Africa-Press – Tanzania. US multinational technology firm IBM has announced a partnership with local Tanzanian organisations to help the youth design and raise their careers through technology.
IBM Vice-President and Global Head, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Justina Nixon-Saintil said her company will collaborate with Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT), a Canadian charitable organization and social enterprise that delivers technology, entrepreneurship and leadership training programmes to empower young people in Tanzania with digital skills.
She further said the partnership would sharpen the workforce to be ready for proficiency, wellequipped with business knowledge needed to land in successful careers for social wellbeing and economic growth.
“DOT will work with local organizations to help young people tap into IBM’s free Open P-TECH’s career readiness curricula. The platform equips learners with competencies in foundational technologies used in all industries, such as AI, cloud computing and cybersecurity, along with professional workplace skills like design thinking, teaming, and presentations,” she pointed out.
Elaborating, Ms Nixon-Saintil said together with the organisations, the technology behemoth will reach at least 40,000 young people in 8 countries, among them Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Ghana, Jordan and Lebanon, with 70 per cent of the recipients being young women.
According to Ms Nixon- Saintil, the Covid-19 pandemic had laid bare the gaps and inequitable access to the digital literacy, employment and entrepreneurship skills that the youth require to innovate, compete for jobs, and start businesses in a digital economy, hence focus on young women.
“The gender gap is extreme – with women over 50 per cent less likely to be online in comparison to men in the least developed countries, where 390 million women remain unconnected,” she said.
On her part, DOT Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Janet Longmore said research shows that young people with these skills become the leaders and contributors to the digital transformation of their communities, countries, and economies
