Huawei supports Digital Council Africa’s skills development for South African women in fibre optic technology

JOHANNESBURG — Huawei South Africa is supporting a fibre optic technologies skills training programme in South Africa targeting young women from three Johannesburg townships.

The group of 19 participants, all of whom have a background in math and science, spent a day at Huawei’s flagship Customer Solutions Innovation Centre in Woodmead, Johannesburg.

Students were introduced to technological solutions such as 5G networks, Cloud/AI, and big data, as well as digital solutions for specific business verticals. They also attended a thorough training session for fibre deployment, and a typical fibre project was unpacked and evaluated from beginning to end.

The day marked the end of their three-month course, which was sponsored by the Digital Council Africa (DCA), of which Huawei is a member, as well as training partner Signa Academy and MICT SETA, the project financier, as well as Herotel, which offered much-needed practical working experience.

The workshop, which is part of Huawei’s continuing worldwide Women in Tech initiative, was launched by Huawei SA COO Christina Naidoo.

“Huawei congratulates all the young women who participated in this training, which served to expose them to a sector about which they previously knew very little. I can see that the course has ignited a passion in each of them, and I am sure that by harnessing this passion, supporting each other and working hard, they will go on to build careers in ICT infrastructure, crucial for growing the South African economy,” Naidoo said.

Juanita Clark, CEO of the DCA, said, “This one-of-its-kind training was designed to encourage more women into the sector, which requires greater transformation and inclusivity. Women bring a different and more nurturing side to technology whose development must ultimately serve us all. The young women now have a much clearer understanding of the vital role they will play within the end-to-end value chain that connects us to continually evolving technologies.”

Senior strategy consultant at Huawei, Marius Engelbrecht spoke to the group about the importance of optic fibre infrastructure.

“The information shared during the tour of our Innovation Centre will assist in expanding the trainee’s insights and knowledge relating to telecommunications technologies, which all depend heavily on fibre networks. Fibre not only brings fast download speeds to our homes for streaming our favourite entertainment, but it is the backbone of all the technologies they were introduced to today, especially in the 5G era.”

The three-month programme consisted of:

– Technical hands-on training on fibre optics technology.
– Fibre Optic installation workflow processes from the planning to installation phase.
– A work readiness programme describing the different behaviours in a typical fibre installation company, and how to manage themselves in the workplace.

“Before starting this programme I knew very little about ICT or fibre optics but now I am sufficiently qualified to enter the sector and work towards higher certification,” said Sagwadi Nkuna, one of the graduates of the programme. “My ambition is to work in the final stages, as a fibre optic splicer.”

Jennifer Latifi, another graduate from the three months program, said, “I am someone who loves to explore new things, and this course exposed me to the exciting world of fibre optic technology. I am now committed to a new career in this field and hope to ultimately work on the digital aspects of fibre optics,” she said.