The Center of Excellence for Mobile e-Services is established under the leadership of Prof Matthew O. Adigun as on of Telkom’s Centres of Excellence (CoE) in South Africa.

The Centers of Excellence (CoE) Programme is a collaboration between Telkom, the telecommunications industry and the South African government to promote a culture of excellence in research in information and communication technology, and to provide facilities to encourage young scientists and engineers to pursue their interests in South Africa.

Launched in 1997, the CoE programme is growing local telecommunications and information technology skills, is yielding substantial benefits for the universities and technikons involved, and is helping Telkom its development partners to solve technical problems and reduce costs.

The CoEs are jointly funded by Telkom, telecommunications players in the private sector, and the Department of Trade and Industry – through its Technology and Human Resource for Industry Programme (THRIP).

Skills retention for South Africa is a significant benefit of the programme. Many talented post-graduate students are attracted to opportunities overseas, and the CoE programme is demonstrating that they don’t have to leave SA to do exciting work.