Thursday, 1 May 2025

What could happen if SA was to fully emprace digitalization?

Children are the future of our nation and therefore, it is imperative that they are provided with necessary means to realise their potential - Forbes India. The statement is true for South Africa (SA)
 as well. What are these means that the children need, that are being spoken of? Answers may vary, but ultimately; they need connectivity in a form of digital connection. Simply put, we are talking about the internet and data.
There is rapid progress on digital migration in big cities like the Western Cape and Gauteng, as stats SA estimating that for the period 2016-2021, Gauteng and Western Cape are estimated to experience the largest inflow of migrants of approximately 1 595 106 and 485 560 respectively.
So, it is not the urban child we are talking about in particular, but the rural child who happens to not get a chance to move to the big city for one reason or another. How will he/she remain connected with the world and exposed to opportunities available to other children living in the urban city?
There is only one answer to the question; digital connectivity.
Taking into consideration the research results findings that were released in 2017,  that measured SA using indicators such as business competitiveness of countries across 260 indicators using data with partner institutions within countries. The research also took into account survey responses from 6 250 business executives. South Africa ranked 47 out of 63 countries in the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking for 2017.
Such information tells us that South Africa is capable of effectively connecting the entire country, particularly the youth, through education. So, as to be better prepared and positioned for opportunities.
There is no doubt that youth unemployment could possibly be impacted positively, with the rise of digital. As we have seen in the past 10 yrs, due to digital, there has been new jobs created that never existed before in the past.
SA’s unemployment rate stands at 26.5% and, at 31.2%, is even higher among the youth. Graduates make up 7% of this number, according to Statistics SA’s fourth-quarter 2016 labour force survey.


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