Telkom and the National Research Foundation (NRF) have announced the launch of the Future Technologies (FutureTech) programme – a new initiative to co-fund technology research grants as well as postgraduate studies and post-doctoral fellows – with a view to driving innovation.

The FutureTech programme will support local universities in the research and development of future innovations, solutions and technologies. This will improve competitiveness in the ICT sector and other related fields.

Commenting on the partnership, Openserve CEO Althon Beukes said the company is pleased to contribute. ‘’Through the FutureTech programme, we are investing in the future of South Africa's ICT sector and equipping our students to be skilled, competent professionals.’’

NRF CEO Dr Fulufhelo Nelwamondo applauded the initiative. “The NRF has a mandate to contribute to science and technology capacity building in South Africa. This partnership forms part of our drive to achieve this important mandate and we appreciate the collaboration with industry, which also ensures that the capacity that we build is relevant.”

The FutureTech initiative is an extension of the Telkom Centres of Excellence (CoE) programme, which Telkom has funded and coordinated for the past 26 years at South African tertiary institutions. It is an ambitious programme to advance and support training, learning and research in computer science and engineering.

Openserve, a subsidiary of Telkom, plays a crucial role in the CoE programme and will continue to do so through FutureTech.

“By investing in postgraduate training, internship opportunities, mentorship and collaboration sessions, and industry-relevant research projects, we look to build a pipeline of talented professionals with industry-relevant skills,” Beukes added.

The partnership between Telkom and the NRF prioritises inclusivity and aims to uplift historically disadvantaged institutions through collaboration, dedicated funding allocation and focus on transformation through diversity and inclusivity.

The programme also contributes to economic and social objectives by addressing skills shortages, driving innovation and technology development and promoting social inclusion.

The programme’s pilot phase will run for three years with focus on skills, innovation and technology development in high-priority areas such as network and fibre optic solutions, multimodal sensing and of IoT, virtualisation and local artificial intelligence, language and speech technologies, to name a few.