Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology
Volume 9, 2012
Systemic Approach to e-Skilling in South Africa
Zoran Mitrovic
University of the Western
Cape, Bellville, South Africa
Mymoena Sharif
e-Skills Institute, DoC, Pretoria,
South Africa
zmitrovic@uwc.ac.za
mymoena@doc.gov.za
Wallace Taylor
The Information Society
Institute, Cape Town,
South Africa
Harold Wesso
e-Skills Institute, DoC, Pretoria,
South Africa
wallace.j.taylor@gmail.com
haroldw@doc.gov.za
Abstract
There is widespread agreement of the importance of information and communication technologies (ICT) in building equitable prosperity and globally competitive economies. Effective use of
these technologies, however, requires building new capacities and skills, here referred to as eskills, not only in the working force but the entire population. These skills are in very short supply all over the developing world, and are of particular concern in South Africa. In order to appropriately address this issue, South African government has taken a systematic and systemic approach, to address the matter and has developed an approach involving a number of stakeholders
from all spheres of government, business, education, civil society and organized labor. That effort
led to the e-Skills Summit (2010), which provided the guidelines for the creation of the national
e-skills policy named the National e-Skills Plan of Action (NeSPA). This paper, based on descriptive case study methodology, brings a portrayal of that systematic and systemic approach. The
paper, aimed at academics, practitioners and policy-makers, also depicts the e-skilling key success factors, expected impact of NeSPA, and the principles for monitoring and evaluation. The
paper ends with a brief description of some lessons learned during the initial implementation
phase of NeSPA.
Keywords: e-skills, national policy, aligning policy, systemic and systematic approach, education, training, developing country, South Africa.
Introduction
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The establishment and development of
the Internet and other information and
communication technologies (ICT) in
recent decades, represents a material
foundation for networked society, often
referred to as Information Society or
Knowledge Economies - here named as
Knowledge Society. Creating such a
technology-supported society that can
be increasingly self-reliant, socially cohesive and equitable, involves funda-
Systemic Approach to e-Skilling in South Africa
mentally new ways of thinking, working and living. It requires the building of new capacities, not
only in the work force but the entire population. These capacities are inter alia inevitably associated with the use of ICT and are often referred to as e-skills - comprising knowledge, skills, and
competencies, and spans over a number of economic and social dimensions (EESF, 2004; SFIA,
2008). These skills, essential in empowering individuals so that they can participate fully as citizens of the Information Society, broadly refer to the ability to develop and use ICT to adequately
participate in an environment increasingly dominated by access to electronically enabled information and a well-developed ability to synthesize this into effective and relevant knowledge (WSIS,
2005). However, these skills are in very short supply across the world generally but in developing nation states in particular. Obtaining appropriate e-skills is not a once-off event since the
speed of paradigm technological changes requires that skills need to be continually kept up-todate and relevant. Further, competent currency is often dependent on personal peer-to-peer interactions and on-line support that in itself requires an escalating level of skills. For example,
Europe’s growing e-skills shortage is affecting the productivity and the competitiveness of large
and small organizations across society (eSEW, 2010; eSN, 2010). The situation in South Africa
is not much better, causing South Africa (SA) to slip down the international ‘e-readiness’ rankings - it is estimated that South Africa currently experiences a shortage of over 70,000 IT professionals (ITWeb, 2008). The shortage of e-skills is even more worrying because of the fact that the
supply of ICT graduates is now showing a decline (Accenture, 2008; Birchwood Declaration,
2007). This general lack of e-skills is seen by the South African Department of Communications
(DoC) as a serious impediment to the Nation meeting its commintment to the Millenium
Development Goals (MDGs), the World Summit on Information Society goals (WSIS, 2005),
New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the South African Medium Term
Strategic Framework 2009-14 (MTSF) (DoC, 2007). Locally, e-skills are seen as vital in
addresing poverty, sustainable livelihoods, the fight against crime, building cohesive
communities, international cooperation, and building a developmental state (ANOP, 2010).
Although the e-skilling agenda is already being addressed by other, mostly developed, countries
(e.g., UK, EU states), the solutions for these countries could not be easily replicated in the South
African context as these solutions largely revolve around so called “practitioners” (or professional) e-skills (e.g., SFIA, EESF, 2004) and e-competences (e.g., European e-Competency
Framework – EeCF). Unlike South Africa, these countries do not have a need to address, for example, the so called “dual economy”, huge social and economic disparities (SA has one of the
highest Gini coefficients in the world), massive illiteracy, or considerable “digital divide”, which
is seen through inequitable access to and ineffective use of the contemporary ICT. Thus, overcoming these serious problems, facing equity and prosperity in South Africa, required a different,
substantially proactive and somewhat innovative effort as an increasingly large portion of the
population will require effective e-skills for sustainable socio-economic growth and development
(NeSPA, 2010). Thus SA government has taken a systemic and systematic approach to e-skilling
the nation.
Research Methodology
Having participated in this process from the inception to the finalization of the National e-Skills
Plan of Action (NeSPA, 2010), these authors utilized a case study methodology (Le Compte &
Preissle, 1993:39) to describe a systemic and systematic approach taken and “capture data on the
perceptions of local actors from within” (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 6; Leedy, 1997; Yin,
1993) while exploring an event over which the “researcher has little control” (Yin, 2003, p. 5).
The aim of this research was to answer the questions: (i) why an e-skilling agenda in South Africa
was needed, (ii) what approach to addressing this agenda was taken and (iii) how it was done
(Yin, 1994). The findings are presented here through a “thick description” of the phenomenon
under study (Merriam, 1991, p. 11). This paper is, thus, aimed at academics, practitioners and
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Mitrovic, Sharif, Taylor, & Wesso
policy-makers interested in e-skilling issues. It is particularly aimed at those from developing
countries in order to share experience and advance research and practice in this arena.
This paper now proceeds with describing the process establishing e-skills agenda in South Africa,
the main actors, and the result of the process: the definition of e-skills in a South African context,
key success factors, expected impact and how to monitor and evaluate it, followed by some practical examples of operationalizing NeSPA. This paper ends with a brief reflection and concluding
remarks.
