Creating a centre of African app excellence depends on the creation of a world-class skills base. To achieve this, we are currently partnering with the University of the Western Cape and leading South African IT solutions group, Gijima, to expose local IT and BSc students from five universities across the country, to iOS training that will empower them with the skills to fully code and design their own apps.
immedia’s Head Strategist, Anice Hassim says that the challenge the Code Jam initiative is hoping to tackle, concerns the current lack of relevant training for local IT and BSc students.
“They are desperate to become part of the post-PC phenomenon that is sweeping the globe, thanks to the incredible uptake of devices such as the iPhone and iPad but there are very few, if any, outlets that currently offer this kind of skills transfer.
We simply don’t have enough South African mentors who are providing the necessary guidance and instruction to students and graduates looking to extend their skills and initiatives such as the Code Jam event, which does just that, hence our desire to be involved in such a pioneering event,” says Hassim.
The Code Jam event which launched on the 26th March consists of three phases, namely:
- 1st Ideation Phase – Held at Price Waterhouse’s Cape Town offices with key speakers setting the scene.
- 2nd ‘Design Phase – Students will focus on the online ‘experience’ and receive training on user interface and free design.
- 3rd ‘Develop Phase – The immedia training team will engage students in intensive one-on-one training with particular emphasis on Code Application and the Apple iOS operating system.
Students will then have two months to code their own apps based on the training which they have received. This will culminate in a final ‘Code Jam Weekend’ held on the 11th, 12th and 13th May, where entrants will be judged by a panel who will decide which app deserves first prize.
Another key aspect of the event is the creation of a dedicated www.codejam.co.za portal that will support the creation of a broader African developer community that is able to share knowledge via access to forums and participation in live chats.
Looking at the bigger picture, Hassim says that immedia’s involvement with the Code Jam event is a perfect fit with its current mandate of feeding the post-PC revolution with South African born and trained developers who can champion the cause of ‘by Africa for the world’. Having seen the gap in the market for post-PC training, immedia has already launched its own training initiative and is currently running a range of post-PC training courses across the country with great success.