career development Archives

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

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. 

Take a look at me now! i-Fundi’s graduates share their trials and tribulations

by Mukami | May 5, 2015 | News

JOHANNESBURG – They say you measure progress by looking at how far you have travelled in your journey.

For millions of people across South Africa, every dawn presents a new challenge. When the sun rises, in the East, bringing an African warmth and the hope of new possibilities, many others wake up to face defeat and rejection in a harsh socio-economic landscape. Unemployment is a crippling reality in South Africa today. Granted there are governmental strategies put in place to attempt to bridge the desperately gaping unemployment cavity, however, it is a fact which cannot be ignored. There is a lack of educated, skilled workers in the market. The bottom line is simply; the demand fails to meet the supply.

Undoubtedly, it is a struggle to bridge this gap because poverty and unemployment have made the future of the African child as fickle as the temperament of a new born.

Understanding the plight of adversity, i-Fundi undertook a project which followed the lives of its alumni, to see how big the strides education has made in their lives. A wise man once said, “Education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think”. That wise man was Albert Einstein. For these pupils, education and opportunity have definitely been their saving grace.

Comfort Moeketsi Sebatie (24) worked as a construction worker, until he decided to change his circumstances. In 2012, he pursued a NQF 2 contact centre certificate with i-Fundi. Sebatie says deciding to pursue the qualification changed his life significantly. No longer a construction worker, Sebatie is currently employed and was recently made a permanent employee by his company, Altech Autopage Cellular.

“I had never worked in a call centre before so it was a great challenge to decide to study and start something new. The transition was vast as I was moving into a completely different field as I worked before. The change was very good for me because I got to learn a lot about customer service values, self-discipline, and the industry as well”, he says.

Reflecting on his journey, Sebatie now realises that he is in control of his dreams, and by proactively going after the life he has imagined, his mind has shifted to accommodate positive thinking; “obstacles are opportunities to thrive”.

Another one of i-Fundi’s graduates is Mpumelelo Ndalane (29), who shares her success story. Ndalane’s story is synonymous with the millions of students in South Africa who completed their matric qualification, but lacked the funds to study further at tertiary level. “i-Fundi gave me a good stepping stone to a better future”, she says. When Ndalane’s host employer, Standard Bank offered her the opportunity to study further, she grabbed the opportunity with both arms, and she thereafter obtained an NQF 2 Contact Centre Certificate. “I am currently an analyst at Standard Bank and further pursuing my studies in Contact Centre Optimization. Everything I have achieved is because of the experience I have gained from working since qualifying. The certificate I obtained from i-Fundi definitely opened doors for me”, she says.

Reddy Preeshan’s success story proves the fact that education really does open doors for you, and how far you climb the ladder to success is entirely up to the efforts you put in. Having also studied a qualification in Contact Centre Operation NQF 2, he is amongst the successful students who believe they would never have it if it wasn’t for the opportunity he received to pursue a learnership with i-Fundi. “Today I am proud to say that I am a Software Testing Manager. Before, I worked as a call centre agent, and was thereafter promoted to management level as a Service Delivery Manager”, he says. His journey to the top is certainly am inspiring one, which should be a point of reference to anyone who doubts their capabilities.

Remember, we want you to share your life journey with us. If you are interested in being part of this ‘success stories’ project, kindly email: nyeleti@i-fundi.com.

Visit our website and have a look at all the various accredited courses and qualifications we have on offer. If you are interested, don’t hesitate to contact us on: 011-290-5900.

Join us on our social media. Our Facebook name is i-Fundi, and i-Fundi Learners. Follow us on Twitter, our handle is @ifundisa.