The award was given for “Outstanding contribution in the field of information security and determination to instill a culture of e-safety through education.”
The President’s Awards, now in their 41st year, was themed NE><T, to celebrate the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the arrival of the next generation – Generation Z – in the workplace.
Cyber safety expert Professor Rossouw von Solms is the former Director of the Centre for Research in Information and Cyber Security at the Nelson Mandela University School of ICT. He has been active in the ICT field since 1982, when he was appointed as a lecturer at the then Port Elizabeth Technikon. He later headed the Department of Information Technology at the PE Technikon, helped establish the Technikon Computer Lecturers Association (TECLA) and served for many years on the Council of the South African Institute for Computer Scientists and Information Technologists (SAICSIT), winning a SAICSIT Pioneer Award for his role in promoting computer science and ICT as academic disciplines.
IITPSA CEO Tony Parry comments that it is encouraging to note that the 2019 IITPSA President’s Awards nominees and finalists had all been world-class, reflecting the overall high standards and innovation of the ICT profession in South Africa.
IITPSA president Thabo Mashegoane urges the sector to do more to empower the next generation to use technologies and enter the ICT profession, before the 4IR widened the gaps between haves and have-nots. “At IITPSA, we think the ICT sector is perfectly positioned to help South Africa transition into this brave new world. Our industry has the knowledge and resources to put the right technology tools into the hands of the next generation, allowing them to self-teach if necessary; and enabling them to start their own small businesses,” he says.
Professor von Solms (centre) receives his award.