Once upon a time, there was a cloud.This particular cloud was a much later version than the one that inspired Wordsworth in 1804.It appeared in the mid- to late-1970s as the X.25 network cloud and I can recall ten years later having IT managers explain the concept of the cloud network to me, where jagged lines connected computers in our branch offices to this big woolly mass in the middle of the flip chart…One thing was obvious - the computing happened outside of the cloud.The cloud was Telkom (enough said?).
Move the clock forward by 25 years or so, and lo and behold - the computers have moved inside the cloud!And we now talk of servers and datacentres and software as a service.Is this all new thinking?I wonder…Philosophically, what is the difference between using Google Docs from my laptop in 2009 and accessing my company's database in London from a terminal in Glasgow in 1968?At least in 1968, I was not looking for data between adverts, nor was I diverted by the ability to download videos while I should be working!
What triggered this chain of thought was the news that Microsoft would allow free use of a light version of Office 2010 on the Web.Why the fact they will be giving something away for free would raise their share price by 3.8% puzzles me, but that's another discussion.What I am trying to identify is where this cloud stuff will lead in the future.
In the same way as those who build networks must attract users to make them viable (and the more the merrier), it makes sense that those who need massive data storage and processing power should defray their costs by attracting more users (thin clients).In Google's case, the additional traffic has to pass by their advertisements and that traffic generates revenue.The synergistic use of central resources also offers the advantages of constant backup and lower in house costs.With Google and OpenOffice offering low cost use of basic tools, Microsoft's response is interesting.I guess that the "light" users will be encouraged to move to the real thing but, in the meantime, they are at least being held captive by the brand.
Do we need to differentiate between cloud computing and software as a service?Of course we do.Cloud computing is "everything as a service", including the software, although it might be difficult to use the software without the rest!The infrastructure, the platform and the hardware must exist within the cloud if the application software is to run.
Is all this an advance, or merely a return to the centralised computing of yore?Cloud computing makes the users dependent on the service level and quality of the provider, as with any other "utility".What will be the effect on your life of a breakdown in service?We need to have a trust relationship with the provider, to ensure that we are protected from intrusion, that our data remains private, that we can access it from anywhere at any time, that there is a foolproof disaster recovery process, that full audit requirements can be met and (lastly) that our data can be returned to us in a usable form at the end of the relationship.
Philosophically, we accept (to a greater or lesser degree) dependence on utility providers for water, electricity and communications - why not for computing?I, for one, would be very happy to have a cross between a netbook and a smart phone (with a 50-hour battery of course) that would link to any wireless network to connect me to the cloud.But, just maybe, I would also be looking for the equivalent of the backyard generator and the borehole to give me a little independence!
Adrian Schofield of Joburg Centre for Software Engineering is one of our www.MyByte.co.za Thought leaders. To subscribe to the www.MyByte.co.za Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j if you are still not registered on www.Mybyte.co.za and would like to join the onlinenetwork that connects the entire ICT industry in one room virtually click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php.
The Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) is having a busy 2009. On July 28, there is the official launch of the CoachLab@JCSE programme, where half a dozen graduate students from Wits and UJ are benefitting from a 9-month schedule that gives them practical project experience and other business skills on top of their normal course of study. Attendees at the launch include top academics and the senior executives from a number of companies in the ICT sector.
This programme is an extension of the highly successful CoachLab@Hub initiative that has been operating at The Innovation Hub in Pretoria. With an almost 100% placement of the graduates at the end of the programme, it has endeared itself not only to the students but also to the employers who partner them through the sessions. JCSE is already gearing up to extend the programme into 2010 and beyond.
The previous week saw the successful conclusion of the first Team Software Practice (TSP) training in South Africa, at one of the major banks. Course leaders from the Software Engineering Institute (at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg) joined Prof Barry Dwolatzky, Lance Stewart and Alok Goswami to present this intensive three-day course as the start of a pilot programme to prove the positive impact of TSP on software development productivity.
The data collection period for the second annual ITWeb-JCSE Salary Survey is expected to be concluded at the end of July. Following analysuis of the data and preparation of reports, the results will be presented at an Executive Seminar to be held on October 7 2009 at the Forum in Bryanston.
Adrian Schofield of Joburg Centre for Software Engineering is one of our www.MyByte.co.za Thought leaders. To subscribe to the www.MyByte.co.za Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j if you are still not registered on www.Mybyte.co.za and would like to join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room virtually click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php.
