Publication: Star, The (Late Edition)

Publication Date: 22 Jun 2023

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Headline: ARE YOU A YOUNG TECH GURU? IF SO, BRICS FUTURE SKILLS CHALLENGE MIGHT BE FOR YOU Page: 16 Part: 1 of 1 AVE: R 19262.23

TEXT: THE SA BRICS Business Council is looking for South Africa`s best up-and-coming tech gurus to represent the country in the (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) BRICS Future Skills Challenge. This year`s future skills Olympics will help solve problems that BRICS face around energy, water and health. Joanne Brink, the founder of TechWays and project lead at BRICS Future Skills, said in a statement yesterday that the benefits of participating in the BRICS Future Skills Challenge extended beyond recognition as one of SA`s top tech minds. `If you are selected, you will receive training and exposure to real-world case studies. You`ll receive a certificate, international experience to add to your CV and an opportunity to benchmark your skills at a global level. `Those who perform well in the competition will be introduced to employers and will be recognised as one of the top South Africans in their field,` Brink said. Applicants can apply to www. bricsfutureskills.co.za by June 30. The project lead added that the competition would also help clarify where there was a skills deficit and where South Africa should be concentrating its efforts to ensure the country built a pipeline of future tech skills. The event will be held in Johannesburg from September 12 to 15 There are several skills categories in which South Africans will compete aircraft maintenance; agri IOT; building information modelling; cyber security; data science; digital twin; drones; internet marketing; manufacturing robotics; mobile app development; renewable energy, and robotic process automation. Students at universities and TVET colleges, and professionals aged between 16 and 35, are eligible to apply. Menzi Mhlongo of Digify Africa, who supports the internet marketing stream, said opportunities like this would help young people gain real-world experience and make their CV stand out in a crowd. I