The Department of Science and Technology and Microsoft South Africa today signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will see the two fast-tracking high-performance computing, human capital and enterprise development.

The department's Director-General, Dr Phil Mjwara, signed on behalf of the department while Managing Director Mteto Nyati signed on behalf of Microsoft South Africa.

According to the two, the signing of the memorandum is expected to pave the way for foreign direct investment in research and development and harness existing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills programmes to support knowledge-generating capacity.

The focus of the partnership is on increasing participation by students and learners from previously disadvantaged backgrounds.

Following the signing of the memorandum, Mjwara said: "We also plan to jointly establish world-class research infrastructure with relevant science councils and higher education institutions."

"We now have a dedicated framework to help us determine what space in the ICT value chain would be best served by public-private partnerships," he said.

The DST and multinational private sector partners have a solid framework against which to quality-check projects in which they are engaged together.

"As our local programmes are designed to help government address its five key priorities especially skills, jobs and rural access partnering with the DST will better coordinate our efforts to create an enabling environment for growth through ICT," Nyati said.

"This intervention will expose students and learners to innovation and business skills early on during their studies. The students will be further provided with opportunities to use their creativity, passion and knowledge of technology to help solve real-world global challenges and see that they can make a difference in the world."

Nyati explained that the goal of the programme is to give students the key work competencies they will need to excel in future.

"To date, 350 employer partners and 15 training providers, academic institutions and NGOs have partnered with the programme. The DST's backing should encourage more corporates to share in the obligation of reducing unemployment among the youth by supporting technology and business-related graduates," he said.