Jubie Matlou
One training institution that has cut a niche for itself in information and communications technology is the Learning Information Networking Knowledge Centre (Link) of the Wits University Graduate School of Public and Development Management.
Cellphone provider Vodacom made funds available for the study of new information and communications technologies and their possible effects on the regulation of telecommunications and broadcasting.
In the words of Alison Gillwald, Link Centre director: “The institution was established to fill a gap in the regulatory, policy and management of information communication technologies to have all three areas of specialty provided in one particular course or module.”
The Link Centre, established five years ago, provides a range of certificate courses that take a few months to a masters degree that takes up to two years to complete.
The six disciplines provided by the centre have provided more than 500 graduates, including employees from government departments (national and provincial), the SABC and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).
Gillwald singled out the Certificate in E-Governance as a programme that teaches government officials to use electronic communications.
“E-governance is one area that developing countries need to exploit to speed up service delivery. It includes transcending time and spatial limitations between rural communities and public amenities such as clinics and other government offices.
“Electronic government creates the environment for new secure modes of public service delivery,” says Gillwald.
The centre is expanding its programmes into the Southern African Development Community to train 200 regulators over three years. Partners in the programme include the Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique, the University of Botswana and the Lesotho Institute of Public Administration and Management.
Training in the first year will take place at the Link Centre, followed by another year in the trainees’ countries. In the final year interaction with trainees will be conducted online.
Besides training, the centre also consults to the government and the private sector on information and communication technologies to generate additional income.
Other projects on the plate include the compu-literacy project conducted at 30 sites in Gauteng.
ENDS