Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube has outlined an ambitious strategy for KwaZulu-Natal to emerge stronger and be recognised as an economic and technological powerhouse as the province’s economy recovers from the effects of COVID-19, civil upheaval, and floods.
The Mobile Digital Analytics Skills Laboratories were established by Dube-Ncube with the intention of exposing learners and youth to Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies and equipping them with the entrepreneurial skills necessary to participate in the multitrillion-dollar digital economy.
The newly inaugurated Mobile Digital Analytics Skills Laboratories at Orient Heights Primary School in Pietermaritzburg are part of the Premier’s Connected Smart Province Project.
The Connected Smart Province Project is based on the pillars of broadband connection, 4IR skills development, innovation incubation, technology production, innovation commercialization, and the resolution of social concerns via the use of smart business processes and technology.
Dube-Ncube said, as he unveiled the mobile lab, that the province’s talented population and tremendous potential to build the digital economy are essential growth drivers for the province.
To take advantage of the digital economy, the premier said that young people must begin working on the laboratory’s technological devices, which are related to robotics, drone technology, mechatronics, and other technologies.
“As we unveil this project, we want to expose our learners from a young age to a world of new horizons of work and careers, which are broadened to include Space Technology, Data Analytics, Multimedia Production l and 9D Technology. This is one of the ways that the province of KwaZulu-Natal plans to position itself as a technology hub with youth and women at the centre,” Dube-Ncube said.
She added that in a world characterised by technological disruptions, which has resulted in the world’s largest companies coming from the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, the provincial government believes it must assist children beginning in elementary school to prepare them for future careers.
“And that future starts today, as we ready our youth and learners to enter what is conservatively estimated as being a multitrillion rand digital economy globally. This will give us the edge and ensure that we remain globally competitive as KwaZulu-Natal.
“The digitalisation of education in the province has been at the forefront of our agenda and the use of technology has been further spurred by COVID-19 which forced us to learn and engage virtually through online platforms,” said Dube-Ncube.
The mobile lab is fully independent of the electrical grid, since it is fueled by solar energy and contains backup generators to guarantee that learning and instruction are unaffected by a power loss.
In the next months, comparable laboratories will be established district by district across the remainder of the province, according to the premier.