The partnership will support co-designed learning programmes, postgraduate research and industry mentorship with the aim to build a sustainable pipeline of AI talent equipped to develop practical solutions for business and society.

The partnership brings industry, academia and cloud technology together to give students practical exposure to real-world AI challenges, which reflects Vodacom’s commitment to building a future-ready AI talent ecosystem.

This is was view of Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group Chief Executive Officer, at the launch event.

“We are creating a direct pathway from university research to industry impact, where students work on real AI use cases and emerge ready to practise. It is about developing the next generation of AI professionals who can drive our business forward and help shape Africa’s digital future,” he said.

The Univerisity of Johannesburg’s Master’s students within the Centre for Applied Data Science are working on Vodacom-aligned research into autonomous AI systems that can help detect, analyse and respond to cyber threats across telecommunications networks.

Meanwhile Amazon Web Services plays a core role in enabling the collaboration by providing students and researchers with access to world-class cloud, data, and AI technologies such as Amazon Bedrock, Amazon Quick and Amazon Kiro.

Further research is exploring blockchain-based approaches to strengthen digital identity management and help prevent identity theft. According to Vodacom, these focus areas reflect the partnership’s ambition to tackle practical digital challenges while developing scarce AI skills.

The first new capability, Amazon GuardDuty Container Threat Detection, helps customers protect container workloads by monitoring for threats across the entire container lifecycle. The service automatically detects threats such as privilege escalation, lateral movement, and command and control communication, allowing customers to quickly identify and respond to potential security risks.

The second new feature, Amazon GuardDuty Database Threat Detection, helps customers identify and protect against database threats. The service automatically monitors for suspicious behavior such as unauthorized access, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation, enabling customers to detect and respond to potential attacks before they cause damage.

Finally, the third new capability is Amazon GuardDuty Serverless Threat Detection, which provides automated threat detection and response for serverless workloads. The service monitors for threats such as data exfiltration, unauthorized access, and application-level attacks, enabling customers to quickly respond to potential security risks and prevent data breaches.

These new capabilities build on the existing capabilities of Amazon GuardDuty, which already provides continuous monitoring of AWS accounts and workloads for malicious activity and unauthorized behavior. The service uses machine learning to analyze data from AWS CloudTrail, VPC Flow Logs, and DNS logs to detect threats such as compromised EC2 instances, unauthorized access to S3 buckets, and DNS domain hijacking.

GE, Netflix, Autodesk, Twilio, Webroot, and Mapbox among the customers using Amazon GuardDuty

These roles will range from customer service associates to technical experts who will work virtually and provide 24/7 support to Amazon customers in North America and Europe.

The addition of 3,000 permanent and seasonal full-time positions will bring the total permanent workforce in South Africa to 7,000.

Candidates interested in applying must meet the following requirements:

• Completed Matric/Grade 12/NQF Level 4 qualification or higher,
• Excellent command of English and
• be a South African Citizen.
  
  The technical positions will support customer inquiries on devices, digital and Alexa.
  These roles will require candidates to translate technical information and provide instructions to help Amazon customers trouble shoot issues.
  Since these will be virtual roles, applicants will also need a private, quiet workspace and an existing and dedicated internet connection, according to Amazon specifications.
  Anyone interested in joining Amazon’s Customer Service team can view open positions at www.amazon.jobs filtering by location and typing: South Africa to view the open positions.

Employees are offered a comprehensive benefits package starting on day one, including employer contributions toward medical aid and provident fund, group life cover, employee wellness programmes, and a monthly stipend for a dedicated internet line.

In addition to this, Amazon also offers Customer Service employees interested in pursuing opportunities outside of Amazon, the opportunity and financial support to upskill themselves through Career Choice. All these initiatives encapsulate Amazon’s commitment to transformation, inclusion and diversity in the workplace.

Amazon has a long history in South Africa. Amazon Web Services (AWS) first established a presence in Cape Town, setting up a Development Center in 2004.

The company just revealed that the new Kindle Touch (R1999) is now available across SA at all Incredible Connection stores, noting that this guy’s using an IR touch system, similar to the latest Nook and Kobo, and there’s no keyboard (physical, anyway) to speak of. It’s slimmer, smaller and lighter than the existing Kindle, with a muted silver chassis that looks almost nothing like the Kindles of today. The entire user interface has been re-thought out, with “taps” being used in place of buttons. Need another reason to buy? We’re told that it’s using the company’s “most advanced” E Ink display yet, and while no specifics were doled out, “weeks long” was the term used to describe battery life.

Parents will love that they can give their kids a purpose-built e-reader with an easy-to-navigate touch interface, plus great features that help kids learn—Kindle FreeTime, Word Wise, and more—for just ZAR 1999

he top ten best-selling books in South Africa are:

First music streaming service Deezer, and now it’s getting a custom-built Kindle book store in a deal with Amazon. Announced last week, the service also gives Galaxy owners referred to the service (starting with the GS5, but more to follow) 12 free books a year. Users will get four “prominent” titles a month to choose from, which have been “chosen specifically” for Galaxy owners (whatever that means). Samsung’s already laden with bespoke services, such as its Milk internet radio platform, its own custom app store, and there’s even an existing Samsung Books app. Of course, let’s not forget the existing Kindle app for Android. However, if you want to snag yourself those free libros, best you get Kindle for Samsung. Now.