Inaugural Meeting for the Drafting Working Group of BRICS Group Standards on “Robotic Process Automation” Competition, Skills, and Curriculum, and BRICS Skills Development and Technology Innovation Lecture Successfully Held

On July 4, 2024, the inaugural meeting for the drafting working group of the BRICS group standards on the “Robotic Process Automation” (RPA) competition, skills, and curriculum, alongside the BRICS Skills Development and Technology Innovation Lecture, was successfully held. The event gathered 110 participants, including members of the drafting group, experts from the BRICS Skills and Technology Standardization Committee (referred to as BRICS-STC), industry representatives, and faculty members from vocational institutions across the country. Approximately 30 international experts from countries including South Africa, India, Ghana, and the Philippines also participated.

Dr. Liu Zhenying, Chair of the China Working Group on Skills Development, Applied Technology and Innovation of the BRICS Business Council, President of the International Alliance of Skills Development for Belt & Road and BRICS, and Director of the BRICS Skills and Technology Standardization Committee, attended and delivered opening remarks. Also addressing the meeting were Ms. Mapule Ncanywa, Chair of the South African Working Group of the BRICS Business Council, and Ms. Zhao Shan, Secretary-General of the Digital Finance Professional Committee of the Alliance.

The event featured presentations and discussions by a range of international experts, including:

l  Assoc. Prof. Jacob Jacobus Greeff, Vice Dean of the School of Computer Science and Information Systems at North-West University (South Africa) and member of the BRICS-STC;

l  Ms. Jacqui Miller, Lecturer at North-West University;

l  Mr. Neil van Wyngaard, Chief Expert of the RPA competition in the South African division of the 2023 BRICS Future Skills Challenge;

l  Prof. Swaran Singh from the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (India);

l  Mr. Mamudu Hamidu, from Kumasi Technical University (Ghana) and former technical delegate of Ghana to WorldSkills;

l  Mr. BONG H. ANTIVOLA, entrepreneur from the Philippines;

As well as Dean Wan Kai from the School of Accounting at Jiangxi College of Finance and Economics and Vice Dean Gao Qiuyuan from the School of Intelligent Accounting at Yunnan College of Finance and Economics.

Discussions focused on the current applications and future prospects of Robotic Process Automation technology both domestically and internationally.
Assoc. Prof. Jacob Greeff shared key insights on areas requiring improvement in the skills development process and provided a summary of sustainable and effective standardization practices.

Experts from CaiZhi Future (Beijing) Education Technology Co., Ltd., the lead organization of the RPA standards project, provided an overview of each stage of the standards development process (including drafting, public consultation, review, and approval), presented a reverse schedule for the project timeline, and reaffirmed their commitment to actively advancing and completing the work.