NEW breed of IT innovators among IT Personality Award finalists
Entrepreneurs and innovators dominate this year’s finalists’ list for the annual SA IT Personality and Visionary CIO awards

The Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) has announced the finalists for this year’s prestigious IT Personality of the Year Award and Visionary CIO of the Year Award, who will be recognised at the gala IITPSA 60th anniversary banquet in November this year.

The finalists, evaluated by a nine-member industry panel, will now undergo face-to-face interviews with the judging panel before the winners are selected. Members of the public may participate by indicating their support for the finalists who they deem most worthy of the two awards this year.

The IT Personality of the Year Award is presented to a person who has made an outstanding impact on the SA ICT industry over the past year. The finalists for the 2017 IT Personality of the Year Award are:
Annette Muller, founder of on-demand workforce platform Flexy and DotNXT, international speaker and digital change agent, and recognised by Forbes as one of the ‘top 10 female tech founders to watch In Africa’ (2014).

Baratang Miya, founder of GirlHype Coders Academy which empowers women and girls to write code and participate in ecommerce, recipient of a TechWomen award by US State Department and named by Mozilla among ‘50 People Who Made the Internet a Better Place in 2016’.

Karen Nadasen, CEO of PayU South Africa, South Africa’s largest online payment gateway and part of the Naspers group.

Shashi Hansjee, CEO of Entelect, who has helped drive significant growth in profit and the company’s move to a Deloitte ‘Best Company to Work For’.

MixoNgoveni, founder of Geekulcha, named one of 30 Youth Village’s Most Inspirational Young South Africans and listed among the Sowetan Top 100 Young Bosses in South Africa (2015 and 2016).

Nico Steyn, former MD of Datanet and Pinnacle Africa Gauteng, co-founder and CEO of IoT.nxt, and global pioneer in the industrial IoT space.

Reshaad Sha, telecoms industry veteran, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Director of Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) and CEO of dedicated IoT network SqwidNet.

YvoneThobileMabuza, founder and managing member of Elangeni Consulting Services and co-owner of Unics Technologies.

JacoMaass, Senior Manager: ICT at BKB, who is credited with transforming BKB’s failing technology infrastructure and turning the agricultural business into a leading digital entity within five years.

The Visionary CIO of the Year Award is presented to an executive in the corporate IT environment who has demonstrated visionary leadership in applying technology to grow and transform business. The 2017 finalists are:
Alec Joannou, Sasol CIO, who leads a team of 400 permanent staff and over 600 contractors serving over 30 000 users across four continents; as well as serving as a trusted advisor to a number of boards including Unilever, Sappi, Anglo American and Sasol.

Michèle Hall, Nampak Management Services CIO, whose role includes being a change agent across the organisation to promote the optimal and pervasive use of technology in manufacturing and business processes.

Peter Rix, Barclays CTO and Head Infrastructure Services, who is credited with paying an integral part in transforming the organisation, including spearheading the adoption of cloud, AI, agile practices and DevOps.

SelloMmakau,Airports Company South Africa CIO, credited with developing the company’s multi-billion rand digital strategy and implementing a key customer facing digital projects including passenger experience systems, as well as HR EPM, cloud technologies and BI and analytics, finance, SCM, property and commercial management systems and mobile enterprise applications.

MthokoMncwabe, SA Post Office Group CIO, who is leading SAPO/Postbank efforts to develop hybrid cloud strategies within legacy systems, grow the core Postbank banking platform and make broadband more accessible through Post Office points of presence.
Joe Phago, National Treasury CIO, who is tasked with ensuring that basic ICT services are available and reliable, creating and operationalising ICT Governance and driving digitisation to simplify and automate budget and procurement processes.

Shalin Naidoo, Lenmed Health Group CIO, who is leading the group’s moves to hybrid on-premise, cloud/hosted solutions and empowering the workforce using technology, innovation and ‘reporting intelligence’ to advance the quality of patient care.
Mothusi Lukhele, Sanlam Personal Finance CIO, who is tasked with modernising legacy platforms and cultures of a 100 year old financial institution to enable the organisation to remain relevant in a rapidly changing commercial environment.

The winners will be named during the annual IITPSA President’s Awards, where theDistinguished Service in ICT Award will also be presented, recognising a significant, career length contribution to the ICT profession and/or the ICT industry; and the Fellowship of the Institute Award, in recognition of an individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to the Institute or the profession as a whole.

Supported by platinum sponsor Altron and silver sponsor Huawei, the gala banquet is open to IITPSA’s 8,500+members and key industry stakeholders. The IITPSA diamond anniversary banquet and President’s Awards will be staged at Urban Tree in Eastgate Business Park, Sandton, on Wednesday 8 November.

Secure your place at this celebration of South African ICT excellence, where you will be able to congratulate the award winners, network with other South African ICT organisations and powerhouses, and reinforce your company’s position as a stakeholder in South Africa’s digital future.