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

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

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

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

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!

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 and ability to support digital products/services

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

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

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

Thank you Steve Vosloo Head of Mobile, Innovation Lab Pearson South