To help bridge the digital divide and increasing reliance on information technology, New Horizons Johannesburg, Microsoft Student2Business South Africa and Women In IT have committed R 500,000 to provide an IT Literacy skills programme to previously disadvantaged unemployed individuals over the next 12 months.

The programme, certified through New Horizons, sets out to improve PC literacy and organisational communicational skills - elementary but inaccessible to majority of South Africans - among these women.

Mohammed Ebrahim, Sales and Marketing Director of New Horizons Learning Johannesburg, explains, “In order for South Africa to correct skills imbalances inherited from our past and to bridge the digital divide, , business, government and communities need to partner in developing programmes to address these problems.”

The Siyadala 2 Project follows a pilot completed in April 2008, and has been designed to promote and encourage PC literacy, specifically among women and the underprivileged unemployed who have never been exposed to IT.

Charlene Verzmoter, who heads up the Microsoft Student2Business programme in South Africa, says: "The objective of the programme is to facilitate the skills development of individuals ready for an entry-level job or internship, and to collaborate in our training efforts so as to ensure that students are ready to meet the innovation needs of company’s around the globe.”

Microsoft, New Horizons Computer Learning Centres and Women in IT will continue to empower underprivileged communities and individuals with the skills to be able to join the modern South African economy. “By doing so we believe we are directly impacting the lives of so many people that we hope in turn will contribute to the growth of the South African nation,” explains Ebrahim.

New Horizons Computer Learning Centres was named the world’s largest independent IT training company by IDC in 2007. New Horizons Johannesburg is a subsidiary of New Horizons Worldwide.

Through its Integrated Learning offering, New Horizons provides customer-focused computer training choices with a wide variety of tools and resources that reinforce the learning experience. With more than 258 centers in 56 countries, New Horizons sets the pace for innovative training programs that meet the changing needs of the industry.

Microsoft Student2Business (S2B) programme is a Microsoft community initiative, which connects Microsoft partners and customers with potential skilled individuals who plan a career in the field of information technology. S2B provides students with real-world experience to enhance their career opportunities.

Women in IT is a bursary and mentorship programme that aims to create insight, opportunity, growth and development for women within the information technology sector. Funded through corporate sponsorship by Axiz, Bytes Technology Group, Fujitsu Siemens, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft and Verizon, Women in IT creates formal and informal networks between women IT students, tertiary institutions, South African IT professionals and corporates.