Rabelani Dagada is a professor of practice in digital transformation at the University of Johannesburg’s Institute for Intelligent Systems. Prior to this, Dagada served as a lecturer at the Wits Business School for 10 years. While at WBS, he introduced a Programme on ICT Governance and Risk Management, and served as its founding director.

Dagada also has extensive experience in the private sector, where he held senior IT positions. He was the inaugural winner of 2008 ICT Visionary Award bestowed in 2008 by the IITPSA.

He holds master’s in educational computing (University of Johannesburg), masters of commerce in information systems (Wits) and a PhD in information systems (Unisa).

TechCentral asked Dagada to answer a few questions for its IT Leadership Series.

What does your organisation do?

The Institute for Intelligent Systems’ mandate is to enable the University of Johannesburg to lead Africa into the fourth Industrial Revolution. To fulfil this mandate, the ISS has three main facets: academic development, strategic research and enterprise development. We also have a metaverse unit.

What do you see as the IT leader’s top priorities in 2023?

Load shedding will continue, and this will have huge impact on IT infrastructure and services. IT leaders should encourage their organisations to have alternative sources of power, especially renewable energy. Organisations in South Africa will also tighten their cybersecurity.

If you able to go back and give your 18-year-old self one piece of advice, what would it be?

To pay more attention to mathematics at school, and to appreciate the importance of networking and relationships. These are very important to thrive professionally and in entrepreneurship.

What’s your favourite productivity hack?

Coffee keeps me going.

What occupation (other than your own) would you like to try?

To relaunch financial services as a side hustle. I used to own an approved financial services firm (asset manager), but I stupidly sold it.

Where do you see the technology industry heading in the next three to five years?

Access to the Internet in underserviced areas will increase; this will largely be driven by the private sector. There will be an exponential growth of digital learning and digital commerce. Most organisations will roll out metaverse projects.