Big Data Booklet

CAREERS DAY

SOL PLAATJE UNIVERSITY, KIMBERLEY 7-8 SEPTEMBER 2016

Contents

Contact details

Profile: Microsoft SA

Programme overview

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Foreword Prof. Yunus Ballim: Vice-Chancellor, Sol Plaatje University

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4-5

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Profile: Statsoft (Dell), SITA

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Foreword: John Wade-Smith, Regional Head of Science and Innovation British High Commission

Profile: Siatik Systems, Nokia

6 Profile:

Wits University, Tracker

Profile: IBM Research, Barclays Africa

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Profile: SANReN, CISCO

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Profile: Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC)

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Welcome

The Square Kilometre Array South Africa (SKA SA) is proud to host students and industry partners for the second Big Data Careers Day. The Minister of Science and Technology, the Honourable Naledi Pandor, says “ The future of our country and the African continent depends on our development of talented scientists and entrepreneurs working in scarce skills fields who can take up the opportunity to develop new technologies and innovative solutions for our pressing problems.” SKA SA’s Big Data Africa initiative aims to tackle a range of challenges in the manipulation, storage and transfer of very large data sets, and to develop skills in these “big data” areas on a large scale as part of an Africa-wide, multi-disciplinary programme that brings together universities, governments and industry.

The inaugural event in 2015 was a great success and we immediately knew that this event would become one of the annual highlights on the SKA SA calendar.

We are proud to be co-hosting this event with Sol Plaatje University, the first tertiary education institution to introduce a Bachelor of Science degree in Data Science and would

also like to thank the Newton Fund for its generous support in this endeavour.

A range of projects within SKA SA are underway in the fields of high performance and power efficient computing, advanced algorithms, artificial intelligence and data visualisation. The projects are necessary to interpret and to add value to the vast torrent of radio astronomy data that will pour from first MeerKAT and then the SKA. However, data science is a platform that has wider applications than astronomy. Other science-based endeavours, equally important for our country, such as drug design and climate change mitigation, also require a competence in big data. Industry too has an increasing demand for high speed processing and storage of large data sets. Indeed, big data is the area where spin-offs from initially SKA focused technologies are likely to have the greatest impact.

We hope that over the next two days, students and other interested parties will engage with SKA SA and its industry partners and funders to gain greater insights into the world of big data and the associated career opportunities.

We thank you for taking part in this event.

Dr Rob Adam SKA SA Project Director

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Mutually supportive relationships are important

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rom the early days of the establishment of Sol Plaatje University, we recognised the importance of our University to make its contribution to high-level intellectual capacity development in the general disciplines of Data Analytics and Data Science.

This was partly because the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project was being established in the Northern Cape and that our University would well serve our community by being one of the knowledge partners to this development.

The other reason was our recognition of the growing importance of data and data integration in the future of human and social development. It was for these reasons that our University developed and implemented the first BSc in Data Science qualification in 2015.

It is therefore a particular pleasure for us to be hosting a gathering of companies willing to

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showcase available careers in the world of data science and to stimulate young South Africans to pursue such careers.

This event is also a demonstration of the mutually supportive relationships that can exist between higher education, government and the private sector – the so-called triple helix of development.

We are deeply thankful for the support that we have received from the Square Kilometre Array and the private sector companies that are represented at this event. These are essential partnerships if our vision of a data-smart South Africa is to be realised.

Professor Yunus Ballim Vice-Chancellor: Sol Plaatje University

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A need for specialised skills

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n 2014, the UK launched the Newton Fund to build scientific and innovation partnerships with 16 partner countries to support their economic development and social welfare, and to develop their research and innovation capacity for long-term sustainable growth.

The UK Government will invest £735 million up until 2021, with matched resources from the partner countries. As befits two countries with a rich background in science collaboration, the UK’s Newton partnership with South Africa is a major element of the global Fund, currently representing a £30m co-investment and set to increase over the coming years.

With the UK and South Africa playing such prominent and leading roles in the development of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), we have been able to ensure that the Newton Fund contributes to the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) programme, helping to create the next

generation of astronomers across Southern Africa, and to support big data development through the Big Data Careers Day, and the planned Big Data Africa Summer School.

With the huge increase in data volumes expected with radio telescopes such as MeerKAT and the SKA, the need for specialised skills to address the many challenges in the big data era has become pressing.

I am delighted that the Big Data Careers Day is being hosted at Sol Plaatje University, recognising its important decision to host the first Bachelor of Science degree in Data Science in South Africa.