Software engineering is dead, long live engineering of software
That's a headline guaranteed to catch the eye of someone working at a Centre for Software Engineering!It appeared at the top of an article by David M Williams published by ITWire last month.He was reporting on an opinion piece by Tom de Marco in the July 2009 issue of “Computing Now” magazine, a publication of the IEEE Computer Society titled “Software Engineering: An idea whose time has come and gone?”
Williams' article goes on: "This is eye-catching on multiple levels. Besides the DeMarco authorship the title proffers the surprising and unexpected view that software engineering is a dying concept.
This first line of this 1982 title has been quoted extensively in the ensuing 27 years. DeMarco wrote, “You can’t control what you can’t measure.” To solve that problem software engineers have bravely attempted to uncover and analyse as many software metrics as possible.
Yet, DeMarco now reveals with the passage of time he has become uncomfortable with the views he originally espoused.
“Implicit in the quote (and indeed in the book’s title) is that control is an important aspect,” he says, “maybe the most important, of any software project.”
“But it isn’t.” He now says, citing examples of GoogleEarth and Wikipedia as impressive software products that proceeded without much control."
My question is whether the exceptions prove the rule.It's all very well to suggest that Google Earth or Wikipedia could not have been developed using software engineering principles, but I do not agree with the hypothesis.You might just as well say that the International Space Station is developing without cognisance of the engineering principles required.Modules being added to the ISS may not have been in the minds of the original designers but they must comply with the standards set at the outset.Equally, the developing functionality of Google Earth must operate within the constraints of the original framework - or the framework must be re-engineered.
Adrian Schofield of Joburg Centre for Software Engineering is one of our www.MyByte.co.za Thought leaders. To subscribe to the www.MyByte.co.za Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j if you are still not registered on www.Mybyte.co.za and would like to join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room virtually click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php.
The human condition is proof that "no man is an island" and that we cannot exist unless we work together, sharing the burdens of labour and the joys of achievement.
Even in situations where we appear to reward individual prowess, we are in fact recognising that a team effort was behind the accomplishment.Whether it is a politician elected to high office, an athlete winning the gold, an author publishing a book, or a salesperson beating a target, all of them would have struggled to make the grade if it were not for the "team" in the background.Family life, business life, community life - all are more successful when the complementary talents of the members are harnessed together.
Given that the concept is so simple, it is puzzling that there are so many occasions when it is obvious that failure to embrace the idea results in catastrophic failure for the individuals in a community.OK, so "catastrophic" may be a little extreme - many failures are relatively minor - but the principle remains the same.
I can, as an individual, choose to go my own way, "to plough my own furrow", but the chances are that I will be isolated from my fellows and will definitely be deprived of the support and benefits that flow from being integrated into a team.
I can also join the wrong team - and here we have to accept the notion that there are groups whose ideals are negative rather than positive - and discover that the benefits are limited to shared misery.
But, in general, life teaches us that cooperation underpins greater achievement than isolation.There is enormous satisfaction to be found in working with others to achieve an objective.It does not matter if the goal is the conservation of a small environment, the creation of an application system or the founding of an empire, shared beliefs and helping hands make the sun shine a little brighter and the flowers bloom a little longer.
My last thought on this subject is that being a team player means participating in the team's activities.You cannot watch passively from the sidelines and expect others to do all the work.Even if it is cheering on the front liners, passing them refreshments and wiping their fevered brows, your positive, encouraging input is a vital part of the whole.It may not be your turn to inspire the team from the front, but it is always your turn to inspire them from within.
Adrian Schofield of Joburg Centre for Software Engineering is one of our www.MyByte.co.za Thought leaders. To subscribe to the www.MyByte.co.za Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j if you are still not registered on www.Mybyte.co.za and would like to join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room virtually click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php.
We all get sick, at some time or another, and with varying degrees of severity.Most often, we picked up a "bug" somewhere, incubated it and suffered its effects until our system succeeded in fighting it off.Sometimes, the illness may be self-inflicted, due to over-indulgence in consumption or activity.Other times, we may be the victims of an accident.In the worst case scenario, the damage to our systems may be terminal.
What on earth am I doing, starting off with such a depressing series of statements?Well, I make no apology for being in the state of recovering from my annual "cold".When I was a kid, these things seemed to clear up in three days, but now they take more than three weeks, which suggests the bugs are beating the advances in medication!But going through the healing process, I reflected on the parallel between how we deal with personal sickness and how the world deals with corporate or community sickness.
