TIYANI NGHONYAMA IS IT PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
THE INSTITUTE of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) has named Geekulcha chief operating officer Tiyani Nghonyama as the IT Personality of the Year, and Alexander Forbes Group chief information officer (CIO) Sandra la Bella as the Visionary CIO for 2019. In the past, the award has been conferred on some of the leading technology leaders in corporate South Africa. Nghonyama is a qualified computer systems engineer who serves on the advisory committees of the Tshwane University of Technology and the Vaal University of Technology for Computer Science. Since 2014, he has worked with the University of South Africa in open-source initiatives. He also championed hackathons, where young people get together to work on technology challenges. In 2015, he created the Geekulcha Student Society programme at Sol Plaatje University, and this programme has now spread to 17 campuses in five provinces. He also spearheaded the creation of the Future GeekStars programme to equip youngsters with the right skills for the ICT industry, as well as the Geekulcha Vacation Work programme, which benefits 1 440 learners.