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ISSUE NO 78 JOBS, PEOPLE, EVENTS...

PEOPLE & JOBS

* Survivors in SA’s industry shared success secrets in a seminar at this week’s Highway Africa conference at Rhodes University, Grahamstown. ITWeb CEO Jovan Regasek says that after five years of doing business in the internet, he has a good idea of what works and what does not: "The most important lesson is to find a business model that is unique and difficult to replicate." While traditional print media continue to rely on advertising and copy sales for revenue, online companies face different challenges. "Advertising revenue is a false hope." ACNielsen adspend figures for the first six months of this year put SA’s internet advertising at R21600 0,5% of the R4,3m spent on advertising.

One of the reasons online advertising has failed, says Regasek, is users’ false expectations: they expect online media to deliver different things from offline media. Overcharging is another reason, with clients "being ripped off by those who want to grab whatever they can". He says the measurability of online advertising contributed to its failure, with advertisers concentrating on the small portion of ad efficiency that could be measured, instead of on brand impact.

* At the opening of the Virtual Newsroom project, a British Council sponsored programme linking four African countries on the Internet through female journalists and activists, Ghanaian minister of Child and Women Affairs Gladys Asima has said that women in Africa should be empowered and encouraged to chart their own destiny. Terrence Humphrey the Programme Officer, British Council (Ghana) said the importance of such training is to make some positive change in society. "The Internet technology is moving so fast and we need to work hard and catch up. The importance of the virtual newsroom is to keep on working together around the world," he said.

* The third annual Forge Ahead BMI-T Black ICT Achievers Awards ceremony will be held at Caesars Gauteng on 10 November. Previous Black ICT Achievers nominee Kagbo Badimo, EDS director of the Government Global Industry Group, points out: ³Black companies are still unable to penetrate certain markets or raise capital. Big corporates often exploit this fact, using the black companies as a Œfront’ to secure projects intended for black economic empowerment companies.

"This may mean a lot of money to the owners or directors of black companies, but it does little for real empowerment in terms of skills and technology transfers. All it does is fill the pockets of the new black Œfat cats’." Badimo says there is widespread criticism of these 'fat cats’, who are seen as sell-outs to the principles of Ubuntu.

* Once the economy recovers, the IT industry will return to the cyclical nature it experienced before the over-investment cycle of the past two years, says Datatec CE Jens Montanana.

DEAD TREES REVIEW : BRIDGING THE ORGANIZATIONAL DIVIDE

"Bridging the Organizational Divide: Toward a Comprehensive Approach to the Digital Divide" is a new PolicyLink report reviewing the innovative uses of information technology (IT) to promote equity and strengthen community institutions. The report highlights pioneer community organizations, community technology centers, and technical assistance groups, each using IT to enhance community building efforts. The wisdom and experience of these practitioners points the way to a comprehensive community technology policy agenda, one that includes: 1) promotion of universal access and training; 2) technology capacity building for community based organizations; 3) creation of community-driven content; and 4) development of community-focused IT applications.

The report is available at www.policylink.org/publications.html or contact PolicyLink for copies.

EVENTS

AITEC AND eTHINK TANZANIA CONFERENCE (28 SEPTEMBER 2001)

African IT Exhibitions and Conferences (AITEC) will be holding its Tanzania 2001 Exhibition at the Royal Palm Hotel from Thursday 27^th September through to Saturday 29^th September 2001 inclusive. To enhance this event AITEC in conjunction with eThink Tank Tanzania is hosting a cutting-edge Conference on Friday 28^th September 2001, also at the Royal Palm. Speakers will include: Anthony Perez, Managing Director, Knowledge Management Solutions; Dr Jonathan Miller, Miller Esselaar & Associates on theInternational Computer Driving Licence; Vipul Shah, Managing Director, PC Solutions on Computer Viruses; Professor Beda Mutaghywa, Director, Computing Centre University of Dar es Salaam onTanzania’s Smart Card Project; Dr Eng. Zaipuna Yonah, Managing Director on Simunet’s internet backbone, Allen Citta, Oracle Corporation and Murtaza Bhaiji, Micronix Systems Broad Band Networks.

Please contact Simbo.Ntiro@eThinkTankTz.org or David.Sawe@eThinkTankTz.org for further details

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