Personally, we try as early as possible to identify the cause of the problem and thus its potential severity.This may be easy, as in we have previously experienced the same symptoms and we know that the "cure" is achievable with minimum intervention.It may require external participation from "specialists", in terms of treatment and/or medication, and advice, if the experience is a new one.Hopefully, our learning process will also teach us what actions to avoid in the future to lessen the chances of a repeat of the problem.We may even resort to preventative medicine.
As with individuals, the sicknesses that afflict communities are rarely new.They may have new flavours but are generally cyclical, even predictable.The causes are usually the same, too - greed and selfishness are every bit as insidious and virulent as H1N1.
How would you categorise the 2008/9 economic recession?Is it a seasonal illness, like influenza?Is it inevitable that the world's economy must take a dive periodically, ruining the lives of many people too weak or vulnerable to defend themselves from its effects?If so, is there some strong medicine or rigorous treatment that can alleviate its effects quickly, before too much damage is done?
Or is this a self-inflicted wound, imposed on the world's "body" by the dissolute appetites of a few "members" for excessive consumption and selfish pleasure at the expense of the rest of the frame?And, whatever the cause, are we learning from the experience?It is frightening to hear that the same bankers who blew the budget in 2008 are getting bonuses for repeating the trick in 2009.It is deeply worrying that expert analysts cannot explain why stock markets are rising in spite of falling production and sales.If we do not understand the causes of the problems, we cannot hope to identify the resolution of them.
Einstein defined insanity as repeating the same action but expecting a different result.Whether we are managing our personal wellness, governing our community, or developing systems, a refusal to apply the lessons of the past will condemn us to a recurring, if not fatal, sickness in the future.
Oh well, it's back to the sensible diet, a modicum of exercise and the imposition of mind over matter while I get back to 100% fitness!
How do you view the recession?Is it like a receding hair line - once gone, never to be recovered without an expensive transplant?Or is it more like a receding tide, where the natural cycle of life means it will turn around in regular cycles and all you have to do is wait it out?
Either way, you should not ignore it - rather adapt to it and look for the best way to turn it to your advantage.IDC recently published their "insight", based on an August 2009 survey of 100 IT managers, which showed the top priority(of more than 50% of the decision-makers) is a reduction of the overall IT cost in their operations.Following from this, it makes sense that there is increased pressure to enhance the functionality of the existing IT "footprint", rather than invest in new technology.
Given these pressures, how do you go about achieving the new goals, both as a consumer of IT products and services and as a supplier?At risk of branding such approaches as "knee jerk reactions", it is not productive to look for lines that can be cut from the budget without acknowledging that there may well be mid- to long-term consequences.The hardy perennial is to reduce or remove the training expenditure.But if it was of so little value that it can be so easily removed, why was it there in the first place?Or maybe you do recall the old adage about what happens if you train people and they leave?
The key to sustainable operations is the ongoing investment in productivity improvement.This requires a constant evaluation of performance, supported by targeted programmes to rectify deficiencies and enhance capability.Lean economic times present high value opportunities for improving processes.Such improvements have an immediate effect on current bottom line but also position the enterprise for greater performance as soon as there is an upswing in the market's willingness to take on new products and services.
In an earlier "insight", IDC estimated that the IT market in SA would decline by a mere 0,4% in 2009, before resuming its upward climb in 2010.So, if the market is not shrinking to any significant degree, doesn't it make sense to continue investing in your future capacity to increase your sales and to improve the quality of your service?
When times are tough, the last thing to do is retreat into your "kraal" to wait for better times.Stay out in the market, honing your skills, extending your network and making sure your current and potential clients can see that youare strong and sharp.You'll be first in line for the new opportunities.
We have a number of exciting CMMI-related courses and workshops over the next 4 weeks.
29 Sep: Acquisition Supplement for CMMI (1 day) - Official SEI course
29 Sep: Software Architecture Forum - Governing bodies and accreditation
30 Sep-2 Oct: IPSi's CMMI Development for System Acquirers Workshop
5-8 Oct: Accelerating Process Improvement Workshop (4 days)
12 Oct: IPSi's CMMI Bootcamp (at the Riverside Hotel on the Vaal)
19-21 October: Introduction to CMMI
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Architecture Forum
What is the value of governing bodies & accreditation for the IT industry?
