Background

Skills development being one of the pillars to improve our readiness to embrace AI, the HRDC has established the AI skills development support programme with a view to build a strong pool of in-country talent.

Under this programme collaborative projects between local and/or international institutions can be mounted for effective transfer of knowledge and build local capabilities.  

This umbrella programme includes a wide spectrum of instruments supporting skills development initiatives, including but not restricted to, the following components:

• Projects to expose university students to the new technologies to smoothen their entrance in the place of work, through linkage with foreign universities and /or appropriate technology providers;
• Fresh graduates and mid-level professionals to acquire specialist, expert or mastery-level competencies through selected courses;
• Professionals to have the opportunities to deepen their specialist-level competencies, through selected courses;
• Selected building blocks of AI skills development as continuous process in ongoing university programmes;
• Scholarships to follow university AI undergraduate and post-graduate degrees;
• Needs-driven projects by industry associations to start building human capital in AI;
• Train-the-trainer programmes to build capacity at local universities as a basis to promote mainstreaming AI;
• Train professionals at industries who can in turn act as mentors to university students.

Students, fresh graduates, existing professionals, lecturers/trainers, researchers are targeted beneficiaries. Proposals can emanate from groups of enterprises, industry associations, public and private universities amongst others.  An indicative template for submission of proposals can be downloaded here.

Objectives of the programme

The broad objectives of the programme are to:

• proactively train a critical number of people on smart technologies;
• expand and develop new AI programmes to create a pipeline of talents;
• enable and empower youth to develop their skills in smart technologies; and
• support enterprises through skills development to adopt AI applications.

Download template for submission of project proposals