The Computer Society of South Africa (CCSA) has taken over management of Exhibitions for Africa`s (EFA`s) conference from Aitec. This follows the merging of the EFA`s Computer Faire exhibition and conference with CCSA`s Tel.Com exhibition and conference into Futurex.
"We have cancelled our agreement with Aitec and we`ve given the mandate to the Computer Society," says Aldean Prior, EFA director. "Aitec is managed and run from the UK, so logistically, it`s better if the conference is run from here. It`s really up to the Computer Society if they want to continue that relationship, which is a strong one."
Both the CCSA and EFA feel that CCSA`s history of association with other industry bodies will set them in good stead to run the conference.
"The Computer Society has been working with other industry associations, on initiatives such as the ITC BEE charter," says Prior. "These kinds of partnerships are good for the industry, and because of this, we want them to run the conference."
Roger Dawes, CCSA executive director describes their relationship with Aitec as "very cordial".
"I expect Aitec will still do video links up to Africa for us," he says. "Aitec`s Sean Moroney will still be recruiting speakers and delegates for us. I think they were disappointed - Futurex was a nice opportunity for them, but the arrangement wasn`t very practical."
He explains that the new relationship has done away with many administrative hurdles that were encountered in the past. "We found that while we were working with EFA, we were ending up with 20 different agreements in place, so by doing this, we`re putting everything together to make it work sensibly, and we`re very excited."
The CCSA has circulated a request for a proposal for conference organisation. "We need to work with a local partner to do these things for us," says Dawes. "We have a really high-powered committee and we`re going to be working really closely with the wonderful intellectual capital that we have."
The CCSA works in close association with the Black IT Forum, Electronic Industry Federation, Information Industry South Africa, the IT Association, The South African Communications Forum and the Communication Users Association of South Africa.
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