Telkom unveils R100m AI institute to build digital skills and broaden economic inclusion
Telkom has pledged R100-million to establish a new platform to equip South Africans with AI and digital skills, foster local innovation and accelerate inclusive participation in the digital economy.
The new Telkom AI Institute will focus on practical, job-ready AI and digital skills training, with an emphasis on reaching young people, small businesses, and communities currently underserved by South Africa’s digital economy.
This emerges as the digital divide in South Africa is no longer a question of network coverage only, says Telkom CEO Serame Taukobong, noting that AI is reshaping economies faster than most skills systems can respond.
Amid this, a second, harder-to-close gap will emerge: a divide between who is connected and who can use that connection to build a livelihood.
The pledge, which aligns with Telkom’s broader Vision 2030 ambition to extend its role beyond being an infrastructure provider to becoming an active builder of the skills base the country needs to compete globally, was made in Geneva as part of the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU’s) Partner2Connect Digital Coalition.
“Reaching $82-billion in Partner2Connect pledges is a defining milestone in our journey toward universal digital development,” says ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau director Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava.
Telkom is one of only a handful of South African and African companies recognised in this round of pledges.
Since its launch in 2021, Partner2Connect has received more than 1 000 pledges from 149 countries, with projects now under way in more than 190 countries.
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