CSSA presents IT Personality and Visionary awards 2008

MARDIA van der Walt" rel=tag>van der Walt-Korsten, CEO of T-Systems South Africa, and Rabelani Dagada, manager of the ICT and knowledge management division of the Royal Bafokeng Administration, have been named this year`s IT Personality and IT Visionary at an awards ceremony in Johannesburg.

Now in its 30th year, the IT Personality of the Year award, presented by the Computer Society of South Africa (CSSA) at the President`s Annual Awards banquet, recognises an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the industry in the past 12 months.

Consensus among the panel of judges this year was that Van der Walt-Korsten has moved T-Systems in South Africa to a tier one position by creating a dream that the company`s employees identify with, enabling them to own their contribution to problem solving and achieving goals.

Her human resources background has given her a truly refreshing perspective on the role of the CEO in a technology company, as she focuses on the "soul of the enterprise", engendering loyalty in both clients and staff.

"The people we look for and who are employed at T-Systems are those who strive for excellence and are willing to execute on their promises. It`s important to always own your problem, to drive goals tenaciously and to develop a culture that people want to adopt  it takes years to embed a culture," she points out. Her personal leadership style is reflected in her practical, action-oriented approach, emphasising positive outcomes and sharing positive outcomes.

The new ICT Visionary award aims to recognise an executive in an ICT user environment, who has shown exceptional foresight and helped transform business by implementing or adopting leading-edge technology.

The judges felt that Dagada has a clear and passionate vision of what ICT can do for the betterment of the rural communities and the country at large. They noted: "Freely sharing with others the knowledge he has accumulated underscores his personal commitment to this vision. Successes already achieved to date within the Royal Bafokeng community are remarkable and the likelihood that they can be replicated in other communities is promising."

PANEL SELECTION

Based on the public votes, in combination with research and analysis that took into account professional achievement, leadership qualities and social responsibility involvement, the judges selected the top five finalists for the IT Personality award and the top three finalists for the ICT Visionary award.

This year, the IT Personality of the Year and ICT Visionary 2008 awards were presented by the Computer Society of South Africa (CSSA), in association with ITWeb, Gartner Africa and the Gordon Institute of Business Science.