Encouraging young people

Bilal Kathrada: Absolutely. Besides running my institute, I also travel to schools around South Africa to talk to children about careers in development. In South Africa, the level of computer science education in schools is pathetic. I try to get young people clued up to give them advantages in the future.

I run developer workshops for young people and speak to universities and businesses to encourage people to get into tech careers. I also write for four major national newspapers about tech and run a weekly podcast called TechWatch, where we speak about getting into tech and developer careers.

Geertjan Wielenga: Could you say more about the South African context behind your work?

Bilal Kathrada: The South African context is a very problematic one. Since apartheid fell away, the expectations that people had have not been fulfilled. There's a lot of corruption, an economic crisis, and massive youth unemployment. I think the latest reports said...