Speaker:Cobus van Eeden has been involved in the IT industry for the past 15 years, with the last 10 years spent as a consultant and more recently solutions/integration architect to various financial institutions and telecommunications companies. He has solid experience in communication protocols, systems integration and database systems.
Topic: Cobus will present his views on the value of governing bodies, accreditation and professionalism in the IT industry and the effect this has on project success rates in other industries such as engineering and construction. He will challenge some common myths such as the belief that the project success rates shockingly published in the Standish report are something unique to the IT industry. He will suggest a solution where various aspects of quality in IT projects can be improved through a more formal process of regulation.
Dr Chuck Myers, one of the world's top CMMI experts, is in SA to present a number of workshops and seminars on CMMI-related topics and process improvement.
The following is a brief overview of the workshops to be presented:
Acquisition Supplement for CMMI v1.2
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The one-day course introduces acquisition (or procurement) managers, appraisal team members, and process group members to CMMI fundamental concepts related to acquisition. CMMI for Acquisition (CMMI-ACQ) is a CMMI model designed for use in managing a supply chain by those who acquire, procure, or otherwise select and purchase products and services for business purposes.
This is the official SEI training on the CMMI-ACQ model. The 3-day course "Introduction to CMMI" (being offered by the JCSE on 21-23 Sep) is a pre-requisite for the course.
IPSi’S CMMI-DEV for Systems Acquirers (CDSA) Workshop
This three-day workshop teaches delegates how to use the CMMI Development (DEV) model to improve the results of working with suppliers. It is designed to help organizations address one of the most critical sources of risk for any project or program: development done by a supplier, outside of the project’s or program’s direct management control.
IPSI’S Accelerating Process Improvement (API) Workshop
So you’ve learned about CMMI. You’ve read the literature. You’ve reviewed the results other organizations have reported. You’ve seen the ROI data. You’ve learned about the model in the SEI’s official Introduction to CMMI course and perhaps in IPSi’s robust and comprehensive CMMI User Workshop. You have the model knowledge you need, so you’re ready to go. Or are you?
Staring you in the face is a major improvement effort. That effort will directly or indirectly affect nearly every aspect of the way your organization develops products and/or services. This work is unfamiliar. It’s very different from what you and other staff members know how to do.
The SEI’s IDEAL Model (Initiating, Diagnosing, Establishing, Acting, Learning) was developed specifically to address the process component of process improvement. IDEAL provides an excellent basis for conducting all aspects of process improvement, but even though it has been in existence for nearly 15 years, the SEI has never used it as the primary basis for a hands-on how-to training product.
Dr. Chuck Myers developed the IPSi’s API Workshop to provide the CMMI community with practical guidance for tapping into the IDEAL Model’s power. He is uniquely qualified to do this, having lengthy and experience with the model and its application. (Among other things he was a member of the team whose work was used as the basis for the original model, and he was the SEI’s project lead for updating the model to its present configuration.)
IPSi's CMMI Bootcamp
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Process Improvement lies at the heart of modern project management and many initiatives to improve quality, repeatability and predictability. In Software Engineering process improvement based on Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) models is receiving increased recognition throughout the world as an excellent vehicle for improving productivity, competitiveness, and profitability. Over recent years CMMI has been attracting increasing attention in South Africa. This growing interest is reflected in the number of people who have received and benefitted from CMMI training. Others have not explored CMMI to any great degree even though they are curious about what it is and what it can do for them and/or their organizations. Often such individuals are uncertain about investing budget and time in something about which they know so little.
Dr. Chuck Myers will present a thorough (albeit high level) overview of CMMI-based process improvement that he has developed. In it he will provide an overview of CMMI models and their content, implementation approaches, and organizational/human concerns that typically need to be addressed. The Bootcamp will be of benefit not only as an introduction for those unacquainted with CMMI but also as a refresher for those who already have some background with the models.
Note: This Bootcamp will be presented as part of the South African Chapter of the IEEE Computer Society's celebration of the IEEE's 125th anniversary. It will take place at the Riverside Hotel on the Vaal before the start of the annual SAICSIT Research Conference (http://saicsit.wits.ac.za)
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"Introduction to CMMI"
The JCSE regularly presents the official Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI) course "Introduction to CMMI" in South Africa. The next offering of the course is in Johannesburg on 19-21 October.