John Wade-Smith Regional Head of Science and Innovation British High Commission

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[ Programme overview ]

SKA SA invests

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n today’s society, each one of us has access to a wide variety and volume of data, most easily accessible through the internet. This data has the potential to shape our everyday lives and influence our decisionmaking through the role it plays in social media, marketing campaigns, the Internet of all Things, to name a few.

The sheer volume of data generated globally has been, and is still increasing exponentially from year to year, and is leading us into a new era of dealing with extremely large volumes of data, called the big data era.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project will be the largest science infrastructure project in the world, through its quest to build the largest radio telescope, and is viewed as a pioneer in the big data revolution being faced.

To place the data challenges of this ground-breaking telescope in context, it is predicted that data collected by the SKA in a single day would take nearly two million years to play back on an iPod. The SKA is therefore expected to play a global leading role in Big Data as we enter the data revolution era.

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With this increase in data across various sectors comes the growing need for individuals who can manipulate, analyse and visualise complex data systems – the socalled “data scientist”.

The McKinsey Global Institute Report in May 2011 predicts that there will be a shortage of up to 190 000 data scientists by 2018 in the United States alone, with many managers and analysts not readily equipped with the much needed analytical skills in big data to make effective and informed decisions. This shortage of data scientists is expected worldwide and can have dire consequences on world economies if not addressed in the short term.

Square Kilometre Array South Africa (SKA SA) recognises the need for data scientists not only within large science projects but also within the general South African economy and worldwide. The SKA alone will need data scientists to manage, analyse and distribute the huge volumes of data expected from the telescope itself with an even larger demand for data scientists across various sectors of the South African economy.

With this need for data scientists, the SKA SA is leading

[ Programme overview ]

in tomorrow an initiative that showcases the big data challenges in industry together with career opportunities available to aspiring data scientists within some of the world’s leading organisations in technology and innovation.

The Big Data Careers Day was established under the Strategic Partnerships unit of the Human Capital Development programme of SKA SA. The first such event was launched in September 2015 in partnership with Sol Plaatje University which launched the first Bachelor’s degree in Data Science in South Africa. The initial event was hosted in Cape Town with participation of 25 students who were enrolled for the degree.

The hosting of the second Big Data Careers Day has gained further support from various industry partners in 2016, with this year’s event funded by the UK-SA Newton Fund. The event is hosted at the Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley on 7 and 8 September 2016, with a total of 75 students – with an interest in data science - participating in this year’s event. The SKA SA has partnered with 13 industry, government and university partners to bring this exciting event to the students in Kimberley.

Going forward, the SKA SA envisions that the Big Data Careers Day will become an annual highlight through collaborative efforts with partnering organisations. Not only has such an event been inspirational to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, but has also been an incubator for innovative partnerships across sectors.

This makes the SKA SA Big Data Careers Day truly unique in bringing together a diverse set of partnering organisations with a vision for collaborative partnerships that goes beyond a single sector or discipline.

This event is made possible by funding from the UK-SA Newton Fund.

SKA SA would like to thank all partners in making this event a success.

Dr Bonita de Swardt Project Officer: Strategic Partnerships for Human Capacity Development SKA SA

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[ PARTNER profiles ]

Wits University Wits is a remarkable university that is internationally distinguished for its excellent research, high academic standards and commitment to social justice.

Wits has a reputation built on research and academic excellence, and is strategically located in Johannesburg, a world class city, with countless opportunities for students and staff to engage with and present solutions that will contribute to our country's knowledge-base and build our future.

Wits has 33 364 students - 27 121 full-time, 6 243 part-time - and 2 674 international students.

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Tracker Tracker prides itself on being a “people” company, not just a technology or vehicle security company. It is more about the great people that fit and work together to make incredible things happen and believe that companies built on awesome teams become the companies that stand out among the rest.

Tracker South Africa was established in 1996 and currently connects over one million vehicles, making it the region’s dominant brand. To most people, Tracker is seen as a Stolen Vehicle Recovery (SVR) company, and while SVR is still at the core of its business, it has evolved significantly over the last 20 years.

Through a culture of continuous innovation, driven by an experienced and dynamic team, Tracker has built a reputation far beyond its SVR roots which positions it as the leading provider of telematics solutions to an automotive ecosystem which includes Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s), Dealers, Insurers, Fleet Operators and Consumers. Providing value added information to its clients has grown exponentially as it has evolved Tracker’s data systems and interpretation.

Today, Tracker is data – how it is collected, processed and turned into knowledge that allows Tracker to provide proactive value to its partners and customers. The amount of data it gathers is staggering, with over 35 million telematics messages generated daily. However, raw data is worthless and Tracker’s ability to interrogate and extrapolate meaning is what sets it apart, making it one of the most obvious and sought after partners for businesses grappling with the challenges of a connecting world.

