Toronto – IBM will launch a new Africa initiative called “New Collar Jobs” using e-learning technology.
The program will be piloted in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria and Morocco.
“IBM sees effective, quality IT education as a key driver of economic vitality in Africa,” Hamilton Ratshefola, general manager for IBM South Africa was quoted by in Healthcare IT News as saying.
“Through access to open standards, best practices, IBM tools, and course materials, the broad scope of this initiative will enable vital skills development,” he added.
The courses will be offered through cloud-based online learning and offer a variety of programs from basic IT skills to advanced areas such as cyber security, artificial intelligence, data science and agile methodologies.
The e-learning platform will use IBM’s Watson, the company’s cognitive system. It will analyze the profiles of each of it’s users to formulate an individualized training model, even adapting the educational content of the program to suit each user.
The program is part of the larger IBM Digital-Nation Africa initiative, which has provided IBM-based e-learning to approximately 25 million youth on the African continent over the past 25 years.
Africa is projected to have the world’s largest workforce by 2040.
