Unlocking the Power of Data: A review of the state of readiness of the PSET sector in South Africa for enhanced data interoperability
What if we could better utilise the new technologies that have become so pervasive in the modern era to improve our education and skills systems in South Africa? Imagine having the potential to link the unemployed to job vacancies or even to start to develop new, timeous training programmes for jobs that do not yet exist. This state of readiness report is a synopsis of the outcomes of research completed in South Africa on interoperability within the postschool education and training (PSET) sector; it highlights early project activities which include consultations and situational analysis; it reviews the interconnectedness of stakeholders through a mapping exercise and provides an overview of varied and separate data systems that exist with the PSET sector. An additional desktop review and interviews were conducted nationally, to seek to determine the feasibility, advantages, and critical success factors for developing the relevant networks and ancillaries for such a system. The report elucidates appropriate models and frameworks most relevant to South Africa and finally lays the foundation for the subsequent phases of the PSET CLOUD, and proposes a human-centred approach to digital interoperability.