Umuntu media founder and CEO, online publishing and media expert, tech entrepreneur and passionate African. Johan conceived Umuntu Media when he was researching a family holiday to Namibia and he realised that there was a huge gap for credible, up-to-date local content. Johan developed the concept for Umuntu using his experience as a marketing and new media specialist. Since 2009 he has drawn on his considerable energy and passion to build Umuntu into the tech leader it is today.

Africa has over a billion people. But with just one registered domain per 10 000 people, it is a continent crying out for local content. We are bridging that gap, using technology to directly connect people who want to know what’s going on in their area, all day, every day.In short, Umuntu Media exists because we love Africa, we love technology and we have a passion for local content.

Oliver Graff is a System Engineer, Apple Tech Series presenter, Apple Certified Trainer and Pre-Sales Engineer working for the Core Group, Apple’s Value Added Distributor for the sub-saharan region. He has been working in the IT industry since 1995 and gathered a broad spectrum of experiences when administering cross platform systems (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X). Since 2003 he has been working exclusively on Apple’s Mac OS X platform. Since Apple released iOS 4 in June 2010 (which introduced Mobile Device Management features), Oliver focusses on the topics “Mobility in the Enterprise”, concepts of “bring-your-own-computing” and the consequences of the consumerization of IT.

Based in Cape Town he travels through the country as well as to international conferences in order to discuss this rapidly changing field of IT and to host IT events about Apple’s mobile IT strategies.

Etienne Louw joined mapIT, a leading enabler of enriched digital mapping technologies, in 2010 as Managing Director taking the company to the next phase of addressing the growing demand for enriched geo-spatial mapping content. With 30 years in the ICT industry and 25 years practical GIS experience Etienne, a professionally qualified geo-spatial application expert has comprehensive knowledge in the use of spatial solutions within the telecoms, defence and all spheres of government environments amongst others and plays a leading role in the geospatial industry.

With his extensive background and experience in identifying new GIS applications and integrating these (e.g. business intelligence, electronic document management, automated workflow, airborne surveillance etc), especially to multimedia content that can be overlaid onto digital maps, he plans to take mapIT into a field where they can use the unique strengths of their two shareholders, TomTom and Avusa. The company works with strategic integration partners in the web and mobile environment for the supply of enriched digital mapping technologies. http://www.mapit.co.za.

Leon has extensive knowledge of the Internet marketing industry. He has built his knowledge base through hands-on experience since entering the industry in 1997. His passion lies in Conversion Rate Optimisation (he is certified in Conversion Rate Optimisation, CRO) and his real skill set, coupled with the CRO, is identifying business opportunities for clients by increasing the profitability of their Internet presence, in other words ensuring their website/mobile site actually generates business/sales not just traffic. He thrives on enhancing the talents of Purple Cow’s employees, ensuring that the company offers its clients tailor-made solutions implemented by a range of specialists within the company. Before founding Purple Cow, Leon cut his teeth at IOL (Independent Newspaper’s digital division), first as Marketing and Sales Director and then as Managing Director.

At IOL, he was involved in launching a range of websites including 11 newspaper titles (some being www.theargus.co.za, www.thestar.co.za and the www.capetimes.co.za), plus www.businessreport.co.za, www.personalfinance.co.za and www.motoring.co.za. Leon has personally sold over R250 million worth of online advertising and this continues to grow on a yearly basis.

When starting Purple Cow back in 2005, Leon studied and was certified in search engine optimisation in the USA. He is passionate about helping companies increase the amount of visitors to their website/mobile site and then more importantly turning these visitors into customers/clients – where he believes companies are falling short!

He has worked with both big and small companies including: Frank.net, Tongaat Hulett, Pam Golding Properties, Jeep, Quickbooks, Chrysler, Tempest Car Hire, Virgin Active, The Foschini Group, Renault, TransUnion, Nashua Communications, Panasonic, Bidvest Bank, Nedbank, Nu Metro, Bowman Gilfillan and many SME’s.

Philippe Morin is Firestring’s Head of Strategy. He has many years of experience in the IT industry and focuses on the business applications behind Enterprise Information Management and Knowledge Discovery through the use of SharePoint and Firestring’s unique Web 2.0 technologies. His passions centre on knowledge management, web marketing and driving technology adoption for enterprise content management. Philippe has spoken at conferences nationally and internationally in these areas. Within Firestring, Philippe is focused on our clients’ business objectives rather than on technology, thereafter mapping the functionality of various technical solutions to achieve these objectives. His skill set includes Knowledge Management, Social Media, SharePoint 2007 and 2010 Intranet and Internet Sites, Enterprise Content Management, Mobility, Hosted SharePoint, Office365 , Change Management, End User Adoption, Document Management, Web Content Management, Web Marketing, Web Usability, Intranet Usability, Enterprise Search and Consulting.

