TechCentral

Herman Maritz, one half of the pair that developed the ESP load shedding app (formerly known as EskomSePush), is grateful that Eskom may finally have load shedding licked – even if that means fewer people are using the app.

Maritz, who returns to the TechCentral Show (TCS) – he was last a guest in 2021 – reflects on the past four-and-a-half months without load shedding, and what that’s meant for ESP – apart from giving himself and his business partner, Dan Southwood-Wells, to focus on other projects.

In this episode of TCS, Maritz unpacks the impact of the suspension of load shedding, what that’s meant for advertising and subscriptions on the platform, and what’s next for ESP.

He also chats about:

• How ESP is helping communities with load reduction;

• How they’re using generative artificial intelligence in the app; and

• The opportunities to launch the software in new markets.

Lastly, he reveals a few interesting statistics about ESP, including the number of times the app has been downloaded (it’s a staggering number).

Openserve chief digital and strategy officer Pushkar Gokhale is TechCentral’s guest in this episode of the TCS+ business technology show, where he unpacks the role of digital services on the Telkom subsidiary’s growth ambitions.

Gokhale, who has worked for various telecommunications operators around the world, came to South Africa more than a decade ago and liked the country so much he decided to make it his home.

In this interview – which forms part of a series of TCS+ interviews with Openserve executives – Pushkar chats about:

• His career history, and what brought him to South Africa – and to Telkom and Openserve;

• The highlights of his career so far, and why he is passionate about telecoms and the opportunities around digital services;

• His role at Openserve and what his daily work entails;

• How digital services, including Openserve’s new consumer app, are playing a role in the company’s core business as a wholesaler of infrastructure services;

• The digital transformation of Openserve’s operations – what was involved and how it is changing the way it does business; and

• How Openserve works with partners, both locally and globally.

Don’t miss an insightful interview about one of South Africa’s most important infrastructure providers. TechCentral

Openserve chief digital and strategy officer Pushkar Gokhale is TechCentral’s guest in this episode of the TCS+ business technology show, where he unpacks the role of digital services on the Telkom subsidiary’s growth ambitions.

Gokhale, who has worked for various telecommunications operators around the world, came to South Africa more than a decade ago and liked the country so much he decided to make it his home.

In this interview – which forms part of a series of TCS+ interviews with Openserve executives – Pushkar chats about:

• His career history, and what brought him to South Africa – and to Telkom and Openserve;

• The highlights of his career so far, and why he is passionate about telecoms and the opportunities around digital services;

• His role at Openserve and what his daily work entails;

• How digital services, including Openserve’s new consumer app, are playing a role in the company’s core business as a wholesaler of infrastructure services;

• The digital transformation of Openserve’s operations – what was involved and how it is changing the way it does business; and

• How Openserve works with partners, both locally and globally.

Don’t miss an insightful interview about one of South Africa’s most important infrastructure providers.

In this episode of TechCentral’s business technology show TCS+, Africa Data Centres regional executive for South Africa Angus Hay discusses the significant upgrades taking place at the company’s Samrand facility in Gauteng.

Africa Data Centres is in the midst of a major upgrade cycle at the facility known as JHB 2.

The colocation facility, which is one of the few tier-4 data centres in Africa, was originally designed to handle 10MW of IT load. When the upgrades are completed in 2025, the facility will house an additional 20MW.

VIDEO

In this informative discussion, Hay delves into:

- The drivers behind the upgrades at Samrand and how “hyperscalers” will benefit from them;

- The security standards at the facility and the implications for highly sensitive clients such as the financial sector;

- The energy redundancies that ensure continuous operations at the facility, even in the event of grid collapse;

- Innovations Africa Data Centres uses to manage the efficient use of energy at the facility; and

- Initiatives to minimise Africa Data Centres’ carbon footprint by investing in renewable energy sources.

Don’t miss this lively discussion in which Hay provides a behind-the-scenes peek into the inner workings of state-of-the-art data centres, the powerhouses of the modern internet. TechCentral

In this episode of TechCentral’s business technology show TCS+, Africa Data Centres regional executive for South Africa Angus Hay discusses the significant upgrades taking place at the company’s Samrand facility in Gauteng.

Africa Data Centres is in the midst of a major upgrade cycle at the facility known as JHB 2.

The colocation facility, which is one of the few tier-4 data centres in Africa, was originally designed to handle 10MW of IT load. When the upgrades are completed in 2025, the facility will house an additional 20MW.

