Persetel’s Roux Marnitz, Altron’s Bill Venter, Vodacom’s Alan Knott-Craig and Datatec’s Jens Montanana are all undisputed business legends in South Africa’s ICT industry. The four – all now retired except for Datatec CEO Montanana – are the subject of episode 2 of TechCentral’s new fortnightly technology show, TCS Legends. This episode, the second part of an opening double header, features insights from investing legend Duarte da Silva about the four businessmen who had an outsized impact of the technology sector in South Africa. The show, the latest from TechCentral — the home of real technology journalism in South Africa –showcases people who achieved great things in (and for) the local tech sector. In episode 1 of TCS Legends, Da Silva – a well-known industry figure who was once the country’s top IT analyst (at Merrill Lynch) and who founded Macquarie First South – unpacked the Dimension Data story, with a focus on former CEO Jeremy Ord. Find that episode at techcentral.co.za.

Protecting sensitive company information through data loss prevention (DLP) tools has become paramount for many organisations. But doing so without impacting employee productivity can be a big challenge. In this episode of TCS+, Next DLP executives Chris Denbigh-White (chief security officer) and Fallon Steyn (regional sales manager, South Africa) are joined by their customer, LRMG, to discuss this crucial topic in greater detail. LRMG’s information security officer, Nadia Veeran-Patel, unpacks how the company has used Next DLP’s technology to secure its data while ensuring workflows aren’t impacted and productivity isn’t affected. In the episode, Veeran-Patel kicks off the discussion with an overview of LRMG’s areas of focus and why they decided to engage the services of Next DLP. Denbigh-White and Steyn discuss the critical challenge of how best to harmonise user-satisfaction with securing sensitive company data, all without compromising operational efficiency. Steyn delves into a recently published piece on how Next DLP’s Reveal platform helps chief information security officers focus on their priority areas: visibility to risk, information governance and auditability. The conversation rounds off with a discussion on the positive changes LRMG has seen since implementing its information rights management programme with Next DLP and how employees have responded to the changes. If you’re in any way involved in securing your company’s data, don’t miss this important and insightful discussion.

South Africa has a new data consultancy. Called Calybre, it’s headed by CEO Alexa Bisschops and is positioned as “the best partner for any company’s data people”. Bisschops joins TechCentral’s TCS+ show to chat about the launch of the company, its co-founders and their backgrounds, and why the company believes the market is ripe for the launch of a “next-generation consultancy”. In the interview, Bisschops unpacks: • The background to Calybre and its market positioning; • What a next-generation consulting company does exactly, and what makes it different to traditional technology consulting firms; • The plans for Calybre’s growth in 2024 and beyond; • How Calybre works with technology companies; • What a typical client engagement looks like; • The impact of artificial intelligence in the consulting space; and • Much more besides. Don’t miss this insightful discussion about an exciting new player in the local – and global – data consultancy market.

Well-known investor and businessman Duarte da Silva joins TCS Legends to discuss Jeremy Ord, Roux Marnitz, Alan Knott-Craig, Jens Montanana and Bill Venter. -- Well-known investor and businessman Duarte da Silva is the guest in the inaugural episode of TechCentral’s TCS Legends, a new video podcast series focused on legendary figures who helped shape South Africa’s technology industry. A two-part scene setter for the rest of the limited series, Da Silva – who knows many of the individuals who built businesses in the country’s tech space after 1994 – shares his insights into the (often colourful) characters who helped define the country’s ICT sector into what it is today. TCS Legends, which is powered by Mitel, has a great line-up of guests secured over the coming months. But in episode 1 – the first of a double header with Da Silva – we delve into the people, the deals and sometimes the scandal that helped define an industry. Da Silva, an avid investor who serves on a number of company boards, is a former director of Merrill Lynch – where his hefty analyst reports on JSE-listed tech companies in the 1990s had company CEOs lapping up his insights, and more than a little fearful about what he might write about them. He also founded Macquarie First South, among other enterprising ventures, and possesses encyclopaedic knowledge of business in South Africa. A legend in his own right, Da Silva shares often-amusing tales of deals (some of which went horribly wrong), corporate shenanigans and plenty more besides with TCS Legends. In the show, he chats about many people and companies, but the primary focus is on five individuals: • Jeremy Ord at Dimension Data (now NTT Data) • Roux Marnitz at Persetel (now BCX) • Bill Venter at Altron • Jens Montanana at Datatec • Alan Knott-Craig at Vodacom The show is hosted by TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod, who said of the interview with Da Silva: “If you are, or have ever been, involved in South Africa’s IT industry, this is one show you simply do not want to miss!” Part 2 of the interview with Da Silva will be published on Monday, 4 March 2024.

