Global experts to share knowledge at Tech4Africa workshops
2010-08-03 09:19
Special Report
Internet Solutions and First National Bank (FNB) have given their full backing to Tech4Africa, the internet and emerging technology conference.
Some of the world's leading minds in the fields of technology architecture, user-interface and product development will be sharing their experience and skills in four full-day workshops ahead of the Tech4Africa conference in August.
The conference, the first of its kind in South Africa, brings together experts such as Clay Shirky, Matt Mullenweg and many more to share their knowledge and experience. The conference is being hosted at The Forum in Bryanston, Johannesburg from 12-13 August 2010, with the workshops running during the two preceding days.
“While we have some very bright people in the local industry, too few have extensive experience of working on products or systems that enable them to compete globally,” says Gareth Knight, MD of Technovated, the company behind the event. “These intensive workshops therefore aim to impart practical skills that the delegates can apply in their own products and projects. They also give effect to the 'Learn from the best' conference theme.”
Andy Budd, for example, will be presenting 'A masterclass in Usability and Accessibility' to help delegates understand the requirements in planning, organising and moderating usability tests. As MD and User Experience Director of UK-based ClearLeft web design agency, Andy is a regular speaker at international design events such as SXSW, has helped judge several international design awards, is on the advisory board for .Net magazine, and is the author of the best selling book, CSS Mastery.
Another widely-recognised expert in his field is Canadian Jonathan Snook who will be leading the workshop on architecting applications for the web. He is currently working at Yahoo! as a front-end engineer on the company's web interface.
“Jonathan will be sharing his knowledge on best practices for developing applications and how to do so while letting developers work faster and with greater agility without sacrificing robustness or security,” says Knight. “Introducing considerable experience such as his to local audiences will be hugely beneficial to companies and developers who struggle with issues of scalability in their own products.”
Another clear leader in the field of innovation is Apple, who will be represented at the workshops by Erin Caton, a Senior Engineering Project Manager at the company, who will be presenting a strategic look at the digital project implementation lifecycle. The focus will be on acquiring project management skills and methodologies, effective use of different software and platforms and client and development team communications and management.
The fourth workshop will be presented by Sarah Blake, head of optimisation at Quirk eMarketing, a local Internet marketing consultancy, who will be dissecting the proper and effective use of Google Analytics and how to gain maximum benefit from this service.
Knight says delegates can expect to gain essential knowledge that they can apply in their own environment, and that the workshops are designed not only for developers, but also for business users who wish to improve their knowledge.
“The only way we can galvanise the local web and tech communities into developing with the bigger picture in mind is by creating that base of understanding and knowledge. South Africa, and Africa more broadly, now has the bandwidth and infrastructure to make a global product, but not always the skills to do so as a viable and sustainable business. And that we aim to address through these workshops.”
For further information, registration and pricing, log on to www.tech4africa.com.