SAICTA targets ICT jobs gap with new portal
The South African Information and Communication Technology Association (SAICTA) has introduced a new jobs portal aimed at connecting ICT professionals and graduates with employers.
Called Industry Connect, the portal is intended to go beyond traditional online job boards by linking employers, jobseekers and professional development in a single platform.
The portal is targeted at ICT jobseekers and ICT professionals, including graduates and people with existing ICT skills, while also serving employers looking to recruit ICT talent.
SAICTA CEO Dr Jannie Zaaiman says the initiative addresses one of the practical barriers to job creation: the disconnect between people with ICT skills and businesses that need them.
The launch comes as government and business enter phase three of their partnership to create a million jobs by 2030.
The portal covers opportunities across established and emerging ICT disciplines, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, data, cybersecurity, cloud technologies and software development, as well as AI ethics, quantum computing, robotic process automation, extended reality and computer vision.
The initiative comes as SA continues to grapple with an ICT skills shortage, particularly in fast-growing areas such as AI, cybersecurity, cloud computing and data.
“The challenge is not only acquiring technical skills. As technology changes, professionals also need strong problem-solving, critical-thinking, adaptability and communication skills. The skills challenge should be tackled from both a technical point of view, as well as a professionalism one,” Zaaiman states.
The portal was developed by local technology and software development firm Botlhale Village, in partnership with Belgium Campus iTversity, with assistance from four senior Belgium Campus students.
According to Zaaiman, the platform’s front-end uses Angular web application, while open source back-end platform Supabase is used for the database. It is hosted in Xneelo cloud and uses Microsoft single sign-on.
How it works
Industry Connect allows employers to register and post ICT vacancies, while jobseekers can access opportunities and create profiles showcasing their qualifications, skills and professional-development activities.
Employers can then access ICT talent relevant to their recruitment requirements, creating a direct channel between companies and potential candidates.
By this year, attackers were using AI to scale and accelerate cyber crime, which extends from generating code and automating attacks, to crafting convincing phishing and deepfake scams. The AI Incident Database lists more than 7 000 incidents in which AI was used as a hacking tool.