South African firm Hydrox Holdings has developed a new way of extracting hydrogen for use in cars and other applications that it believes will help usher in a new era of plentiful clean energy for the world. The company, based in Pretoria, has won a number of awards and other accolades for its patented intellectual property, which involves extracting hydrogen from water using a "membrane-less" electrolyser technology that it has developed and now patented globally. Corrie de Jager, the CEO and founder of Hydrox Holdings, joins the TechCentral Show to chat about the progress the company has made in recent years in developing the technology - and why he is now looking for investors to help commercialise it. De Jager, who has been working on the technology for more than two decades, claims the technology could help move the world to non-polluting and mass-scale hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars more quickly by dramatically reducing the cost of producing hydrogen gas from water. In this episode of TCS, he unpacks: * Where the idea to build a membrane-less electrolyser came from; * The proofs of concept the company has launched; * The hurdles that Hydrox's team has had to overcome while developing the technology; * The cost and production advantages of membrane-less electrolysers; * Why hydrogen could be the next big thing in the field of energy; * What's stopping the widespread adoption of hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars; and * Where Hydrox plans to take the technology and how it intends to commercialise it. Don't miss a fascinating interview about a potentially ground-breaking South African innovation.

TechCentral, the publisher of South Africa’s leading business technology podcasts, is thrilled to announce the launch of TCS Legends. The new show will feature interviews with (and about) some of the leading figures who helped shape South Africa’s technology industry into what it is today. As the show’s name implies, we’ll be interviewing leading figures who achieved great things in – and for – the tech sector in South Africa. From PCs to IT services and software to telecoms, TCS Legends features some of the leading figures in the industry over the last 30 years. With season 1 launching later in February, TCS Legends is a by-invitation-only, editorially driven tech show that builds on TechCentral’s credible, market-leading multimedia productions, including the TechCentral Show (TCS) and TCS+. TCS Legends is powered by Mitel. For all your unified communications and customer experience needs, visit Mitel.com.

Big changes are coming to the way companies build and manage their network infrastructure. This is a key discussion point in the latest episode of TechCentral’s TCS+ technology show, featuring subject matter experts from Dimension Data – soon to be NTT Data – and Cisco. NTT’s 2022/2023 Global Network Report found that 70% of CEOs surveyed indicated that a lack of network maturity was negatively impacting business delivery. But what’s the solution? To unpack that question in some detail, TCS+ spoke to four experts in the field: • Prashil Gareeb, vice president of MNCS, Dimension Data; • Paul Mende, director of managed networking product management, Dimension Data; • Adesh Baboolal, acting client partner director: managed services, NTT South Africa; and • Aadil Hassim, sales specialist for enterprise networking and software, Cisco South Africa. Gareeb kicks off the discussion on the brand changes taking place at Dimension Data – including the renaming of the company – and what they mean for the business and its clients. He also unpacks the longstanding relationship between both Cisco and Dimension Data and Cisco and the NTT Group. The panellists then unpack: • Why many companies have failed to pay sufficient attention to networking. Why is it important to get networking right in the modern cloud era? And what role does this play in digital transformation initiatives? • The advances in wireless networking compared to traditional cabled networks; • How Dimension Data – soon, NTT Data – can help companies with their network modernisation efforts, including a look at what Dimension Data offers the market in terms of managed network services through the NTT Spektra solution; • The relationship the Cisco and how the organisations are working together to solve customers’ problems; • The advantages – and potential pitfalls – of a network modernisation project, including a look the security considerations; and • The benefits of outsourcing network management. Don’t miss this insightful discussion!

