Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 35 | Page 26

EDITOR’S QUESTION With most companies digitally transforming their businesses to drive optimisation and efficiencies, we see a high demand in software development skills within different programming languages (C# and Java appearing the most popular in South Africa at the moment); varying skills in business applications such as ERP, web services and transaction processing systems to name a few; and information management skills in the data space. There is also a growing demand for cloud-based services and linked skills to deliver against this need. At graduate or entry level, there appears to be a gap in the ability of candidates to translate their technical skills into practical solutions that solve business problems utilising key soft skills. There are questions being raised about how this should be addressed in tertiary institution curricula, however for now this is a skills development focus for companies via their graduate, intern and learnership programmes. Irrespective of the level and complexity at which an ICT candidate is being employed, most companies want well-rounded individuals who can add value to their company culture, vision, mission and goals. www.intelligentcio.com