The Genesis of e-Skills Agenda in South Africa
The establishment of the e-skills agenda in South Africa was grounded on a number of assumptions such as the importance of ICT for building Knowledge Society, the evidence of an e-skills
shortage in the country (e.g. ITWeb, 2008; Accenture, 2008) and the perceived need for these
kinds of skills (NeSPA, 2010). Thus, in order to tackle the problem, the SA government has taken
a number of actions such as establishing an e-Skills Institute, organizing the Nation’s first e-skills
summit and creating the national e-skills Plan of Action (NeSPA).
e-Skills Institute
In order to create and execute an e-skills agenda in a systemic and systematic manner, the South
African government, through the Department of Communications (DoC), established the e-Skills
Institute (e-SI). The establishment of e-SI followed the recommendations of the Presidential International Advisory Council (PIAC) in the Information Society and Development (ISAD) Cluster in August 2007 when the shortage of e-skills in South Africa was identified as a serious problem. The seriousness of the problem was recently emphasized by the e-Skills Council that suggested delivering a strategic bridge between the key stakeholders: business, government, education, civil society and organized labor. It is important to notice that all these stakeholders were
actively involved in the process of establishing the e-skills agenda in South Africa.
The primary focus of e-SI as a catalytic leader is to engage a wide base of various stakeholders to
develop a collaborative and integrated national policy, which should guide further action in “eskilling the nation for more equitable prosperity and global competitiveness” (NeSPA, 2010).
The national dialogue for developing an e-skills delivery agenda for South Africa has been
achieved through the partnership between e-SI and, for this purpose, its policy and proof of concept agency The Information Society Institute (TISI). This endeavor has culminated in the first
South African e-Skills Summit, held in July 2010, which was attended by 300 thought leaders
across government (including donor agencies and countries), business (corporate and local), education and civil society (including labor) from across South Africa, continental Africa (Egypt,
Mali and Ethiopia) and internationally (Korea, Spain, Australia, United States and Ireland).
e-Skills Summit
The main purpose of this Summit was to discuss the key matters raised in the draft of the National
e-Skills Plan of Action (NeSPA) which was developed as a result of a wide ranging consultative
preparatory process named: The Path to the Summit. The draft document, essentially a broad
framework, consisted of a compilation of relevant government documents, reports, initiatives and
the like - brought together in the initial output of the consultative process. The discussions in the
Summit’s working groups and panels were, therefore, based on this draft document and revolved
around three pillars:
The context and definition of e-skills within Human Resource Development (HRD) South
Africa for socio-economic developmental perspective;
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Systemic Approach to e-Skilling in South Africa
Research, evaluation and policy development for e-skills within the context of a developmental state; and
The alignment of an e-skills effort to the goals of MTSF 2009-14.
The Summit discussions elicited key issues such as (i) the recognition of the high levels of energy
and interest across all stakeholder groups for action regarding delivering a collaborative, sustainable and effective national approach to e-skilling, and, (ii) consensus of the importance of addressing the goals of the MTSF (2009-14) through e-Skills enhancement.
It was concluded by the delegates that the e-skilling in South Africa cannot be successful within
the old paradigm involving only input (e.g. required resources) and output (e.g. number of eskilled people). The new paradigm, as championed by the e-Skills Summit delegates, required a
shift in emphasis from inputs and outputs to impact. It was also recognized that this approach required the development of “collaborative network architecture” through the coordinated effort to
shift past “doing to” and/or “doing for” towards “doing with” in dealing with the existing efforts,
interests and needs at the local level (e.g. an effort that is seen as “local” in a “community
sense”). It was deemed by the delegates that this endeavor requires maximizing the use of existing infrastructure, effort and commitment that would be independent from any direct control of
any particular stakeholder but also recognized individual stakeholder inputs and rights. It is believed that this approach could bridge the operational and structural gaps between the stakeholder
groups (business, government, education, civil society, organized labor) at local, provincial, national and international levels, thus providing a sustainable national structure.
The Summit ended after three-day long discussions that yielded five overarching themes which
were translated into five key recommendations to be completed beyond the Summit (Table 1).
The establishment of a regional e-Skills Knowledge Production and Coordination Hubs Network
attracted particular attention as the delegates believed that these Hubs “will form the centre piece
of these five recommended actions” and will “addresses the key recurring issues of the Summit”
as “it goes to the heart of bridging the existing chasms between key stakeholder groups, disciplines, agency programs, output and impact”. This initial proposal was aimed “at a government
funded pilot process with nine hubs that can establish and develop a model for South Africa in
this space which is undoubtedly a high priority need recognized in the highest levels of Governance, Business and Civil Society” (NeSPA, 2010).
Table 1: Summary of the overarching themes, recommendations and stakeholders
(based on NeSPA, 2010)
Theme
Recommended Goal
Stakeholder involvement
Shaping NeSPA into a more
comprehensive locally relevant
and impact driven document.
To finalize this working document
before mid-December so that it can
inform the national budget process.
Key representatives from
Government, Higher Education, and Civil Society.
An ongoing, sustainable and
credible effort to develop an
understanding of the nature
and scope of lifelong abilities
required by South Africans in
the emerging socio-economic
space which will inevitably be
dominated by converging ICT,
needs to be established.
Establish the necessary planning platform for South Africa to better position
itself for providing meaningful work
for its citizens in the emerging Knowledge Society.
Independent research expertise across Universities, Corporates, donor agencies (e.g.
the ResNeS).
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Mitrovic, Sharif, Taylor, & Wesso
The establishment of regional
e-Skills Knowledge Centre Network Hubs in collaborative
network architecture.
Establish nine (one per province) eSkills Collaborative Knowledge Centre
Network Hubs.
Universities, regional and
local authorities/communities.
Developing a differential transfer pricing mechanism to provide a basic level of free access
to cell phone and internet connectivity.
Develop an implementable approach
either based on similar approaches
used for providing a base level of water and electricity to the disadvantaged
and/or a model funded by managed
advertising in models such as those
used by both Google and Skype.
An immediate task of small
team of policy developers
and relevant state owned
enterprise representatives.
Development and implementation of a high priority need for
sectoral e-skilling approaches.
Develop, recommend and implement a
sectoral e-Skills approach.
