Awards 2020 – Judges

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Annual President’s Awards 2020 – Judges

Tshifhiwa has over 20 years of experience in IT, with most of her experience in the role of CIO.   She has held key IT positions at Telkom, Standard Bank, the Financial Services Board and, most recently, Barloworld Logistics, where she is now the Chief Digital Officer.  Tshifhiwa specialises in developing and implementing IT turnaround strategies within complex business integration processes, as well as driving change in business architecture through technology implementation.

Tshifhiwa holds a Master of Information Technology degree from the University of Pretoria.  She also holds an MBA from the Gordon Institute of Business Science, an achievement for which she received the top student award in the elective “leading others through storytelling.” This unique skill empowers her to communicate complex topics to non-technical stakeholders.

Tshifhiwa’s accolades include the Visionary CIO Award from the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (formerly CSSA), in association with ITWeb, GIBS and Gartner Africa for demonstrating visionary leadership in using technology to drive strategy and innovation in the organisation.  She has been on the Gartner Africa Symposium Advisory Board since 2015.

Ranka is a founding member and editorial director of ITWeb – South Africa’s leading technology-focused publisher, with media products and services that span diverse digital platforms, print and events.

Since 1997, Ranka has led ITWeb’s editorial team and helped establish ITWeb Online as South Africa’s premier source of IT news and information for business technology users and decision-makers. In 2001, Ranka helped launch ITWeb Brainstorm, which remains the most influential business IT monthly in SA. She serves on the advisory board of ITWeb events and often presents findings of ITWeb’s surveys and research reports at ITWeb’s and other industry conferences.

Ranka has established an annual ITWeb Journalism Scholarship and internship programme, and has been a mentor to a great number of journalists, editors and other young professionals.

Prior to joining ITWeb, she was editor of InformationWeek Southern Africa and deputy editor of ComputerWeek. She immigrated to SA in 1994 from Yugoslavia, where she had worked as a teacher, lecturer, literary translator and IT journalist.

“Adrian is CIO at the Gordon Institute of Business Science where he focuses on leveraging digital opportunities disrupting the sector. He feels the modern IT leader is becoming schizophrenic, balancing disruption with “responsible” duties. He is outspoken in challenging the inertia of the current ICT sector.

He is founding director of an ed-tech start-up and was partner in an e-tourism venture pre-dotcom. His corporate experience extends across higher education, micro-finance, insurance, and consulting, covering a wide range of technology specialisations.

He originally studied civil engineering, which he claims grounded his thinking, but credits running the Engineers’ Pub for his commercial acumen (and for why he moved into computers, being an IBM child with the punch-cards to prove it).

He is passionate about education, both personally and as a calling.

In his “spare” time he can be found tinkering with Arduino boards and wishes he’d learned to solder better.”

Prof Helena Barnard is the director of the doctoral programme at GIBS, and is an internationally recognised scholar, B-rated by the National Research Foundation of South Africa. Her research interests are in how technology, organisational practices and innovation move between more and less developed countries, particularly in Africa.

 

 She is the 2017-2020 John Dunning Fellow at the University of Reading in the UK, and the Vice President (Administration) of the Academy of International Business. She is an area editor at Management and Organization Review and the Journal of International Business Policy, in both cases with a focus on Africa.

Thabo Mashegoane is the current President of the Institute of IT Professionals South Africa, having been elected to this position on 01 August 2019. Prior to that, Thabo was the serving Vice-President of the Institute.

 

Thabo’s vision is to enable business to execute their strategic intent through Enterprise Architecture inclusive of Business process improvement, Information Technology & alignment, and best practice adoption.

Thabo is a dynamic professional who transitioned from a Chemical Engineering profession in the FMCG industry to an IT profession which spanned 10 years in the Financial Services. He was later captivated by the importance and impact of the Build programme which made him venture into the Utility space in the role of Enterprise Architecture specializing in Business Architecture.

Adrian Schofield’s day job of researching trends in the ICT sector feeds his contributions to the industry through his roles within IITPSA (where he has served as President), IP3 (where he is Vice Chair, responsible for Standards & Accreditation) and AfICTA (Vice Chairman).

 

He was appointed as a Councillor for the B-BBE ICT Sector Council in 2015 and as a governance committee member for the City of Joburg in 2017.

 

He says the rest of his biography can be discussed over a glass of wine.

Moira de Roche is an independent consultant.

She is the Chair of IFIP IP3, and has been involved with this body since 2007. She is a Director on the Global Industry Council, an IFIP body comprised of senior people from all parts of the globe who are involved with ICT.

She is a Professional Member and Fellow of IITPSA (Institute of IT Professionals South Africa) and a proud recipient of the “EngineerIT/CSSA Distinguished Service in ICT” award. She is a Director of (IITPSA). She was President of this body for four years.  She considers herself as an Ethics Evangelist.

