Amid a heightened interest in corporate governance, a one-day forum in November will focus on IT governance.
Targeting key decision-makers and senior executives, the IT Governance 2002 executive forum will take place at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton on 20 November.
Presented by ITWeb, in association with Analytix Holdings, a professional services firm, the forum aims to give a 360-degree view on why IT governance is important and identify the responsibilities that have to be met by executive teams when aligning their IT and business strategies. The forum will also cover the legal aspects of IT governance and offer guidelines on how effective IT governance can generate real business benefits.
Among the speakers at the executive forum is Peter Hill, South African representative of the IT Governance Institute. "Even before the recent examples of Enron and WorldCom, an increasingly educated and assertive set of stakeholders was raising concerns about the sound management of their interests," he says.
This led to the emergence of corporate governance regulations, standards and best practice. "While corporate governance developments have been driven by the need for transparency on enterprise risks and the protection of shareholder value, the pervasive use of technology has created a critical dependency on IT that calls for a specific focus on IT governance."
Adele Naude, executive director at Analytix, explains why IT governance is a burning topic: "Analytix identified the gap in the marketplace due to the emphasis on corporate governance as a result of the King Report.
"Government in SA will add to this pressure by enforcing certain disclosures in financials of companies on corporate governance. This has a major impact on IT, as on HR, to ensure that they too comply with these principles. So what does this mean? IT today needs to manage, control and measure its performance, its contribution and alignment to business.
"This conference will highlight the pieces in the puzzle to ensure a total IT governance solution. The conference will give an insight into what companies are currently doing in SA with regards to this and the problems experienced," says Naude.
Speakers at the one-day conference will include Willie Appel, VP at the Meta Group; Dirk le Roux, head of IT at Absa; Jurgen Muller, chairman of the IT Service Management Forum; and Piet Pretorius, chief information security officer for Liberty Life.
Should you wish to attend the forum, register online at http://www.itweb.co.za/events/itgovernance/2002/
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