Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 32 | Page 29

A PUBLICATION Providing Unparalleled Technology Intelligence ISSUE 32 // www.intelligentcio.com Next-gen Wi-Fi How firms can use Wi-Fi 6 guidelines to enhance business operations Digital potential Expert on how Africa can take a lead in the digital economy Site-sharing success Ooredoo Tunisia executes solution using a CommScope low-loss combiner EDITOR’S NOTE H ello and welcome to the latest edition of Intelligent CIO Africa. This month’s front cover features Kamal Pillay, the Chief Information and Technology Officer at SANParks, a body responsible for managing South Africa’s National Parks. One of the biggest issues in the region is connectivity, meaning that some service providers do not want to invest in infrastructure. Overcoming that is one of the challenges that Pillay is faced with, especially as he wants to ensure that customers have a seamless experience when visiting one of the parks. He tells us how he is aiming to modernise the infrastructure and how his vision is to have all the parks fully connected and become ‘smart parks’. Talking about connectivity, the World Broadband Alliance (WBA) has released a white paper that provides deployment guidelines for a number of possible scenarios utilising Wi-Fi 6 technologies. With this in mind, Jacques Visser, Head of Wireless at Vox, says South African companies should familiarise themselves www.intelligentcio.com with it, and the ways in which they can use it to enhance their business operations. Elsewhere in our Wi-Fi deployment feature, Riaan Graham, Sales Director for Ruckus Networks (now part of CommScope via acquisition) Sub-Saharan Africa, explains how Wi-Fi is currently connecting millions of people in Africa and represents one of the most expedient and cost-effective ways to increase both capacity and coverage. Our second feature is on skills and training and how it is crucial to economic success, especially in Africa. Michael Shapiro, CEO at Synthesis, goes into more detail about this, while we also hear from Ime Archibong, Vice President, Product Partnerships at Facebook, who says how Africa can, and will, one day lead in the digital economy. He adds that adoption of social media, mobile phones and mobile money are enabling Africa and its youth to leapfrog to the next wave of digital technology. In Country Focus, you can find out how Ooredoo Tunisia executed a successful trial using a CommScope 900 MHz low-loss combiner (LLC) for site sharing between Ooredoo and another carrier, swapping out Smart vision Kamal Pillay, Chief Information and Technology Officer of SANParks, tells us how he wants to transform all of his national parks into fully connected ‘smart parks’. Intelligent Data Protection Partner Global ICIO Knowledge Partner Intelligent Data Security Partner Global Innovation Partner Intelligent Supporting Partner Intelligent ITSM Partner Intelligent Threat Management Partner Intelligent Banking & Finance Partner Intelligent Education Partner a hybrid 3 dB combiner with the LLC 900 unit, while in Industry Watch, we focus on Trackmatic and how it aims to empower clients with the ability to measure the right metrics and deliverables across inbound and outbound logistics. The company’s CEO, David Slotow, also talks about how the real value of data doesn’t lie in its volume, but in the threads that are pulled to untangle potential. To round off the magazine, we ‘get to know’ Yolanda Smit, Regional Director (Gauteng) at PBT Group, who provides a detailed analysis of her career and what makes her tick, while in Final Word, leading experts provide their tips on how to safeguard your data following the ransomware attack on City Power. I hope you enjoy the read, and if you would like to contribute towards further editions, please email me at: paul@lynchpinmedia.co.uk Paul Rodgers Editor INTELLIGENTCIO 29