Delegates at the annual Black IT Forum (BITF) conference were disappointed yesterday by the absence of top ICT players, who failed to deliver their keynote presentations.
The absence of Department of Public Service and Administration minister, Richard Baloyi, put the conference programme agenda out by nearly two hours. Despite committing to being at the conference to deliver a keynote at 08:50, conference organisers were only informed at 10:00 that the minister would not be attending.
Secretary-general of the BITF, Motse Mfuleni, says the organisation takes great exception to the minister's lack of professionalism, saying the office did not take its commitment seriously. He believes at the very least someone else should have been sent in the minister's place, which would have had a less dramatic effect on the programme.
Baloyi's absence in turn compromised the conference schedule so ICASA chairperson Paris Mashile was no longer able to deliver his presentation. SITA chairperson Zodwa Manase also failed to arrive to deliver her presentation. With three top presentations cut from the programme, delegates were left wondering why they paid between R600 and R1 800 to attend the conference.
The conference theme, 'Unlocking ICT opportunities for all towards 20 years of democracy', promised an investigation of whether the sector has really been transformed, as well as propositions for practical ways to champion the issue of skills development and the use of ICT as an enabler and catalyst for service delivery.
To this end, Mashile was meant to deliver a presentation on using ICASA's regulations and licensing policy as an enabler to enhance economic opportunities for South Africans. However, due to the programme delays, when called upon to deliver his presentation Mashile excused himself on the premise of having a prior engagement.
Instead of a presentation by Manase on developing e-culture for a citizen-centric government towards the end of the decade, delegates listened to a speech by SITA acting CEO Magoma-Nthite on who and what SITA is, and the organisation's re-commitment to efficiency and service delivery.
Corporates rise to the occasion
The conference's corporate speakers, however, were all present to deliver their presentations. Chairman of Dimension Data Africa and Middle East, Andile Ngcaba, discussed the business opportunities existing throughout the rest of Africa, noting that culture and language played a key role for success.
Chris Lazarus, public sector executive at Vodacom, identified the top technology prevailing in the country; highlighting that challenges lie in capacity and deployment. He also alluded to an upcoming partnership with Nedbank to deliver Vodacom M-Pesa in SA.
Torque IT's sales and marketing director, Tebogo Makgatho, spoke on the urgency of ICT skills development, appealing to the industry for support in meeting this challenge.
A major challenge facing the industry is the lack of critical engagement by the sector to significantly network with ICT role players for its sustainability, argued Jimmy Gotyana, president of the South African National NGO Coalition, during his presentation.
With this in mind, the overriding message from the speakers was that strategic partnerships between the public and private sector are needed to meet the challenge of closing the digital divide.
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