South Africa`s top two communications officials - Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri and Department of Communications director-general Andile Ngcaba - are expected to elaborate on government`s plans for the telecommunications and e-commerce industries for the coming year at online industry forum First Tuesday`s events in Cape Town and Johannesburg on Tuesday 6th February 2001.
Ngcaba will discuss government`s Green Paper on e-commerce with hundreds of South Africa`s top online executives, entrepreneurs, investors and consultants at First Tuesday`s Johannesburg event at the Wanderers Country Club on Tuesday at 5.30pm.
30 minutes later - and 1 600km away - Matsepe-Casaburri will elaborate on government`s telecommunications plans, where she is likely to face robust questioning over Telkom`s planned listing and the much-delayed third cellular licence, at Rondebosch`s Belmont Square Conference Centre.
First Tuesday, the global market and meeting place for start-up companies, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, has rapidly swelled its membership in South Africa to more than 5000 by providing a mix of networking opportunities and top speakers, including IT billionaire Mark Shuttleworth, dotcoza guinea pig Chris Botha and financial analyst Alec Hogg.
"Despite the current gloom in the US and Europe about the current spate of dot.bombs, the mood in the local industry is upbeat," said Mike Wright, CEO of the E-mail Corporation and a founder member of First Tuesday. "We`re confident that the right people will continue to find value in our events, and the attendance of the minister and the director-general underline the growing influence of First Tuesday as an industry forum."
First Tuesday`s runaway success in Johannesburg has been mirrored in Cape Town, forcing organisers to shift the monthly networking event to the first Tuesday for the first time to accommodate the burgeoning 2000-strong membership. Cape Town`s events had previously been held on the second Tuesday of each month.
"Cape Town has the perfect opportunity to command the online industry," says Jenny McKinnell, organiser of First Tuesday Cape Town. "The city is home to industry leaders, unique talent, start-ups and world renowned educational institutions. If we engage in a concerted effort toward innovation and collaboration, all will look toward Cape Town."
From its inception on the first Tuesday of October 1998 - 50 people gathered in a London pub to talk about the local Internet scene - First Tuesday has grown to include more than 150 000 Internet entrepreneurs, financiers and service providers who meet in 110 cities in 60 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and North America roughly once a month, although not always on the first Tuesday.
The international First Tuesday organisation has helped deliver roughly $150 million in seed funding to Internet entrepreneurs worldwide since its founding.
"By attending First Tuesday events, people are securing funding, gaining talented employees and networking with significant partners," said Wright.
Share
First Tuesday
First Tuesday (www.firsttuesday.com) is the global meeting place and market place, connecting people, ideas, money and services in the new economy. Founded in October 1998 it swiftly grew through the European grassroots network to 17 cities by September 1999. It has now grown to over 110 cities globally.
From Bratislava to Buenos Aires, from Kansas City to Cape Town, the First Tuesday club brings together the Internet community. It`s a meeting place for entrepreneurs and funders where, ideas, money and talent can realise full potential.
The First Tuesday club now has over 20,000 members in London alone and a further 50,000 scattered in more than 60 countries around the world, with South Africa currently sitting at over 5000 members. The club aims to help high tech entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, senior management and other staff, potential alliance partners and other resources South African businesses have taken First Tuesday seriously with Accenture, IBM, Microsoft, UUNET SA, and Rock-IT being major sponsors.