UJ to train ambassadors for Jozi’s Wi-Fi roll-out

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) will train the 3000 Digital Ambassadors the city needs to teach about 700000 of its residents digital literacy.

This will be part of the Jozi Digital Ambassadors Programme‚ which Mayor Parks Tau and UJ Vice-Chancellor Professor Ihron Rensburg are to launch on Friday ahead of the roll-out of 1000 Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the city.

It will utilise‚ a UJ statement on Tuesday said‚ “a cloud-based learner management system incorporating open source learning”.

“The training will take place over a period of 18 months to enable residents to utilise and benefit from the broadband connections in their areas‚” the statement said.

“The Digital Ambassadors will enable the broader Johannesburg community to engage with digital technology‚ for example in online job seeking opportunities‚ banking applications and access to digital services‚” said Professor Johan Meyer‚ head of school at the UJ School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Meyer added that they will be mentored in business acumen “towards achieving competence in using the digital world as an enabling technology for their own innovation enterprises”.