Major marketing drive for local ICT sector

The Department of Trade and Industry has launched a R1.8 million branding and marketing campaign for the South African information and communication technology and electronics (ICTE) sector.

At the centre of the campaign is the www.savant.co.za website, which according to trade and industry minister Alec Erwin "will play a pivotal role in attracting attention and disseminating information". Savant will include extensive promotion material, advertisements and marketing exercises both locally and abroad.

"Savant will be to the ICTE industry what SA Tourism has become for the travel and tourism industry," said Erwin. "That is exactly how we propose to position this initiative. The quality and quantity of our workforce, in conjunction with the development and advancement of technology, shows we have the potential to grow our support base both locally and internationally."

The initiative will concentrate on promoting areas where SA holds a competitive advantage - IT training and certification, call centres, wireless development, pilot lab, niche software development and infrastructure development.

The project's private sector founder members include Absa, Comparex Africa, CS Holdings, Dimension Data, International Marketing Council of SA, Information Industry SA, MGX, MTN, Nedcor, Proudly South African, the SA Electro Technical Export Council and Telkom.

Source: ITWeb