She is a trustee of the South African Computer Olympiad.

Moira is passionate about issues facing women in the workplace, with a special focus on how to interest more girls in ICT careers, as well as how to ensure that women can achieve their potential.

For more details za.linkedin.com/in/moiraderoche

Ahmed Ismael – Smiley

COMMUNITY ICT ACTIVIST, SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR, CHANGEMAKER DIGITAL DIVIDE TRANSFORMATION ENABLER

with over 40 years of ICT experiences and community activism.

FOUNDER:  Siyafunda Community Technology Centres,   Community ICT Digital Villages  2014 IITPSA PRESIDENT’​S

The impact of the digital age and e-learning has transformed the world’s access to information and inter-connectedness, making computer competency an essential skill in equipping future leaders and enabling people to participate in the global economy. With a vision to empower, educate and e-connect communities, and make computer literacy and access to an email address available to everyone, Mr Ahmed Ismael-Smiley Founder of the concept, opened the first Siyafunda Community Technology Centre in Palm Ridge in 2006. The core values of sustainability, affordability and access, remain key project drivers.

Barry Dwolatzky is an Emeritus Professor in Wits University’s School of Electrical and Information Engineering. He is passionate about the South African ICT sector and has spent most of the past 25 years educating experts, carrying out research and driving initiatives that aim to nurture and grow this critical part of the economy. He launched the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) at Wits University in 2005 and since 2014 has been the driving force behind the establishment of the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

In recognition of his contribution to the South African IT industry Barry Dwolatzky was named the joint winner of the “South African IT Personality of the Year” in 2013 and received an award for “Distinguished Service to IT” from the Institute of IT Professionals of South Africa (IITPSA) in 2016. Also in 2016 Wits University presented him with the “Vice Chancellor’s Award for Academic Citizenship”.

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba is an award-winning journalist with a career spanning across television, radio and online media. She has been with ITWeb since 2012, and is currently the public sector editor for the ITWeb Group. She is at the heart of tech initiatives, policies and digital transformation strategies within the public sector, financial services, and education.

It is her love for telling African stories and showcasing the potential of ICT on the continent that attracted her to this sector. Simnikiwe holds an honour’s degree in journalism from Rhodes University.

Adrian Hinchcliffe is Editor-in-Chief of Brainstorm magazine, the most established and respected business and technology publication in the country.

Prior to this, Adrian worked on and edited a range of other Brainstorm supplements and products, including the long-running CIO Directory and ITWeb’s channel magazine, The Margin – both of which he played a key role in growing from concept to the well-trusted publications that they are today. He was also the long-serving editor of Brainstorm’s Special Focus series, which profiles leading tech companies, and he ran the editorial production of the CIO Council of South Africa’s official publication, Transformer. In addition, Adrian headed up ITWeb’s custom publishing department, which includes many industry-leading clients from the ICT space, as well as the local finance space.

Before joining ITWeb, he worked for an industry analysis and B2B publishing company in London, which focused largely on the mobile telecommunications sector, pharmaceuticals, defence and financial services. Adrian started his career working as a journalist and editor on a trade publication focused on the development of 3G mobile technology.

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Admire Moyo is ITWeb’s news editor. He has been a tech journalist at ITWeb since 2010. Before joining ITWeb, Admire worked for The Herald newspaper based in Zimbabwe. He holds a BA degree (English and History) from Africa University.

The Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa ’s (IITPSA) Annual President’s Awards event is a major highlight of the year for many in the industry, combining prestigious long standing awards (since 1979) with unparalleled networking opportunities. It is an event that highlights the talent and commitment of individuals within the ICT industry. Nominees include a number of prominent people in various spheres of the ICT industry in South Africa.
IITPSA, in partnership with leading ICT media publications and other prestigious award partners, presents the following awards:
IT Personality and Visionary CIO of the Year
The IT Personality of the Year Award, is presented by the IITPSA in association with ITWeb, and the Gordon Institute of Business Science. It recognises a person who has made an outstanding impact on the SA ICT industry over the past year and a significant contribution to the IT profession. – The Visionary CIO of the Year Award, also presented by the IITPSA in association with ITWeb and the Gordon Institute of Business Science, recognises a personality on the other side of the IT vendor and service provider sector – an executive in the corporate IT environment who has demonstrated visionary leadership in applying technology to grow and transform business.
Award Partners
The Distinguished Service in ICT Award is awarded jointly by EngineerIT and the IITPSA and recognises a significant, career length contribution to the ICT profession and / or the ICT Industry.
Award Partner – Distinguished Service in ICT Award
Fellowship of the Institute Award, given in recognition of an individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to the institute or the profession as a whole.