[ PaRTNER profiles ]

Statsoft (Dell)

SITA

StatSoft SA (Pty) Ltd. is the local franchise and Premier Partner of the Dell Software Group, after it’s mother company, the international company Statsoft Inc., was acquired by Dell in April 2014.

It specialises in enterprise-wide business intelligence, advanced analytics, six-sigma, data mining, quality control, data analysis and web-based analytics software systems and related services.

For this Statsoft takes care of local sales, customisation and consulting, training and technical support services for the Africa-Middle-East Region.

Dell Statistica is widely used as an integral, crucial component of corporate computer infrastructures to boost productivity, and the bottom line, and also to increase safety. It is used in mission critical manufacturing applications, in regulated FDA controlled industries (also to help achieve compliance with CFR Part 11 and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) regulations) and as a foundation of corporate wide six sigma initiatives.

Dell Statistica has achieved an unprecedented record of recognition from both users and expert reviewers, since its first Windows release in 1993, being ranked the highest in every review by an independent third party.

The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) was established in 1999 to consolidate and coordinate the government’s information technology resources in order to achieve cost savings through scale, increase delivery capabilities and enhance interoperability.

SITA is committed to leveraging Information Technology (IT) as a strategic resource for government, managing the IT procurement and delivery process to ensure that the government gets value for money, and using IT to support the delivery of e-government services to all citizens. In short, SITA is the IT business for the largest employer and consumer of IT products and services in South Africa – the government.

The Agency remains committed in all its engagements to adhere to the government’s ”IT House of Values”, aiming to achieve reduced costs, increased productivity and increased service to South African citizens. The main aim of the ICT House of Values is to ultimately reduce ICT costs for government, improve government’s efficiency and effectiveness and make it convenient for South African citizens to access government services in a secure environment.

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[ PARTNER profiles ]

Siatik Systems

Nokia

Siatik Systems is a primary Google Cloud Platform Partner, Africa’s only Google Cloud Platform Training Centre and the world’s only Google and Dell hybrid solutions provider.

Siatik is a leading private, public and hybrid infrastructure solutions provider. It focuses on Google cloud integration services, information technology consulting services, managed services and bespoke software engineering solutions.

Siatik prides itself on independent thinking, and its ability to make ideas a reality and to successfully realise its customers’ vision. Its customers span both the public and private sectors and its consultants are regularly engaged in the health care, education, financial and technology industries.

Nokia is a global leader in the technologies that connect people and things. Powered by the innovation of Nokia Bell Labs and Nokia Technologies, the company is at the forefront of creating and licensing the technologies that are increasingly at the heart of our connected lives.

Nokia combines global leadership in mobile and fixed network infrastructure, with the software, services, and advanced technologies to transform how smart devices and sensors tap the power of connectivity.

With state-of-the-art software, hardware and services for any type of network, Nokia is uniquely positioned to help communication service providers, governments, and large enterprises deliver on the promise of 5G, the Cloud and the Internet of Things.

Serving customers in over 100 countries across the world, Nokia is driving the transition to smart, virtual networks and seamless connectivity by creating one, single network for all services, converging mobile and fixed broadband, IP routing and optical networks, with the software and services to manage them seamlessly.

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[ PARTNER profiles ]

Microsoft SA Microsoft South Africa’s mission is to empower every person and organisation in South Africa to achieve more.

Moreover, the company aims to empower customers to stay productive from anywhere, anytime, using any device or platform in order to allow them to achieve more in their professional lives and have more free time to dedicate to their personal lives.

Beyond these bold ambitions, Microsoft SA also aspires to make a huge difference locally. Leading the local impact charge is a broad range of educational initiatives empowering students in every part of their educational careers from school level, to tertiary education, as well as on-the-job training and internships (Student2Business).

These initiatives assist in preparing the youth of today to be a more productive workforce tomorrow and helps close the skills gap that exists between the skills being sought by employers and the amount of employees available who can meet those requirements.

In addition, Microsoft supports local businesses and start-ups to help develop the local software economy and make South Africa more globally competitive.

People are at the core of the Microsoft SA business. This focus starts with the business’s employee experience, ensuring that all employees have the opportunity to constantly grow and develop, while providing an environment that fosters collaboration, innovation, diversity and inclusion.

Microsoft believes that with the use of technology it can truly make a difference to every person and organisation on the planet.