It's been a week for conferences.GovTech in Durban came first (I expressed a few thoughts about that last week - see http://www.mybyte.co.za/blog.php?user=ComputerSocietySouthAfrica&blogentry_id=1531), followed by the National ICT Congress in Mozambique and, lastly, the e-Government Workshop at UNISA.Based on the attendances, from 2000 to 200 to 20, my next meeting will be with 2 people!
More seriously, the recurring message from these gatherings is the critical need for leadership and coordination in applying technology to the business of government.And, to understand that it is NOT about getting all the right ICT tools, processes and skills in place - it is more about the will to deliver government service efficiently, effectively and ethically.Those "e's" are more important that the electronic one.
I was very impressed with the presentations from South Korea on their path towards e-Government.We all have the impression that their country is fairly high in the technology stakes but they show that it has been a hard slog over a period of twenty years to achieve the level of e-services that they have - and that there is still a long way to go.It certainly helps that 14 million Korean households have broadband access (quote from their policy: "…broadband is an essential utility, like water and electricity…"), but they still needed to go through an extensive analysis of what services can and should be delivered electronically and how people should be educated in the new ways of interacting with their government.
They also had to deal with the inevitable political variations.Although there was strong commitment from the Presidency, changes in the government led to the creation and then the disbanding of the Ministry that was to provide the leadership for the transformation of service delivery.
In comparing the e-readiness of our two countries, the South Koreans noted our very high mobile phone penetration.It is probably this factor that has started the conversations about m-Government becoming the new "e" in South Africa.Two thoughts occur to me - one was a statement made at one of this week's gatherings that only 20% of the population would use e-Government services, which I thought indicated a view that the other 80% would not need to do other than continue to trek to an office and stand in a queue.Bad thinking!The other thought is that our general literacy rate is sinking, especially in the remote areas, and this will challenge the delivery of services by mobile phone.Being able to use a voice service is a long way easier than being able to read and send text messages - abilities that are essential to interacting with government electronically.
So, not only are leadership and coordination essential to the rollout of technology in support of government, so is a much higher standard of basic education than is currently provided to the majority of South Africa's young people.
If this is the recession, I am not looking forward to the stress levels that will accompany the improved economy that should be behind that light we can see at the end of the tunnel.Everyone I meet has more to do and less time to do it in, and only the talk show hosts are mentioning the impending arrival of the Christmas/New Year interruption.
Are the proliferating new media killing our ability to keep up with life?Is my feeling that I am running on the spot the result of trying to absorb too much information too quickly?[Or am I just getting old? ]
Every time I switch on my computer, I must decide if there is any real information in the dozens, if not hundreds, of emails that have just arrived.If I don't do it quickly, they build up to the point where I will have thousands to review and I will be in danger of missing the "nuggets".
As well as dealing with the one-to-one messages, I must also review the one-to-many (newsletters, RSS feeds, blogs and on-line forums) to keep up to date with events that impact my activities.And, now, every source seems to be asking me to follow them on Twitter…
At risk of misquoting the poet (I'm off-line at the time of writing, so cannot Google/Bing to check) - "What is this life, so full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?"Rather than stand and stare, how about some time to sit and think?(And don't recommend the smallest room - that's where I catch up with reading…)
I never thought I would be happy to sit in an airport terminal with an hour so spare and no laptop!But it did give me time to write this.Now, all I need is a digital pen so that I could put this on the 'Net without having to type it first!
Which leads to my final question of the day - is the human race making better decisions with this vast array of knowledge at its disposal?If you slow down enough to read all this stuff, you might be tempted to believe not.
When I look at what mobile technology does for me, I am amazed at how much it has changed my way of life. I am no longer anchored to a desk or an office (although both are useful, at times). Transactions involved in banking, travel and shopping no longer require personal contact with an intermediary. Researching a topic, gathering reading material and following the news no longer requires access to a library or a physical archive.
And yet, my expectations are way ahead of the delivery curve. It's not just me…if you sit for a short while in any airport lounge or hotel lobby, you will hear the same complaints of lost signals, slow connections and stalled laptops.
As we approach the end of the first decade of the twenty first century, I have the use of a pretty good laptop, with plenty of Gigabytes and Megahertz but which still cannot cope with a well-used Outlook. Sure, I don't see the old "blue screen of death" so much these days - it has been replaced by the Task Manager's "Not responding"! I also have the use of an even better mobile phone which lacks its predecessor's ability to plot a journey and give me the turn-by-turn instructions, in spite of coming from the same manufacturer and running the same software. (Driving in the dark, peering at a printed Google Map has its challenges and led me into a shack settlement near Hout Bay instead of a suburban street in Constantia!) I have a HSDPA modem which works brilliantly in places where I don't need it but fails to get above a 2G signal when I am not in a "hot spot" or in my office. (Like now, in that Constantia B&B.) But I pay! I pay for slow or non-existent connections. I pay for wasted time and lost sleep. I pay in lost opportunities.
