Sponsored Keynote Speech Delivered by Mr. Tony Parry, the CEO IITPSA-Institute of IT Professionals South Africa at the 10th AfICTA Summit
Protocols
This time, 3 years ago. No one could really afford seen the disruption that lay ahead for countries and economies around the world, including those on the continent of Africa, for many the Covid Pandemic caused losses and Particular hardship, but yeah, we are still standing and forging ahead into a new world of working business. We know that AfICTA celebrates its tenth Anniversary this year, and as an early supporting member of the Alliance, IITPSA offers our sincere congratulations and best wishes for its continued growth and impact going forward.
As a recognized South African ICT professional body celebrating our own 65th anniversary of existence this year, IITPSA believes, resilience and adaptability are the key characteristics of the ICT sector in whichever geography we may be. In this spirits of the Theme of the summit "Fostering a New Paradigm", it is imperative that Organizations adapt, grow and often change repeatedly to align with changes in the environment. Our own institute IITPSA was born as the Computer Society of South Africa, Or CSSA, 65 years ago, and we rebranded ourselves as the Institute of Information Technology Professionals, South Africa in April, 2013, placing more emphasis on our focus on leading ICT Professionalism and digital transmission.
Back in 1957 when the then Computer Society of South America was founded, Fortran was brand new, Cobalt was only introduced 2 years later and the first computer chip was a work in progress. It's unlikely that our only members could have foreseen the computing innovations that would follow and how they would change the world. The ITPSA was there at the dawn of PC and Internet revolutions in the early 1980s, when the first IBM Personal Computer emerged. Arpanet and the defense data network changed to the TCP IP Standard, and Microsoft released its first version of Windows. Our members witnessed the birth of the first Web-browser, the granting of the top data address to South Africa, and the First Internet Connection to the Country, the Magnificent 9.6kb per second link in the early 1990s, we've seen the arrival of Email, the launches of GSM, that's the Global System for Mobile Communication, the first mobile phones and the landing of undersea Cables on the continent.
Over the years we have stepped up our skills development and Professional Development Initiatives, launching in the late 1990s, the South African Computing, Olympiads and later the Talent Search for Learners and Students originally as Projects of the Institute We have more recently incorporated them as part of our mainstream activities. Additionally, IITPSA has been initiating new Special Interest Groups and events, conducting dozens of Webinars, online discussions, and partnering with leading Industry Conferences where our Members Could Network and Enhance their knowledge.
As organizations take professional ethics more seriously, which can only be for the benefit of both our profession, our country, and indeed the continent, the IITPSA has launched our own new code of ethics, this new code aligns with the changing times and the industry standard set by the International Federation for Information Processing and the American Association of Computing, Machinery, ACM. No Man or Woman is an island unto himself or herself, and neither is an Organization. The IITPSA believes it is how we position ourselves in our community, our economy, and the broadest societal context, that will make the difference. This is extremely pertinent also in respect of our membership, support and involvement with AfICTA, and that we, in other words, all the members collectively addressed upgrading ICT needs on the Continent of Africa.
As this summit meets over the rest of today, and tomorrow and focuses on the theme of "Fostering, a New Paradigm in the African digital Future, IITPSA wishes all speakers and participants an impactful, productive and fruitful 2 days. With our desire to see a special focus on how we grow enhance and address the digital literacy and digital skills needs of our individual countries and the African continent as a whole, as relevant digital skills development is very close to our own hearts. Best wishes for the rest of the Summit, and thank you for your attention.
