by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – AFRICA is poised to benefit from collaborations between the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and IBM to address the digital skills gap.
The organisations have partnered on the Digital Futures.
The collaboration will feature IBM SkillsBuild to deliver digital learning to women and youth.
The Digital Futures initiative will endeavor to deliver advanced digital and 21st-century workforce skills in Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
It will focus on delivering digital training to youth, women, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) students with a specific geographic emphasis on least developed countries (LDCs).
Digital Futures will aim to train 50,000 youth, women and TVET students.
Preeti Sinha, UNCDF Executive Secretary, said the key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda is to scale all impactful solutions.
This includes solutions to enhance digital literacy and to strengthen skills building to ensure competitiveness in the global digital economy and in light of the fourth Industrial Revolution.
“Our partnership with IBM will look to leverage their expertise in digital skills building alongside our primary commitment to serve the LDCs,” Sinha said.
IBM SkillsBuild operates in 159 countries, offering over 1 000 courses in 19 languages in technical disciplines such as cyber security, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, or data analysis and workplace skills.
“At IBM, we are committed to investing in the future of work and to provide free education on disruptive technologies,” said Justina Nixon-Saintil, Vice President, IBM Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental, Social, and Governance.
“…which is why we’re excited to partner with UNDCF on Digital Futures to help democratize opportunity and fill the growing digital skills gap.”
IBM has a commitment to equitably skill 30 million people worldwide by 2030.
The Digital Futures initiative is an outgrowth of the Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Coalition, launched by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
– CAJ News