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IITPSA names 2017 IT Personality and Visionary CIO of the Year

Who's who of SA celebrates 60 years of SA ICT excellence at glittering awards night.


Johannesburg, 09 Nov 2017

The Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) has named Entelect CEO Shashi Hansjee as the 2017 IT Personality of the Year and Sasol CIO Alec Joannou as the Visionary CIO of the Year at the gala IITPSA 60th anniversary banquet and President's Awards.

Titans of the industry gathered for the diamond awards banquet in Sandton last night to celebrate 60 years of South African ICT excellence and congratulate the winners of the prestigious IITPSA awards.

The IT Personality of the Year Award 2017, presented by the IITPSA in association with ITWeb, the Gordon Institute of Business Science and Gartner South Africa, recognises a person who has had an outstanding impact on the SA ICT industry over the past year. The accolade went to Hansjee, who has helped drive significant growth in profit and the company's move to a Deloitte 'Best Company to Work For'.

In accepting his award, Hansjee said: "As Entelect, we work with a lot of businesses, and it's hard not to be inspired by what we see in the South African ICT industry. We have people here tonight working in areas like better healthcare, education and financial literacy - these are things technology can do to really change our country. It's an exciting thing to be part of. IITPSA has created an ecosystem and an industry we should all be proud to be part of. This award is recognition for the amount of investment we have put into building skills and supporting the community, and it's a reminder that we have to keep on doing that."

The Visionary CIO Award is presented by IITPSA in association with ITWeb, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and Gartner South Africa to an executive in the corporate IT environment who has demonstrated visionary leadership in applying technology to grow and transform business. The 2017 winner, Joannou, leads a team of 400 permanent staff and over 600 contractors serving over 30 000 users across four continents, as well as serving as a trusted advisor to a number of boards, including Unilever, Sappi, Anglo American and Sasol.

Joannou thanked his team for their ongoing support and the judges for entrusting him with the role of Visionary CIO of the Year. "My commitment this year is to continue the work past winners have done. We have to elevate the role of the CIO - we have to become a lot more business-oriented, becoming profit centres instead of cost centres. From a skills perspective, we have an opportunity for South Africa to participate in the fourth industrial revolution rather than just being disrupted by it. I hope to make a real positive difference in these areas this year."

In addition to the Visionary CIO and IT Personality of the Year Awards, the IITPSA, in partnership with EngineerIT, presented its Distinguished Service in ICT Award recognising a significant, career-length contribution to the ICT industry, to Prof Pete Janse van Vuuren, Director of The Thinking Cap; and the Fellowship of the Institute Award to the chairman of the IITPSA Innovation Special Interest Group, Wayne Mallinson.

IITPSA President Ulandi Exner noted the IITPSA, founded in 1957 as the Computer Society of South Africa, was the third-oldest computer society in the world, and its IT Personality of the Year Awards has been running for 39 years.

"We have grown from about 7 000 members to around 9 000 in the past year - an indication that people are recognising that professionalism in this country, especially in ICT, is very important." She added that IITPSA reaches out to tens of thousands of children annually through its programmes, and had this year introduced a comprehensive bursary. In future, IITPSA aimed to step up its women in ICT programmes to close the 80-20 gap still evident in the industry, said Exner.

Thanking supporters and sponsors Altron and Huawei, Tony Parry, Executive Director and CEO of IITPSA, said past winners, representatives of the Australian Computer Society, and long-standing IITPSA members including industry veteran Joan Joffe, who has been an IITPSA member since the late 1950s, were among the guests at the prestigious awards and anniversary celebrations.

Mteto Nyati, Group Chief Executive of platinum sponsor Altron and himself a former winner of the IT Personality of the Year award, highlighted the importance of choices in life. "We all make choices, but in the end the choices make us," he said. "This applies to individuals, companies and countries. Look at a country like Singapore, which in 1964 was at the same level as Ghana, and is now at number three in the world in terms of GDP - thanks to the choices it made. We all have a responsibility to make the tough choices and the right choices to take our country back to what it was meant to be. Sixty years ago, IITPSA was formed, now it grows year after year, and we as individuals and companies have to make the choices of how we support the institutions like this, which are so key to the development of this country."

Other finalists for the IT Personality of the Year Award 2017 were:

* Annette Muller, founder of on-demand workforce platform Flexy and DotNXT
* Baratang Miya, founder of GirlHype Coders Academy
* Karen Nadasen, CEO of PayU South Africa
* Mixo Ngoveni, founder of Geekulcha
* Nico Steyn, co-founder and CEO of IoT.nxt
* Reshaad Sha, CEO of SqwidNet
* Yvone Thobile Mabuza, founder and managing member of Elangeni Consulting Services
* Jaco Maass, Senior Manager: ICT at BKB

Other finalists for the Visionary CIO Award award were:

* Mich`ele Hall, Nampak Management Services CIO
* Peter Rix, Barclays CTO & Head Infrastructure Services
* Sello Mmakau, Airports Company South Africa CIO
* Mthoko Mncwabe, SA Post Office Group CIO
* Joe Phago, National Treasury CIO
* Shalin Naidoo, Lenmed Health Group CIO
* Mothusi Lukhele, Sanlam Personal Finance CIO

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IITPSA

IITPSA (Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa) is the professional body for ICT practitioners in South Africa. Established in 1957 as Computer Society South Africa (CSSA), IITPSA has a proud history of service to, and representation of, South Africa's ICT professionals and practitioners. IITPSA's aims are to further the study, science and application of ICTs; maintain and promote codes of conduct and ethics for our members; define and promote standards of ICT knowledge; promote the formulation of effective policies on ICT and related matters; and extend the knowledge and understanding and usage of ICTs in the community. For more information, visit www.iitpsa.org.za.

Editorial contacts

Leigh Angelo
ITP Communications
leigh@tradeprojects.co.za