“IBM Digital - Nation Africa” Lifts Continent's Education Sector

Thandisizwe Mgudlwa

African education and training has always been making progress.

And its doing it again.

This time, it is through the IBM launched of its $70 million (approximately R945 million) digital education initiative, “IBM Digital - Nation Africa”, on February 8, this month.

Experts have noted that the initiative is aimed at building much-needed digital, cloud, and cognitive IT skills to help support a 21st century workforce in Africa.

According to IBM, this initiative provides a cloud-based learning platform designed to provide free skills development programs for up to 25 million African youths over five years, enabling digital competence and nurturing innovation in Africa.

"The IBM Digital - Nation Africa initiative is part of the company’s global push to build the next generation of skills needed for “New Collar” careers. “New Collar” is a term used by IBM to describe new kinds of careers that do not always require a four-year college degree but rather sought-after skills in cybersecurity, data science, artificial intelligence, cloud, and much more.

For the youth of Africa to be able to benefit from a cognitive future, there needs to be a much higher level of digital literacy. At the top of the skills pyramid are developers, who need to know how to create solutions that can leverage the power of cognitive, and entrepreneurs who are aware of the potential. IBM Digital - Nation Africa is designed to help raise overall digital literacy, increase the number of skilled developers able to tap into cognitive engines and enable entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs grow businesses around the new solutions," IBM.

Additionally, through a free, cloud-based online learning environment delivered on IBM Bluemix, the premier cloud platform for business, the initiative will provide a range of programs from basic IT literacy to highly sought-after advanced IT skills including social engagement, digital privacy, and cyber protection. 

 "Advanced users will be able to explore career-oriented IT topics including programming, cybersecurity, data science and agile methodologies, as well as important business skills like critical thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The initiative aims to empower African citizens, entrepreneurs, and communities with the knowledge and tools to design, develop, and launch their own digital solutions.

Based on Watson, the cognitive online system will adapt and learn. It will review the multiple interactions the education initiative will have with students, to help direct them to the right courses and help IBM refine the courses to better adapt the material for the needs of the users. Watson will also create a depth of knowledge using anonymous information gathered from interactions with the students. This will help entrepreneurs and developers understand which current Bluemix solutions best meet their needs and refine their idea to help them design a solution that has greatest market potential.

With the aim of equipping as many as 25 million people with sought after IT skills over the next five years, the program will be launched from IBM’s regional offices in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco, and Egypt. This will enable the expansion of the initiative across the continent.

The initiative will provide access to thousands of resources, in English, free of charge, including: ready-to-use mobile apps; guides - web guides, demonstrations, interactive simulations, video series, and articles; online assessments – a range of self-assessment tests to track the progress of individuals, together with industry recognized ‘Open Badges’ aligned to digital competencies. The badges can then be shared with prospective employers Volunteers – Creation of a volunteer program to support and promote digital literacy within their communities; and pp Marketplace – Provision of a platform on which new applications can either be made freely available or sold."

Moreover, the initiative will be supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which has a special focus on fostering market-driven ICT skills in Africa and the Middle East.

IBM is to work with UNDP on opportunities for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills delivery, certification, and accreditation.

UNDP will also collaborate with their network of existing government partnerships to broaden the program across Africa.

IBM further notes, "In 2015, IBM rolled out a major initiative to expand its Africa Technical Academy and Africa University Program, providing advanced skills in cloud, analytics, and big data technologies, reaching today to over 150 academic institutions, in the continent.

And in September 2016, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training and IBM Morocco, for the launch of P-TECH program (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) in Morocco."

P-tech, an innovative global education model, has been designed by IBM, in close partnership with American educators. The company is also known to be working with dozens of start-ups in South Africa.

Hamilton Ratshefola, country general manager for IBM South Africa. commented, “IBM sees effective, high quality IT education as a key driver of economic vitality in Africa. Through access to open standards, best practices, IBM tools, and course materials, the broad scope of this initiative will enable vital skills development”, says Ratshefola, “In order to find solutions to Africa’s challenges, industries across the spectrum need to enable the existing and future workforce to perform at the forefront of technologies such as cognitive and cloud computing. This will be the key to spurring economic growth.”

Continental Health Agency Ready To Cure Africans

Thandisizwe Mgudlwa

Cape Town: The recently launch of Africa’s continent-wide public health agency, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC),  stands to better the face of health for millions of Africans.

