Blog Archives - iFundi

The Future is here: Embrace the Transformative Power of the 4th Industrial Revolution

by Lindiwe Mahlangu | Aug 21, 2023 | Blog, Community of Experts

The Future is here: Embrace the Transformative Power of the 4^th Industrial Revolution

Let’s be honest, technological advancements are reshaping our lives exponentially; with operating system software updates being a normal part of our daily routine. Naturally, we have to mutate our skills and abilities to keep up with the ever changing digital landscape and welcome the innovative solutions at the cutting-edge of technology.

iFundi will soon be hosting the first Digital Master Skills Masterclass Programme, designed and curated with the modern learner in mind. If empowering yourself with the digital tools to remain in the lead in your industry or career is something on your agenda, a comprehensive, seven programme Masterclass by iFundi is right up your ally.

The smartest way to tackle the nuances of the new age of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology in business or in the workplace is to educate yourself. By being an active user of these new technological advancements and gaining insights from industry experts, one gains invaluable expertise and learnings that can only make you a better performer in your field.

A lack of understanding of the future of the Robotics Industry for example, has the potential to crumble brands that grew on the backbone of their blue collar workforce. Those that fail to welcome it efficiently, run the risk of falling behind competitors who leverage automation to gain a competitive edge.

With brands and businesses taking their services into the “Metaverse” and beyond, equipping yourself and your business with the tools to comprehensively understand cyber threats and data breaches helps protect one’s digital footprint and cyber identity. We also want our clients to know that their confidential information is safe at all times. It is imperative to learn how the transformative power of an impactful and well protected internet presence, can yield mutual business connections; a community of loyal supports, and financial gains. Embracing Robotics as the face of the 4^th Industrial Revolution empowers you to optimize processes and reduce costs, thus enhancing operational efficiency.

Artificial Intelligence can be used to augment productivity and help one gain a competitive advantage in the job market by automating repetitive tasks and keeping you ahead of schedule with performance trackers and automated reminders; all the little ways tech has helped make us better. Data analytics can now unravel hidden patterns and trends, helping you anticipate your client or future employer’s pain points and provide potential solutions.

As businesses create a digital presence, the need for protection of digital assets and protection of personal information and confidential data becomes more apparent. There is no better time than the present to invest in understanding these technologies to gain strategic advantage and anticipate you’re the needs of your clients. AI has proven proficient in providing personalized customer experiences, leveraging data analytics to optimize operations and robotics have shown innovative solutions to scalability.

As we said, the future is being shaped by technological advancements. And to keep up with the future is to equip yourself with the knowledge and understanding of these technologies. So we put together the seven key themes that will play key roles in the activation of the 4^th Industrial Revolution now, pre-packaged them as 60 minute programmes that can be attended virtually or in-person, and brought it right to you, your future leaders.

We at iFundi invite you to join the Digital Master Skills Masterclass 2023. This exclusive programme offers limited seating and we highly advise you register today, for a secure career tomorrow.

Are you ready?

Marking Training for iFundi

by Ovation | Jul 28, 2023 | Blog

Storytelling has always been a powerful tool for communication, and it’s no different when it comes to creating learning material. In fact, incorporating storytelling into your learning material can be a highly effective way to engage learners, enhance their understanding, and help them retain information.

Here are some ways in which storytelling can help you create better learning material:

We were talking about AI – read more here

Capturing attention: Storytelling can help capture learners’ attention by creating an emotional connection and setting a context for the learning material. Stories can be used to introduce a topic, grab learners’ attention, and help them focus on the material.

Making learning memorable: Stories are often more memorable than facts or figures alone. When you use storytelling in your learning material, you can create a memorable experience that learners are more likely to recall later.

Enhancing understanding: Stories can help learners understand complex concepts by making them more relatable and concrete. By providing examples and analogies, learners can better connect with the material and apply it to real-world scenarios.

Increasing engagement: When learners are engaged, they are more likely to participate in the learning process and achieve better outcomes. Storytelling can help make learning more interesting and engaging, leading to better retention and understanding.

Fostering empathy: Stories can help learners develop empathy by putting themselves in someone else’s shoes. This can be especially useful when teaching subjects such as diversity, inclusion, or communication skills.

Creating a sense of community: Stories can help learners feel connected to each other and to the material. When learners share their own stories, they create a sense of community and foster deeper learning.

Inspiring action: Stories can inspire learners to take action by providing them with a clear motivation and a sense of purpose. When learners feel motivated and inspired, they are more likely to apply what they’ve learned in their own lives.

In conclusion, storytelling is a powerful tool for creating effective learning material. By using storytelling to capture learners’ attention, enhance their understanding, and foster empathy, you can create a more engaging and effective learning experience. So, next time you create learning material, consider incorporating storytelling to make it more impactful and memorable.

Preparing the next generation for AI and the digital world of work.

by reggieles | Jul 15, 2023 | Blog

With the rapid growth of technology and the looming presence of the 4th Industrial revolution, the workers and employees of tomorrow will need to make AI more than a simple tool. AI will be their assistant, their co-worker and possibly even their manager.

Artificial Intelligence will be an everyday part of their lives. So it is vital that this generation of employee learns to use AI and Big data as effectively as possible. This process needs to begin sooner rather than later.

Preparations must be made to prevent businesses and people entering the workforce from falling behind industry trends. With proper training comes better understanding of these platforms. What are their weaknesses, limitations and their strengths?

