A comment on the state of I.T. in South Africa - Kamal Ramsingh, Director of Technology, Deloitte
W
hen I was asked to comment on this subject, my first reaction was a desire to obliterate the historic perception of South Africa being the poor cousin of the West that patiently waits for the Christmas “hand-me-downs” from Europe and the US. On reflection I came to two key realisations. Firstly, proof of us no longer being the “poor cousin” can be found via a quick trip to Dubai Duty Free – iPads there cost the same as back home – with a guarantee restricted to the UAE only! More importantly though, my second realisation was that there is significant activity around IT – in all sectors of our economy – but with very little tangible progress in areas that matter. So, like any good consultant – my thoughts have been framed in terms of key indicators and relative scores.
Government as a key buyer of IT services: The past year (or so) has been adequate proof of the spending turmoil in the public sector. SITA has a new CEO and we await its transformation with bated breath. Apart from the GCIO post still being vacant, the DPSA now has a new minister which will have its own implications on timing of next steps on IT. The good news, of course, is that Minister Padayachie drove the recently published “Vision for 2020 – Setting the ICT Agenda” document. Hopefully this will mean more traction for a focused ICT strategy. With the DPSA also having oversight of SITA, we would like to think that we could also expect a more meaningful deployment of IT within the public sector to improve service delivery and enhance government effectiveness.
Scoring for the Future: Government has not adequately supported the IT agenda to date. They have been lacking as a strategic spender that
94 Management Today | December 2011
shapes and drives demand as well as being a key enabler through legislation and standards. This is a fundamental risk as other African countries are rapidly presenting more attractive options for IT. However, the future does look brighter and we can but live in hope. Score of 4/10.
Private sector access to innovation If the rate of market entry of Indian SI firms is anything to go by, then we must represent one of the most lucrative markets on the planet! We have representation from all major global SIs, Indian SI product vendors and consulting firms. There is definitely no apparent shortage of access to global IP or innovation. We also have PayPal and even Amazon finally delivers to SA now!
Scoring for the Future : We believe that we have successfully dispensed with the “poor cousin” stigma. Our businesses have viable access to global IP and our country is continuing to attract product and service organisations from around the globe. However, we definitely have work to do in broadening citizen access to the internet in historically underserviced areas. Score of 8/10.
Skills pool and development Minister Padayachie recently noted in the “Vision 2020 document” that it is financially more lucrative to hire and retrain a foreign graduate than it is to take one from our own country. Our dependency on foreign, low-cost locations such as India has, over the years, created a significant skills deficit in the IT domain. This has had a multiplier impact in acting as a deterrent to new entrants into the sector. As a consequence, our pipeline of talent is notably weak with a vast majority of experienced practitioners
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100