Experts have remarked that the Africa CDC, will help African Member States respond to public health emergencies.

The agency was launched on January 31, this year in Addis Ababa.

According to the African Union, the importance of public health is underlined by the fact that it has an impact on national, social and economic development.

"Because of this importance, the African Union Assembly of Heads of State authorized an annual contribution from the overall African Union operating budget for 2016 to safeguard Africa’s health.

The need for an Africa CDC to support African countries as they monitor and respond to public health threats was recognized by the African Union in 2013 and formalized in 2015," noted the AU.

Guinea’s President Alpha Conde, whose country was one of the Ebola affected states between 2013 and 2015 attended the launch ceremony in his capacity as the Chairperson of the African Union.

A point of noteworthy, is that much progress has been made since the African Union Ministers of Health meeting in Malabo adopted the Statute of the Africa CDC in July 2015. They had also urged the fast tracking of the establishment of the institution.

Other positive developments include, five Regional Collaborating Centers to work with the African CDC Coordinating Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia have been selected.

In addition, n Emergency Operations Center has been set up at the Addis Ababa headquarters and 10 highly qualified epidemiologists are ready to monitor for disease threats across Africa.

The Au also adds, "The epidemiologists will be responsible for disease surveillance, investigations, analysis, and reporting trends and anomalies.

A director, Dr John Nkengasong has been recruited and a governing board appointed. 

The Africa CDC will join the international networks of public health institutions to share information and improve surveillance of public health threats," says the AU.

The African-owned institution, the Africa CDC, is reported to be uniquely positioned to help protect the health of the continent.

Cosatu stands up for poor people's health and jobs

Thandisizwe Mgudlwa
 

COSATU is taking up health matters affecting the poor to the next level.

The federation is to present its submissions on Treasury’s Proposed Tax on Sugar Sweetened Beverages to the National Assembly’s Portfolio Committees on Finance and Health’s public hearings on Tuesday, last week in Parliament.

Cosatu agrees with government that over consumption of sugar is a national health crisis.  "It is a key cause of South Africa’s battles with obesity, diabetes and related health conditions.  These have a massive impact upon working class families’ health."

However ,Cosatu is equally worried about the economic impact of the proposed tax and that it is likely to result in thousands of job losses. 

A report by the federation notes, "The sugar, fruit and beverage industries, like so many sectors in the economy, are already battling with a depressed, growth less and job losing economic climate.  One more knock may result in these sectors’ collapse and de-industrialisation.

Thousands upon thousands of workers have already lost their jobs in the mining, poultry, retail, banking and agricultural sectors.  Unemployment has increased to dangerous crisis levels of 36%.  Government has shown itself time and again, to be found incompetent when it comes to protecting and creating jobs.  Painful examples are the textile, mining and poultry industries.'

Meanwhile, Treasury estimates at least 5000 jobs will be lost due to this tax. 

And Cosatu feels that this is likely to be a gross under estimate.  "Yet Treasury has no plan to prevent these job losses."

On the other hand, business believes job losses are more likely to be up to 72 000. 

Cosatu asks, "With jobless growth, can we afford to lose thousands of more jobs?  A tax on sugar will have a devastating economic impact upon rural towns dependent on growing sugar cane in KwaZulu-Natal and fruit farms in the Western Cape and Limpopo.

Whilst Cosatu agrees with government that we need to promote healthy lifestyles, this should not be at the expense of badly needed jobs.  Proper engagements between government, labour and industry at Nedlac are needed to find an inclusive win-win approach that promotes health needs and job protection and creation.  COSATU will be meeting government at Nedlac on this urgent matter this week.  Alternatives need to be discussed on how to promote healthy diets."

In addition, Cosatu says, "If government wants economic sectors to shift to healthier products, then it needs to provide the necessary financial and other support and realistic time frames to these sectors to undertake these transitions.  Business equally needs to commit to protecting and creating jobs and not to look for any excuse to fire impoverished workers.  Promoting healthy diets does not need to come at the expense of thousands of farm workers’ jobs.

Government needs to appreciate and learn the importance of proper planning and inclusive engagement with labour and industry and to stop managing the economy with big bang experiments that render thousands of workers unemployed and bankrupt.  Government must equally not to seek to balance the budget caused by free spending careless Ministers on the backs of their poor and at the expense of farm workers’ jobs," added the federation.

