Africans gather in South Africa to find ways technology can improve society


Johannesburg, 02 Oct 2019
Carel Coetzee, CEO of NEC XON
Carel Coetzee, CEO of NEC XON

Three-hundred-and-fifty C-suite executives and other delegates from across Africa will gather at Sun City for NEC XON’s eighth annual invitation-only summit on 10 October.

The pan-African summit will expose delegates to how innovative technology can improve the lives of Africans.

“Innovative technologies make it possible to be safer, more secure, produce more with less, narrow the inequality gap, and provide better qualities of life. To achieve that, we need networks that connect everything, the Internet of things (IOT) technologies in the field to automate and gather data, and the smart software platforms in the background using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to make sense of all the data so that we can put it to work for our businesses, cities and countries,” says Carel Coetzee, CEO of NEC XON.

NEC XON has invited futurist Pieter Geldenhuys to paint a picture of how the technological and social revolution presents new opportunities for people, businesses and governments. He will unpack innovative business models and global trends, taking delegates on a journey through a world where entrepreneurs define future business landscapes.

Steve Barnett, the Silent Conductor, will demonstrate that collaboration makes possible the improbable by leading delegates to become their own percussive orchestra.

NEC XON is the African operation of NEC, the Fortune 500 Global company that employs 102 000 people with net sales in excess of $30 billion. It will be joined by other global stalwarts of the technology industry.

Juniper Networks is the summit’s platinum sponsor. Gold sponsors include ADVA, F5 and Fortinet. Commvault, RedHat, Affectli, Mecer, Forcepoint, Apache Optics, Airspan and NEC Enterprise are all silver sponsors.

Delegates will gain exposure to some innovative technology displays at the summit. Among them will be a containerised, cloud-capable digital operations management solution with live, layered geospatial data that integrates into a single platform IOT connectivity, data and event processing and control, with predictive analytics for pre-emptive business activities.

“The display will demonstrate how IOT is transforming the way organisations, both private and public, scale operations using devices and cloud to accelerate digital transformation. Gaining visibility into activities, managing maintenance and repetitive tasks, controlling stock, managing assets and the workforce, and automating workflows profoundly impacts agility,” says Coetzee. “This is just one of the solutions that have the capability to integrate technology into an ICT-enabled future society.”

Share

NEC XON

NEC XON is the combination of XON, a Systems Integrator providing custom ICT and security services and solutions in Southern Africa since 1996, and NEC Africa, the African business of the global technology giant NEC Corporation. NEC Corporation implemented its first communication solution in Africa in 1963 and established NEC Africa in 2011 to grow its business ICT and public safety.

Kapela Capital (Pty) Ltd, XON’s B-BBEE partner since 2010, continues as NEC XON’s B-BBEE partner in South Africa, with Israel Skosana as chairman of the board of directors of NEC XON.  

NEC generates global revenues in excess of $30 billion by orchestrating a brighter world for public entities, enterprises, telecoms carriers, and providing system platforms for businesses.

The combined NEC Africa and XON (NEC XON) operations seek to more fully explore the opportunities for safe city, energy, cyber security, telecommunication solutions, retail, managed services, cyber defence services and cloud (both public and private), among others in sub-Sahara Africa.

NEC XON maintains its head offices in Gauteng, South Africa with a footprint that covers all nine provinces in South Africa and 16 countries in sub-Sahara Africa.