SAQA

All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.

SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY

REGISTERED QUALIFICATION THAT HAS PASSED THE END DATE:

Doctor of Technology: Information Technology

SAQA QUAL ID	QUALIFICATION TITLE
71849	Doctor of Technology: Information Technology
ORIGINATOR
Durban University of Technology
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY			NQF SUB-FRAMEWORK
CHE - Council on Higher Education			HEQSF - Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework
QUALIFICATION TYPE	FIELD		SUBFIELD
Doctoral Degree	Field 10 - Physical, Mathematical, Computer and Life Sciences		Information Technology and Computer Sciences
ABET BAND	MINIMUM CREDITS	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	QUAL CLASS
Undefined	240	Level 8 and above	NQF Level 10	Regular-Provider-ELOAC
REGISTRATION STATUS		SAQA DECISION NUMBER	REGISTRATION START DATE	REGISTRATION END DATE
Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"		SAQA 0695/12	2012-07-01	2014-12-31
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT		LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2015-12-31		2018-12-31

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.

This qualification is replaced by:

Qual ID	Qualification Title	Pre-2009 NQF Level	NQF Level	Min Credits	Replacement Status
96804	Doctor of Information and Communications Technology	Not Applicable	NQF Level 10	240	Complete
102023	Doctor of Philosophy in Information Technology	Not Applicable	NQF Level 10	360	Complete

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

Purpose:

The purpose of the DTech (IT) is to produce graduates with the ability to propose or assess novel exploratory, evolutionary, or even revolutionary approaches in the existing IT field of knowledge, therefore contributing to knowledge creation, innovation, and creative solutions to unique problems in the field of information technology.

Rationale:

Doctor of Technology (IT) graduates will become mature IT applied researchers meeting the needs of the IT sector. An applied research can trigger innovation, which in return can foster socio-economic development through jobs creation and employment especially in the field of information and communication technology.

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

Capable of applying advanced research techniques/methodologies in a specialized Information Technology field.

Access to the qualification:

Appropriate Masters Qualification in the field of Information Technology, Information Systems, Business Information Systems, Computer Science, Computer Systems, Computer Systems Engineering or equivalent.

RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING?

QUALIFICATION RULES

Qualification Title; Learning components (Modules titles only); Number of Credits allocated; NQF Level:

D Tech: Information Technology; Research thesis; 240; 8.

EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES

1. Ability to apply research methodologies in a specialized field.

Critical Cross-Field Outcomes:

Use IT research skills to Identify, analyze and solve problems of professional, individual and societal kinds creatively.

Work effectively with others as a member of the team, group, organization, and community mainly in the case of IT research projects.

Organizing and managing oneself and one's activities responsibly and effectively in keeping research projects on track.

Collect, analyse, organize, and critically evaluate IT Research data.

Communicate effectively using visual, mathematical and/or language skills in the modes of oral and or written presentation of IT Research literature, methodology and findings.

Use science and technology effectively and critically showing responsibility towards the environment and the health of others, being of aware of ways such as recycling, energy savings, etc, in which IT can help to protect the environment.

Demonstrate an understanding that IT exists in a world defined as a set of related systems by recognizing that the problem solving context in IT research does not exist in isolation.

ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Associated assessment criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1:

The qualifying learner should indicate that he/she has the specialist knowledge embedded in the subject matter through:

Effective communication in specific Information Technology problem solving situations.

Writing a thesis demonstrating the effective application of appropriate research methodology.

The analysis, design and evaluation of any original industrial project in the field of Information Technology, proving the student's ability to do original and innovative Information Technology research.

Research papers should be presented at local, national and or international conferences and articles to be submitted for publication to accredited journals.

Integrated assessment:

The qualifying learner should provide evidence of his/her ability to:

Communicate effectively in specific Information Technology problem solving situations.

Analyse, design and evaluate any original industrial project in the field of Information Technology, proving the student's ability to do original and innovative Information Technology research.

Write a thesis demonstrating the effective application of an appropriate research methodology.

Present research papers at local, national and or international conferences.

Publish articles in accredited journals.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY

South Africa is trying to build a more stable economy using internal resources therefore it is important to develop the pool of IT expertise. Comparable to some of the leaders in the global economy, clearly the USA is currently the leader in this area including computer science, information systems, software engineering and information technology. The latter field is understood often as subsuming important practical and theoretical aspects of the other disciplines. This is accompanied by a leading economic role.

The practices reported by Sodan and Angela (2003) are directly reflected in the Doctor of Technology in IT(DTech: IT) qualification in the sense that research funding mainly comes from public funding but with a small portion from private funding and the research style of the DTech (IT) caters both for individual and cooperative work.

The Curtin University of Technology offers a similar doctoral research degree qualification where innovation is the key to uncovering new knowledge and contributes to research.

The following universities offers programs that are similar to the DTech(IT) in that it they contribute to the body of knowledge in IT and also produce a theses at the end of the program.

Country; University; Qualification; Purpose/Outline:

Australia; University of Technology Sydney; PHD; Involves the survey and mastery of a large body of literature in the chosen topic together with the submission of a substantial body of work that demonstrates originality and makes a significant contribution to knowledge in the field.

India; Indian Institute of Technology Delhi; PHD; Allow a student to carry out independent research and provide a creative and innovative solution to some problem.

Europe; Birkbeck University of London; PHD in Computer Science and Information Systems; Expert knowledge in the chosen research area and the ability to perform research-led activities in a broader context. It also allow students to gain the ability to identify and solve complex problems arising in their chosen research area, and a substantial original contribution to this area.

Reference:

Sodan, Angela C 2003 Societies' Different Strengths in Computer Science Education and Research.

ARTICULATION OPTIONS

Possible Horizontal Articulation:

PhD in Information Systems, Business Information Systems, Computer Science, Computer Systems, Computer Systems Engineering or equivalent.

MODERATION OPTIONS

Examiners must have a minimum qualification of a D Tech or PhD in the appropriate field.

Moderation may include One Internal Examiner but must include a minimum of Two External Examiners. The examiners must be approved by the Faculty Research Committee (a sub-committee of the Faculty Board of Accounting and Informatics) and Higher Degrees committee of Durban University of Technology.

CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS

Similar qualification at one level higher than the level of the qualification, none

The minimum number of years of experience required b assessors is as follows:

PhD or equivalent with record of successful PhD and Masters Research supervisions.

At least 3 successful Masters and 1 PhD research supervision during the past five years.

No registration required from the assessor with the relevant ETQA.

REREGISTRATION HISTORY

As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this qualification was Reregistered in 2012.

NOTES

N/A

LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION:

When qualifications are replaced, some of their learning programmes are moved to being recorded against the replacement qualifications. If a learning programme appears to be missing from here, please check the replacement.

NONE

PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS QUALIFICATION:

This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.

1.	Durban University of Technology