In a bid to stimulate growth, retain skills and create employment in the electronics sector in KwaZulu-Natal, an interim association has been formed charged with the task of encouraging players in this sector to participate in the campaign.
A panel of delegates representing the electronics sector met recently at the KZN Innovation Support Centre (KZN ISC) where Andrew Austin, marketing manager at PFK Electronics was elected interim chairman and Roger Couzens from Natcom, deputy chairman. The panel was addressed by Nisaar Mahomed, director special projects at the department of Economic Development. He said that the department had been mandated to develop an ICT and electronics cluster, but was hamstrung because information on the players in KZN was 'scratchy'.
"We are looking at building a database of large corporations, small to medium enterprises and individuals that identify who the players are, where they are located, what their core competencies are and how we can assist them in growth and employment creation. In short we need a geographic snapshot of the size of the industry."
He pointed out that the creation of a Cyber Port at the proposed King Shaka Airport north of Durban would position KZN as the country's central logistics hub. A further objective was to retain the current skills in KZN and to build these skills across the industry sectors with particular emphasis on black penetration.
The interim panel decided that the KZN Electronic Industry Association needed to focus on developing the infrastructure in the province making it beneficial to be here and create centres of excellence.
A mission statement was drawn up comprising the following criteria:
* Stimulate economic growth in the electronics sector.
* Retain, develop and attract skills.
* Identify and mitigate bottlenecks.
* Support the local electronics sector.
* Lobby national, local and provincial government at all levels.
* Develop an infrastructure to support the growth of the sector and attract new players.
* Influence academia.
* Garner support from professional bodies.
* Act as a forum to interact with business.
* Drive innovation for growth.
* Develop a mechanism to market and promote the KZN electronic industry.
* Identify financial resources.
The KZN ISC is making its website: www.innovation.org.za, available for players in the electronic sector to participate in building the database. Anyone interesting in joining the association is requested to forward their details to [email protected].
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