IDC Hosts South Africa's Most Prominent ICT Leaders for CIO Summit Focused on the Importance of Digital-First Leadership

By : Samah Saeed

International Data Corporation (IDC) today hosted the 14th edition of its annual IDC South Africa CIO Summit in Johannesburg. With more than 120 of the country's most influential ICT decision makers in attendance, the event took place at The Forum, The Campus in Bryanston under the theme 'Accelerating Your Journey to a Digital-First World.'

"IDC research shows that, following the global upheavals seen since early 2020, 54% of CIOs across Sub-Saharan Africa have brought forward their digital agendas by at least one year – and 16% by two years," said Mark Walker, IDC's associate vice president for Sub-Saharan Africa. "Many of these CIOs are now actively reviewing and exploring new digital business models and ecosystem partnerships for the long term. Whether they're building resilient digital infrastructures or addressing the unique demands of a distributed workforce, CIOs are adapting their organizations to meet a new set of challenges and rethinking their leadership practices for a digital-first world. They are accelerating their digital investments and building organizations that can adapt to evolving business requirements and capitalize on change."

IDC's group vice president and regional managing director for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa, Jyoti Lalchandani, presented the event's keynote, 'Reimagining Tech Strategies for a Digital-First World', explaining that organizations across the region are increasingly embracing a digital-first approach as they strive to recover from the uncertainty wrought by the pandemic and build resilience into their operations.

"The journey to the future digital enterprise has accelerated, driven by significant investments in new customer experiences, new digital ecosystem business models, digital supply chains, and Future of Work initiatives," said Lalchandani. "All of this must be supported by resilient cloud-enabled digital infrastructure and applications, rapid app development, digital platforms, data-driven and AI-enabled intelligence, and security and trust. Strong leadership, an appetite for innovation, and a sound strategy for addressing regulations will all be key to driving the digital agenda."

The IDC South Africa CIO Summit 2022 served up strategic guidance on developing these critical capabilities, with a series of Best-Practice Sessions that saw senior IDC analysts, respected tech pioneers, and industry heavyweights from the vendor community address the following themes:

From Secure to Trusted: A Journey to Digital Leadership
Cloud Computing: The Springboard for Digital Transformation
The Future of Work & the Long-Term Implications of a Distributed Work Environment

These sessions were supplemented by a number of dedicated Technology Focus Groups that provided expert advice on key CIO priorities for the digital-first era, such as building digital trust, driving cloud-native app transformation, accelerating digitalization for business agility, and moving beyond digital transformation to facilitate enterprise-wide digital innovation.

The agenda also incorporated several fascinating end-user panel discussions that explored topics such as vendor selection and management strategies, talent acquisition and development, and the need for CIOs to enable greater collaboration and co-innovation with lines of business. These inspirational sessions showcased first-hand insights and experiences from some of South Africa's most respected ICT leaders, including:

Samresh Ramjith, Cybersecurity Risk Officer, ABSA
Portia Matsena, CIO, BankservAfrica
Shoaib Nathie, CIO, CIB
Tim Rautenbach, Group ICT Manager, Beier Group
Dr. Sizwe Gwala. Head of Data Governance, Standard Bank
Reinhardt Gerber, Head of IT, Sea Harvest
Nomazwi Mhloma, Deputy Head of ICT, eThekwini Municipality
Kevin Wilson, General Manager of IT Services, Stefanutti Stocks
Nkosenhle Ngongoma, Group CIO, Ascendis Health
Louise van der Bank, CIO, AfriSam
Norbit Williams, Director & CIO, Department of Small Business Development
Michael Yolland, Head of Digital Transformation, Pepkor
Ati Ngubevana, Group Executive Head of Department, Digital Process Re-Engineering,