Outline of Programme 6: An ICT programme aimed at unemployed youth, and providing training in Software Engineering (see attached NSF proposal for the model)

Relating to Programmes 6 and 7:
ICT/BPO Intervention at the Moses Kotane Institute - A New KZN-DED Initiative

The KZNDED is in the process of establishing two "Fountainhead" Centres of Sectoral Excellence, to be housed within the recently launched Moses Kotane Institute.
To foster and leapfrog ICT human capacity building in KwaZulu-Natal, to mitigate the skills' shortage being faced by the industry, and to facilitate growth and reduce unemployment - the Business Process Outsourcing Centre , and a new Software Engineering Institute will train 10 000 candidates over the next five years.

These two Centres of Sectoral excellence reflect a holistic and developmental approach to e-skills development and ensure effective participation by corporate and other partners. The Centres will encourage thought leadership in KZN, and build on existing ICT initiatives in the province through multi-stakeholder partnerships and a distributed educational model involving institutional capacity at a regional and local level.
It is necessary to create a new form of collaboration that involves the full range of actors in the public and private sectors. These multi-stakeholder partnerships offer the potential to bridge the 'parallel universes' of industry-based education and government supported education.

NIIT will initiate the first multi-stakeholder partnership with the Moses Kotane Institute, and other partnerships will evolve as the project rolls out. NIIT have the proven ability to execute large projects of this nature, having successfully executed similar large projects in China, India and the United States. They bring with them the unique opportunity for 'graduates' from the Software Engineering and BPO interventions to participate in work-based training in India, as part of the holistic approach to education and training in the ICT sector. The internship period will be for a minimum of 6 months to one year, and will be funded by the CII (Confederation of Indian Industries), NIIT and other funders.

NIIT will be taking up premises with the Moses Kotane Institue at Derby Downs in University Rd in Westville from May 2009.

Outline of Programme 4: Technology and Innovation Management (TIM)

Programme four is intended for executives/senior government officials to manage technology and technology management in a structured way so as to be globally competitive. The programme is aimed at executives/senior government officials who will learn how to develop and deploy technology. The duration of the course shall be six (6) months:

The programme consists of the following introductory courses:

• Technology and Innovation Management
• Technological Entrepreneurship
• Systems Engineering and Product Development
• Innovation strategy
• Technology Commercialisation
• Technological Entrepreneurship
• Special seminar 1: History of S. African Liberation Struggle (non-exam)
• Special Seminar 2: Science and Technology in Society (non-exam)
• Ubuntu

The courses offered will be through correspondence. Each course has a one-day contact session. Class attendance is compulsory and important. Distance support is provided via the Internet and complements the contact in the classroom. For this reason, all students are required to have access to the Internet through a suitable browser and be able to take part in discussions using the Internet. Assessment consists of an assignment and an examination in each course. A certificate will be awarded upon satisfactory performance in assignments, examination and compulsory attendance to all four one-day lectures. Special seminars will be organized by MKI management to cater for the non-exam History of S. African Liberation Struggle and Science and Technology in Society modules.