Fundamental Skills in Support of Technical Brilliance

Abstract

AbstractThe Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) is commonly used by professionals in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) arena. SFIA is a management tool that assists educators and employers in the development of ICT skills and the search for appropriate employment. It is also considered to be a useful benchmark for consideration in the context of specific countries according to their requirements. ICT practitioners are expected to have acquired technical, together with several additional skills. Both, technical and additional (non-technical) skills were stated as important additions for an holistic ICT practitioner. The additional skills are considered essential by the South African ICT industry. A significant number of required soft skills have been expressed by SFIA as adjuncts to the implementation of listed technical skills. In order to execute technical skills, ICT practitioners must possess attributes mentioned in the technical SFIA skills descriptions. However, several additional skills are not explicitly mentioned in SFIA. These include critical thinking, curiosity, Data capturing, Entrepreneurship, Lateral thinking and IT jargon amongst others. The current study investigated the descriptions of technical skills that may or may not incorporate additional skills not listed in the SFIA. Our investigation found that these additional skills should be considered important for the holistic ICT practitioner and thus incorporated into SFIA guidelines.KeywordsSFIAICT skillsAdditional skills