Walter Sisulu University (WSU) and Samsung South Africa recently launched the WSU-Samsung Innovation Campus in a bid to boost youth employment in the technology sector. WSU and Samsung fostered this twinning agreement through the Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (CfERI) to coach the WSU student community on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) skills. Since it is the WSU norm to form partnerships with various organisations, through the Directorate For Short learning programmes (DSLP) – WSU forged to embark on this strategic partnership with Samsung.

Dr Thobekani Lose at WSU says: “This partnership came as a result of various engagements, a sealed deal and a signed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between WSU and Samsung. This WSU-Samsung Innovation Campus is one of its kind in South Africa and is a flagship partnership with Samsung to contribute to the national imperative of creating work-ready employable students.”

An initial cohort of 21 students was inducted to kick-start the programme, whose main objective is to target the youth who are within the university and develop their 4IR skills and empower them as future technological entrepreneurs. The WSU-Samsung Innovation Campus will offer basic coding and programming education in the first year of this agreement.

Samsung believes that young people are the leaders of the future. And while the future might be full of challenges and uncertainties, education is what allows youth to realise their full potential and prepare themselves to keep moving forward with confidence. Well aware of the great importance of education, Samsung works to equip young people with the skills and knowledge they will need to build a better world. Through its global Samsung Innovation Campus initiative, Samsung is committed to empowering the leaders of tomorrow and equipping them with the tools they will need to realise meaningful change.

Hlubi Shivanda, Director: Business Operations and Innovation and Corporate Affairs at Samsung South Africa says: As Samsung, we are very firm in our belief that every young person deserves quality education regardless of their background, gender, ability, or personal circumstances. Over the years – through partnerships such as the WSU-Samsung Innovation Campus – we have empowered a countless number of young people to slowly but steadily contribute towards positive change in their societies and the country’s economy at large. This partnership with WSU is therefore no different – our commitment to empowering the youth and contribute to the country’s 4IR and employment goals remains.”

Industries like manufacturing and construction, businesses that are mostly male-dominated, are likely to be the most affected by automation. Meanwhile, worldwide, women have more degrees, post-graduate degrees and PhDs than men* and generally speaking are in a better position to take advantages of jobs that are less affected by automation such as psychology, law and medicine. Additionally, the skills that women bring to the table are now recognised as profitable and important including the ability to read body language, use emotional intelligence, the ability to build consensus and to mentor people.

There are other challenges being addressed by technology as well. Companies have traditionally lost talented women in their thirties because that’s when many choose having kids over careers, in the short term. However, as household work becomes further automated, it could relieve part of the burden of being both a caregiver and a breadwinner. This, along with an increase in opportunities for remote working make it easier for women to combine work and family.

“We’ve already seen how innovative devices from smartphones, tablets, wearables with their internet and connectivity capabilities enable new opportunities for innovation. Furthermore, high performance devices from smartphones to tablets, offer unprecedented levels of productivity including features like Samsung Dex, which turns a device into a PC-like experience. And for companies, for whom security is a high priority, Samsung Knox offers defence grade security. This works in favour of women and the desire for flexible working hours,” says Cambridge Mokanyane, Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung South Africa.

The fact is, most jobs created now will have a technology component and it is important that women gravitate to the skills they will need to stand out. This is an opportunity for women to create new career paths and differentiate themselves. Locally, Samsung believes it can turn this potential into power and impact communities at large. Programmes such as Samsung’s Engineering Academy have increased opportunities for women to enter into technology trades that were traditionally reserved for men. The ultimate aim is to change the narrative around what it means to be a woman in the digital age.

After all, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will require women to work within technological systems and to fill gaps created by evolving technology. Fortunately, demand will also grow for jobs that rely on inherent human traits and abilities such as empathy, compassion and cross-team collaboration – skills often attributed to women.

*https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/gender-inequality-and-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/