BY PATIENCE RADISOENG
The Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) in partnership with Stanbic Bank will host a conference on the 23-24th May 2019 with an aim of sharing information between human resource development stakeholders on best practices and innovations for transformation to a knowledge based economy.
“We believe that for us to move as a country particularly in the area of human capital development, there is need for partnership between the private sector, parastatal, public sector, civic organizations as there are people out there who are doing well and therefore it is important that we share best practices on how we can actually get there, how we can come a knowledge based economy,” said chief executive officer of HRDC-Raphael Dingalo during a media briefing.
He explained that a knowledge based economy is raising returns on investment by stimulating more efficient methods of production as well as stimulating new and improved products and services.
Adding that society need to be sophisticated in terms of innovation because it is only then that they can drive a knowledge based economy.
Dingalo noted; “In order to grow the economy, we need to be an export lead economy thus means we need to come up with products and services that we can actually sell to the international community by so doing we will be able to generate income for our country to increase our GDP and in so doing create a much needed employment
He also stated the pillars that describes the knowledge based economy being skilled labor; institutional structures that provide incentive entrepreneurship and the use of knowledge, vibrant innovation landscape that includes the academia, the private sector and civil society and lastly Information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and access.
He said “In whatever we do if we want to become an innovative society, if we want to become a knowledge based society, we need to ensure that we encore whatever we do on ICT.”
For his part chief executive officer of Stanbic Bank Botswana-Samuel Minta said this partnership is all about improving the lives of people wherever they go
“There is a new wave of emphasis, an increase in what companies are doing to create impact beyond their specific industry thus social impact, economic impact and environmental impact and how we ensure sustainability for those who come after us when we are gone,” he said.
He also stated that as the demographic of Africa is changing as same as for Botswana , they are lot of projections that in 20 years’ time the size or proportion of young people between 15 and 30 is going to be the largest and that calls for new ways of creating jobs.
“Thus a significant shift which create a new problem statement of how we think about employability, private enterprise and growing the economy. So it is not something a few people can do, so in our collaboration with HRDC we acknowledge the fact that no single institution can on their own create the impact and reach that needs to be created in driving youth employability issues,” Minta added.
Nevertheless, HRDC has announced that there will be international delegates among them during the conference and the official opening will be undertaken by the vice president-Slumber Tsogwane who will be welcomed by the minister of tertiary education, research, science and technology-Thapelo Olopeng.