VIDEO

In this informative discussion, Hay delves into:

- The drivers behind the upgrades at Samrand and how “hyperscalers” will benefit from them;

- The security standards at the facility and the implications for highly sensitive clients such as the financial sector;

- The energy redundancies that ensure continuous operations at the facility, even in the event of grid collapse;

- Innovations Africa Data Centres uses to manage the efficient use of energy at the facility; and

- Initiatives to minimise Africa Data Centres’ carbon footprint by investing in renewable energy sources.

Don’t miss this lively discussion in which Hay provides a behind-the-scenes peek into the inner workings of state-of-the-art data centres, the powerhouses of the modern internet.

In this first in a series of interviews with Openserve executives, TechCentral’s TCS+ speaks to the company’s chief commercial officer, Phila Dube, about its business model, how it works with partners and why it has embraced the concept of “open access”.

Openserve, which is a subsidiary of the Telkom Group, is South Africa’s biggest telecommunications infrastructure provider with more than 170 000km of national fibre footprint and fibre broadband connections into homes in all provinces across South Africa.

In this episode of TCS+, Dube unpacks:

• His role in Openserve, where he oversees the company’s market-facing activities such as business development, product lifecycle management, commercial economics, operations, and marketing and communications;

• The changes that Openserve has been through in the past 10 years, and what these mean for the market, including the company’s internet service provider partners;

• All the markets that the company is involved in, from home and business broadband to national long-distance links and subsea cables;

• The advantages and challenges associated with Openserve’s chosen go-to-market model of B2B2C, or business-to-business-to-consumer;

• Openserve’s plans to further expand and commercialise its network assets; and

• Why the company became a champion of the open-access model.

Don’t miss this opening interview in a fascinating series about one of South Africa’s most important infrastructure operators. TechCentral

In this first in a series of interviews with Openserve executives, TechCentral’s TCS+ speaks to the company’s chief commercial officer, Phila Dube, about its business model, how it works with partners and why it has embraced the concept of “open access”.

Openserve, which is a subsidiary of the Telkom Group, is South Africa’s biggest telecommunications infrastructure provider with more than 170 000km of national fibre footprint and fibre broadband connections into homes in all provinces across South Africa.

In this episode of TCS+, Dube unpacks:

• His role in Openserve, where he oversees the company’s market-facing activities such as business development, product lifecycle management, commercial economics, operations, and marketing and communications;

• The changes that Openserve has been through in the past 10 years, and what these mean for the market, including the company’s internet service provider partners;

• All the markets that the company is involved in, from home and business broadband to national long-distance links and subsea cables;

• The advantages and challenges associated with Openserve’s chosen go-to-market model of B2B2C, or business-to-business-to-consumer;

• Openserve’s plans to further expand and commercialise its network assets; and

• Why the company became a champion of the open-access model.

Don’t miss this opening interview in a fascinating series about one of South Africa’s most important infrastructure operators.

Meet the CIO is presented by Wipro.

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Bruce Paveley says that when he moved from a senior IT role at Standard Bank in 2017 to the then-nascent start-up digital bank TymeBank, it was “a really big shock”.

“You go from five buildings in the middle of Joburg, multiple floors, to an office in Rosebank that’s two floors, and that’s the bank, and you think, ‘Wow, is this really a bank? Can it work like this?”

That was before TymeBank had launched its first commercial services, and long before it would go on to become South Africa’s most successful digital banking start-up with nearly 10 million customers and R6-billion in deposits and R3-billion in loans.

Paveley’s love for computers started when his dad bought him a Sinclair ZX81 in the early 1980s when he was a youngster growing up in the small north coast town of Empangeni.

Today, as chief technology officer at Tymebank, Paveley is leading a team that’s building the technology underpinnings (cloud-based, of course) of a modern digital bank. And it’s a fascinating story about using technology to challenge established industry incumbents.

In this first episode of TechCentral’s new podcast series, Meet the CIO (presented by Wipro), Paveley chats to Duncan McLeod about what was involved in launching TymeBank from a technology perspective, the strategic choices it made and why, and what comes next in the bank’s journey.

Paveley tells Meet the CIO about:

• His upbringing in Empangeni and how he ended up pursuing a career in IT

• The mainframe era, and his experience as a Cobol programmer

• His IT career at Standard Bank, including his involvement in the bank’s big SAP project

• Why he joined TymeBank

• What was involved in building the new bank, and the role that technology played

• TymeBank’s technology stack, and why the bank migrated from an on-premises solution to the cloud – and why it made the technology choices it did

• Tyme Group’s internationalisation plans, and how technology is underpinning that expansion

• How he works with the rest of the bank’s management team, and where technology fits into strategic decision-making

• TymeBank’s approach to cybersecurity

• What keeps him awake at night

• And much, much more

Meet the CIO is a new podcast series produced and published by TechCentral and published monthly. We talk to IT leaders across South Africa about the role of technology in their organisations. Don’t miss an episode by subscribing to TechCentral at youtube.com/techcentral. TechCentral

Meet the CIO is presented by Wipro.

