GET TO KNOW
the national governments.
Others are a matter of
planning, training and
knowledge exchange. I would
say that when the topics
of complex technological
development are considered
it is better to think of that
as a long-term process and
investment in the future.
What changes to your job
role have you seen in the
last year and how do you
see these developing in
the next 12 months?
to change the way we are living. Smart
homes, integration of applications, cars
that are communicating with us, content on
demand, life streaming – all these features
are available to us due to the ‘invisible’ for
us technologies that supports them. and I am happy to be part of a company
that makes this possible.
How do you deal with stress and
unwind outside the office? The implementation of new technologies
is normally related to challenges. When
a technology is new, that is already a
prerequisite for unexpected developments.
Any new technology that is about to
be deployed will require new skills, new
approaches, understanding of its specifics,
training, knowledge and transfer. To bring
complex technological solutions to life is
also related with compliances, integration
of systems and other strictly technological
processes that are taking place as well as
with legislation frame alignment. When it
comes to Africa, maybe there are three main
challenges I should outline.
Chilling with the family. We try and do
one major vacation a year otherwise our
activities are spontaneous. I am also still a
novice golfer and I a musician that does the
odd small gigs.
If you could go back and change one
career decision what would it be?
I would have opted for more international
stints much earlier in my career, purely for
the experience and exposure.
What do you currently identify as
the major areas of investment in
your industry?
As mentioned, there are distinctive
trends – IoT, 5G, Artificial Intelligence and
Augmented Reality. All those areas are part
of a major shift in the way we work and
live that is only possible because we have
reached a certain scientific and technological
level. Establishing the network infrastructure
to be able to facilitate these developments
is a key focus currently – especially in Africa
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INTELLIGENTCIO
What are the region-specific
challenges when implementing new
technologies in Africa?
• Regulatory frameworks are quite slow in
certain African countries holding back
investment in technology deployment
• Huge disparity in the availability of skills
across the different countries
• Africa is often at the tail end of
investment decisions and hence financing
for capital intensive technology projects is
often a huge challenge
Some of the challenges are circumstantial
and they provide ground for top-end
collaborations on a national level with
Our work environment is
becoming more virtual, more
global and more flexible. Unless
you are in a work environment
where it is the absolute nature
of your role, the days of the 9 to
5 office bound workers are fast coming to an
end. The workforce teams are also becoming
increasing global in nature, with virtual team
members spread across the world.
What advice would you offer
somebody aspiring to obtain a
C-level position in your industry?
Be patient – work hard, have hunger to learn,
focus on consistent above average delivery,
and at the right time, you would naturally
get there. n
“
TODAY, WE ARE
DEALING WITH
A COMPLETELY
DIFFERENT
BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT
AND TECHNOLOGY
IS A KEY ELEMENT
OF IT.
www.intelligentcio.com