Global networking giant Cisco has appointed Johannesburg-based David Mphelo as Cisco SA executive director of public sector business.

The position will see him setting the company’s public sector strategy and driving its implementation.

Mphelo will be responsible for ensuring Cisco has an in-depth understanding of government’s needs and that the company is aligned with SA’s key priority areas.

Cisco has a role to play across government’s five key challenges, says Mphelo, including education, health, creating decent work, the fight against crime, and rural development. He believes the company can help government achieve its self-set goal of making broadband available to all citizens by 2020.

Mphelo’s experience lies in developing and implementing competitive marketing and sales strategies to drive business growth. Cisco says he is “a leader and teamwork consultant with an impeccable understanding of technology’s impact on business strategy, opportunity generation and sustainable growth”.

Mphelo’s career has spanned various sectors, including banking, mining, government, telecommunications, fast-moving consumer goods, security, retail and petroleum. His past roles include software development, systems engineering and architecture, business analysis, project management, account management and business development, at companies such as HP, Microsoft, Unisys and Avanade.

Mphelo holds a Bachelor of Computer Science degree from the University of the North, a Bachelor of Computer Science honours degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, and he has completed the Harvard Business School’s Senior Executive Programme.

In his new role, says Mphelo, he will seek to help the public sector reach “new levels of efficiency, productivity and success”.