Is there anywhere I can point the finger of blame for this frustrating environment? Is it perhaps my own fault? An expression that comes to mind is "six of one and half a dozen of the other" but I reckon that it's more down to the 80/20 rule. 80% is someone else's fault and only 20% can be laid at my door.
That 20% is because I have an insatiable curiosity to try new things. Offer me a Google Gadget or a Firefox Add-in and I am there - downloading and installing it. Desktop Search is a fantastic tool. So what if my laptop came with Windows XP and cannot run Microsoft's own Instant Search? So what if I had to add an Ubuntu partition to keep up with the open source world? All of which admittedly adds to the clutter that slows the computer's performance and is beyond the capacity of the free version of The Ultimate Troubleshooter to fix.
But the 80%...eish! There are so many targets! Software companies, hardware manufacturers, network service providers, legislators and regulators…everyone of them has created the expectations of high levels of performance and service quality, so that we come to depend on this wonderful technology. They lock us in to contracts, offer daily updates, new versions, additional features, fantastic tools.
Which means I now work a 12-hour day, when 8 used to be a marathon. I do business dinners instead of business lunches. Won't someone please put this technology back in the box?
What will be the future of South Africa, if it is not populated by intelligent, educated and informed young people?Much noise is made about how the future for all countries, especially those developing their economies, is tied to being competitive "Information Societies" or "Knowledge Economies".Following the World Summit on Sustainable Development, South Africa was one of many nations committing themselves to embracing the diffusion of technologies in support of enhanced community development.
But where are we now?As the global recession begins to bite at this end of the continent (a million jobs lost in 2009, so far), we are failing dismally in the battle to equip our future talent with the skills required for them to have half a chance of a productive life, never mind the tools vital to success.Good schools are rare exceptions, along with teachers conversant with technology as an enabler.Matriculants lack much of the knowledge needed to make it through the first year of further studies - and they also lack the entrepreneurial drive that would give them an alternative route to self-sufficiency.
There are many (too many) warning signs that we are sliding backwards in our attempts to reach the simplest of goals that our not-so-new democracy set itself.In recent activities, I have seen examples where the quality of final-year students at top universities does not satisfy the recruitment criteria of a company desperately keen to hire good candidates.Students well into their tertiary computer science courses cannot pass a programming aptitude test.A programmer does not know what a prime number is, never mind being able to calculate them in a program.
Given the acceptance by various government departments that increasing use of ICTs is a vital ingredient of a successful economy, given that ICT skills are included in the "priority" list, we can see what it perhaps the biggest warning sign of all in the latest Review of the Implementation of the National Curriculum Statement - the draft of which sets out the direction to be followed throughout the nation's schools in allocating resources to various fields of learning.
Computers are mentioned twice in 64 pages.Technology gets a few more references, the principal one of which is to suggest including it in "Natural Sciences", and I quote from a review of the document by
Peter Moodie of the Setlhare Science Curriculum Trust :
The attempt to merge “certain aspects” of Technology into Natural Sciences in Intermediate Phase will in practice mean that Technology will disappear in the primary school. Since Technology will be taught as a compulsory subject in only the first 2 years of the secondary schools, there will be even less official attention given to Technology than is presently the case. We can foresee its disappearance from GET in the longer run.
The reasons given by the Report are inadequate to merge Technology into Natural Sciences in the Intermediate Phase, and the Report misreads the NCS Learning Area Statement.
The GET band is education for all, and is a basis for learners to discover their interests and select subjects for FET; it is not simply an extra number of years to prepare for Grade 12 exam success in a few of those subjects.
Moodie goes on to say: " We have argued that Technology for all of GET will be infected with a terminal illness if it is subsumed into Natural Sciences in the Intermediate Phase. It is almost unthinkable to lose Technology in a country with SA’s need for practical skills and positive orientation to the world of development work, production and the success of small businesses.
"Technology is a subject that Intermediate Phase children need because it gives them the opportunity to think in practical contexts, learn concepts and use language in a practical way, more so than in most other subjects. In particular, it can give them confidence in themselves and their ability to solve problems."
