Attendees to the first-ever Future of Work Virtual Conference can look forward to an esteemed panel of speakers, each of them industry leaders set to engage on new technology for the post-pandemic business. They’re being brought to audiences, free of charge, through the Hopin platform on Thursday, 20 August 2020 from 9am to 4pm, by an elite level of sponsors, all of whom envision great potential in the future of African business.
Kabelo Makwane, Vodacom Business Managing Executive for Cloud, Hosting & Security added: “As things stand, there is a great opportunity for clients to think about how they can accelerate their journey to the cloud, because it comes with the inherent benefit of magnificent savings. It unlocks value because when you amass enough data in the cloud, it allows for insights-driven management of business. I believe there is a lot of value to be extracted by businesses who think cloud-first, embracing scale with analytics that provides insight into pockets of value in their business.”
Sid Wahi, Managing Director of CMA Investment Holdings, the Founding shareholder of the ABN Group; including CNBC Africa and Forbes Africa said: “While digital transformation has been part of the executive lexicon for quite some time now, the current economic environment – accelerated by the covid-19 pandemic – has made the need to change even more important. By launching this conference, we aim to demystify these concepts and help businesses gear up for the future ahead.”
Says Patrick Grillo: Senior Director, Solutions Marketing at Fortinet, commented: “The recent introduction of Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) concept has taken the networking and security worlds by storm. By integrating these two functions into a single mechanism, the intention is that – regardless of who or what is connecting to the network – consistent security can be applied. In hindsight however, a cloud-only approach to the security services overlooks the advantages of deploying security locally. Security is a key enabler of digital transformation and with the traditional network evolving into a series of different edges, security must be tailored to the individual needs of the wide range of edges. SASE will be a key element, but not the only one.”
“We are looking forward to being part of this important discussion on the future of work,” said Canninah Mapena, Managing Director and Country Sales Director for Rockwell Automation Sub-Saharan Africa. “While many businesses worldwide are battling uncertainty and adapting to the ‘new normal’, we believe our insights can help the audience navigate the ever-changing technological environment, to learn more about the benefits and how we are bringing The Connected Enterprise to life across industrial enterprises. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and sustainable.”
Future of Work Virtual Conference speaker panel
– Dr Benjamin Rosman: Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at the University of the Witwatersrand
Dr Rosman runs the Robotics, Autonomous Intelligence and Learning (RAIL) Laboratory at the university, and is the Director of the National E-Science Postgraduate Teaching and Training Platform. He holds a BSc (Hons) in both Computer Science and from the University of the Witwatersrand, and a PhD in Informatics from the University of Edinburgh.
– Algirde Pipikaite: Project Lead, Industry Solutions, and Centre for Cybersecurity for the World Economic Forum
Pipikaite is a cybersecurity and digital transformation policy expert, and a lawyer with more than a decade of experience in public and private sector engagement. As VP of Information Risk at CyberSponse Inc, she managed customer engagement, investor relations and workforce development. She has an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School of Government; an LLM from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland; and a BA from Mykolas Romeris University in Lithuania.
– Kabelo Makwane: Vodacom Managing Executive; Cloud, Hosting and Security
Makwane holds a BComm in Finance from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and an MBA from Wits University. He worked for Cisco Systems as the Regional Sales Manager, and later as a Country Managing Director at Microsoft. Before joining Vodacom, he was the Managing Director of Operations at Accenture. He currently sits on the boards of Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd. and Capitec Bank Ltd.
– Arthur Goldstuck: Founder of World Wide Worx
Author, researcher and technology trend expert, Goldstuck: established World Wide Worx – the continent’s leading independent technology research organisation – to research and unravel trends in internet and mobile use in Africa. He’s a former investigative journalist and news editor at the Mail & Guardian, and author of the South African best-seller, ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Internet: A South African Handbook’.
– Patrick Grillo: Senior Director, Solutions Marketing at Fortinet
A sales and marketing specialist, Grillo is responsible for creating and evangelising key messages about Fortinet’s network security solutions. Through his in-depth understanding of the complexities of network security, Patrick is able to cut through the half-truths and myths surrounding the subject to provide clear and concise information to Fortinet’s customers and partners.
– Gavin Reardon: Founder and CEO Kingson Capital
A groundbreaking entrepreneur, investor and Chartered Accountant, Reardon works closely with the South African government, industry associations and other investors to create enabling environments for tech businesses in the digital economy.
– Pankaj Shrivastava: Business Leader – Architecture, Software and LV Products at Rockwell Automation
As an experienced business leader, qualified Instrumentation Engineer and certified project management professional, Shrivastava has a successful history of working in the industrial automation industry. He has vast experience in developing markets, and is directly involved with growing the Rockwell Automation footprint.
