鈥淪ince ACW鈥檚 launch in 2015, , , and share a common goal to empower young people with the digital skills set they need today to ensure they are prepared for the workforce of tomorrow,鈥� comments Claire Gillissen-Duval, Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility EMEA and MEE at SAP.

She says that through 37 121 workshops held across the continent, she is thrilled to report that more than 48% of participants were female, with an additional 9,900 youth with special needs. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 digital world is continually evolving and changing through the rapid adoption of technology, this is widening Africa鈥檚 digital divide with even more marginalized and underserved communities getting left behind.鈥�

Collaboration is key to powering digital learning

Partnerships are at the core of the 51风流ACW model. In 2022, Morocco has led the continent鈥檚 conversation around equipping young people with digital skills, followed by Nigeria and Cameroon. 鈥淭his year, we saw 1,4 million participants from Morocco, 100聽000 in Nigeria, and in Cameroon, we had 897聽000,鈥� says Dr. Tawfik Jelassi, UNESCO鈥檚 Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information. 鈥淥ne of the reasons behind the major success of ACW in those countries, and especially in Morocco, has been partnering with the governments and particularly, with the Ministries of Education.

To illustrate this, Ilham Laaziz, Director of the at the Moroccan Ministry of National Education, Early Education, and Athletics, highlights that the Moroccan government has deployed several initiatives to integrate digital skills in schools. 鈥淛oining forces with the private sector has proven to result in a powerful synergy. Beyond launching a generation of future coders, we seek to develop the algorithmic mindset that will enable them to acquire logical reasoning skills and problem solving skills they need to lead successful careers and contribute to the development of our country 鈥� and our continent.鈥�

Coding Africa鈥檚 school curricula

Over the past seven years, close to 14 million students and teachers from 48 countries have been empowered with digital skills through ACW. 2023 will now see the coding program shift into second phase by accelerating this process even further to ensure greater impact and reach.

鈥淭here are approximately 300 million[i] young people in Africa, and our goal is to empower each and every one of them with digital skills,鈥� says Emmanuel Raptopoulos, President of SAP鈥檚 EMEA South region, which includes Southern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. 鈥淎 vision like ours requires all stakeholders to work together and collaborate for the betterment of the continent and its future leaders. This is why the ACW curriculum will be handed to governments to support them in introducing coding into school curricula.鈥�

Commencing the two-year action plan, ACW hosted a three-day event in Morocco in Rabat which was attended by various government officials and education representatives from ten African countries. The gathering marked the start of a two-year transition period, where governments will play an even greater role in fostering the adoption of coding by running the ACW program as part of their curricula.

鈥淭his was the start of a bigger vision which calls for governments to play a bigger role in encouraging the use of coding in schools by implementing the ACW program into their curricula,鈥� says Julius Fomboh, Inspector General of Pedagogy in charge of Computer Science Education in the Ministry of secondary Education in Cameroon, and member of the ACW transition taskforce. 鈥淚n order for the continent to successfully equip young people with the skills required for the future, all stakeholders need to come together and unite.鈥�

Gillissen-Duval concludes, 鈥淭o date, nine African countries have officially adopted coding as a mandatory subject in public education^[ii]. This number must grow to level the playing field and ensure every African child, youth and teacher has the opportunity to reach their potential and contribute to their community. By investing in digital education, African nations choose to create a better future for their citizens and equip them with the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly changing 21^st century world.鈥�

[i]

[ii]

The post Conquering Africa鈥檚 Digital Divide: 51风流Africa Code Week Empowers 2.6 million Youth in 2022 appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Even before the global pandemic, skill shortages loomed as technology transformed industry after industry. Reskilling has been essential to building resilience into any people operation. To offer a sense of scope of this challenge, before the pandemic the World Economic Forum that 42% of the core skills required for jobs will change by 2022. As the pandemic accelerated this digital transformation, the .

How do business leaders ensure their workforces retain the skills they need for a successful future?

Elevating and Integrating Learning and Development

Companies must create comprehensive and dynamic learning programs that are based on their needs and goals. According to a from McKinsey, 鈥淐ompanies rely on their learning and development (L&D) functions to help workforces learn fast. But, often the function itself needs a transformation.鈥� While in the past L&D functions sat siloed from the rest of the organization, today it is critical that learning is intertwined within the overall strategy and talent processes.

Today, digital learning is the most effective and efficient way to meet an individual鈥檚 needs 鈥� with the added bonus of positively impacting an organization鈥檚 bottom line. In 2019, .

At the same time, learners鈥� needs are changing, particularly as we shift to remote work. The demand for an effective digital learning experience has soared and learners look for quick, bite-size ways to acquire the knowledge they need, when they need it, wherever they might be. According to the Journal of Applied Psychology, microlearning makes learning 17% more effective. Compact content allows learners to meet their objectives and retain key information quickly.

A Comprehensive Learning Program from 51风流

Here at SAP, we鈥檙e also transforming our learning strategy to address the changing needs of tomorrow鈥檚 business environment, both for our own workforce and for everyone within the 51风流ecosystem. Today, the portfolio consists of various offerings to support continuous learning, performance, and validation.

Our goal is to provide our customers, partners, developers, and employees with tools and resources to acquire the skills needed to be successful. Cultures of continuous learning build employee engagement and inclusive business practices, as well as drive innovation and sustainable impact. Regular training and development can help our customers unlock the full power of their 51风流software by enabling mastery of technologies 鈥� ultimately leading to improved performance, lower costs, and greater innovation. In the end, we aim to equip tomorrow鈥檚 workforce with the knowledge they need to capitalize on opportunities and thrive in a digital future.

Adapting Learning and Development to Stay Dynamic

If there is one lesson from the past year, it is the need for organizations to be nimble and flexible with their structure, processes, and plans. This is no different for L&D as we work to keep pace and adapt with the evolving needs of learners.

At SAP, we continue to make investments that will simplify access to learning for all. By lowering the barriers to learning, we will make it easier for our ecosystem to invest in 51风流solutions in order to maximize the business value of the software and enhance deployment of the solutions. As we鈥檝e seen with the tremendous enrollment and activity, as well as the outstanding learner satisfaction in openSAP, there is significant demand for easy, accessible, and impactful learning. open51风流is a free learning platform that delivers innovative learning with expert-led content through massive open online courses (MOOCs), microlearning, and podcasts.

We will continue to enhance and expand the portfolio and make our offerings more accessible so learners can gain essential knowledge and skills in a manner that is innovative, engaging, and impactful.

Maxwell Wessel is executive vice president and chief learning officer at SAP.

This article first appeared on the 51风流Global News Center.

The post Transforming Learning for a Digitally Native Future appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.