ISACA SA Chapter CxO Roundtable & Dinner

Issued by ISACA South Africa Chapter
Johannesburg, 25 Sep 2019

The ISACA South Africa (SA) Chapter held a CxO Roundtable and Dinner event at Protea Hotel Fire & Ice, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg. The event was emceed by Kgabo Ralebepa, Director: ICT Audit, SekelaXabiso Protiviti, who welcomed the 40 industry leaders in attendance.

Kgabo Ralebepa, SKXProtiviti (left), and Sizakhele Bophela, Associate Director in Forensics

The highlights included a special welcome by Tichaona Zororo, CISA, CIA, CISM, CRISC, CRMA, CGEIT, COBIT 5 Certified Assessor, ISACA SA Immediate Past President, ISACA International Director, as well as an inspiring introduction by David Samuelson, ISACA International CEO, who reflected on ISACA’s 50 anniversary.

Samuelson assumed the role of ISACA CEO on 1 April 2019. He joins ISACA following executive leadership roles as founder and CEO of Pinpoint Learning; executive vice-president and general manager at Capstone Publishers; and more than 15 years in executive roles at Pearson. In recent months, Samuelson served as CEO of GreaterGood.com and on the board of its non-profit partner, GreaterGood.org.

The event theme was: “Are you ready for a cyber crisis?”

International keynote speaker Allan Boardman, CISA CISM CGEIT CRISC CISSP and independent business advisor, presented: "Strategies for successful business engagement". The combination of advances in enterprise technology and more effective and sophisticated cyber threats is complicating the task of protecting business processes and information.

Given the increasing pace and complexity of cyber threats, organisations must adopt approaches to cyber security that will require much more engagement from senior executives to protect critical business information and systems without constraining innovation and growth. Boardman’s session covered strategies for ensuring the business is fully engaged in cyber security and adopts a business-driven approach to cyber security.

From left: Julian Eisenhammer, Catalyst; Alan Boardman, Keynote Speaker and ISACA’s CGEIT Certification Working Group: and Grant Donald, Exellenta

The programme also included an interactive cyber security session co-ordinated by Kris Budnik, CISO, FNB; Sanjay Charavanapavan, ISACA SA Education Coordinator and MD at Excellenta; and Grant Donald, Information Security Consultant, Excellenta. This session encouraged engagement and concluded with the following main takeaway points to be answered in a crisis situation:

1. What has been compromised?
2. How much time should you wait to respond?
3. Who will respond?
4. How will they respond?
5. What should they say? What shouldn’t they say?
6. What next?

The closing was led by ISACA SA Chapter President, Arlene-Lynn Volmink. During the president's closing, Volmink shared a request for support for the ISACA She Leads Tech programme, a global ISACA initiative that addresses the underrepresentation of women in the technology industry, and other ISACA SA chapter activities. She also called on support of the ISACA CommunITy day activities planned for 5 October 2019, where ISACA chapters and staff across the world will exemplify ISACA’s purpose, promise and values with a day of service around the world.

ISACA will start in New Zealand at the stroke of midnight and circle the globe live, with chapters and staff capturing pictures and excitement as events unfold throughout this 24-hour annual event. It will host a live feed highlighting many of the ways ISACA is making a difference.

A special mention was given to co-sponsor, SekelaXabiso Protiviti, and to the ISACA SA board members and ISACA international guests who attended this special event. The dinner, venue and roundtable sessions encouraged networking among the attendees, speakers and board members who were present at the event.

Special thanks were given to the Marketing & Events Coordinator for planning this event, which is intended to be hosted as an annual event offered by the ISACA SA chapter.

From left: Beatri Meyer, ABSA; David Samuelson, ISACA International CEO; and Arlene-Lynn Volmink, ISACA SA Chapter President

ISACA SA Annual Conference 2020

ISACA SA Chapter is very excited to launch "Thinking Digital", the ISACA SA 2020 Annual Conference taking place at Emperors Palace, Johannesburg from 24 to 25 August 2020. Register today to take advantage of super early-bird prices! E-mail info@isaca.org.za.

It is also extending a call for speakers to 28 February 2020; and a call for sponsors to support this exciting conference.

View ISACA's launch video at https://youtu.be/K74WIqC56ws,