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[ PARTNER profiles ]

SANReN

CISCO

The roles and responsibilities of the de facto South African National Research Network (SANReN) are distributed between the Tertiary Education and Research Network of South Africa (TENET) and the South African National Research Network (SANReN) Competency Area (CA) at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The SANReN CA is responsible for the design, acquisition and roll-out of national and international capacity for the SANReN, as well as the development and incubation of advanced services. It forms part of a comprehensive South African government approach to cyber-infrastructure, geared at ensuring the successful participation of South African researchers in the global knowledge production endeavour.

SANReN is managed and implemented by the CSIR’s Meraka Institute and is a key component of the National Integrated Cyber-infrastructure System (NICIS), alongside the Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) and the Data Intensive Research Initiative of South Africa (DIRISA).

TENET’s main purpose is to secure, for the benefit of South African universities and associated research and support institutions, internet and information technology services. TENET is a service organisation and is committed to service excellence and to services that are strongly aligned and consistent with the organisational requirements of the user community. TENET operates the SANReN Network under the terms of a collaboration agreement with the CSIR. TENET and the SANReN CA co-operate closely in building and supporting the South African NReN as a research, education and innovation platform for the benefit of its customers and users, and for the realisation of associated national development objectives.

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in IT that helps companies seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the previously unconnected.

Cisco has shaped the future of the internet by creating unprecedented value and opportunity for its customers, employees, investors and ecosystem partners and has become the worldwide leader in networking - transforming how people connect, communicate and collaborate.

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[ PARTNER profiles ]

IBM Research Africa

Barclays Africa

IBM Research – Africa is IBM’s 12th global research lab and the first industrial research facility in Africa.

With facilities in Kenya and South Africa, IBM Research – Africa is driving innovation by developing commercially-viable solutions to transform lives and spark new business opportunities in key areas such as water, agriculture, transportation, health care, financial inclusion, education, energy, security and e-government.

The South African branch of IBM Research – Africa was announced in March 2015 and is co-located with Wits University in the Tshimologong Precinct technology hub in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

IBM Research – Africa is actively engaging with Africa’s innovation ecosystem to kick start new business opportunities and to ensure the full commercial viability of its solutions and services. Entrepreneurs, developers and business partners are a key part of IBM’s research programmes and go-to-market strategy in Africa.

Employing some of the best scientists from around the world, many from the African diaspora, IBM Research is a key investor in skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in Africa and is partnering with universities across the continent to develop and hire top talent.

Barclays Africa is a diversified financial services provider. It offers an integrated set of products and services across personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and insurance.

Barclays Africa is strongly positioned as a fully local bank with regional and international expertise and aspire to build the leading financial services group in its chosen countries in Africa and selected customer and client segments, and to remain locally relevant and competitive in all its presence countries.

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[ PARTNER profiles ]

Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) The Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) is one of the nationally integrated cyber-infrastructure initiatives of the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST).

The CHPC is a national facility funded by the DST and administered by the Meraka Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The CHPC represents the computing services component of the national cyber-infrastructure and is accessed by users in a variety of scientific research domains from both academia and the private sector. It was officially launched by the Minister of Science and Technology in May 2007.

The CHPC is based in Rosebank in the Western Cape and provides high performance computing (HPC) infrastructure, resources and support to the user base of South Africa and its partner African countries.

The vision of the CHPC is to be an accomplished and preferred partner for HPC solutions and its mission is the provision of world-class HPC facilities that enable cutting-edge research with high impact on the South African economy.

As part of its mandate, the CHPC’s significant focus on human capital development initiatives is pursued of which the Winter School in Parallel Programming, Introductory Programming School, the National and International Student Cluster Competitions, the SKA Readiness Program and the annual CHPC National Meeting are important examples.

The new petaflop computer cluster at the CHPC, called Lengau (Setswana for Cheetah), has recently been launched and is the fastest supercomputer on the African continent. In June 2016 it has also attained the 121st place on the world’s Top 500 list of supercomputers. This state-of-the-art infrastructure provides for the ever-increasing demand for HPC resources and is an important driver for innovative research and economic growth at a national level.

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Contact details

British High Commission 255 Hill Street Arcadia Pretoria 0002

Sol Plaatje University Chapel Street and Bultfontein Road Kimberley 8301

(+27) 12 421-7573 Tel: (+27) 53 491-0000

17 Baker Street Rosebank Johannesburg South Africa PO Box 522940 Saxonwold, 2132

www.gov.uk www.spu.ac.za

+27 (0)11 442 2434 +27 (0)11 442 2454 enquiries@ska.ac.za www.ska.ac.za

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