Walter Sisulu University (WSU) in conjunction with Samsung Electronics South Africa hosted a Certificate Award Ceremony on 17 February 2023 at the Blue Lagoon Hotel & Conference Centre in East London – to certify the successful execution of its inaugural flagship partnership – the WSU-Samsung Innovation Campus.
This partnership between WSU and Samsung South Africa was fostered through the Centre for Entrepreneurship Rapid Incubator (CfERI), which aims to develop and inculcate Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) skills in Coding & Programming, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) on the country’s youth. More importantly, the WSU-Samsung Innovation Campus seeks to contribute to the national imperative of creating a work ready and employable WSU student community.
WSU–CFERI signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Samsung Electronics South Africa and through this partnership – the WSU-Samsung Innovation Campus was born. This WSU-Samsung Innovation Campus has – in its first year of inception – been able to offer critical skills in basic coding and programming education of this strategic MOA.
An initial cohort of 21 students were inducted to kick-start this programme and the collective vision behind this imperative partnership is to target youth who are at university level that would like to develop their 4IR skills. The ultimate objective is to enable and empower them to become future technological leaders. A group of 19 Students from the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology – who are beneficiaries and proud products of this programme are graduating this week.
Dr Thobekani Lose at WSU said:
“With this strategic agreement in its first year of implementation, the Buffalo City Campus, through the Department of Information Technology has successfully recruited and upskilled 19 participants in basic coding and programming education in Python during the period of September and December 2022. The students who participated in the programme are now being celebrated through this award ceremony, where certificates will be handed out – arranged by both our University and Samsung.”
