Size and shape of the mobile applications development industry in the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

This study explores the landscape for mobile applications development in the Western Cape, South Africa. A Gartner Special Report on “the mobile imperative” warns that “organizations need to deal with the uncertainty and speed of the consumer-driven mobile landscape”. The proliferation of mobile technologies and “the increasing use of cloud back-end services”, according to another Gartner report, is challenging IT sensibilities and should therefore be regarded as a disruptive technology. The mission and mandate of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) emphasise its leadership role in human resources and service provision to the community and industry around the academic disciplines of the university. The university is particularly keen on developing its role with respect to technology skills development and transfer towards community development and the energising local industry. It is specifically with regard to the latter that this study was undertaken. In order to be of service to the local mobile applications development industry, the university needs to have a clear sense of its size and shape. The study seeks to profile the local mobile applications development industry in terms of – (a) focus and functionality of applications delivered, (b) profile of clients, (c) development platform, e.g. iOS, Android, Windows, Java, etc., (d) in-house expertise and special skills, and (e) scarce skills needs. It is instructive to note that on the websites of the Indeed online recruitment agency, that there were 1200 vacancies for “mobile application developer jobs” on their “dot za” site and 14000 vacancies on their “dot com” site (on 14 July 2013). It is important for CPUT to understand the size and shape of the mobile applications development industry in its local region in order for it to fulfil its mission and mandate as a university of technology.