Johannesburg - The Information Technology Association - which recently celebrated its 80th birthday - is welcoming delegates to the third AfICTA summit, the first to be hosted in SA.
The summit, hosted by the Africa Information & Communication Technologies Alliance, will take place from Tuesday to Thursday in Johannesburg. It aims to bring together business, government and ICT professionals across Africa with the focus of fostering ICTs adoption in all segments of African life; be it in arts, entertainment, tourism, business, governance, health care, exploration, education, research, elections, sports, agriculture or mining.
ITA president Sunil Geness says the summit will tackle issues around how digital leaders will respond to the challenge of the digital future.
“In the age of the internet, Africa’s digital story has only just begun. How we as leaders respond to the challenge of our digital future will determine our continent’s ability to develop and prosper.”
AfICTA hopes that the adoption of ICT will effect change in every field from art, health care and business, to tourism and education.
The summit’s mission is to find innovative ways of moving the continent with appropriate policies, profitable investment and good governance using ICT.
Jimson Olufuye, AfICTA chairman, has championed the need for Africans to transform lives, create wealth and accelerate development on the continent.
Olufuye is one of the summit’s speakers, and will be joined by Adrian Schofield, vice-chair of AfICTA; Ulandi Exner, President of the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa and Lawrence Kandaswami of SAP Africa.
On the first day AfICTA members will evaluate their progress over the last three years and set the alliance's strategy for the future, electing the officers who will pursue the agreed goals.
The third summit seeks to unite southern Africa with the West and North of Africa who have pledged their support for the Smart Africa agenda pioneered by Rwanda President Paul Kagame and supported by the President of Egypt, President El-sisi.
The summit aims to create and enhance partnerships that can accelerate ICT-enabled development through increased broadband access, apps that promote wealth creation, and governance that is geared towards improving the lives of Africans.
A gala dinner will be held on September 2 for delegates and the media.
IOL, adapted from a press release.