Andile Ngcaba’s Convergence Partners last week announced it was buying storied South African IT services group Datacentrix from Alviva Holdings for an undisclosed sum. Datacentrix’s long-serving CEO, Ahmed Mahomed, joins the TechCentral Show (TCS) to discuss the acquisition, how it happened, why Alviva decided to sell and what the future holds for the company. In the show, Mahomed unpacks: • Datacentrix’s history, when it was founded, its JSE listing and the acquisition by Alviva; • The business’s key focus areas today; • What the Convergence Partners deal means for the future of Datacentrix; • How Datacentrix will work with Ngcaba; and • Whether the company might head back to the JSE at some point. Don’t miss the discussion!

As South Africa experiences tough economic times, employers and workforces alike can benefit from solutions like telemedicine. In a nutshell, telemedicine is the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients by using ICT. This allows an individual to seek a doctor’s advice about non-emergency situations that don’t require an in-person visit. In this episode of TechCentral’s TCS+, Guardian Eye AVA specialist Justine Pillay chats to host Brendan Haskins about this powerful new combination of technology and telemedicine that is set to shake up the way primary healthcare is handled in South Africa. The solution by Guardian Eye, dubbed “AVA”, is an innovative asynchronous internet-of-things medical device and telemedicine platform that is set to bring positive change to the local healthcare industry. According to Pillay, the AVA medical device, powered by IoT, is bridging a gap in the workplace by improving access to care, cutting costs and boosting efficiency in healthcare delivery for everyone involved. The offering is aimed at companies with more than 150 employees and is a first-to-market in Africa. Collecting vital data The AVA Guardian Eye link features remote monitoring of patients by gathering and saving all historical medical data and images, and other forms of communication, allowing healthcare providers to deliver care outside traditional in-person visits. In addition, by using the "Higo Pro” connected e-health care product, AVA can be used to collect vital data from an employee who is feeling unwell. These vitals are then sent to an online healthcare professional to make an initial assessment – generally within a waiting period of only 30 minutes. All medical exams are carried out by a nurse or a trained AVA “champion operator”, with data sent to a qualified doctor for a final diagnosis. If warranted, the doctor will give the employee a prescription for medication and a sick note they can send to the HR department. Benefits for all In this way, AVA saves the employee time by reducing travel and waiting-room times. They can also save money by receiving this unlimited access to a healthcare provider as a work-sponsored benefit, rather than having to pay for their doctors when needed. For employers, Guardian Eye’s AVA can keep digital healthcare records for all members of staff, and increase motivation and morale through the provision of a quality employer benefit. Productivity is also increased, and sick leave is reduced through the provision of onsite telemedicine. Don’t miss a fascinating discussion.

Kena Health took top honours at the recent MTN Business App of the Year Awards. Its chief technology officer, Pheello Maboea, tells the TechCentral Show (TCS) about the telehealth start-up’s journey so far. Founded by Saul Kornik in 2021, Kena Health aims to improve the reach of quality healthcare services by digitising access to primary healthcare professionals. The TCS interview, hosted by TechCentral’s Nkosinathi Ndlovu, delves into: • Barriers to telehealth adoption in South Africa and how new entrants are legitimising the industry; • The challenges of designing applications for two very distinct audiences – highly technical medical staff on one hand and vulnerable patients on the other; • How the company approaches talent retention and recruitment in what can be described as a seller’s market for technical skills; • How emergent technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence are going to disrupt healthcare provision; and • What winning the MTN Business App of the Year means for the start-up. Don’t miss a fascinating conversation on the future of healthcare.