Page 7 - DUT Conduit Sept 2023

He indicated that the highlighted themes explore critical issues relating to how libraries, archives and related institutions are responding to the seismic shifts in the information landscape amidst a myriad of challenges and opportunities.“The sub-themes bring together a tapestry of articles that explore the status, experiences and future prospects of the dynamic library and information science practice,” he added.
Dr Chisita said that he has six books which he has single-edited, and four are coedited. He expressed that it took him one year and six months to edit the book.
Adding to what ENVISION2030 espouses, Dr Chisita said that the new book tallies with the DUT living values concerning mutually beneficial collaborations, the practical application of knowledge and future-ready graduates.
“Working synergistically, impacting society in a transformative way through innovative solutions to its challenges through
knowledge production for sustainable development. The new book provides exemplary dynamic and innovative solutions- focused interaction with and impact on society at both local and global levels concerning information access and community,” he commented. Dr Chisita stressed that the new book offers a praxis-oriented approach that considers how to ensure the future of knowledge production, the environment and economic progress. He mentioned that the new book provides curricula stimulating creativity and innovation to generate new knowledge and solutions.
Dr Chisita also mentioned that he is working on other projects, on combative decoloniality because decoloniality in African development combatively attempts to bring back wholeness where the coloniality paradigm of development has established incompleteness and emptiness.
“I firmly believe that the DUT living values require us to work together synergistically and parabolically to find each other irrespective of our differences. Out of many, we are one, and
we endeavour to uplift each other to realise the good for an inclusive society and humanity at a broader level.We must move out of our intellectual and professional cocoons to interface through interdisciplinary research because silos cannot solve our problems in the 21st century but rather collaborate and multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. We must work towards the DUT brand’s multifaceted nature to propel our institution to the pedestal of research and innovation. Gone are the days when we, like cloistered monks, would derive joy in single-headedly generating research, but rather through working with others, including staff and students, we can achieve more with less,” he explained.
Dr Chisita said that the book will help readers cope with the pathological disease of information disorder and thus propel a new culture of metlitarate citizens who are weaponised to engage critically with others and the globe as they read the word and the world in complex dynamic information spheres in the world, wired and networked digital environment whereby netiquette is mainly needed.
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innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation invited to the HUAWEI SA ICT Talent Development Awards 2023
DR SWANEPOEL SHARES ON HIS ROLE AS AN ENVISION2030 ‘STEWARD’ AT DUT
Ntandoyenkosi Mpofana
Pictured: Huawei SA ICT Awards attendees outside the Huawei Innovation Centre.
The Durban University ofTechnology’s (DUT) Huawei ICT Academy was amongst some of the high-flying contestants at the Huawei South Africa ICT Talent Development Awards, receiving recognition for the strides the academy has made in the advancement of ICT.
In an awards ceremony pitting the top performing academic institutions in the ICT sector, the DUT Huawei ICT Academy held its own and emerged as the proud recipient of three awards at the Huawei South Africa ICT Talent Development Awards held in Johannesburg recently, in deserved recognition of the excellence of DUT’s academy’s continued growth in the ICT sector.
Delivering his address at the awards ceremony, Mr Wei Jianzhou, Senior Manager in the Public Relations Department at Huawei, highlighted that there was currently a gap between the demand of digital skills in the ICT industry and the outcomes of talent development programmes.
“The Huawei ICT Academy is a supplementary programme to close the said gap.We hope to work towards enriching the ICT education curriculum with Huawei ICT training courses to benefit the young ICT pioneers,” he remarked.
Since the establishment of the DUT’s partnership with the Chinese technology behemoth in 2020, the University growth in the ICT sector has been substantial, culminating in the incredible three podium finishes attained at the esteemed Huawei South Africa ICT Talent Development Awards.
The support and training from HuaweiTechnologies saw DUT take second place in the Most Active ICT Academy category out of nine competing academic institutions.
DUT’s, Zime Nxumalo, an incubatee of the innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, picked up second place in the Most Active Huawei Ambassadors category, a highly contested field that had 15 Huawei Ambassadors vying for top honours.
The University’s excellent showing at the awards ceremony also saw Huawei DUT instructor Eloge Ngoie come in third position in the category for the Most Active ICT Academy Instructors in a field with nine contestants.
The success at the awards ceremony was a feather in the cap for the University and a stamp of approval for the University’s continued effort and commitment to put into practice its ENVISION2030 objectives of providing curricula that stimulate creativity and innovation to generate new knowledge and solutions.
Thabile Ndaba, Business Support Coordinator at innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Huawei DUT Administrator, described the DUT Huawei ICT Academy as an industry-academy cooperation project.
Ndaba was a guest speaker at the prestigious awards ceremony and hailed the programme’s impact and the response of a mixture of DUT students and members of the community to it, with 1700 people having been part of the programme since its inception.
Explaining the significance of the strategic partnership between Huawei and DUT, through the DUT Huawei ICT Academy, Ndaba said that it was critical in equipping the students with the requisite skill set in the ICT space so that they can gain access to more opportunities in the industry.
“This programme is not just limited to IT students only; it is open to every student in the whole university and the wider community.This programme is bringing more opportunities to our students in terms of bursaries, in service training and graduate programmes,” Ndaba said.
She said that the recognition received at the awards by the DUT Huawei Academy would help open more doors for the University in attracting more IT driven stakeholders to invest more in the University.
“Here in the province of KwaZulu-Natal we are the only university that is really driving this ICT agenda and we’re doing really well. I know that other universities have started working on ICT, but we are leading the way,” said Ndaba.
Dr Matthys Johannes Swanepoel, who started his role at the Durban University of Technology from September 2022, is enjoying his role as the Deputy Dean at the Faculty of Accounting and Informatics.
Considering the four tiers of ENVISION2030, his role as deputy dean is to be a steward, making sure that systems and processes are put in place which are sustainable and will impact all stakeholders.
“I also would want to be remembered as one of the bricklayer in the success of DUT’s ENVISION2030, he said proudly.
He relayed that ENVISION2030 statements of intent says by 2030 “Our people will be creative, innovative, entrepreneurial and adaptive to changes in the world; Our people will participate productively in the development of our region, country and the world; Our state-of-the- art infrastructure and systems will enhance an ecosystem created to achieve this vision,” he said.
Looking at the initiatives that are currently in place and are being working on, Dr Swanepoel thinks that the DUT will be the game changer in tertiary education.
“This will not only apply to South Africa, but Africa, and even the world on how society can be influenced by a University that contributes to improving lives and livelihoods,” he commented.
In terms of his department and faculty, he sees the Management Accounting Department as the leader in providing world class programmes and courses that is creative, distinctive and has an impact on the community it servers.
“Collaboration between Accountancy and Informatics is what commerce needs. The faculty is already well recognised, but with focused and creative collaboration the faculty will produce distinctive and impactful results for all stakeholders,” he said.