Econet Wireless has launched the
Econet Group Innoversity, a virtual learning academy designed to develop
critical skills in the digital age.
“Today I am excited to launch the Econet Innoversity, a learning academy that we will use to develop and deliver skills of the future in line with our business strategy,” said Econet CEO Mr Douglas Mboweni at the launch of the academy in Harare.
“This will be a vehicle for developing
requisite mission-critical skills that are imperative for us to not only
survive but thrive in the Fourth Industrial revolution,” said Mr Mboweni.
He said with the fast changes in technology,
new skills – which are currently not being taught locally – were urgently required
to address the current skills gap in key talent segments and to position
organizations to compete for the future.
“For us at Econet our people are
the foundation of our success; they are our main source of competitive
advantage and are the key drivers of innovation and business resilience,” Mr
Mboweni said.
“It is therefore critical, for our continued
success, that we retrain them and equip them with Fourth Industrial Revolution
skills through the world class certification programmes the Econet Innoversity
will offer” said Mr Mboweni.
The term “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, first coined
by World Economic Forum founder and executive chairman Professor Klaus Martin
Schwab, describes the phenomena in which disruptive new technologies are
changing how people live and work.
A recent national skills audit
report published by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary education revealed skills
deficits in some key sectors and disciplines in Zimbabwe.
The report said the country had a
93,5 percent skills deficit in engineering, a 88 percent deficit in
agricultural skills and a 95 percent deficit in the medical and health science
fields.
Mr Mboweni said the Econet group
Innoversity would seek to bridge the skills gaps – both within its organization
and outside, in the broader marketplace. It will play a key role in accelerating
skills development in order to “future-proof” individuals’ skills the business-critical
competences going into the future.
Speaking at the launch of the
Econet Innoversity, the company’s Chief Human Resources Officer Mr Dennis
Nyabadza said the Innoversity came at a time the nation was battling a skills
deficit, and would play an important skills-bridging role.
“We have taken the lead in launching
the Econet Innoversity in order to future-proof our business’ talent
requirements out of a realization that in as much as our educational
institutions are trying their best, in a fast-changing tech and digital-driven
organization such as Econet, there was a compelling need to develop future
skills now,” Mr Nyabadza said.
Stressing relevancy, he said the
Innoversity would harness new technologies to increase business output and
enable quick and accurate decision-making while offering skills that translate
into relevant products and services.
