Chief Digital Officer for telecommunication giant MTN Ghana, Dario Bianchi, has stressed the need for students and fresh graduates to see Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technology/digital tools as very critical as they enter the job market.
According to him, AI, coding, advanced excel, data analytics, presentations, scrum/Agile are the new trends for seeking real time information and approach to work in the job markets. For him, in order for students in the tertiary institutions and fresh graduates to fit into today’s corporate space, these digital tools are the most essential; therefore, knowledge about them would push them a notch higher.
“Students and new graduates who want to work need to know what is happening in AI, what google is doing as well as Microsoft, and try these tools. You can experiment because you learn about them while using them. It is all about trying, testing them and using them, and then things will happen. These digital tools increase efficiency and productivity at the workplace,” he said.
Mr. Bianchi, who was speaking at the MTN ‘Back to School’ capacity-building for Bright Scholars at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), reiterated the need for lecturers to be upgraded regularly by corporate entities on happenings in the corporate environment. This, he believes, would ensure students have a piece of real time happenings from the corporate world.
External Consultant for MTN Ghana Petra Aba Asamoah, on her part, noted that it is about time students were taught and encouraged to shift focus and attention on developing people’s soft skills like confidence, being charismatic, leadership, and time management since these skills are very important points for young people.
Meanwhile, Senior Manager, MTN Ghana Foundation, Robert Kuzoe, explained that the annual ‘MTN Back to School’ initiative is to ensure beneficiaries of the MTN Bright Scholarship are given holistic education by building their capacities.
“It is not only the core education that makes you a holistic human being. It is also the other things that you pick along the line, the choices that you make affect your life in the long run. We want to give our scholars that holistic behavioural attitude apart from the academic work. The topics they were tutored on relate to the field of technology and all the innovation around technology,” Mr. Kuzoe emphasised.