High level Government Advisory body in conjunction
with national sectoral agencies.
The Development of NeSPA
A policy is often described as a purposeful plan of action aimed at guiding decisions and achieving a reasonable outcome by incorporating scientific knowledge into policy. Such a plan of action
should be informed by the relevant evidence as linking research, policy and practice that can be
helpful especially in the development context (RAPID, 2010). This attitude was needed in order
to overcome (or at least alleviate) the challenge that research is being used most frequently to legitimate policy decisions rather than to inform policy formulation processes (Jones et al., 2008).
This is particularly true for developing countries as studies show that many policy processes are
weakly informed by research-based evidence (Bird et al., 2005). It is often argued that the knowledge gained by research, instead of being used for informing policies, is often isolated from the
policy-makers and practitioners in the field. Likewise, tacit knowledge from the field rarely
reaches the researchers or those making decisions. Thus, more effective bridges between knowledge, policy and practice are needed (Hearn and White 2009),
Furthermore, e-skills related policies cannot rely on a single framework or a model as there is no
such an entity that can be used in all contexts and situations. Thus, it is advisable that policy creation should be based on both: (i) internationally recognized e-skills frameworks, such as SFIA or
EeCF, and (ii) on local (SA) research in this area that adds new value (Mitrovic, 2010). In addition, the pertinent literature shows that limited dissemination of research findings can result in
systemic obstacles regarding the policy dialogues and decision-making processes (Jones et al.,
2009). This was exactly what the e-Skills Summit intended to achieve by means of its two Research Colloquiums (2010 and 2011) at which over 50 e-skills related research papers were presented. These events helped to address the weaknesses of the science–policy interface by facilitating communication (Jones et al., 2009) between researchers, policy-makers and other delegates.
Bearing in mind the above and the fact that the attainment of e- skills should not be sporadic but
based on a methodological approach (WSIS, 2003), the compilation of NeSPA was based on:
policy-making theories,
internationally recognized e-skills frameworks (e.g. EESF, EeCF);
local (SA) research, presented through the Research Colloquiums;
input from the Summit’s workshops and panel discussions;
Furthermore, the development of NeSPA was influenced by the e-SI’s mandate to support MTSF
in relation to the following goals against which monitoring and evaluation will be performed
(NeSPA, 2010):
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Systemic Approach to e-Skilling in South Africa
1. Employment readiness: aimed at the improvement of employment figures for graduates
from tertiary institutions and shortened time from employment to productivity. This refers to two aspects of employment readiness: (i) ability to get the job or to start a small
business, and (ii) skills to do the work.
2. Effective e-governance and service delivery: aimed at the effective use of ICT for service
delivery that is developmental, agile, competent, and citizen-centric. This will result in
government having better communication with the people of South Africa, thus focusing
service delivery on real needs.
3. Business development: aimed at providing skills needed within corporate, small, medium
businesses and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) to: (i) exploit opportunities provided by ICT,
notably the Internet and emerging cell phone technologies, (ii) ensure more efficient and
effective performance, (iii) explore possibilities for new ways of conducting business and
organizational processes, and (iv) establish new businesses.
4. Socio-economic development: aimed at increased national productivity and competitiveness (more competitive workforce), which should inter alia increase the return on ICT
investments. The further aim is to increase the uptake of online (e-government) services
as well as to support the creation of relevant (local) content by more educated and cohesive citizens.
5. Research and development: aimed at informing policy and curriculum development, defining applications and evaluating progress. The research should be collaboratively useful
across government departments and the stakeholders’ array and presented in a user
friendly, accessible way.
The NeSPA was compiled containing the relevant e-skills definition, the recommendations for
action along with key success factors for achieving the delivery, expected impact, and the monitoring and evaluation of the effort. As explained in NeSPA (2010), this national policy is designed to:
46
Reflect a national consensus in terms of e-Skills priorities, based on collaborative input
from all key Stakeholders (Government, Business, Education, Civil Society/Labor);
Continuously leverage international benchmarks and good practices (from countries such
as Finland, Korea, Australia and the EU) adapted to South Africa’s culture and environment, while taking advantage of South – South Cooperation opportunities (including
Egypt, Brazil, Cuba, and India);
Provide a coordinating framework for the effective implementation of current and future
e-Skills initiatives matching the developmental, economic and societal needs of South
Africa;
Coordinate existing e-Skills capacity and resources to maximize impact, reduce duplication of effort, and act as a focal point for the development of measureable e-Skills competencies;
Identify current national and international success stories for adaptation, replication and
scaling across South Africa, and share them with the rest of Africa for necessary adaptation, replication and scaling;
Provide for a framework of relevant coordinated pedagogy development and delivery
across the Higher Education Institutions, Sector Education Training Authority (SETA),
corporate, and informal e-skills enhancement environment;
Provide a framework for sharing knowledge based on Provincial and Local “good practices”;
Mitrovic, Sharif, Taylor, & Wesso
Propose fully costed solutions owned by key Stakeholder Groups, to match current and
future skills gaps for key sectors identified in the MTSF2 and IPAP23 as national priorities;
Specify performance metrics to facilitate measurement and evaluation of Impact, Return
on Investment (ROI) and Return on Objective (ROO) for the NeSPA Implementation
Plan;
Address Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal (PESTEL)
considerations and identify current Public Sector constraints that need to be addressed;
Prepare an e-Skills requirements map, displaying the skills paths and needs from beginner
to expert for MTSF priority areas for economic growth and social development, i.e. sustainable development;
Define an appropriate ”Enabling Environment” in which e-Skills development will
thrive; and
Identify key barriers to success and opportunities for driving synergistic initiatives.
Definition of e-Skills and Emerging e-Skilling Key
Success Factors
E-Skills Definition and NeSPA Taxonomy
Based on the WSIS (2003) and European e-skills Forum (EESF, 2004) documents, e-SI defines eskills as: “…the ability to develop and use ICTs within the context of a knowledge environment
and associated competencies that enable the individual to participate in a world in which ICT is a
requirement for advancement in business, government and civil society.” Recognising this complexity, the e-SI initially adopted (in 2008) a taxonomy that describes four types of e-skills
(Wesso, 2008):
ICT practitioner skills: the capabilities required for researching, developing, designing,
managing, producing, consulting, marketing, selling, integrating, installing, administrating, maintaining, supporting and servicing ICT systems.