 

Les Brown: The 12 Laws of Success

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Sport24

Sedibe sues Safa for R5m
2017-02-19 06:24



 AGGRIEVED Former SA Football Association CEO Leslie Sedibe. Picture: Lucky Nxumalo


Timothy Molobi-

August 8 – save the date!

On that day, a showdown of biblical proportions will take place between former SA Football Association (Safa) CEO Leslie Sedibe and his former employers at the Johannesburg High Court.

Sedibe, who is suing Safa for R5 million, will finally have his day in court as he attempts to clear his name following allegations of match-fixing involving Bafana Bafana.

It has been almost five years since the allegations that Bafana Bafana matches prior to the 2010 Soccer World Cup were fixed first surfaced, and the issue refuses to disappear.

Sedibe’s legal team filed the court papers for defamation last June at the Johannesburg High Court.

Last year, Fifa banned Sedibe for five years from all football-related activities after charges relating to the saga. He was also fined R311 000. He has not paid the fine.

But Sedibe, who has always maintained his innocence, still denies any wrongdoing and has now approached the courts in an attempt to clear his name and to get to find out now who was really involved.

Sedibe had previously approached the national police commissioner and the Public Protector’s office to investigate the claims, but was not successful. He had also called for a judicial commission of enquiry.

He has acquired the services of top legal minds Lawrence Hodes SC, who represented Glenn Agliotti in the Brett Kebble murder case, and law firm Phillip Silver Swartz.

An excited David Swartz, the head of the litigation division at the law firm, said he was confident of victory.

“Our client has always maintained he wanted his day in court and finally we have a date,” said Swartz on Friday.

“He has suffered reputational damage and his credibility was also tarnished. We hope the courts will settle this matter once and for all so he can move on with his life. Other things will also come to the fore because we need to get to the bottom of the match-fixing scandal.”

Swartz believes R5 million is a fair amount to ask for.

“All he wants to do is clear his name so he can move on. Remember, he also wanted a commission of enquiry to be appointed to get to the bottom of the allegations as there are many unanswered questions.”

Safa CEO Dennis Mumble laughed off the defamation claim and refused to comment.

“We don’t normally comment on legal matters as whatever we say might be used against us in court. This matter is sub judice and I would not want to be dragged into it,” he said.

Sedibe was banned along with former Safa referee officials Steve Goddard and Adeel Carelse, who were banned for two years each.

Former Safa president Kirsten Nematandani has also been banned for five years by the world football controlling body after being found to have contravened Fifa’s code of ethics.

“There has been much speculation with regard to the match-fixing allegations and the names of many individuals have been drawn into these allegations, including my own name,” Sedibe said.

“I was CEO of Safa at the time. I am determined to maintain and protect my good name and reputation and I am of the opinion that this matter has dragged on for far too long. Justice delayed is justice denied.

“I have repeatedly placed on record that I fully support calls for a full and independent investigation into the allegations, and I am prepared to give my full support and cooperation to get to the bottom of these allegations once and for all.”

City Press

Match-fixing investigation damp squib

2014-11-30 17:00

Fifa has no jurisdiction over those no longer in football

The old adage that justice delayed is justice denied could come into play in the SA Football Association (Safa) match-fixing scandal regarding Bafana Bafana’s 2010 World Cup warm-up matches.

Top legal experts told City Press Fifa had no jurisdiction over people who no longer belong to any football structure.

This comes as head of national teams Lindile “Ace” Kika, who is one of five Safa officials named in a Fifa report on the matter, resigned this week.

Others no longer with Safa are former president Kirsten Nematandani, former head of referees Adeel Carelse, another referee boss Steve Goddard and former chief executive officer Leslie Sedibe.

Five Safa officials – Nematandani, Kika, Carelse, acting chief executive Dennis Mumble and Bafana Bafana manager Barney Kujane – were suspended in December 2012 after they were mentioned in the match-fixing report.

But their suspensions were reversed and they were reinstated a month later.

Kujane and Mumble are the only remaining officials who were named in that report.

Two weeks ago, Fifa secretary-general Jérôme Valcke said four officials who were implicated in the report had been asked to make representations to Fifa’s ethics committee.

He said closing the issue as soon as possible was in the best interest of all concerned.

Michael Murphy, an expert in sports law, said it would be difficult for Fifa to summon those outside football circles. He said the only way to go about it would be to use laws of the land to open criminal charges if there was a case to answer.