This new generation must come to understand that AI and their abilities as employees benefit one another. There must be emphasis on the qualities that differentiate the two from one another. Such as human creativity, adaptability and interpersonal skills versus AI’s impressive response time and handling of large data streams.

While there must be consideration given to elementary and secondary education, the tertiary education sector is where this type of training is most important. Providing education into problem solving and ethics. With the introduction of AI systems, many new ethical dilemmas present themselves: From excluding prejudices based on race, gender and sexual orientation; to influencing automated decision making; to how a self-driving car balances the lives of its occupants with those of pedestrians.

The world needs well trained people and programmers who can make thoughtful contributions to these decision-making processes. We need to take the youth who are preparing to enter the world of work and ensure that they are prepared for what AI and Big data means for businesses. Hurdles that obstruct this process are lack of funding for computer programmes in the majority of schools, as well as a shortage of teachers with experience in computers sciences.

Some are calling on tech companies to compensate for this lack of governmental capacity. To begin investing into the next generation to enable them to understand and interact with the new tech environment. Within a few years their investment would pay off for them in providing a trained and tech savvy batch of new hires. We must begin this process of investing in the next generation as soon as possible. It will benefit not only them, but will pay off for all

Storytelling

by Ovation | Apr 21, 2023 | Blog

Storytelling has always been a powerful tool for communication, and it’s no different when it comes to creating learning material. In fact, incorporating storytelling into your learning material can be a highly effective way to engage learners, enhance their understanding, and help them retain information.

Here are some ways in which storytelling can help you create better learning material:

Capturing attention: Storytelling can help capture learners’ attention by creating an emotional connection and setting a context for the learning material. Stories can be used to introduce a topic, grab learners’ attention, and help them focus on the material.

Making learning memorable: Stories are often more memorable than facts or figures alone. When you use storytelling in your learning material, you can create a memorable experience that learners are more likely to recall later.

Enhancing understanding: Stories can help learners understand complex concepts by making them more relatable and concrete. By providing examples and analogies, learners can better connect with the material and apply it to real-world scenarios.

Increasing engagement: When learners are engaged, they are more likely to participate in the learning process and achieve better outcomes. Storytelling can help make learning more interesting and engaging, leading to better retention and understanding.

Fostering empathy: Stories can help learners develop empathy by putting themselves in someone else’s shoes. This can be especially useful when teaching subjects such as diversity, inclusion, or communication skills.

Creating a sense of community: Stories can help learners feel connected to each other and to the material. When learners share their own stories, they create a sense of community and foster deeper learning.

Inspiring action: Stories can inspire learners to take action by providing them with a clear motivation and a sense of purpose. When learners feel motivated and inspired, they are more likely to apply what they’ve learned in their own lives.

In conclusion, storytelling is a powerful tool for creating effective learning material. By using storytelling to capture learners’ attention, enhance their understanding, and foster empathy, you can create a more engaging and effective learning experience. So, next time you create learning material, consider incorporating storytelling to make it more impactful and memorable.

Machine Learning: An Emerging Career Field in South Africa

by reggieles | Feb 8, 2023 | Blog

Artificial Intelligence as a whole is fast growing  and, in that space, Machine Learning as a career is booming. 

Today, companies collect huge amounts of data, especially about their customers. Machine Learning takes that information, analysis it with the help of computer algorithm to make data-driven recommendations and decisions. The data could be text based but also location, image or voice based. Whenever Google, YouTube, Netflix or Amazon recommend you something, they use Machine Learning.

Behind this technology are people who can build, repair and maintain these systems. Demand for them is at an all-time high.  Where a data scientist will analyze collected data to identify valuable, actionable insights from a database, a machine learning engineer will design the self-running software that makes use of that data and automates predictive models.

Since machine learning engineers sit between different disciplines of IT, when trained correctly, they have a foundational knowledge in software engineering principles which is combined with data science in order to produce models that become valuable software. This means that machine learning engineers need to have a slate of skills that span both data science and software engineering. 

This post looks at what essential skills every Machine Learning engineer will need for success in their career field.  

Technical skills needed: 

Software engineering skills. Some of the computer science fundamentals that machine learning engineering rely on writing algorithms that can search, sort, and optimize; familiarity with approximate algorithms.

Data science skills. Some of the data science fundamentals that machine learning engineers rely on include familiarity with programming languages such as Python, SQL, and Java.

Advanced machine learning skills. Many machine learning engineers are also trained in deep learning, dynamic programming, neural network architectures.

Soft Skills needed: 

Communication skills
Problem-solving skills
Time management
Teamwork
Thirst for learning

Now let’s take a look at the kind of tools that your typical machine learning engineer would use. Amongst the programming languages used are Python and SQL.

South Africa is making efforts to stay at the forefront of developments in Machine Learning, as well as working to solve some of the challenges that we face in this space.

One of the local drivers of change in the industry is Mr Vukosi Marivate, the Chair of Data Science at the University of Pretoria and co-founder of the Deep Learning Indaba. Marivate has been working on projects to improve tools for and availability of data for local languages.

Its purpose is to monitor and analyze the use of African languages. The goal is to train AI to convert English to African languages and vice versa more successfully and accurately, as well as using this AI in other ways to make the internet as a whole more accessible to African language speakers. 

In 2013, a local group of industry practitioners and researchers began Data Science Africa, an annual workshop for sharing resources and ideas.

The shift to making Africa a location and participant in AI conversation is a positive one and will ensure that local content and languages are considered and job opportunities created in this dynamic space. 