Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 35 | Page 44

COUNTRY FOCUS: MOROCCO SEGULA Technologies opens centre of excellence in Morocco and public partners and, especially, with a group of African women teachers who in addition to their key role in building digital skills capacity are also such amazing role models.” Launching fifth edition of ACW from Morocco, a leader in digital skills development Since the inception of ACW in 2015, Morocco has been leading by example, with a record of 8,600 teachers trained and 1.6 million youth introduced to coding skills as part of the initiative. For Ilham Laaziz, Director of the GENIE programme at the Moroccan Ministry of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research, the initiative speaks volumes about the power of public-private partnerships in the 4th Industrial Revolution. “ACW is an extraordinary lever to make digital learning both a priority and celebration for teachers and students across an entire nation,” said Laaziz. “This is what happened in Morocco and we commend SAP, UNESCO and their partners for the vision and scope of this initiative. It is a great honour for Morocco to be launching this fifth edition to students, teachers and volunteers across the 37 participating countries.” Claire Gillissen-Duval, Director of EMEA Corporate Social Responsibility and Africa Code Week Global Lead at SAP, added: “ACW partners are tackling the issue of digital inclusion and gender equality head-on through a range of initiatives that form part of this year’s edition. With the support of our continent-wide network of government, private sector, NGO and industry partners, we hope to bring more youth – girls and boys – into the digital fold during this year’s ACW activities.” n 44 INTELLIGENTCIO S EGULA Technologies, the global engineering group, is increasing its operations in Morocco by opening a centre of excellence in Agadir mainly devoted to automotive engineering. The aim of this new centre is to respond to the growing needs of the local automotive market and also to offer a nearshore platform of excellence for all of the Group’s activities in order to boost its competitiveness. Its recognised expertise and competences across the whole automotive value chain mean the Group is able to support its clients (big vehicle and components manufacturers) from design to mass production via tests and validation. A centre of excellence at the forefront of technology The new offices of 1,500 square metres, set on two floors, can accommodate up to 300 people and will allow fully confidential collaboration with different clients as the premises are segmented into dedicated working zones. There will be teams dedicated to research and innovation, a clear indication of how highly SEGULA values innovation. The new centre will have all the necessary infrastructure and competences to work on the key automotive challenges such as electric and hybrid cars, driverless vehicles and the Digital Transformation of factories, another area where SEGULA particularly stands out with its competences in augmented reality, Artificial Intelligence and additive manufacturing. Objective – 300 full-time employees by the end of 2020 Agadir’s automotive centre of excellence is looking to employ up to 75 people by December. Recruitment will then actively continue as the new office is expected to employ 300 full-time engineers and technicians by the end of 2020. Engineers in product design, mechanics, electronics, electromechanics, calculation and industrialisation, as well as design and testing technicians are some of the most in-demand profiles. In order to recruit the best talents, SEGULA Technologies has already signed partnerships with two major local engineering schools, l’École Nationale des Sciences Appliquées (ENSA) and l’École Polytechnique d’Agadir. The training opportunities provided by the Group mean its employees can benefit from training from international experts and quickly increase their competences throughout their career. Strong local roots Morocco is a pioneer of the automotive industry in Africa and aims to produce one million vehicles by 2022. The presence in the country of global players in the world of construction and equipment for cars boosts its automotive ecosystem and makes it a favourable environment for developing the engineering services offered by SEGULA. “This centre opening shows SEGULA’s will for long-term involvement in the heart of Morocco’s automotive industry,” said Mikael Busbib, Director of Segula Technologies in Morocco. “Thanks to its competences which are recognised across the whole automotive chain, its capacity for innovation and its local geographic footprint, the Group has all the assets to strengthen its position as a favoured partner in the sector.” n www.intelligentcio.com