Dear Net Buddies and Blazers,
There’s no doubt about it, Information Technology skills are going to be in peak demand in South Africa for the foreseeable future – especially as SA companies continue to replace other jobs with technology solutions, including AI (artificial intelligence.) That’s right, more and more jobs are being eliminated by algorithms and robots.
However, even more jobs are being created using technology in ways most of us don’t usually think about. For example:
Who actually flies planes? Most of the time it’s computers (with the pilots watching, of course.) But self-driving cars aren’t too far away, thanks to computers. And who is going to fix those fancy luxury wheels – not panel beaters, that’s for sure.
Do you hate crime and want to stop “the bad guys”? You should become a Hacker Hunter.
Like sports? Filming games via drones is just one of the ways technology is playing an exciting role today – someone has to make sure electronic eye line judges don’t fall asleep on the job.
Are fashion or music your jive? Being able to draw or play an instrument is great – but you are also going to need to translate your designs and songs via digital systems to get them produced or played – and the apps you need will always be changing. So, you better get ready to be a quick learn using new tech tools at the same time as finding your creative voice.
Want to solve food insecurity for everyone in the whole world or work to make sure clean water flows everywhere all the time? These are two of the most exciting fields of technology research today that definitely offer lots of time outside of the office!
The short story is that IT is the on-ramp to very exciting – and secure – careers. We challenge all of you to come up with one single career area that isn’t using technology today – if you can’t, better start paying attention to those bits and bytes.