Nano Mothibi

The regional conference of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), which was held in Cape Town and ended yesterday (Sunday), saw a strong emphasis on the importance of Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) that accommodate African languages. This could be a giant leap towards achieving communication and economic development in the continent.

In a move to expand and strengthen its presence in South Africa, Business Objects SA (BO) is opening offices throughout SA. It aims to double its local market share, and revenue

This year's South Africa Oracle User Group (SAOUG) conference held at Sun City last week, aimed to meet the needs of the CIO, whose responsibilities, the user group says, are currently being redefined to transcend from functional to strategic roles.

Almost eight months since the resignation of its former director-general, Andile Ngcaba, the South African Department of Communications (DOC) has finally announced his successor, Lyndall Shope-Mafole. She is a former advisor to the previous Minister of Communications, Jay Naidoo.

The Open Source Software (OSS) Africa Conference, held at the Indaba Hotel recently, was received with mixed feelings from delegates, some of whom accused it of lacking a clear objective.

The Small-to-Medium Enterprise (SME) forum has applauded the initiative between the ICT industry and the University of Witwatersrand (Wits), but has called for more focus on the development of local skills and retaining them in the country.