Since the advent of email, internet connectivity, servers and databases, businesses have relied heavily on their IT departments to maintain the robust technology infrastructure required to operate efficiently. These days, however, IT is much more than a support service. The rapidly increasing requirement for organisations to harness disruptive technology in order to remain viable and competitive in the fourth industrial era has seen digital leadership become a fundamental strategic lever for every business.

As a result, IT experts have evolved from important support and staff maintenance to absolutely vital value contributors who need to have the skills, insights and strategic capabilities to help their companies achieve the agility and digital prowess they need to gain and retain their competitive advantage.

According to an MIT survey of over 4 300 executives from around the world, today’s IT leaders need to be able to help their companies entrench a corporate culture, built on a foundation of innovation, and in which all employees are willing and able to embrace the constant change that characterises today’s technology driven business environment.

This trend was supported by the 2018 Digital Business Report from MIT and Deloitte, which found that global demand is on the rise for information technology graduates who are able to demonstrate innovative thinking skills and possess skills and capabilities that go beyond mere technological know-how. And the impact of a much more digital business world is being felt locally too. CareerJunction’s Trend Setter report, which reveals South Africa’s most in-demand job skills, pointed to IT as still being counted amongst the top employment sectors in South Africa, with software development steadily climbing its way to the top of the list.

What these global trends reveal is that an IT qualification from a reputable tertiary institution is still one of the most viable ways of securing employment virtually anywhere in the world. And when you combine that IT degree with a range of impactful business, people and strategic skills, your pathway to eventual leadership in business becomes far more clearly mapped out.

For this reason, Monash South Africa has developed IT curricula that effectively balance a range of sought after study areas, like application development, networks, and business systems, with a variety of non-technical learning areas such as organisational strategy, business management, entrepreneurship, and valuable people development and management skills.

The result is a qualification that significantly enhances the local and international employability and management potential of anyone who holds it. Which is why so many Monash South Africa IT graduates go on to fill leading professional roles in a wide variety of industries across South Africa, Africa and the world.