dkeats.com

African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources: a knowledge network for building capacity in software engineering
Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:35:29 +0200

This is a talk I gave at Stellenbosch University a few minutes ago. It was at a workshop on African Knowledge Networks, held the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies.

The presentation from Chameleon (http://chameleon.uwc.ac.za is below. Note that there is no synchronization between audio and slides. If I manage to do that, I will make a new blog post with the sync.

You can download the presentation from Chameleon.

Beyond the traditional learning management system again
Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:08:45 +0200

Beyond the traditional learning management system again is another talk that I gave at the Department of Public Service and Administration in Pretoria two weeks ago.

I will try to sync with the podcast on SlideShare when I get a round tuit.

Moving to Johannesburg
Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:59:42 +0200

It has been an open secret for some time now that I had been offered the position of Deputy Vice Chancellor (DVC), Knowledge and Information Management at the University of the Witwatersrand. I have not been able to make it official due to the lengthy procedures involved when a higher education instution recruits for senior management positions such as DVC. However, this process is now complete, and I can make it official. My new role as DVC at Wits will begin in the third week of January, and my last day at UWC will be January 21, 2009.

It has been a remarkable time at UWC, where I have been in a very similar role for the past 6 years. We have taken UWC from a place where it was pretty much ignoring technology, to the point where IT pervades absolutely every corner of the campus. For the last few months, I have been touring the IT facilities on campus, and I am confident when I say that UWC has achieved IT penetration, not just in technology but in use, equal to any higher institution in SA, better than most, and probably in the top 15% in the world. It has not all been rosy, and there have been some failures, but in general, a lot has been accomplished.

Moving to Wits will give me a chance to face some new challenges, different from the ones faced at UWC 6 years ago, but certainly considerable opportunity to help make an very good university into a really great university. The macro vision of the Vice Chancellor is to make Wits into one of the top 100 universities in the world. What more a challenge could one hope for than this one?

I will make a post to thank UWC for the opportunity it has afforded me to grow, and develop as the time of departure draws nearer.