Between the 11th and 14th October South Africa’s top researchers in computer science, information systems, information technology and software engineering gathered for the annual SAICSIT Research Conference. The “South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists” (SAICSIT), is an organisation that represents academics and post-graduate students in ICT-related disciplines at all of South Africa’s universities. The annual SAICSIT conference is South Africa’s premier research gathering in these disciplines. This year it was hosted by Wits University at the Riverside Hotel & Conference venue on the Vaal River.
On Monday 12th October, as a prelude to SAICSIT ’09, three “satellite events” were held at the conference venue. These were the Second South African Bioinformatics Workshop, the SAICSIT Masters and Doctoral Symposium, organised by and for postgraduate students, and a CMMI Bootcamp, organised by the local chapter of the IEEE Computer Society. These events attracted a total of 112 delegates.
SAICSIT ’09 was opened on Tuesday 13th October by Prof Derek Keats, the Wits University Deputy Vice-Chancellor responsible for Knowledge and Information Management. Other keynote speakers were Dr Phil Miller, from the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in the USA, and Prof Erkki Sutinen, from the University of Eastern Finland. There were over 100 delegates from almost every South African university at the conference. Delegates from several African universities also attended.
Prof Barry Dwolatzky, Chair of the SAICSIT ’09 organising committee, says, “This year’s conference was of a very high standard. Twenty three top quality research papers were selected for presentation at the conference, following a rigorous peer-review process.We also had 10 poster presentations. The SAICSIT Conference is a really important opportunity for ICT researchers in South Africa to meet and discuss their work.”He went on to say, “It is only possible to run conferences like SAICSIT if sponsors are willing to provide financial and other support. The sponsors of SAICSIT ’09 were Microsoft South Africa, IBM, Telkom, the National Research Foundation (NRF) and Wits University. The sponsorship from Telkom included the hosting of a Gala Dinner on Tuesday evening, attended by conference delegates and a number of guests. As organisers of the conference we are hugely grateful to all of our sponsors for their contributions - particularly given the current challenging economic environment.”
Prof Rossouw von Solms, President of SAICSIT, used the occasion of the Gala Dinner to honour two people as Pioneers of Computer Science and Information Systems in South Africa. Von Solms says, “SAICSIT honoured Professors Derek Henderson, the first professor in Computer Science in South Africa, and Dewald Roode, known as the father of Information Systems in South Africa, at this year’s conference. Unfortunately both of these Pioneers of our disciplines passed away earlier this year and were thus honoured posthumously.”
The SAICSIT Conference in 2010 will be hosted by the Meraka Institute. Details of dates, the venue and deadlines for submissions will be announced in due course.
For more information contact: Prof Barry Dwolatzky, JCSE at Wits University, 011-7176390; barry.dwolatzky@wits.ac.za
ABC News reported today that a successful South African software developer is being blocked from moving to Australia because he is quadriplegic, even though the IT industry is struggling with a severe shortage of workers.The story goes on to explain that Ryan Dekker has rebuilt his life after being shot 10 years ago.He has developed a successful career, learned to drive and weaned himself off pain medication.
The story is about the injustice of the Australian immigration rules, which decree that Ryan is disabled and will be a burden on their health care system, even though he can prove he is fully self-supporting.Fair enough.Also fair enough that Australia believes that it will fall 14 000 people short of its needs for skilled IT practitioners in 2010, so should be snapping up someone with Ryan's abilities.
But this story should not just be headlines in Australia.It should be headlines here in South Africa.Here we have an example of someone who has overcome the tragedy of becoming a quadriplegic through violence in his mid-twenties.He has taken charge of his life and is making an economic contribution in an industry sector that is vital to the growth of the country's economy.
So why is he emigrating to Australia?South Africa needs Ryan.Why have we done so little to convince him of that fact?
(Author's note:Thought Leader blogs are supposed to be longer but this one says it all in a few words.)
Sponsored by: - ACM SIGSOFT - IEEE Computer Society - Technical Council of Software Engineering
Supported by: - Computer Society of South Africa
This e-mail is an announcement of the 24 workshops that will be held at ICSE 2010, which will take place in May 2010 in Cape Town, one of the world's most beautiful cities, at a world-class Convention Centre.
ICSE is the premier forum for researchers to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, results, experiences and concerns in the field of software engineering. It includes a conference, technical tutorials and workshops, a programme of demonstrations and an exhibition along with social functions to provide an ideal opportunity to learn and network with like-minded colleagues from around the world.
