sanlam and is used in the evenings for adult computer training.<\/p>\n