ICT user skills: the capabilities required for the effective application of ICT systems and
devices by the individual.
e-Business skills: the capabilities needed to exploit opportunities provided by ICT - to explore possibilities for new ways of conducting business and organizational processes, and
to establish new businesses.
e-Literacy: the capabilities needed to socially appropriate ICT for local development.
This was the point of departure for an extensive discussion about the e-skills definition in the
South African context. The above concepts are seen within a broad perspective that encompasses
the ability of people to use and create all forms of ICT to improve life opportunities in their personal and educational spaces as well as their work environments, community interactions, and
participation in and contribution to (political) governance processes. However, it was believed by
the Summit delegates that the above mentioned taxonomy “was limiting”, thus requiring reclassification. After an extensive discussion in the dedicated working groups and subsequent plenary debate, new e-skills classification was suggested (NeSPA, 2010):
e-Literacy Skills: aimed at employment readiness, particularly targeting unemployed and
unskilled youth and rural society (including starting own small business);
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Systemic Approach to e-Skilling in South Africa
e-Participation and e-Democracy Skills: focusing on enhancing citizen interactive engagement with communities, local, provincial and national governance processes to increase participation, self reliance and equity;
e-Government/Governance Skills: focusing on increasing efficiency and productivity interactive bimodal approaches to service delivery of governments and its agencies across
all ICT platforms including new cell phone technology, community radio, and the like;
e-Business Skills: aimed at increasing organizational efficiency and productivity;
e-User Skills: focusing on enhancing the efficiency of public and private sector knowledge workers;
e-Practitioner Skills: aimed at enhancing the capacity of public and private sectors to
manage, support and service ICT; and
e-Community Skills: aimed at increasing self reliance, participation and community support in a socio-economic setting to build social cohesion in ways that can better build local solutions to societal matters such as crime, health, education and the like.
Here it is worth noticing that, although the e-Skills Summit has accepted this new classification, it
still has to withstand an academically rigorous examination as this classification (still) does not
have a sound theoretical foundation. For example, it is not clear if e-Participation and eDemocracy skills are basically e-Literacy skills applied in a certain context. Also it is not clear if
e-Government/Governance skills are distinctive e-skills or merely e-Users and e-Business skills
used in the government/governance context.
Key Success Factors for Achieving e-Skills Agenda
Achieving e-skills goals, as defined in NeSPA (2010), is not an isolated process but is tightly
linked to the highest national development policies, such as MTSF 2009-14, or internationally
accepted obligations, such as the attainment of MDG. Bearing in mind these facts, the Summit
delegates have identified nine key issues for the development of an e-skills action agenda for
South Africa. These issues are considered as the key success factors in e-skilling:
Collaborative approach across existing effort and gaps to action the e-Skills agenda;
The need for a comprehensive research program that will inform policy development,
practice, service delivery and (lifelong) education;
Action within “A Path to Impact” based approach to enhance the delivery of established
policies and programs and build new approaches;
Cooperative network architecture based on nodes at local level;
Affordable access to ICT;
Focus needs to include support for small, micro, and medium enterprises (SMME's)
Effectively use existing resources;
Focus on Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2009 – 2014; and
Start the National e-Skills Plan of Action (NeSPA) with a few overarching projects.
Multi-stakeholder partnership
The collaborative approach to the e-skills agenda primarily means concentration on the multistakeholder partnership projects, which aims to deliver e-skills in a way that would help communities to meet MTSF goals through meeting their local needs. Given that the real needs of local
communities mostly require multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholders involvement, any successful approach will inevitably be based on a collaborative multi-stakeholder partnership. This approach, as believed by the e-Skills Summit delegates, does not only demonstrate the value of their
contributions but also provides for the benefit of collaboration that is beyond simple economies of
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Mitrovic, Sharif, Taylor, & Wesso
scale. This approach should be visible, easily understood by all involved, measurable and capable
of making a positive impact in communities, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Path of Impact (source: NeSPA, 2010)
Research-based policy development
Considering the currently unsynchronized e-skills research in South Africa, the delegates of the eSkills Summit suggested that future work needs to be categorized into theme areas that “can allow the assessment of needs and have relevance to the mandate of e-SI, the goals of the MTSF,
the discipline base that can support them and the needs of key stakeholder groups” (NeSPA,
2010). Due to the particular South African socio-economic circumstances, the Summit delegates
have identified the following policy-making related thematic areas:
the current e-skills situation in South Africa – including benchmarking and progress
against the MTSF goals,
infrastructure and access – including convergence, new models of access for underserved
communities,
ICT in education – including the alignment of current and future pedagogy aligned to the
MTSF,
ICT in Business – including both the synchronous and asynchronous use of converging
technologies in bimodal service delivery, and
ICT and the community – including the use of social media in meeting the needs of the
MTSF.
Within these areas the priority in emerging research should be given to: (i) more equitable access
model to infrastructure (ii) needs of the community, (iii) Curriculum development, (iv) Skills gap,
and (v) alignment to the MTSF. The measurable and specific milestones, inclusivity in policy
development, monitoring and evaluating e-skilling success, tracking the movement of ICT professionals, online availability of education curriculum, and validating e-skills standards are all
considered as defining success factors for research-based policy development. The South African
Research Network for e-Skills (ResNeS) has recently been established to execute this complex
endeavor.
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Systemic Approach to e-Skilling in South Africa
A path to impact
The e-skilling activities associated with “A Path to Impact”, as believed by the e-Skills Summit
delegates, should be designed in a way that fulfills their expectations, which are generally seen
within the development of an all inclusive Knowledge Society in South Africa. That action, performed via a collaborative network architecture, must provide much more than an output that requires ”a bold leap of faith” from the action or research project to an identifiable impact. It must
be fully and explicitly linked to the highest national developmental policy (MTSF) goals in ways
that are visible, traceable and measureable. Translated into concrete recommendations, the following “Big Five” action items were suggested (NeSPA, 2010):
Completing the NeSPA in ways that build on the collaborative multi-stakeholder processes used thus far.
