by Ulandi Exner
The IITPSA Awards breakfast is around the corner and we’ve spent the last couple of weeks planning and finalising the arrangements for the event. The best part of the process was interviewing the Top 5 IT Personality and Visionary CIO finalists. It was an awesome experience chatting to the finalists. Many of the finalists are extremely passionate about what they do and, on some occasions, the judges could not get a word in edgewise. Not that I am complaining because it is so refreshing to see that the passion for IT still exists. The finalists shared wonderful stories with us and gave us insight into some of their future projects. I have been sworn to secrecy so all I can say is that there are exciting developments and keep your eye on the press. By now the judges know who the winners are and I am bursting with excitement and I can’t wait for the big reveal. It was a tough decision because all the finalists have and continue to make a valuable and significant contribution to the ICT sector. But as they say, there can only be one winner.
I do hope you will join us at the awards breakfast which is being held on 12 November at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton where we will be announcing the winners. The finalists are:
IT Personality
• Alan Knott-Craig, CEO, Project Isizwe
• Barbara Mallinson, Founder and CEO, Obami
• Derek Wilcocks, CEO Middle East and Africa, Dimension Data
• Lex van Wyk, Founder and CEO, Teraco
• Niel Schoeman, Founder and CEO, Vumatel
Visionary CIO
• James Devine, CIO, Project Isizwe
• Louise van der Bank, CIO, AfriSam
• Lungi Sangqu, Executive Director ICT, UNISA
• Peter du Plooy, CIO, Engen Petroleum
• Thabo Ndlela, Group CIO, Tiger Brands
The IITPSA Awards are held once a year, but let’s not wait another 12 months before we recognise and acknowledge the impeccable talent that is demonstrated by our peers. If you have a colleague or know someone that is doing great work – tell them, or, better still, tell us! The country has a wealth of IT magicians so let’s admire them and celebrate this on a continual basis. We read enough bad news every day and for every negative story, let’s have 2 positive and feel good stories!
So, on the topic of stories I would like to leave you with this one:
The Star Fish Story
Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.
One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.
He came closer still and called out ‘Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?’
The young man paused, looked up, and replied ‘Throwing starfish into the ocean.’
‘I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?’ asked the somewhat startled wise man.
To this, the young man replied, ‘The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.’
Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, ‘But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!’
At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said,
‘It made a difference for that one.’
Adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley (1907-1977)
Ciao
