BRICS ‘skills Olympics’ opens for applications
Applications for the 2023 edition of the BRICS Future Skills Challenge are now open.
This is according to the SA BRICS Business Council, which is calling on local tech talent to participate in the upcoming challenge.
Initiated in 2018, the challenge is a multi-day skills Olympics or hackathon contest that brings together hundreds of BRICS youth aged between 16 and 35, with the aim to solve real-world problems in their area of expertise.
This year, participants are asked to solve problems that BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) face around energy, water and health.
Joanne Brink, founder of TechWays and project lead at BRICS Future Skills, explains: “The benefits of participating in the BRICS Future Skills Challenge extend beyond recognition as one of SA’s top tech minds.
“If you are selected, you will receive training and exposure to real-world case studies. You’ll receive a certificate, international experience to add to your CV and an opportunity to benchmark your skills at a global level. Those who perform well in the competition will be introduced to employers and will be recognised as one of the top South Africans in their field.”
Taking place from 12 to 15 September, in Johannesburg, this year’s event will be hosted in person and virtually. Training will be provided for all competitors under the guidance of experts. This will take place on Saturdays in August via webinar.
The BRICS business council notes there are several skills categories in which South Africans will compete, including aircraft maintenance, agri IOT, building information modelling, cyber security, data science, digital twins, drones, internet marketing, manufacturing robotics, mobile app development, renewable energy and robotic process automation.
Brink adds: “The competition will also help clarify where there is a skills deficit and where South Africa should be concentrating its efforts to ensure we build a pipeline of future tech skills.”
Applications for the challenge close on 30June.