Developing a research network that is locally, nationally, continentally and internationally relevant to policy development, service delivery, HRD and socio-economic needs
within the context of a development state.
Establishing the pilot of 9 (one per province) e-Skills Knowledge Centre Network hubs in
association with HET Institutions. These pilots need to provide a space for a multistakeholder (Government, Business, Education and Civil Society/Labor) based approach
to HRD for Knowledge Societies that can develop equitable prosperity and global competiveness in the emerging dynamic of a developmental state in South Africa.
Developing a transfer pricing mechanism that provides useful access to the benefits of
ICTs across the socio-economic divide such as electricity and water charging policies
Developing a sectoral approach to e-skilling that not only enhances capacity within the
existing labor market but also builds opportunities for efficacy within existing systems
and develops new paradigms suited to the needs of the modern world. The experiences of
South Korea and the Basque region of Spain provide examples of immediately implementable processes.
The NeSPA particularly advocates the use of an interactive space for action, i.e. the use of an independent physical space for collaboration across government, business, education and civil society within national strategies related to the development of Knowledge Society in South Africa.
According to South African and international experience, this is the way to address fundamental
socio-economic problems. In this regard, an interesting example was mentioned at the e-Skills
Summit (also cited in NeSPA): President Barack Obama recently pointed out that some 20 years
ago Kenya (his ancestral African home) had the same GDP as South Korea and that the stark differences between the two countries today are solely dependent upon government focus and commitment to a Knowledge Society approach based on education.
Cooperative architecture
Despite the aspirations of a number of recent national efforts to address collective national problems through existing delivery channels at national level, the fact remains that, in the absence of a
collaborative network architecture that can legitimize development, impact achievement has been
less than expected. Since, as deemed by the e-Skills Summit delegates, socio-economic impact is
primarily local and then national, addressing the profound issues that South Africa faces in a developmental dynamic can only be found in changing the prevailing paradigm: from “doing to”
and “doing for” to “doing with”.
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Mitrovic, Sharif, Taylor, & Wesso
Figure 2: From “Doing To” to “Doing With” (source: NeSPA, 2010)
A “doing with” paradigm requires a new approach based on an independent formalized local collaboration network architecture strongly supported by government. Educational institutions, particularly Higher Education Institutions (HEI), are recognized by the e-Skills Summit delegates as
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Systemic Approach to e-Skilling in South Africa
having the potential to provide the necessary foundations for these collaborative network architectures. It is envisaged that this new paradigm can be operationalised through the (earlier mentioned) e-Skills Knowledge Centre Network, also referred to as the e-Skills Knowledge Production Hubs.
Affordable access to ICT
In South Africa, there is recognition that access to affordable and effective ICT is a basic human
right. It is believed that, alongside access to water, electricity, transport, food security and right to
work, the lack of access to these technologies will rapidly increase inequity (thus negatively impact on social cohesion), reduce effective health care, increase crime, and reduce life opportunities, particularly for the people in poor communities. This affordable access to ICT for all citizens
is also a key prerequisite for the sustainable development of e-skills in South Africa. The ubiquitous access to ICT is also seen as the contributing factor towards achieving National Equity Goals
(reducing impact of class, race, gender, age, disability, and HIV/AIDS) set out in the National
Skills Development Strategy 2011/12 – 2015/16 (NSDS III). As pointed out by the delegates at
the e-Skills Summit and stated in NeSPA, delivering equitable access to both ICT and technology
based services through a transfer pricing mechanism such as already applies to water and electricity should bring a compelling value proposition, through increased applicability and affordable
cost, to all South African people.
Focus on small micro and medium-sized enterprises
Estimates suggest that within South Africa there are about 2.5 million Small, Medium and MicroEnterprises (SMME), including those in the informal sector. These enterprises constitute up to
95% of South African businesses. It is further estimated that this sector have doubled in size over
the past decade, growing at about 7% annually (Branam, 2008) and that SMMEs accounts for
99.3% of all privately owned enterprise in South Africa (PIAC on ISAD, 2007). Not attending to
this sector’s needs could be detrimental as, for example, “for every [South African] small business that closes … 6-8 jobs are lost” (Business Times, 13 January 2008, South Africa). Therefore,
e-Skills for SMME development bear a very high significance due to the sector’s contribution to
economic growth and employment.
The high cost of Internet access (particularly in previously disadvantaged and rural areas), lack of
integration and coordination of support for SMMEs (small business, in particular), variable service delivery quality (which lowers ability to compete with larger enterprises) late payment patterns by government (increasing financial pressure), and traditional challenges with monitoring
and evaluating the SMME sector are the key challenges faced by this sector. Although it is believed that these problems can be addressed by the effective use of ICT, many SMMEs (particularly those from poor and rural areas) are faced with the inability to use these technologies due to
insufficient e-Literacy. Thus, the e-Skills Summit delegates deemed that the immediate task was
to increase the general level of e-Literacy within this sector. It is believed that this will also help
the youth in disadvantaged and rural communities to start their own business. In order to achieve
this impact, it is suggested that SMMEs should act in an organized manner in order to have a
voice in policy formulation.
Use of existing resources
One of the key priorities which emerged from the e-Skills Summit was the need for the coordination of existing e-skills capacity and resources to maximize impact, reduce duplication of effort,
and act as a focal point for the development of measureable e-skills competencies. Consequently,
one of NESPA’s objectives is to build a committed national approach for e-skills priorities
through coordinated collaboration with key stakeholders (government, businesses, education, civ-
52
Mitrovic, Sharif, Taylor, & Wesso
il society, organized labor) contributing existing human, technical and financial resources. This
should be done through the network architecture for cooperation between these stakeholders in
order to effectively implement policies, plans and programs for economic development and the
optimal use of resources. It is believed that without coordination there is a very high probability
of failure and significant waste of resources.
Focus on the national development policies
The Medium Term Strategic Framework 2009-14 (MTSF) is a national strategy that all public
service efforts need to report against. The MTSF lays out 10 issues and 12 impact goals and significant achievements in all of these targets need to involve increased levels of e-skills if they are
to be successful and sustainable in the medium to long-term future. As stated in NeSPA, the challenge set out in the MTSF is to find ways to deliver e-skills to communities so that they have a
visible impact on the MTSF goals and then to monitor the process in ways that inform continuing
effort within the context of a developmental state. For illustration, some of the MTSF strategic
priority areas where a coordinated e-skills agenda can initially play a significant role are summarized in Table 2.
