Oracle's plans to close IT skills gap in Africa

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The four-pronged program was devised as a response to the rapid adoption of new technologies by governments and businesses in Africa, exacerbating the shortage of suitably skilled practitioners to use the systems to best advantage.

According to the company, the advancement of technology over the past five years has resulted in a gap in IT competencies and skills availability. Organisations in Africa are adopting new technologies at a rate which is outstripping the availability of appropriately qualified staff.

"Today IT holds the promise to promote social inclusion, combat corruption, expand the digital economy and enable stronger links between citizens and governments, businesses and customers, NGOs and the communities they serve," says Alfonso Di Ianni, Senior Vice President, Oracle East Central Europe, Middle East and Africa. "They can do this and at the same time dramatically reduce costs and improve efficiency. However for technology to support such transformation, organisations must have ready access to people capable of setting up and maintaining these systems."

Consisting of four elements - employee readiness, ecosystem readiness, workforce readiness and youth readiness, Oracle is reaching out to governments, the private sector and non-profit organisations to implement a long term skills strategy that will help fulfill demand for relevant IT skills.