During the first annual CIO Awards on 15 November 2023, the CIO community will celebrate excellence in IT leadership.
Nominations have opened (click here to nominate now) for the first ever CIO Awards. During an exquisite gala dinner on 15 November 2023 at The Polo Room at the Inanda Club in Johannesburg, the CIO of the Year will be announced, along with nine other winners of prestigious awards.
IT executives who have shown exemplary skills, vision and results can be nominated. Once they accept the nomination, a thorough interview will take place with the panel of judges, comprising of extremely seasoned specialists, business and IT leaders.
The judges for the 2023 CIO Awards are:
- Glen Krynauw, CIO Programme Leader, Deloitte
- Gys Kappers, Chairman, Wyzetalk
- Jon Foster-Pedley, Dean, Henley Business School
- Kholiwe Makhohliso, VP & Country MD, Software AG
- Lauren Berrington, Chief Audit Officer, Bidvest
- Lethabo Mokone, CEO, Makwa IT
- Mark Kathan, CEO, AECI Mining
- Matimba Mbungela, CHRO, Vodacom
- Stephen van Coller, CEO, EOH
- Storme McDonald, COO, RMB
- Tendayi Viki, Associate Partner, Strategyzer
- Thuto Masasa, Head of Advisory, BDO
- Valda Gossman, former Group Chief Digital and Information Officer, AngloGold Ashanti
- Zuko Mdwaba, Area Vice President, Salesforce
“The launch of the CIO Awards is extremely exciting,” says Joël Roerig, MD of CIO South Africa, the organisation that puts the event together. “The black-tie dinner on 15 November will be the Oscars of IT: an unforgettable night of glitz, glamour, fantastic food and essential networking. At the same time, the ten awards will go a long way to shine a light on the world-class excellence that has come to typify South Africa’s best IT leaders.”
A special CIO Awards website has been launched and sponsors like Deloitte, EOH, Makwa IT and Workday have already committed their support, with many other corporates and organisations lining up to partner with the event, signaling the importance of IT leadership.
Nomahlubi Sonjica, community manager of CIO South Africa, adds:, “The best CIOs are no longer leading IT departments that provide back-office support to businesses and organisations. They are business partners to CEOs and boards, playing a pivotal role in the development and execution of strategy, digital transformation, cybersecurity and smart use of data – future-proofing their organisations.”
The comprehensive and rigorous awards process is inspired by the success of the CFO Awards, which has grown into the Oscars of Finance since its launch in 2014. Judges base their scores on a dossier and a two-hour interview in which each nominee has a chance to highlight successes in the various aspects of IT leadership.
The awards being handed out at the inaugural CIO Awards are:
- CIO of the Year
- Public Sector CIO of the Year
- Young CIO of the Year
- Strategy & Leadership Award
- Digital Innovation Award
- Smart Data Award
- IT Project of the Year
- Cybersecurity Award
- High-Performance Team Award
- Tech Entrepreneur of the Year
