17 May
“Telecommunications and ICTs: Drivers for Innovation”
Each year on 17 May the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) marks the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of this organisation. This year, 2015, marks the 150th anniversary of the International Telecommunication Union.
The purpose of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide.
The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services' focus in terms of the 2015 celebration of WTISD is to focus on human capital development. The inequality of access and use of ICTs and therefore the ability to deploy their full potential is rooted, inter alia, in the unequal capabilities of individuals and groups, such as the poor, those living in rural areas, persons with disabilities and the elderly.
As ICTs become more complex, the ability to optimise their use correlates strongly with education and income. Those marginalised from education and therefore from employment and income are most likely to be marginalised from access to the type of communications services required to participate meaningfully in a modern economy and society.
It is against this background that the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) and the South African Communications Forum (SACF), will join the global celebrations of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2015.
The WTISD event will take the form of career exhibitions by manufacturers and role players in the ICT sector. Through career guidance, learners will get exposure to job opportunities available in the ICT manufacturing sector as well as information on types of careers they can follow in the ICT sector.
The event at the Qunu Museum, OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape will focus on:
- providing career guidance and informing learners of the types of careers they can follow in the ICT sector; and
- linking learners with job opportunities in respect of manufacturers in the sector.
The Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Dr Siyabonga Cwele, will deliver a keynote address.
More than 300 learners from secondary schools in the area and the TVET colleges are expected to attend. Members of the community have also been mobilised to attend the event.
