Finalists Announced For 2024 Iitpsa President's Awards

IITPSA president Pearl Pasi says Were pleased to note that we have yet another outstanding cohort of nominees, which made the selection of finalists a challenge for our judges. This years theme is Celebrating leaders in ethical digital transformation and we believe all our finalists fit the bill.

The awards recognise leaders in the ICT sector and have grown in scope over 30 years to include awards presented by the IITPSA, in association with ITWeb and the Gordon Institute of Business Science, for

• IT Personality of the Year awarded to a highly respected and outstanding ICT professional who has made a significant technical or academic contribution to the industry, and has been successful in building a highly respected IT organisation or business, and/or has made a major contribution to the IT profession over a number of years
• Visionary CIO of the Year recognising a personality on the other side of the IT vendor and service provider sector an executive in the corporate IT environment who has demonstrated visionary leadership in applying technology to grow and transform business
• Technology Excellence presented to a person who or team that has made exceptional or innovative use of technology for an organisation and/or who has exhibited technological excellence that has delivered measurable benefit for business or the South African economy
• Social Responsibility/Community acknowledges a person, team or project delivering the benefits of IT on a not-for-profit basis into communities or bringing communities into the IT space
• Dynamism in ICT Youth for people under the age of 25 who have demonstrated exceptional potential or achievement in ICT over the past two to five years

In addition, the Distinguished Service in ICT Award is presented in association with EngineerIT as well as the IITPSAs new Member Ambassador Award introduced this year to recognise exceptional commitment and effort by an IITPSA member serving as an ambassador of the IITPSA.

The 2024 finalists are

• IT Personality of the Year
  • Joseph Lumbahe, senior AI technology specialist at Microsoft. Now part of the new global AI specialised team in South Africa, focusing on AI application development, he served as global manager and lead AI engineer at Aizatron Group. His leadership roles include regional ambassador for the South African AI Association and non-executive board director at AEEYC. His accolades include the Most Influential AI Technology Business Leader Africa Award, African Genius 2024 nominee and finalist for the IITPSA 2023 Technology Excellence Award.
• Zandile Mkwanazi, founder and CEO of GirlCode. Having empowered over 80 000 girls and women through technology education, bridging the gender gap in South Africa, she also founded the GirlCode Talent tech recruitment startup. Recognised for her impact, Mkwanazi has been honoured with several prestigious awards and is a sought-after keynote speaker. With a proven track record of success, she is a powerful advocate for diversity and inclusion.
• Cinga Nyangintsimbi, founder and MD of Batsamayi Software Development. Batsamayi was established as a third-year group project during Nyangintsimbi's student days at Nelson Mandela University in 2013. He later became a student assistant and lecturer of final-year IT students. Batsamayi grew out of a dream by six young software engineers EL1 to a 50-strong team serving international clients.
• Malini Bandi, founder and CEO of CestaSoft Solutions. As an accomplished entrepreneur and technology leader, Bandi spent 15 years in fintech, healthcare, insurance, telecoms, retail and media before establishing CestaSoft Solutions now a leader in the digital transformation space. She also founded Cesta Academy, which promotes graduates in professional software specialisation. Her accolades include an award from the Consulate General of India in Johannesburg, the Olympus Award for dedication to empowerment and the Women in Tech Award.
• Rashika Ramlal, country manager public sector and executive director at Amazon Web Services South Africa . With over two decades of senior leadership expertise across large and multinational organisations, Ramlal has been listed among Africas most inspirational leaders and one of South Africas top five leaders in ICT. She has won the ITWeb /Wired4Women Business Leader of the Year Award and the TopCo Medias AfricaTech Visionary Women Leader of the Year accolade. She holds MBA and BSc IT degrees both cum laude, among other qualifications.