The South African government is to establish a council to oversee the development of "e-skills" in the country, while a number of leading local and international IT companies are to set up new training centres in SA, it was announced on the weekend.
Speaking to journalists after meeting with an advisory council on information society and development in Kwazulu-Natal, President Thabo Mbeki said that improving South Africa's information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure would be futile if people did not possess the necessary skill to use the technology.
The new e-skills council, comprising members of government, business and academia, would "very rapidly" drive the process of improving ICT skills in the country, Mbeki said.
Mbeki, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri were among those who attended the latest meeting of the council, set up to advise the government on ICT trends and ways of encouraging economic development.
At the meeting, a number of corporations outlined their plans for contribute to skills development in South Africa.
Hewlett Packard (HP) announced a R150-million initiative, dubbed the HP Business Institute, designed to provide subsidised training to small black-owned ICT companies.
Ken Willett, MD of HP Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa, said the institute would provide its students with comprehensive training, including not only traditional IT-related training but also general business training in areas such as marketing communications and business management.
Microsoft, Cisco and Oracle also announced proposals for the launch of centres to provide ICT training and job placement.
Oracle said that, according to industry statistics, the demand for skills in South Africa's ICT sector - which currently employs approximately 200 000 people - would exceed the supply by as much as 24% by 2009.
"The skills shortage in the manufacturing sector alone will lag by 14 000 ICT specialists in 2010," the company said in statement.
SouthAfrica.info reporter and BuaNews
Source: SouthAfrica.info
Yet I consistently generate highly qualified leads from my Web site using what my colleague, Dianna Huff, calls the SEO secret weapon -- the e-newsletter archive.
I'm so tired of experts! Everyone is an SEO expert. It must be one of the fields with the most experts.And then no matter what all the SEO experts do do say, Google tweaks its parameters and everything changes.
Anyway the secrets are - according to her and Ms Huff - Fresh Content, Keyword rich content, Linkable content, Reprintable content, Reusable content and Conversations.
Read the whole article and optimise your "SEO secret weapon"
Be careful what you wish for - can you imagine what Telkom will do with that?
PeekYou is a new kind of online white pages.
A PeekYou profile helps other people find your websites, social-networking pages, photos, or anything else about you online. You can also create a profile for friends or relatives to ensure that they may also be easily found online.
So read all about how Stephen Pitts did something about his online reputation management on Peekyou.
I don't usually react to alarming emails or charity appeals. but this one merited a read through, so I'm passing it on.:
A group of anglers in KwaZulu Natal are planning a shark fishing competition on the weekend of the 18th and 19th August. They've advertised in the Natal Deep Sea Rod and Reel Club newsletter and will catch and kill the sharks, not tag and release them. Their motivation is that their catches are often taken by sharks and "a number of anglers have now got together to find out for themselves what is going on with regards to the shark numbers", to quote from their newsletter.
In the guise of a very questionable charity event, they will target sharks over 20 kilograms and "donate" the fins through a local Asian buyer, and further donate potentially mercury contaminated meat to an underprivileged children's home. Contradicting their implications that there are too many sharks, they add that they cannot find any to satisfy their foreign clients who are only interested in catching sharks - another serious concern (see full details from newsletter on the AOCA website on the link What's Up). As it stands the competition is illegal as it goes against recreational permit conditions.
In light of the severe plight of shark populations worldwide, including in South Africa as depicted in our recent documentary Sharks in Deep Trouble, we cannot condone the unnecessary slaughter of animals that are in desperate need of protection. The motivation for this competition is unacceptable and not supported by scientists.
Considering the overwhelming slaughter of over 100 million sharks per year, which is driving many shark species to extinction, we fight an uphill battle to make a difference in saving them.
We need your help through this petition to stop this competition, and also to put pressure on Marine and Coastal Management to change the current recreational fishing limits of sharks of 10 per day per fisherman. We demand adequate scientific evidence, thus far lacking, to support this number, and failing which a precautionary approach for deciding daily shark catch limits. We've only got a few days and need all the support we can get to make a difference.