Anjela’s passion lies in the intersection between technology and consumer behaviour. She strongly believes that human beings are naturally wired to follow the path of least resistance, but knowledge and fear are often ‘huge’ barriers to adoption. There is opportunity to unlock business value in understanding what drives behaviour and then optimizing technology to nudge people in the desired direction.

Anjela is presently the Marketing and CRM Director at POCiT, a mobile payments company specialized in electronic bill presentment and payment.

Educated as a marketer, Anjela has a B.Com (Hons) degree from Wits and was selected to partake in AVI’s Executive Development Progamme at UCT. Early in her career Anjela was nominated to participate in Rotary’s Professional Group Study Exchange Programme and was selected, from a group of 500 candidates to be part of a team of 6 young professionals who visited companies in the United Kingdom as part of an ideas exchange.

She has finely honed her marketing, consulting and business skills in a number of fields and industries both locally and abroad from advertising to FMCG marketing, e-Commerce consulting, Mobile and Web business solutions. She has worked with a varied group of companies including FCB, Dimension Data Internet Solutions, Premier Farnell, Discovery Health, Coca Cola, ABSA, Samsung, AEG, and SABC. In 2002 Anjela started a marketing consultancy, called Yellow Crossing whose focus is in digital media innovation.

Anjela is also a mother to two, a wife, a runner and an aspiring artist in her spare time.

Jonathan Allan-Barrett heads up the digital media division of Universal Mccann Johannesburg through a joint partnership with Lighthouse Digital. Universal Mccann boasts an impresssive client list which includes Telkom, General Motors, 8ta, South African Tourism, Mastercard and Microsoft to name a few.

Having been trained in classic brand strategy and working in the marketing and advertising industry for over 10 years, Jonathan found his niche in the ever shifting and always evolving arena of digital and interactive marketing. A firm believer in the possibilities of a ubiquitous mobile connected world, Jonathan focusses on driving the shift in thinking required to move his clients and their business needs forward in a hyper connected world.

He is also a TV presenter and can be seen on The Tech Report, a lifestyle magazine show which airs weekly on the eNews Channel. The content of the show centers around technology in various forms and looks at it from a local South African perspective.

Seretse Mothibi is a Johannesburg based entrepreneur and Executive Director of Wattech Inventions Ltd. He has been involved in various career paths through out his professional life and at the age of 28, he was appointed CEO of MBD Botswana Limited (a subsidiary of MBD Holdings – South African Company with assets under management in excess of 3.5 Billion Rand in the SADC region) involved in the credit and risk management industry tasked with the acquisitions of both current and charged off debt books. During his time at MBD, he was instrumental in the acquirement of debt books from Barclays and Stanbic Bank charged off loan books tallying more than BWP 40Million Pula in value.

After his two year tenure at MBD, he went on to establish Mandisa Capital Limited, where he systematically became a broker for Stanbic Investments with focus on Prudential Money Market Funds.

His zeal to explore new frontiers ultimately drove him to seek new opportunities in the golden city of Johannesburg where, together with his co-founder and partner (Refilwe Africa), Wattech Inventions was created as a South African Company with a truly African mark in a Global Industry.

Through Strategic International partnerships with SIDNY THAIN GLOBAL, RICK BROADMAN PARTNERS and ISS CONSULTING, Wattech Inventions has instinctively leveraged its business philosophy from the expertise of its associate partners. Wattech Inventions is made up of various operating entities diverging from Energy Conservation, Telecommunications, Agri-business and Advisory Services.

Mr Innocent Rirhandzu Bila, a young South African mind who’s purpose amongst all else is to endeavour to grow the levels of innovation around the continent.

He holds a Bachelor Technology through University of London and excel and is currently embarking on Bachelor of Science through Harriot Watt University in London U.K.

At the tender age 21 he has already managed to cross paths with some of this nation’s and continents alike most respected and recognized leaders in industry. From Marketing, Branding, Information Technology, logistics as well as Skills development.

Much like young South African’s today, he has been exposed to a lot of people, situations and projects which have moulded him into who he is today.

From a 3 year Junior Board of directors stint at HDI youth marketeers a leader in youth marketing in South Africa two of which he served as chairman, to starting up a digital media firm dubbed Baller Brother’s Media which specialises in strategic digital platforms and is dedicated to the promotion and sustainable development of relationships between brands and consumer’s the continent over.

He has also held and served in many other roles such as on the Youth Advertising Board of South Africa, in addition to being appointed the first president of a Ekhuruleni based youth network Ikusasa Olwethu, and working as an junior lecturer for CTI Education Group . He has also applied his sills in other forms of media such as producing content and presenting on air for platforms such VOWFM 90.5.