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It is important to shine a spotlight on the ICT industry’s top achievers to give them the recognition they deserve and attract new talent to the industry.
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This is according to Institute of IT Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) president Ulandi Exner, talking about finding the next recipients of the organisation’s awards.
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“There are a number of individuals that operate under the radar and are not necessarily in the public eye. We need their peers to nominate them and bring them into the spotlight,” she says.
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This as nominations have now opened for the ICT industry’s top annual awards – the IT Personality of the Year and Visionary CIO awards.
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“What we need is an industry-wide crowdsourcing effort – to make sure the people who are doing exceptional work in our industry are, first of all, nominated and stand a chance to be recognised,” says Ranka Jovanovic, editorial director of ITWeb, which has been a partner in this awards programme for more than a decade.
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“If you look back at the previous winners of the IT Personality Award, you see the remarkable milestones in the history of SA’s ICT − with the likes of Alan Knott-Craig, Andile Ngcaba, Mark Shuttleworth, Benjamin Mophatlane and Barry Dwolatzky,” says Jovanovic.
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The awards are presented by IITPSA in association with ITWeb, the Gordon Institute of Business Science and Gartner Africa. This year marks the 38th IT Personality of the Year Award, which recognises an individual who has made a positive impact on the South African IT industry and a significant contribution to the IT profession in the past year.
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The 2015 IT Personality winner was Niel Schoeman, CEO and founder of Vumatel, and he joined a prestigious list of previous ICT heavyweights who have won the award, including Mteto Nyati, Ivan Epstein, Asher Bohbot and Gian Visser.
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Exner thinks most IT professionals feel their efforts and hard work go unnoticed because people often underestimate or don’t understand what takes place “behind the scenes”.
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“[The awards] also help to attract new talent to the ICT industry. People want to work in industries where they feel they can make a difference and leave their mark,” adds Exner.
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“The ICT industry continues to learn and reinvent itself, and we make great strides in improving people’s lives on a daily basis.”
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Visionary CIO
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2016 is the ninth year the Visionary CIO Award is being presented and it recognises an executive who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in using technology to support and grow business. Peter du Plooy, CIO of Engen Petroleum, walked away with the award in 2015, joining previous winners including Tshifhiwa Ramuthaga, Sandi Macfie, Sello Mmakau and Sal Laher.
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Exner says the CIO award is an important accolade to win because it serves as testament to an individual’s visionary leadership in using IT to support, grow and transform business. She says the CIO is often an unsung hero at an organisation.
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“The visionary CIO has to wear so many hats and fulfil many roles. They need to have an intimate understanding of the business and the environment in which it operates.”
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The four-step selection process for both awards takes into account a number of criteria, including professional achievement, leadership qualities and social responsibility involvement.
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The power is in the hands of the public to decide who will be the next winners of the two awards. Members of the public must nominate candidates on ITWeb’s Web site before 31 July. The judging panel will then shortlist 10 IT Personality and 10 Visionary CIO candidates from the nominations and the public will be able to vote for their favourite candidate using an online voting platform. The panel will then select the winners based on the public votes and interviews with the finalists.
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The winners will be announced at the IITPSA President’s Awards event on 24 November at the Montecasino Ballroom in Fourways, Johannesburg
