IT Personality, Visionary finalists named

The 2008 IT Personality of the Year and ICT Visionary awards finalists have been announced.

The IT Personality of the Year award celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The Computer Society of SA (CSSA) presents the award in association with ITWeb, the Gordon Institute of Business Science and Gartner Africa.

The five finalists, in no particular order, are:

Founder and CEO of UCS Group, Bright has been involved in the IT industry for 10 years, before founding UCS in 1978. UCS started as a bureau and is now an international billion-rand software solutions and services organisation, specialising in the retail industry.

Lingham is the CEO of SynthaSite, a Web start-up that provides free Web site publishing and hosting services. In a period of eight months, he increased SynthaSite's user base from 10 000 to 400 000 and succeeded in getting $5 million in funding for the company.

Executive chairman of Datacentrix, Morolo assumed the role in 2001. Over the past seven years he has led the company's transformation and growth to over R1 billion in sales. Datacentrix has received recognition for having some of the best empowerment credentials on the JSE, and has won awards for good corporate governance and board effectiveness.

Sussman is founder and MD of Intergr8 IT, one of the largest privately-owned ICT infrastructure management companies in Africa, which employs over 400 South Africans.

CEO of T-Systems SA, Van der Walt Korsten has a Masters degree in clinical psychology and began her career working as a clinical research assistant for Hoechst UK, in London. She is the first woman to hold the CEO position at ICT outsourcing group T-Systems.

This year also sees the introduction of the ICT Visionary award, which aims to recognise an ICT executive in an ICT user environment, who has helped transform business by implementing or adopting leading-edge technology.

The three finalists in this category are:

As the manager of the ICT and knowledge management division for the Royal Bafokeng Administration, Dagada has implemented several projects that include ERP, document and records management and wireless broadband network.

Olivier is the head of information security strategy and architecture at Standard Bank. Issues such as virtualisation, Web 3.0, insider threat and globalisation drive Olivier to create IT solutions for the bank, as well as design new business platforms.

Tshabalala is CIO at the Department of Trade and Industry. She is respected for her gentle and involved leadership style. She is actively involved in the development of previously disadvantaged individuals and promotes the empowerment of the people around her, nurturing and honing their strengths.

Full biographies can be found here.

Last year's IT Personality title is held by Hamilton Ratshefola, CEO of Cornastone, and the 2006 accolade went to Axiz CEO Anthony Fitzhenry. Both Ratshefola and Fitzhenry have joined the judging panel, which will interview the finalists. The winners of both awards will be announced at the CSSA Annual President's Awards Banquet, at the Montecasino Ballroom, on 5 November.