Table 2: MTSF strategic and e-skills priorities (based on NeSPA, 2010)
MTSF Strategic Priority
MTSF e-Skills Strategic Priority
Speeding up growth and transforming the
economy to create decent work and sustainable
livelihoods
Comprehensive development strategy linked to
land and agrarian reform and food security by:
(i) improving service delivery to ensure
quality of life by providing e-Skills for
the use of appropriate ICTs to overcome
physical and other impediments, and
(ii) Developing appropriate e-skills training programmes to support rural economies.
Strengthen the skills and human resource base
by ensuring that training and skills development initiatives in the ICT domain respond to
the requirements of the economy, rural development challenges and social integration
Building cohesive caring and sustainable
communities
e-Skills development interventions for creating a
more inclusive Knowledge Society
Strengthening competitiveness and promotion of
SMMEs (e-Business Skills)
Ensure that the delivery of e-skills keeps up with
global technological trends
Address the current e-skills gaps, initiatives focused on
rural development, overcoming geographic isolation,
food security, land and agrarian reform at national, provincial and local levels.
Address the current e-skills gaps and initiatives at national, provincial, local and sectoral levels:
e-skills and lead sectors, focus areas and longer
term potential areas identified in MTSF, and
Tracking international e-skills related initiatives
(e.g. Brazil, Cuba, Finland, India, Ireland, Korea,
Russia, EU, Malaysia, and Australia).
Through the delivery of e-skills for development, expand
opportunities for the poor to access the labor market (eSkills 4Dev).
53
Systemic Approach to e-Skilling in South Africa
The Impact, Monitoring, and Evaluation
Expected Impact
The expected impact of addressing the e-Skills agenda in South Africa in a systemic and systematic manner is tightly related to MTSF through: (i) NeSPA areas of impact (e-Literacy Skills, eParticipation and e-Democracy Skills, e-Government/Governance Skills, e-Business Skills, eUser Skills, e-Practitioner Skills, e-Community Skills) and (ii) the e-SI mandated goals (employment readiness, effective e-governance and service delivery, business development, socioeconomic development, research and development). In general, the expected impact should be
seen through the development of a more inclusive Knowledge Society in South Africa. The
expected impact on the socio-economic development, as seen through benefits (Table 3),
range from increasing national productivity and global competitiveness, proposals and
solutions to socio-economic matters as well as increased social cohesion that can
strengthen technology based and community based approaches to socio-economic development.
Table 3: Mapping impact of e-Skills against NeSPA goals (source: NeSPA, 2010)
NeSPA areas of impact
NeSPA
goals
e-Literacy
eParticipation
and
e-Democracy
Skills
Employment
readiness
- Improved
chances for
obtaining job.
- Improved
efficiency in
the workplace
and hence cost
saving.
- Increased
national productivity and
competitiveness – more
competitive
workforce.
eGovernment/
e-Business
Skills
e-User Skills
ePractitioner
Skills
eCommunity
Skills
- Greatly
improved
efficiency
levels and
faster delivery.
- Better informed professionals who are
aware of leading trends and
thinking.
- Appropriately
benchmarked
qualification
influences
greater collaboration on
employee
development
programmes in
the work place,
thus influencing.
- Higher level
of expectation
at the community level.
Governance
Skills
- Growth in
SMMEs,
leading to
improved
employment
and productivity.
- More empowered employees.
- Increase in
speed and
quality of
decision.
- Greater
willingness of
employ to
remain in
company.
Effective egovernance
and service
delivery
- Increased
productivity.
- Better HR
wellness.
- Less waste,
less duplication
of effort.
54
- More open,
flexible and
collaborative
government in
their delivery
of public
services.
- Increases the
uptake of
online services
which improves access
to eGovernment
services
- Effective and
accountable
service delivery
- More empowered employees creating champions
and knowledge
workers
- Reduction of
wastage of
resources
- Improved
collaboration
between business and government will
result in creating sustainable
cost effective
innovative
solutions
- High levels of
participation
and collaboration within and
between government departments and
agencies.
- Improved
service delivery
- Improved use
of technology
that will translate into better
service delivery
- Increased
levels of eskills in the
community will
provide a more
embedded
access to
support for
young and old
learners.
- Remove the
“unknown”
- Improved
community
acceptance of
the benefits of
embedded use
of ICT in
service delivery
and improved
bimodal interactions.
- Improved
capacity to help
shape more
effective service delivery
models
Mitrovic, Sharif, Taylor, & Wesso
Business
development
Socioeconomic
development
- Increased
productivity.
- Better HR
wellness.
- More business opportunities.
- Better selfawareness
- Participate in
knowledge
economy.
- Access to
services and
knowledge to
improve levels
of development
and breaking
the cycle of
poverty.
- Ability to
remain in the
rural community and still do
meaningful and
rewarding
work.
Research
and development
- finding ways
for an effective
obtainment and
application of
e-literacy
skills.
- Networked
community and
business increases both
community and
business sustainability.
- More educated community members
who engage
with the politicians and
political process introducing
accountability
into service
delivery.
- Networked
community
increases social
cohesion.
- Understanding the ways of
better coordination and integration between eskilling roleplayers.
- Businesses
could be empowered by egovernment
services designed around
their needs
- Citizens could
be empowered
by egovernment
services designed around
users’ needs
(citizen-centric
applications
and solutions)
- Increased
access to public
information,
strengthened
transparency
and effective
means for
involvement of
stakeholders in
the policy
process.
- innovative
use of ICT to
drive more
effective egovernment
services and
delivery
- A repository
or knowledge
portal of ICT
solutions, tools,
case studies.
- Increases
national productivity and
competitiveness in the
global market
- Skilled workers, improve
service delivery
and productivity.
- Increase in
return on
investment in
ICT infrastructure.
- Improved
ability to
impact on
business
growth, stay
abreast in
global economy.
- Growth in
SMMEs,
leading to
improved
employment
and productivity.
