How can SA plug the ICT skills gap?

Kathy Gibson reports from the IITPSA Workforce Conference – While South Africa records the highest unemployment rate in the world, there is still a dire shortage of critical IT skills.

Presenting the IITPSA IT Skills Survey, Lehlohonolo Mokenela, MD of Africa Analysis, points out that the ICT skills gap is a global issue, creating a drag on the digital and AI economy.

The digital economy accounts for 15% of global GDP – equivalent ot $16-trillio. Digital capability is becoming a source of competitive advantage for economies, industries and businesses, Mokenela explains.

There are a number of game-changing technologies taking centre stage in the digital economy, and survey identified skills in these technologies as the most important. AI leads at 66%, followed by quantum computing at 22%, cybersecurity at 3%, robotics at 3%, 5G at 3% and Internet of Things at 3%.

“Countries are not looking at just being able to use the technology, but to be able to develop it. This is where the US and China lead, and where South Africa could potentially play a role.”

AI will impact economies, with AI providing an approximate 14% boost in GDP from 2030. China leads at 26,1%, flowing by North America at 14,5%, Developed Asia at 10,4%, Northern Europe at 9,9%, rest of world at 5,6%, and Latin America at 5,4%.

By 2030, 40% of jobs are expected to be impacted by AI. At the same time, 170-million new jobs could be created, compared to a loss of 92-million jobs.

There is a vicious cycle contributing the South Africa’s skills gap.

It is defined by the pipeline and then by the relevance of the skills gap for graduates coming into the market, says Mokenela.

“The biggest issue for recruiters is that the quality of graduate skills is not aligned to what is expected.”

This can largely be traced back to structural failures in the education sector, according to the survey.

Mokenela acknowledges that there will almost always be a skills gap when there is new technology.

But how you del with it comes down to structural issue and foundations that enable graduates and people already in the workplace to adapt and upskill

“This is an issue: we are not training people to be problem solvers, and adapt to technological change. We are just churning out degrees,” Mokenela says.

“Some enterprises highlighted this: they have students getting degrees, but they are not necessarily able to solve problems.”

The highest share of STEM graduates are predominantly found in developing and merging economies, although South Africa is behind its local and global peers in the contribution of STEM graduates.

Mokenela explains that a contributor to the differences in STEM students is social. “In China, there is a lot of pressure for students to be involved in some form of STEM curriculum. So China is building a strong pipeline for STEM graduates.

“In Malaysia, both children and parents are encouraged to be interested in STEM.”

Mokenela believes South Africa, there is a lot more we could do to boost interest in STEM, and improve the pipeline.

Universal access to digital infrastructure is also vital to promoting STEM participation, he adds.

In the workplace, close to 85% of respondents believe there is a skills gap that is moderate (29%) to significant (58%).

Among the impacts are intensified competition for scarce digital talent, delays in digital transformation initiatives, and wage inflation being driven by a scarcity of experienced workers.

The skills gap has many causes, but respondents believe the biggest are lack of workplace experience (24%) and education and training system gaps (20%).

Other causes include lack of diversity (16%), skills migration (12%), and a supply/demand mismatch (12%).

AI and machine learning (ML) has emerged as a leading technological priority. This is highest among ICT, financial services and large enterprises.

These companies are adopting AI primarily to improve productivity (35%) and gaining a competitive edge (29%).

But AI/ML is also where the greatest skills gap is, at 61%. This is followed by cybersecurity (50%), cloud computing (41%), data science and analytics (37%), digital transformation (28%), DevOps (24%), software development (16%), IT project management (14%), enterprise systems (13%), UX/UI design (6%) and other (6%).

Workers are getting the relevant skills from formal education (74%), on the job training (55%) and vendor certification (46%).

More than 70% of enterprises use AI in at least 20% of their daily tasks – but practitioners predominantly view it as an augmentation technology rather than a replacement.

“The goal not so much relacing employees as increasing productivity,” Mokenela says.

The way forward

To plug the skills gap, and improve the STEM pipeline, Mokenela says we need to address three key areas.

The first is to strengthen the foundation.

Initiatives should include investing in boosting STEM participation, increase early-age digital education; prioritise teachers; and promote AI literacy.

The second area is to accelerate workforce readiness, which can be done through workplace learning; internships; learnerships and industry collaboration.

The third are is government support, through expanding access to digital infrastructure; and partnerships between industry, academia and government.

“South Africa’s challenge is not only to produce more ICT skills but to create an ecosystem that develops, attracts and retains digital talent,” Mokenela concludes.

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