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Bruce Paveley says that when he moved from a senior IT role at Standard Bank in 2017 to the then-nascent start-up digital bank TymeBank, it was “a really big shock”.

“You go from five buildings in the middle of Joburg, multiple floors, to an office in Rosebank that’s two floors, and that’s the bank, and you think, ‘Wow, is this really a bank? Can it work like this?”

That was before TymeBank had launched its first commercial services, and long before it would go on to become South Africa’s most successful digital banking start-up with nearly 10 million customers and R6-billion in deposits and R3-billion in loans.

Paveley’s love for computers started when his dad bought him a Sinclair ZX81 in the early 1980s when he was a youngster growing up in the small north coast town of Empangeni.

Today, as chief technology officer at Tymebank, Paveley is leading a team that’s building the technology underpinnings (cloud-based, of course) of a modern digital bank. And it’s a fascinating story about using technology to challenge established industry incumbents.

In this first episode of TechCentral’s new podcast series, Meet the CIO, Paveley chats to Duncan McLeod about what was involved in launching TymeBank from a technology perspective, the strategic choices it made and why, and what comes next in the bank’s journey.

Paveley tells Meet the CIO about:

• His upbringing in Empangeni and how he ended up pursuing a career in IT

• The mainframe era, and his experience as a Cobol programmer

• His IT career at Standard Bank, including his involvement in the bank’s big SAP project

• Why he joined TymeBank

• What was involved in building the new bank, and the role that technology played

• TymeBank’s technology stack, and why the bank migrated from an on-premises solution to the cloud – and why it made the technology choices it did

• Tyme Group’s internationalisation plans, and how technology is underpinning that expansion

• How he works with the rest of the bank’s management team, and where technology fits into strategic decision-making

• TymeBank’s approach to cybersecurity

• What keeps him awake at night

• And much, much more

Meet the CIO is a new podcast series produced and published by TechCentral and published monthly. We talk to IT leaders across South Africa about the role of technology in their organisations. Don’t miss an episode by subscribing to TechCentral at youtube.com/techcentral. TymeBank · TechCentral

The 24th of February 2022 is a day Ronnie Apteker – and millions of his countrymen in his adopted home of Ukraine – will never forget.

Apteker woke up early that morning – as millions of others did – to the sound of bombs and missiles raining down. After months of military build-up along Ukraine’s eastern flank, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin had ordered a full-scale invasion.

In this special edition of the TechCentral Show, we chat to Apteker – a pioneer in South Africa’s internet industry – about his life in Ukraine amid the ongoing war.

Apteker has a storied career as co-founder of Internet Solutions, one of South Africa’s first and most successful internet service providers. He is also well known as a producer and promoter of movies, including Material and Beyond the River.

In 2015 Apteker bought an apartment in Kyiv and started a new life in the city, attracted by the country’s diverse tech scene and its incredibly beauty.

He had established a new and promising life for himself in Ukraine – he married a local woman, Marta, with whom he has a young boy (affectionately called “the Bunster”). Both Marta and the Bunster are now refugees from the war, living in Poland.

Never in a million years did Apteker expect he would be caught up in a major conflict, never mind the biggest land war in Europe since World War 2.

Today his life involves moving between Poland and Kyiv, where he has friends as well as business interests in the tech sector which he continues to nurture despite the chaos caused by Putin’s aggression.

In this sometimes emotionally raw interview, Apteker tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about why he left South Africa to go and live in Ukraine, how the war started (he woke up early one morning to missiles raining down on Kyiv), what it’s like to live in a warzone, and how he’s coping with the daily hardships caused by the conflict.

Apteker, who is known for his wicked sense of humour – in a previous life he was even briefly a stand-up comedian – admits it’s been exceptionally difficult to stay positive about the future, but that he’s managed to keep going even us Putin’s war machine grinds on.

In the interview, Apteker chats about his daily life now and what it entails; the US election, and why Ukrainians fear another Donald Trump presidency; the new documentary film about the war that he’s been working on; his passion for moviemaking; and why love is the most important thing in the world.

Don’t miss the interview. TechCentral