- An informed
society as
knowledge is
easily accessible to the
various groups
who need it.
- If this is
coupled with eliterate society
it will also lead
to improved
engagement
and improved
ownership on
the part of the
Government
employer since
progress can be
tracked.
- Achieving the
proposed goal:
“e-Skills for
All”.
- Teaching and
learning new
skills to integrate in curriculum design.
- Explore
effective use of
e-User skills in
context in
which they will
be applied and
minimum
standards for
progression on
the skills
ladder.
- Innovative
use of ICT for
sustainability
(e.g. Triple
Bottom Line).
- Employers
should be
assured that the
degree/diploma
comes with
known skills
and hence cost
of employment
would be
reduced
- Developing of
cutting-edge
technology
solutions for
the African
context.
- Contributing
to South African global
competitiveness.
- Intelligent
and useful
proposals for
innovative and
sustainable use
of ICT.
- Better community understanding of the
reality of eenabled business development.
- Improved
understanding
of how to
support emerging businesses
through online
activities
- Improved
community
capacity to
develop and
articulate
needs, proposals and solutions to socioeconomic
matters.
- Improved
social cohesion
that can
strengthen
technology
based and
community
based approaches to
socio-economic
development
- Improved
community
capacity to
understand
research needs,
capacity and
focus to deliver
useful outcomes and
impact in
community.
- Improved
capacity to
identify research opportunities and
participate in
design, data
collection and
analysis.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The monitoring and evaluation, through the NeSPA envisaged e-skilling impact, should be based
on three pillars:
The Human Resource Planning Strategic Framework (DPSA, 2009 [p33]) definition that
sees monitoring as “a routine on-going assessment of activities, applied to assess inputs
in a project in terms of outputs and outcomes” and evaluation as “an assessment of the
impact the project had on the attainment of organizational objectives, performed during
the evaluation period”, and
55
Systemic Approach to e-Skilling in South Africa
Some of the key elements specified in the South African President’s 2010 State of the
Nation Address (Joint Sitting of Parliament, Cape Town, 11 February 2010): “We are
building a performance-oriented state, by improving planning as well as performance
monitoring and evaluation. The work of departments will be measured by outcomes, developed through our performance monitoring and evaluation system. The Ministers, who
are responsible for a particular outcome, will sign a detailed delivery agreement with the
President. It will outline what is to be done, how, by whom, within what time period and
using what measurements and resources”.
National auditing of e-Skills (across the frameworks outlined in NeSPA) on an annual basis should be a matter of compliance.
As stated in NeSPA, it will be the responsibility of the e-Skills Institute to provide a monitoring
and evaluation coordination function in a coordinated manner and to involve all relevant government departments in this process. In the manner that Ministers have signed agreements with the
President to deliver on MTSF goals, Departmental senior management will also have agreements
with their Ministers to support this endeavor. However, in order to address real community needs
through multi-stakeholder based e-skills projects, local ownership of the implementation, evaluation and the monitoring is required. It is crucial to involve all stakeholders in ways that adequately assist in bringing their outputs and outcomes into an impact based evaluation within the
goals of the MTSF.
It is advised that the development and delivery of NeSPA projects should be commenced by establishing baseline criteria clearly aligned to MTSF and e-SI goals, which can be continuously
evaluated in ways that inform all stakeholders of progress and options for modifications. The establishment of the regional coordinated e-Skills Knowledge Production Hubs and engagement of
all relevant stakeholders is seen as crucial for effective monitoring and evaluation of the e-skilling
effort in South Africa. Furthermore, monitoring and evaluation should be modeled according to
the widely accepted indexes, for example: ICT Development Index (IDI), Knowledge Economy
Indicator (KEI) or e-Readiness Index. However, aligning performance against these indices
should not prevent developing new appropriate indices that would be more relevant to the needs
of a developmental state.
Early Operationalization of NeSPA:
e-Skilling Managers of the Community e-Centers
In order to test conceivability of the e-skilling guidelines stipulated by NeSPA, the pilot project
aimed at e-skilling a number of managers of the community e-Centers was accordingly planed
and delivered. It was envisaged that these managers will act as catalysts in e-skilling the local
communities they belong to. To illustrate some lessons learned from this pilot project, this section
provides a very brief feedback on a number of training sessions for 18 managers coming from 10
community e-Centers: three urban, three peri-urban and four rural. The sessions held in April and
October 2011 were conducted by the Western Cape e-Skills Knowledge Production and Coordination Hub, managed by the University of the Western Cape. This Hub is mandated to provide eskills for digital Inclusion (DI). The pilot project in that regard aimed at providing e-Literacy to
the participating e-Centers managers.
The participants came with very diverse educational and cultural backgrounds which imposed a
significant challenge for an effective delivery of the program. Majority of them have accomplished only high school with only one having undergraduate and one postgraduate degree.
Roughly, one third of them were speaking English, one third Afrikaans and the remaining third
Xhosa. The program was delivered in three phases deploying the face-to-face and online interac-
56
Mitrovic, Sharif, Taylor, & Wesso
tions. The first phase allowed for the socialization and familiarization of the participants with the
online and off-line modes of delivery as well as various e-tools (e.g. email software, web browsers, open source picture editing tools and alike). The second phase entailed the integration of the
design of an intensive online facilitation support encompassing an in-depth planning, coordination and facilitation of interactive, substantive online discussion topics, creation of assessment
tasks related to the selected e-Centre management content and the learning material. The third
phase entailed the integration of the design and practice of the first two phases of the training,
leading to the certification of the participants.
The expectations of the participants were also diverse: from learning more about MS PowerPoint
and MS Outlook to learning how to manage an e-learning center efficiently or how to become
more creative and confident in working with other people. In doing this e-skills program the Hub
staff have learned what skills and knowledge were the most important to the community e-Centre
managers: interpersonal skills, ICT skills, administrative skills, community interaction skills,
management skills and so forth. This allowed the e-skills curriculum development team to refine
it for the future courses.
