In this presentation, I highlight the skills necessary to stay relevant for the future workforce in the ICT industry. We live in a very dynamic world and it's necessary to change and adapt new skills if we are to stay relevant. This presentation was prepared to encourage the youth in Uganda's ICT industry and to urge them not to be left behind in the 4IR (Fourth Industrial Revolution).

1. The Future Workforce
(ICT)
How can today’s youth position themselves
for the future workforce in ICT?
By
Joshua Makuru Nomwesigwa
(Telecom Eng, Techpreneur, Tech Evangelist)

3. Brief about myself
• Telecom Engineer (Specializing in IP Technologies)
• 12 years of work experience in large organizations; MTN, Airtel,
Nokia, ZTE, Ericsson
• Founder; Tech Junction Ltd (www.techjunction.co)
• Blogger (https://my-techie-guy.blogspot.com/)
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joshua-nomwesigwa-3b262142
• And when am not configuring switches and routers? I spend
time with family (A wonderful wife and 3 amazing kids), play
soccer, watch soccer (Blue is the color, Chelsea is the team).

4. Why this topic?
Because everything changes and we need to
adapt.
“Life is change; growth is optional. Choose
wisely.” – Karen Kaiser Clark
“Cause change and lead; accept change and
survive; resist change and die.” – Ray Norda
“I can’t change the direction of the wind,
but I can adjust my sails to always reach my
destination.” — Jimmy Dean

5. What is workforce?
The workforce or labor force is the labor
pool either in employment or unemployed.
It is generally used to describe those
working for a single company or industry
but can also apply to a geographic region
like a city, state, or country.

6. Why should you be
concerned?
Spoiler Alert! The
future is already
here
Globalized skills - telecommuting and
outsourcing have become standard business
practices globally with China, India and the
Philippines as the major outsourcing hubs.
Examples include; GNOC (Global Network
Operation Centers), Shared Services Hubs, GTAC
(Global Technical Assistance Center).
“The 4IR” (Fourth Industrial Revolution) - where
ICT-enabled technologies (ICT-ETs) such as
robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), Machine
Learning (ML), IoT will have major impacts on
the nature and location of work. 4IR will come
with massive automation of many engineering
functions and this will render many jobs
obsolete.

7. What do we need to
do now that we should
have started doing
yesterday?

8. IT skills every
tech specialist
should seek in
order to stay
relevant in the
future workforce.
Programming and Software Development Skills
Mobile App Development Skills
UX Design, Graphics and Multimedia Skills
Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Skills
Cloud Computing, Linux, Automation and Virtualization Skills
(DevSecOps)
IP/Data Networking Skills
Cybersecurity Skills
Data Science Skills; Big Data Analytics, Business Intelligence
Soft Skills

9. How are
skills
acquired?

10. Some good eLearning
resources to help you
with self-paced skills
development
• Pluralsight (https://www.pluralsight.com/)
• Coursera (https://www.coursera.org/)

11. Programming and
Software
Development Skills
4IR (AI,ML,DL,5G,IoT) will lead to
massive automation, there will be
high demand for IT professionals
with skills in programming. Some of
the languages high in demand
include; Java, JavaScript, C++,
Python.

12. Mobile App
Development Skills
Organizations are increasingly turning to
mobile Apps to expand their customer reach.
This has been very evident during the
Covid19 pandemic. Understanding
application programming interface (API)
development platforms and cross-platform
app development frameworks enable IT
specialists to help businesses develop mobile
Apps and create the solutions they need to
better serve their customers.

13. UX Design,
Graphics and
Multimedia Skills
Increase in Mobile Apps will lead
to an automatic increase in
demand for UX, Graphics and
Multimedia Skills. Proper UX
design can help increase
productivity, decrease support
costs and boost customer
retention and acquisition.

14. Internet of Things
(IoT), Machine
Learning (ML) and
Artificial
Intelligence (AI)
Skills
5G is the enabler for IoT, ML and AI.
This will come with massive
automation (Smart Homes, Smart
Cities, Autonomous Vehicles, Self
Optimizing Networks, Robotics,
Telemedicine (Wearables)). Young
engineers who will invest their time in
developing skills to support these
technologies will be in high demand.

15. Linux, Cloud
Computing
and
Virtualization
Linux is preferred for its outstanding contribution to
OpenSource. It’s the preferred platform for most mission
critical production environments.
Business are always looking for solutions to cut their
operational costs. Virtualization and Cloud Computing have
proven to reduce these costs by more than 30%.
Virtualization enables companies to host all their
applications on shared infrastructure (Private Clouds).
Examples of virtualization platforms include; VMWare,
Hyper-V, OpenStack, Proxmox etc. Cloud Computing
platforms allow different companies to share infrastructure
in public clouds. Some of the major Public cloud providers
include; GCP, AWS, AZURE, Alibaba, Red hat. All these use
virtualization technologies to deliver services. A higher level
of virtualization (OS level virtualization) is called
containerization is already being used in hosting
applications. All these are core requirement for IT
professionals looking to stay relevant in Systems
Administration and DevOPs/DevSecOPs.

16. IP/Data
Networking Skills
EoIP (EverythingOverIP) – IP (Internet
Protocol) is the backbone of networks
(3G/4G/5G) carrying different services
e.g., data, video, voice.
IT professionals need to master skills
in IP to be able to support next
generation networks (NGN). IoT
(Internet of Things) relies heavily on
IPv6.

17. Cybersecurity
Skills
With 5G and IoT, everything will be
connected; Connected cars, homes,
sensors, devices etc. Increase exposure
to public networks poses different
security risks. Therefore, IT
professional with strong skills in
Cybersecurity will be in high demand.

18. Data Science
Skills
“Data is the new Gold”
Every business nowadays is a data
company, the data they correct from
their users/customers everyday can
be valuable if they use it wisely, i.e.,
Business Intelligence (BI). And this is
the art of data science.
Professionals with skills in Big Data
Analytics, Databases, Business
Intelligence, and programming
languages that support these
technologies like Python, Hadoop,
etc. are already in high demand.

19. ICT Project
Management
Skills
ICT project managers plan, organize,
direct and coordinate quality ICT
projects. They are responsible for
developing timelines, setting budgets
and assigning tasks within information
technology or telecommunications
projects. They work closely with team
members and clients to ensure the
right equipment and personnel are
available to complete project tasks.

20. Soft Skills
In addition to technical skills, ICT
professionals should bring a variety
of soft skills to the table.
Adaptability, empathy, teamwork,
communication and active listening
are just as important to employers
as tech skills are. With that in
mind, building and strengthening
soft skills should be a top priority
for IT specialists.

21. Thank You
Q & A