– Canninah Mapena: Managing Director and Country Sales Director for Rockwell Automation Sub-Saharan Africa
Mapena, a business leader in the field of electrical engineering and industrial automation, with extensive expertise in mining, minerals, metals, power, energy, believes that technology is an enabler of great progress, while people form the core of any successful solution. She holds a Bachelors’ degree in Business Administration from the University of Johannesburg, as well as an Electrical and Electronics Engineering degree from the University of the Witwatersrand.
– Jonny Caplan: CEO, Executive Producer and Co-founder of Tech Talk Media, LLC
Founded in 2017 by Jonny Caplan and Ronald R. Hans, Tech Talk Media specialises in emerging topics, talented individuals, exciting start-ups and futuristic technologies – producing several independent titles on these niche subjects. The flagship documentary series, Techtalk, features revolutionary new technologies, co-hosted by writer and executive producer, Caplan.
– Stafford Masie: WeWork General Manager for Africa
Stafford has thrived in a world of disruption for more than 25 years, having been closely involved with pre-eminent ICT companies, Telkom, Dimension Data, Novell and Google (he’s responsible for establishing Google’s presence in South Africa). An inventor and mentor, Stafford continues his entrepreneurial journey within early-stage technology start-ups, among them GATTACA and SNAPTUTOR.
– Amrote Abdella: Regional Director of Microsoft 4Afrika Initiatives
Amrote holds a BA in Political Science from Davidson College, North Carolina; and an MA in International Economics Development from Brandeis University in Massachusetts, USA. Prior to joining Microsoft, Amrote worked for (among others) the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, the Global Hunger Project, and the Grameen Foundation. In her experience, she has focused on financial services, policy guidance and economic development for Africa.
– Rebecca Enonchong: Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AppsTech
Rebecca is the board chair of Afrilabs, a pan-African network of over 174 innovation centers supporting more than 500 000 entrepreneurs. She chairs ActivSpaces (African Center for Technology Innovation and Ventures); and sits on the boards of Venture Capital for Africa (VC4Africa), Digital Africa, the African Media Initiative, Eneza Education, Suguba and iamtheCODE. Rebecca is the co-founder of I/O Spaces; Cameroon Angels Network; and co-founder and vice-president of African Business Angels Network. She also founded Appstech, a leading global provider of enterprise application solutions.
– Jacqueline Raw: Founder of Ycagel and SkillX, Sales and Marketing Strategist
With more than 15 years’ experience in building brands, businesses and growing leaders, Jacqueline is a thought-leader and influencer in her industry. She’s passionate about driving change and equipping future game-changers with business skills. She founded Ycagel, amarketing consulting and services’ firm; and SkillX, an online skills’ incubator for entrepreneurs and professionals, set to launch soon.
– Toby Shapshak
Dedicated to promoting innovation in Africa, Toby has shared his insights in print, as a weekly contributor to Forbes and the Financial Mail. He has also written on Africa as a mobile-driven continent for CNN, The Guardian, and Forbes; and he’s currently writing a book on innovation in Africa. His TED talk on how Africa is solving problems has had more than 1.4 million views, and for the past three years, he has co-hosted a weekly TV show on CNBC Africa. Toby was named in GQ’s top 30 men in media; the Mail & Guardian newspaper’s 300 influential young South Africans list; and has won the ICT Journalist of the Year.
– Eric McGee: Risk Advisory Africa Leader for Cyber at Deloitte
Eric holds a B.Eng in Electronics (Hons) from the University of Pretoria. He started his career as a micro-electronics integrated circuit designer, embedded system developer, and later, project manager. Eric recently joined Deloitte as an associate director in the cyber practice. He started in the cyber security industry in 1998, joining the BCX Group at Nanoteq, moving on to BCX Networks in 2004 where he helped start the Information Security Competency. In 2014 he became the managing executive for the Communications and Security Business Unit at BCX, looking after cybersecurity and network-managed services.
– Lars Jeppeson: Co-Founder and CEO of Tech One Global and Enadoc
Lars is an IT entrepreneur and business adventurer in the field of tech. He has specialist knowledge in groundbreaking technologies, leading the way in digital transformation, blockchain chatbot, ECM, content services’ platform, social media, and workflow automation – among many others.
Speakers will cover the following topics:
· Turbocharging productivity: what automation, machine learning and AI can do for your business
· Cybersecurity for the distributed, hyper-connected workplace
· How Cloud computing & SaaS can help African enterprises futureproof their business model
· Digital transformation and the distributed enterprise
· Empowering the workforce to harness IoT and Big Data Analytics
This is a rare opportunity for business owners, policy makers and senior management – across the spectrum – to engage with Africa’s biggest innovators on business-critical issues, all free of charge. The Future of Work Virtual Conference is held in partnership with CNBC Africa and Forbes Africa, with event sponsors Vodacom, Fortinet, and Rockwell Automation.
Space is limited, so register now for this free-of-charge virtual conference at https://www.cnbcafrica.com/future-of-work/. For more information follow @cnbcafrica for more updates.