“Fifa has no jurisdiction over any private individual and cannot subpoena them. Fifa can only sanction people who are attached to clubs or associations as they are affiliates of Fifa. It is difficult but not impossible depending on the matter. Let’s say they feel there’s a case to answer for these individuals; they should lay criminal charges using laws of the land.”

Zola Majavu, a prosecutor who was a PSL chief executive, said: “I don’t think they have any jurisdiction. That is why it would have been better to have a judicial commission established by the president. That body would have subpoena powers.”

Fifa’s ethics committee already made contact with Carelse earlier this month, but he said he was not sure if he would attend after he sent them a long list of questions.

He has also called for a judicial commission of inquiry “so the truth can come out”.

Goddard said he has been in contact with the Fifa investigators and said he was still waiting to hear from them. Nematandani said he had not heard anything from the committee, but he would want the opportunity to clear his name. Efforts to contact Kika and Sedibe failed.

Safa refused to comment and referred questions to Fifa, which said: “The ethics committee is an independent judicial body and is composed of two separate chambers – an investigatory chamber independent from the adjudicatory chamber. In line with this independence, Fifa does not have any influence over the writing of investigatory reports or over the findings of any investigations. Furthermore, we cannot provide you with a timeframe on any matter solely handled by the ethics committee.”

Black History Month

THANDISIZWE MGUDLWA

FEBRUARY is Black History Month. 

Also known as African-American History Month in America. 

The month is an annual observance in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom for remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African diaspora.

Questionably though, many Black African Diaspora countries across the world continue to ignore this month long celebration of it's own history.

Historical records note that the precursor to Black History Month was created in 1926 in the United States, when historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History announced the second week of February to be "Negro History Week.

"This week was chosen because it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln on February 12 and of Frederick Douglass on February 14, both of which dates Black communities had celebrated together since the late 19th century.

Also reported is, "From the event's initial phase, primary emphasis was placed on encouraging the coordinated teaching of the history of American blacks in the nation's public schools. The first Negro History Week was met with a lukewarm response, gaining the cooperation of the Departments of Education of the states of North Carolina, Delaware, and West Virginia as well as the city school administrations of Baltimore and Washington, D.C."

In addition, "Despite this far from universal acceptance, the event was regarded by Woodson as "one of the most fortunate steps ever taken by the Association," and plans for a repeat of the event on an annual basis continued apace."

During the Negro History Week's launch, Woodson had remarked that the teaching of Black history was essential to ensure the physical and intellectual survival of the race within broader society:

"If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated. The American Indian left no continuous record. He did not appreciate the value of tradition; and where is he today? The Hebrew keenly appreciated the value of tradition, as is attested by the Bible itself. In spite of worldwide persecution, therefore, he is a great factor in our civilization."

And by 1929, The Journal of Negro History was able to note that with only two exceptions, officials with the State Departments of Educations of "every state with considerable Negro population" had made the event known to that state's teachers and distributed official literature associated with the event."

Churches also played a significant role in the distribution of literature in association with Negro History Week during this initial interval, with the mainstream and black press aiding in the publicity effort.

"Negro History Week was met with enthusiastic response; it prompted the creation of black history clubs, an increase in interest among teachers, and interest from progressive whites. Negro History Week grew in popularity throughout the following decades, with mayors across the United States endorsing it as a holiday," reveal archives.

On 21 February 2016, 106 year Washington D.C. resident and school volunteer Virginia McLaurin visited the White House as part of Black History Month. When asked by the president why she was there, Virginia said, "A black president. A black wife. And I’m here to celebrate black history. That’s what I’m here for."

Meanwhile, criticism of the Black History Month include whether it is appropriate to confine the celebration of Black history to one month, instead of the integration of Black history into the mainstream education the rest of the year. 

Another criticism is that contrary to the original inspiration for Black History Month, which was a desire to redress the manner in which British schools failed to represent Black historical figures as anything other than slaves or colonial subjects, Black History Month reduces complex historical figures to overly simplified objects of hero worshiping. 

And Black celebrities such as actor and director Morgan Freeman and actress Stacey Dash have criticized Black History Month, with Freeman saying, "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history." Freeman has argued that there was no White History Month, because white people did not want their history relegated to just one month.

The global Black community should follow suit from the on-going work by these communities on advancing their history for the benefit of all.

Either way, the question remains: Are Black people being taught their history for self reliance and development or they still depending on other racial groups to lead their advancement as a people?