HPs investments in all seven elements of B-BBEE will now exceed R150m.

HPBI is an enterprise and skills development programme aimed at existing employees and graduates in the SME ICT sector, focusing on developing scarce and critical skills in high growth areas of the IT industry.

These skills will be delivered through and into existing B-BBEE SME IT companies, thus enabling these companies to break through into the more sustainable high-end of the IT industry. The programme is designed to train 1800 students over the next six and a half years.

In conjunction with selected partners, HP will identify individuals who will be placed in short-term skills programmes and one year learnerships. This will equip them with the necessary ICT skills, thus creating employment opportunities and helping to close the skills gap in the ICT sector. The first in-take of graduates is scheduled for February next year.

The announcement was made at the sixth meeting of the Presidential International Advisory Council (PIAC) on ICT.

The HPBI initiative is aligned with the Department of Communications national e-Skills strategy, which aims to address the ICT skills requirements for the sector, says Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, minister of communications.

Francesco Serafini, senior vice-president and MD of HP Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) confirms that HP is committed to promoting empowerment and ascribes to the underlying principles of B-BBEE.