In order to evaluate thus far delivered courses and learn valuable lessons, the participants were
asked to answer the questions: (i) what was good about the presenters and presentations, (ii) how
the presenters and presentations can improve, (iii) usefulness of the course content, (iv) recommendations to improve the content and the presentations, (v) the value of the group presentation
and how these kinds of presentations can improve. In general, the participants have agreed that
the presentations were very useful and the presenters were well prepared and willing to help.
However, the main suggestion for the improvement of the presentations came from the participants with the first language other than English (the language of the course). This yet again confirmed importance of localizing the content into the indigenous languages. Although the course
content helped the participants to acquire very useful knowledge and skills, they expressed their
desire to be trained in their native language “to serve community better”, as one of the participants remarked.
The course feedback was overall positive. Such a positive feedback on the group activities is
shown in the graph in Figure 3:
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Sharing knowledge
Collaborating
Use of software
Learning from others
Having fun
Being creative
Making friends
Practical skills
Generally positive
Figure 3: Positive feedback on e-skilling group activities
57
Systemic Approach to e-Skilling in South Africa
However, there is always room for improvement. To improve the group interaction and presentations, for example, the participant suggested more interaction within the group, increased facilitation of discussion and debates and providing more study material.
To conclude this section, this pilot project has shown that the NeSPA guidelines are operationalizable thou the curriculum for the future courses must be refined in accordance with the experience gained at the presentations reported here. In fact, this pilot project suggests that the operationalization of NeSPA should be the context dependent (e.g., language, local socio-economic
needs). However, the final evaluation if the courses provided by the Western Cape e-Skills
Knowledge Production and Coordination Hub will provide more precise guidelines for the future
DI curriculum development.
Conclusion
The objective of this study was to describe a systemic and systematic approach to addressing the
e-skills agenda in specific context of a developing country such as South Africa. This research,
based on a descriptive case study methodology, tried to answer the question (i) why the e-skilling
agenda in South Africa was needed, (ii) what approach to addressing this agenda was taken and
(iii) how it was done. This paper portrayed a process of creation of the highest national e-skills
policy: from its inception to the compilation of the National e-Skills Plan of Action. This process
(Figure 4) required a proactive and somewhat innovative effort due to the unique South African
circumstances: “dual economy”, huge social and economical disparities, massive illiteracy, and
considerable “digital divide”, seen through inequitable access to and effective use of the contemporary ICT. The complexity of issues to be addressed, caused by the uniqueness of local context
and still insufficiently developed e-skills frameworks (almost non-existent in the context of developing countries), required both a systemic and systematic approach.
Figure 4: Towards NeSPA (source: NeSPA, 2010)
58
Mitrovic, Sharif, Taylor, & Wesso
The systematic approach was achieved by involving a broad base of stakeholders that included all
levels of government (national, provincial, and local), business (corporate and SMME), education
(all levels), civil society (Non Government Organizations -NGOs, Not for Profit Organizations
NFPs, Community-based Organizations - CBOs) and organized labor. This systematic approach
is also characterized by an extensive collaborative process of addressing the e-skills agenda over
a period of 18 months before and during the e-Skills Summit, held in Cape Town in July 2010.
The systemic approach to “e-Skilling the Nation” (NeSPA, 2010) was prompted by inefficiency
and ineffectiveness of “in-silo” and sporadic e-skilling actions taken by various stakeholders in
the last decade. The current involvement of many stakeholders and the linking of the e-skills
agenda to other national (e.g. MTSF) and international (e.g. MDG, WSIS) programs and policies
gives the National e-Skills Plan of Action systemic character.
This collectively owned NeSPA that explains setting and achieving goals, the key success factors,
expected impact, and the principles for monitoring and evaluation is based on three pillars that
require further progression:
an advanced understanding of the breadth and depth of e-skills,
research needed to develop their real-life application and apply these experiences to policy development, and
their relevance to South Africa’s strategic direction;
In this regard, the pilot project, conducted at the Western Cape e-Skills Knowledge and Coordination Hub, provided valuable input to both policy creation and execution at the “cellular” community level.
As a “living document”, NeSPA will rely on continuous monitoring and evaluation of the national and international environment in order to address the constantly changing challenges of the
impact of exponentially converging ICT. It is now to academics, practitioners and policy-makers
to assess the appropriateness of this e-skilling approach and to suggest possible modifications.
The experience gained through the process of addressing the e-skills agenda in South Africa and
the creation of NeSPA might also be useful for addressing this agenda in other developing countries.
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Biographies
Dr Zoran Mitrovic is the Coordinator of the Masters in Information
Management Programme at the University of the Western Cape, South
Africa and Managing Director of the Mitrovic Development Institute.
He is one of the authors of the South African National e-Skills Plan of
Action (Department of Communications). His research and praxis encompasses the development of e-skills in the developmental context,
the use of ICT for local socio-economic development, e-government
strategies, policies and implementation, and the use of ICT for environmentally sustainable development. He has been awarded for his
research work.
Mymoena Sharinf is an official of the Department of Communications e-Skills Institute, a South African government initiative to advance and implement key e-skills interventions. She is a member of the
Strategic Council for the United Nations Global Alliance on ICT for
Development and is a former winner of the Bill & Melinda Gates International Access to Learning Award. She is co-author of the South
African National e-Skills Plan of Action.
Prof Wallace Taylor is the founding director of The Information Society Institute (TISI), which is currently engaged with the South African Department of Communications e-Skills Institute in addressing
national and international issues involved in the social appropriation of
ICT for local socio-economic benefits. His current research and praxis
interests are focussed on the social appropriation of ICT, public policy
development, the role of higher education in the information society
and building self-reliance for civil society inclusion. Prof Taylor was
named as Citizen of the Year by the City of Rockhampton (Australia)
in 2001 for his contribution to community development, the initiation
of a range of community and industry events, organisations and programmes. He is co-author of the South African National e-Skills Plan of Action.
Dr Harold Wesso, Deputy Director General Department of Communications South Africa and acting CEO of the e-Skills Institute (e-SI)
and acting CEO of the National Electronic Media Institute of South
Africa (Nemisa). He also served as Director General of the Department
of Communications during its recent transition peiod. Dr Wesso was
previously Deputy Director General in the Premiers Department of the
Western Cape Province and oversaw the establishment of the Cape
Access Project. Prior to this he was a leading academic and researcher at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South
Africa.
61