ICSE Workshops provide a highly interactive and collaborative environment in which to discuss and advance important topics in software engineering. They last from one to two days, and are held before or after the main conference. Workshops can be quite diverse. For example, some may be regularly occurring gatherings of researchers and practitioners who are working on an established topic, while others may seek to lay the foundations for research in new or emerging areas. After a rigorous selection process, 24 workshops have been selected, and papers are now solicited for ICSE 2010, with most deadlines being in January.
In keeping with ICSEs first time in Africa, the theme of the conference is New Horizons.. New challenges face our community: from new hardware platforms, increased software complexity and more demanding safety and dependability requirements to major global issues such as the environment and the economic downturn.. Our community will play a critical role in meeting these challenges. ICSE's Workshop's aim to provide a forum to discuss and report on new challenges in software engineering that will advance its principles and practice.
Please consider submitting a workshop paper to one or more of these workshops.
W14: 1st International Workshop on Quantitative Stochastic Models in the Verification and Design of Software Systems (QUOVADIS) http://deepse.dei.polimi.it/quovadis/
Who invented holidays? I don't mean the one-day events - it has always been part of the "educated" human condition to recognise certain days as important to the community, where the "lords and masters" of the time would grant time off for celebration, or recognition of an important religious milestone.
No, I am referring to the so-called annual holiday, when workers (and many non-workers) take a period to indulge in activities outside of their normal routine. The concept of "going on holiday" did not exist before the sixteenth century. Until then, people travelled in the course of their work, on official state business or for a pilgrimage.
The first form of tourism came about when rich families would send their sons off on a tour of European cities, largely to broaden their minds and educate them in the ways of the world. This same group "discovered" places where certain ailments could be treated, in spa baths or mountain retreats, for example. So, there developed the habit of going off for a period to a location where the "air" or the "water" would be "taken". This, in turn, led to the concept that, even for the healthy, such a diversion would be good for the traveller.
Wind the clock forward to the beginning of the third millennium and we live in a world where the notion of taking holidays is firmly entrenched in the culture of most nations across the globe. Without a doubt, in terms of personal health and welfare, it is beneficial to the overall performance of us as people contributing to our community that we do get an opportunity to recharge our batteries and maintain our enthusiasm for contributing further.
What puzzles me, though, is how we came to the idea that we should all take our holidays at the same time. It does not happen this way everywhere - I can cite France and South Africa as good examples, though. Logically, it does not make sense. You spend 48 or more weeks of the year living and working with your community in one part of the country and you want to spend the other weeks with the same group in another part of the country? You fight crowded roads, crowded beaches and expensive accommodation for this pleasure?
From the economic perspective, in government and in industry, we acknowledge that countries such as ours need all the help they can get to be competitive and to improve their GDP to uplift their citizens. So, why is it reasonable to virtually shut down the economy for more than a month, while the "workers" do nothing? The hospitality industry becomes dependent on this spike in business to make its annual income, workers in that sector have only temporary employment at peak times and the infrastructure of the popular destinations creaks under the strain of the brief invasions.
In my past, I have lived in places regarded as holiday destinations - a nightmare because of the influx of strangers who don't know the local "rules" and of family members who see your home as cheap accommodation. I am far happier now - I live in Gauteng and I bid fond farewell to every resident who disappears to "pastures new". For a few glorious weeks, traffic flows smoothly, shopping is easy and deadlines disappear.
Why does summer in Joburg feel more like Cape Town in winter? Is it down to "climate change" or is it purely coincidental that there is a major conference on the subject going on in Copenhagen right now? As one of the "greybeards" whose memory for thirty years ago is better than for thirty days ago, I can definitely say that it didn't used to be like this.
Summer rain was "civil service rain" - it arrived like clockwork at the time that government employees knocked off for the afternoon and cleared up a couple of hours later in time to light the braai and enjoy a sundowner in the refreshed and balmy evening air. This year, the rain arrives at any time of the day or night and seems to go on for hours, often dumping hailstones on those unfortunate enough to be out and about. Does this feel like "global warming"? Not to me, it doesn't.
Oh well, weather or no weather, it is the holiday season - time to lay back and enjoy it!
This will be the last JCSE Thought for 2009. Enjoy the festive season and return refreshed in 2010 for what promises to be a really exciting year in South Africa.
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