To enter the petition send your name, email address and comments to info@aoca.org.za
In the subject line add: Shark Petition, then forward this email to as many people as possible - the number of people who sign will determine the impact we have.
Thank you for helping us to help them!
Sender Lines are really important. Most important is that you accurately identify the sender. The goal of a sender line is recognition; you want the recipient to look at the sender line and know the e-mail is from you.
Some key points are:
But why not read Jeanne Jennings' article, E-Mail Sender Lines: Do's and Don'ts?
Some of it is not really relevant to
This post aims to break all your barriers to guest blogging. So that you too can start creating your own guest blogging opportunities.
Objection 1: The blog is so popular. I doubt if the author has time to even read my emails. I’m sure he won’t allow me to write for his blog.
I’ll let you in on a secret: most bloggers will allow you guest posting on their blog if you approach them with a unique story or angle. It doesn’t matter how popular they are. Its true that your chances of getting published on their blogs shoots up high if you’ve spent time in building a relationship with the author first though.
"We live in the new South Africa and are living the African Renaissance, but many white South Africans can't speak any of the major African SA languages" says McKerr of his motivation for the project.
Motherland Isiko TV is releasing sixteen 1.5 minute video episodes that teach the basics of isiZulu. The episodes will be released every Monday and Thursday morning so that all South Africans receive the same lessons at the same time.
Read more and find out how you can register.
And please spread the good news!
Ask these people about their computer usage, and they’ll reply with, “I do my email, write a letter, go to the internet if I have to, and that’s it,” as if the computer will wear down if they use it for too many tasks (which, courtesy of Windows Operating Systems, has reinforced this idea)."
Read: Give Boomers What They WantThe purpose of the crunked-out video is to encourage disenfranchised youth to "read a mothafuckin' book!" Users are also led to Not a Rapper, the official website of Bomani D'Mite Armah, "the poet with a hip-hop style."
Read moreOverall public confidence in South Africa's readiness to host the 2010 Fifa World Cup has improved slightly since 2006, with a study by market research company African Response finding that 70% of South Africans believe the country will be ready then.
African Response director Anina Maree says this is an encouraging sign, explaining that their 2010 barometer was designed to track public perceptions, and to allow organisers and other stakeholders to address public concerns.
"A heart-warming result from the 2010 African Response barometer is that the majority of respondents (85%) believe that South Africa will benefit from the 2010 World Cup," African Response says in a statement this week.
"In addition, almost four out of five respondents believe that the World Cup is important to them personally."
The survey interviewed 1 200 respondents from Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria over April, May and June this year.
The survey shows that the residents of Johannesburg as being significantly more optimistic in the country's ability to host the World Cup, with a 76% confidence level, as opposed to residents of Cape Town, with only 60%.
Seventy percent of those interviewed believe that South African airports will be while 59% have faith that public transport will be sufficient to carry soccer fans around the country during the tournament.
An overwhelming 85% also believed that South Africa's many restaurants would be ready to cope with the increased demands of hosting the World Cup.
"Bafana Bafana have apparently made a good impression on the South African public in the last three months, as confidence in our local team has risen from 44% in 2006 to 52% in 2007," African Response adds.
The survey also points to more South Africans preferring to watch World Cup matches on television, with only 54% wanting to watch matches live, down from 61% in 2006.
"Although overall levels of confidence are high, some areas for improvement have been highlighted from the survey," African Response says.
The survey shows that there has been a notable decline in the confidence that South Africa will be able to meet electricity demands during the World Cup, with confidence being lowest in Cape Town, which has had many power disruptions.
Confidence is South Africa's security and policing has declined from 62% in 2006 to 55% currently, while residents' optimism on sufficient accommodation being available during the tournament also dropped to 77% from 84% in 2006.
The survey also finds that over half of the respondents feel that they are not receiving enough information on the progress made on World Cup preparations.
"While overall confidence is up, there are obvious areas which South Africans believe could be improved on," says Maree.
"However, as 2010 nears, and developments become visible to the public these scores are sure to rise as excitement builds."
SouthAfrica.info reporter
Source: SouthAfrica.info
