Speakers
Below is the current line-up of speakers.
Associate Professor Ntsibane Nhlatlapa
Dr. Ntsibane Ntlatlapa is a LINK Centre Associate Professor and serves as Managing Editor of the Centre's accredited, open access, peer-reviewed journal, The African Journal of Information and Communication (AJIC). Prior to joining LINK, Ntlatlapa served as Centre Head of the Centre for the 4th Industrial Revolution South Africa (C4IRSA) at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), after a period as the CSIR's Competency Area Manager for NextGen Enterprises and Institutions.
Ntlatlapa holds a PhD in Computer Science (graduated 1999) from Auburn University in the US, and has 25 years of post-doctoral research experience in research and technology development. At the international level, he served as the Vice-Chairperson of the International Telecommunication Union's ITU-T Multimedia Study Group (Study Group 16) for a three-year period.
As a university academic, Ntlatlapa has extensive experience in teaching, supervision, and curriculum development through positions held in Lesotho, Nigeria, the US, and South Africa. At the LINK Centre, he lectures on the Master of Arts in ICT Policy and Regulation (MA ICTPR), participates in postgraduate student supervision, and leads LINK partnership with the ITU for delivery of ITU Academy short courses.
Ntlatlapa holds a PhD in Computer Science (graduated 1999) from Auburn University in the US, and has 25 years of post-doctoral research experience in research and technology development. At the international level, he served as the Vice-Chairperson of the International Telecommunication Union's ITU-T Multimedia Study Group (Study Group 16) for a three-year period.
As a university academic, Ntlatlapa has extensive experience in teaching, supervision, and curriculum development through positions held in Lesotho, Nigeria, the US, and South Africa. At the LINK Centre, he lectures on the Master of Arts in ICT Policy and Regulation (MA ICTPR), participates in postgraduate student supervision, and leads LINK partnership with the ITU for delivery of ITU Academy short courses.
Associate Professor Lucine Abrahams
LINK Director Dr. Lucienne Abrahams specialises in matters of digital innovation and digital transformation in African economies and societies. Her current research projects focus on innovation in South African tech hubs (for the Open African Innovation Research Partnership (Open AIR)), and health e-services improvement (via an Egypt-South Africa research partnership). Earlier research looked at the electronic communications environment in the Southern African Development Community (SADC); a universal access and service strategy for Namibia; an e-government monitoring and evaluation framework and provincial innovation strategy for the Gauteng Provincial Government; a broadband strategy statement for the City of Johannesburg; and knowledge economy input papers for the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Governments.
Abrahams is Corresponding Editor of the accredited, open access, peer-reviewed LINK Centre journal, The African Journal of Information and Communication (AJIC), and convenes, teaches on, and supervises student research for, three Wits postgraduate degree programmes: the MA in the field of ICT Policy and Regulation (MA ICTPR); the MA (by dissertation) in Interdisciplinary Digital Knowledge Economy Studies; and the PhD in Interdisciplinary Digital Knowledge Economy Studies.
In addition to her university-based work, Abrahams has served a 10-year term as Council Member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI), a 10-year term as Board Member of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), and terms on the boards of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), the National Research Foundation (NRF), and the Council on Higher Education (CHE). She also contributed as a member of the Ministerial Review Panel on the Science Technology and Innovation Institutional Landscape (2015-2017).
Abrahams is Corresponding Editor of the accredited, open access, peer-reviewed LINK Centre journal, The African Journal of Information and Communication (AJIC), and convenes, teaches on, and supervises student research for, three Wits postgraduate degree programmes: the MA in the field of ICT Policy and Regulation (MA ICTPR); the MA (by dissertation) in Interdisciplinary Digital Knowledge Economy Studies; and the PhD in Interdisciplinary Digital Knowledge Economy Studies.
In addition to her university-based work, Abrahams has served a 10-year term as Council Member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI), a 10-year term as Board Member of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), and terms on the boards of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), the National Research Foundation (NRF), and the Council on Higher Education (CHE). She also contributed as a member of the Ministerial Review Panel on the Science Technology and Innovation Institutional Landscape (2015-2017).