Presented at the Digital Technologies Summit Pretoria, South Africa 18 March 2015

2. Skills Training and the Digital Transition
Presented at the Digital Technologies Summit
18 March 2015
Steve Vosloo
Head of Mobile, Innovation Lab
Pearson South Africa

3. Context
Massive change in the industry
Disruption
By 2020, 80% of adults will have
smartphones (Economist, 2015)
Monica Newton, DDG, DAC:
 Flattened value chains,
creating new opportunities,
and threats
 New markets, new players,
new products and radical
economic transformation
 New skills needed

4. Training for a new digital era for everyone
Traditional publishers
recruiting from ICT industries
Dissonance: traditional
editorial and pedagogical
skills vs technical skills
Traditional publishing teams
learn technology skills
New tech recruits learn
editorial and pedagogical
aspects of the business

5. Harmonising technological skills and
pedagogical and editorial skills and expertise
There is a need for the
different groups in the “new
publishers” to collaborate – to
be functionally literate in
each others’ speak
Editorial and publishing staff
 opportunities, limitations
and challenges of technology
Techies
 editorial and educational
requirements

6. New skills needed from new ways of working
Text  visual thinking
Products  services
Packaged product  holistic offerings
Our platform  platforms that people
already use (social networking,
messaging, etc.)
Content that is not tied to a title, but
assets / learning objects that can be
used across:
 products (ebooks)
 services (assessment)
 standalone (repositories)
 embedded (LMS)
Briefing authors of interactives is very
different!

7. New skills needed from new ways of working
New ways of working: processes,
workflows, outsource partners
Waterfall  Agile, MVP
Drop and top-up  Learner
analytics and efficacy
Product conceptualisation is
different
Whole solution thinking, includes
ICT infrastructure of customers,
significant training, digital
strategy and the ability to
support digital products/services

8. New skills: Entrepreneurship and digital innovation
Train traditional publishers in
entrepreneurship so that
the technology possibilities
can be turned into business
opportunities
Look outside of the industry,
be more entrepreneurial
Digital can overcome
challenges of the print
revolution, e.g. access,
affordable pricing, distribution
and need for enriched content

9. New skills: Creating new business models
New business models: what
is the “Uber” of publishing?
Publishers need business
training to create new
business models around
digital content and services

10. PASA & SETA working on two qualifications:
Publishing qualification & Scriptwriter – Editor
Critical skills relevant to
all sectors:
 Problem solving
 IT expertise
 Production planning
Critical skills relevant to
Publishing sector:
 Project management
specific to publishing
Scarce Skills Publishing
Sub-sector:
 Book or Script Editor /
African languages editor
 Copywriter / Copy editor
 Translator
 Publisher /
Commissioning editor
 Illustrator / Book
designer

11. Thank you
Steve Vosloo
Head of Mobile, Innovation Lab
Pearson South Africa
steve.vosloo@pearson.com
@stevevosloo