This year, Futurex - The Conference features a unique mix of South Africa`s top CEOs - no less than eight - and senior executives from the ICT industry. Add in the chairman of MIT and the deputy minister of communications, and you will know that this is a conference not to be missed!
Each day is a standalone day, each day is unique, but the sum of the two days is greater than the total!
Day 1: Global strategies - South African skills
Thursday 18 May starts with the CEO of Siemens, Doctor Jan Mrosik, speaking on the global outlook of ICT and electronics. This introductory talk will paint the global picture of our industry, which Grenville Payne, CEO of Strategic Global Incorporated will then quantify in terms of what South Africa needs to do in the way of strategy to harness our energies to win in the global market.
Developing on the needs of the local industry, Sandy Pullinger, CEO of nFold, will talk of winning ways of using software to leapfrog your competitors by using software more innovatively. Her talk ties in well with the Microsoft presentation by Danny Naidoo on Friday, 19 May (see below).
Having set the scene, the chief executive of Sourcecom, Lynden Barends, well known from his days as CEO of the Olympic Committee for South Africa, will follow on by sharing with us some guiding lights from top global CEOs, and how best to prioritise the way forward in our changing economy.
Deservedly chosen as the IT Personality of 2005, Ntsundeni Madzunya, chief executive of SAPO, will talk about his experiences in transforming management and operation in a large company. Much in demand internationally as a speaker, Madzunya`s presentation should not be missed.
After lunch, IBM will inform delegates of some of its forward-looking developments and applications in the international and local arenas.
Telkom recently announced it will spend R30 billion over the next four or five years to modernise its network. This huge spend has far-reaching implications for the local industry, and also telecoms users. Does it mean that the monolith will overcome all competition with sheer numbers, or will we have a wonderful network with universal access?
To close the conference we have a 10-minute video clip specially recorded for us by Leonard Brody, a well-known international speaker from Canada, who wowed audiences during his recent tour to South Africa. His insightful views on the 10 most significant trends internationally and their relation to ICT will form the basis for discussion by a panel that, based on the inputs from the day, will debate their views on how South Africa can achieve 6% growth with the aid of ICT.
Day 2: A vision for the future
Friday`s conference is about a vision of the future for South Africa. A man who is passionate about this is Anthony Fitzhenry, chief executive of Axiz, who will launch the morning by sharing his knowledge of business, technology and human prosperity with us by exploring the latest technology trends, and how these impact stake-holders. This scene will be picked up by Willie Appel, whose services as a consultant with Gartner are well known. He will share with us, in this specially extended presentation, some of the insights into Gartner`s analysis on all aspects of technology around ICT, and its impact on management. We are extremely fortunate to have Appel join us and share this information.
A finalist in the ICT Personality 2004 was Nkosinathi Khumalo, who is the chairperson of Mthombo IT Services, and an executive director of EOH, which took over MIT last year. Khumalo (and his brother), founded MIT, and led it to become one of the most successful companies in the field in South Africa. He will share his experience of building that company, and his secrets to true success.
We are well populated this year with IT personalities. 2004 personality Mthunzi Mdwaba, chief executive of Torque IT, is particularly passionate about skills development in the ICT skills sector. Recent initiatives in the ICT training field partnered with governance and private industry to develop the skills that we need. This is over and above the sector education training SETAs, and aims to fast-track training to meet the rapidly changing needs of our country and the global economy. Mdwaba is a member of the JIPSA council and will give us insights into what is happening.
Believed by many to be key for creating growth and employment, software development is one of the subjects of GIPSA. A leader in this field is Danny Naidoo, the director of the Developer and Platforms group for Microsoft. Naidoo will focus on the GDP contributing potential of the often-underrated software industry in South Africa, and compare our endeavours with other emerging and developing markets in the software world, providing guidance on the factors that could see doubling of the GDP contribution in the next five years.
Putting the cap on the morning`s proceedings will be the input from the deputy minister of communications, Roy Padayachie, who is spearheading huge changes in the ICT sector. No only regulatory issues, but the ASGISA and JIPSA projects fall under his ambit. This is one presentation not to be missed by anybody with an interest in the future of ICT in our country.
Limited spaces are available for both days, so please make your bookings as soon as possible by visiting www.futurex.co.za, or by booking directly with the Computer Society at (011) 315 1319 (Gabi or Lizzi). We look forward to seeing you there!
Telkom is a major sponsor of Futurex - The Conference.
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