The CIO Council of South Africa aims to collaboratively build the railroad tracks that will carry CIOs into the next era of technology and business. The Council enables like-minded IT leaders from across various verticals and public sector institutions to converge on a single platform and share knowledge. Board member of the CIO Council, Mandla Mkhwanazi, says the council addresses topical issues affecting technology leaders. The most recent of these was the incoming POPI Act, where various legal experts consulted to the forum, which then developed approaches to ensure CIOs comply with the legislation.
Mkhwanazi, who holds the position of Chief Process Officer at Transnet, as well as being involved in other industry-wide technology bodies, sees similar challenges across every industry. "What we have realised is that CIOs - whatever the industry in which they operate - could benefit from similar best practices," he says, noting that the body of work around POPI was illustrative of that.
Today's governance requirements, such as those described in the King III Report, essentially elevate an organisation's technology systems to a board-level responsibility - something Mkhwanazi refers to as 'the professionalisation of the CIO's role'. The CIO Council aims to contribute to that professionalisation, by focusing on peer-learning and the mentorship of superstar CIOs-in-the-making.
First published in the May 2014 issue of ITWeb Brainstorm magazine.
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