Samsung and Wits University’s Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct celebrate the graduation of the third cohort of its successful App Factory. This is first cohort of the nine-month internship programme launched in 2020 to address the issue of skills shortage in software development in South Africa.
While there is a high demand for software developers in South Africa, industry is complaining about the lack of work-ready talent. Even when graduates have the technical skills, they do not know how to work effectively in a team or transfer their knowledge to a real-world context.
The app factory recruits high potential graduates from various tertiary institutions and allows them to work on realistic projects under the supervision of a senior developer over a nine-month duration. Errors (bugs) in software development projects come with a high cost to a company when working on real projects in industry. The app factory therefore creates a safe environment to “fail fast, learn faster” while delivering under pressure on realistic projects. During this time, they learn full-stack development by mastering the theory and tackling realistic projects. Their technical skills are honed and they develop “21st century” skills, including problem-solving, critical thinking skills, effective communication, presentation skills, collaborative team skills and information literacy.
“South African software development solutions are competing globally for talent so we need to make sure that we are growing a quality talent pipeline locally that can be productive in the workplace fairly quickly. There is still too big a gap in the work readiness of graduates. The app factory addresses this gap,” says Lesley Donna Williams, CEO of Tshimologong Precinct.
The first cohort in 2020 had eight interns out of 85 applicants, the second one had nine out of 306 applicants and the latest intake had 18 interns out of 772 applicants. While there is a high demand of applicants for the programme, the teaching approach is intensive and high-impact, focusing on small groups and individual attention per intern.
“The shortage of adequately skilled software engineers would hamper the country’s ability to ride the wave of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and risk being left behind. This is what makes such initiatives so much more critical. As Samsung, we want to do our bit to contribute to this developmental agenda and process towards growing the South African economy,” says Hlubi Shivanda, Samsung’s director of business operations, innovation and corporate affairs.
