Author: Fast Company South Africa

07.14.17

GIL Africa: How are companies using digital tech to gain the ultimate competitive edge?

BY Fast Company South Africa 3 MINUTE READ

Frost & Sullivan to host 360 degree Industry Think Tanks that will demonstrate digital growth opportunities across industry sectors 



CAPE TOWN, South Africa – 6 July, 2017 – A number of organisations are entering the race for “digital transformation”, striving to gain the ultimate competitive edge within their industry and against rivals. However, how many companies truly understand the fundamental importance of implementing these digital processes and applications into the business strategy correctly? 
“Rooting your digital strategy in strong commercial fundamentals is a non-negotiable in our highly competitive, fast paced global environment. Given the pace of innovation, digital investments need to provide a strong ROI in the short term. Many of these investments will simply become out-dated in the mid-term,” says Hendrik Malan, Partner and Operations Director at Frost & Sullivan Africa.” 
Frost & Sullivan will be hosting its seventh consecutive annual Growth Innovation Leadership (GIL) Africa summit at the Table Bay hotel, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, in Cape Town on 17 August 2017. Senior C-level executives and their management teams will gather to attend a day filled with interactive sessions and presentations by organisations that have successfully implemented digital as a part of their overall business strategy, giving them the ultimate competitive edge. 
 

“While technology could revolutionise efficiency, businesses need to take into account the disruptive nature of local variables impacting the competitive strength of their business model,” notes Craig Parker, Head of the Automotive & Mobility practice at Frost & Sullivan Africa. “Factors such as legal, infrastructure, political and social implications will vary across regions. Real time adaptation to changing external variables is now possible with digital applications, and this will be the new driver to maintaining a competitive edge.” 
The GIL Africa summit will see industry managers from Frost & Sullivan run 360 degree industry Think Tank workshops to demonstrate how digital is having an impact across all industry sectors; including the automotive industry, public sector, water and the environment, agriculture, and healthcare. The 360 degree industries Think Tanks, attended by leaders within their field, not only spark insightful discussions and ideas for each industry moving forward, but also provide future scenarios and potential outcomes for the industry sector through the correct implementation of digital technologies. 
 

Key 360-Degree Industry Think Tank Take-aways: 

  • What does slow infrastructure development and rising congestion in urban areas mean for the automotive industry in Africa and how can digital technology contribute to resolving these issues? 
  • How can digital technologies be applied to help millions of subsistence farmers around Africa, and how can these initiatives be funded? 
  • When it comes to digital, how should societies balance the competing interests of farm owners, the food industry, urban consumers and rural farm workers? 
  • How will digital transformation change the way the Public Sector operates and delivers services? 
  • If smart meters are going to improve efficiency across the value chain, will everyone be that enthusiastic about driving change? Apart from more accurate readings, smart meters could potentially lead to other issues like job losses, increased utility bills, and very importantly data privacy issues. 
 

To download full agenda, click here 
To know more about this global conference and to participate, or to become a media partner, please contact Samantha James, Corporate Communications Africa: [email protected] 
 

Schedule: 
GIL 2017: Africa 
The Table Bay Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa 
17 August, 2017 
Programme – www.frost.com/GILAfrica

About Frost & Sullivan 

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today’s market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? 
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06.27.17

Rise of the digital entrepreneur

BY Fast Company South Africa 2 MINUTE READ

You’re on the move, with your business—your life, your livelihood—in the palm of your hand; where you go, it goes. 

The scene, let’s say, is OR Tambo International Airport. Boarding gates; laptop slung in a bag over your shoulder; people for Africa. You may look alone in the crowd. But not so: Equipped with your smartphone, you’re a roving hub of multitasking, cross-territorial communication. On voice, you’re doling out sweet charm and banana oil to a prospect in Addis Ababa; in and among this, emailing a client in Amsterdam, paying a restless supplier in Durban by EFT, and texting a colleague in Cape Town to ask politely where on earth his paperwork is (“R U out surfing, dude?”). Take a selfie for the kids—it’s all for them, anyway—and bin the Styrofoam coffee. The plane lifts off, up and away, questing on. 

It’s a fact: Digital technology is breaking through the barriers of geography and time with ever increasing speed. In the process, this is changing the face of whom we do business with and where, when and how we do it, and leading to the rise of a new force in the game—the digital entrepreneur. 

Who is this person? The answer is important to know. It’s no longer that stereotype of the 1980s, the braying computer nerd. Nor is it only the dot-com tycoon of the 1990s, or the Y2K–era, tech-talking gadget geek in a goatee. And the digital entrepreneur isn’t simply a guy or gal blogging to build the biz or selling wares on an e-commerce website. 

Nowadays, nearly all businesses are digital in nature, to one degree or another. They’re out there using computers, networking with each other on the Internet and, more and more, deploying smartphones as portable flight decks on which to collaborate—co-ordinating and advancing the growth of the enterprise across its many physical and virtual points of presence. 

For long, the tendency has been to think of technology as a separate, even if key, aspect of a business. The truth is that it’s cutting across, and enhancing, everything else, from financial and human resource management to sales and marketing and field service—and all the time getting easier to use. 

So, who is this rising digital entrepreneur? Whether you realise it or not, and whether you’ve embraced your secret identity or are only starting out, it’s you, the business owner. You. We. Us.

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06.19.17

Cape Royale takes the crown

BY Fast Company South Africa < 1 MINUTE READ

The 5-star Cape Royale Luxury Hotel, situated in Green Point, has been announced as the 2017 Luxury Hotel Location of the Year for Africa and the Middle East by the Luxury Travel Awards.

The hotel is a favourite haunt of internationals due to its choice location (the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town Stadium and the Sea Point promenade are just a stroll away) plus exquisite room options, Zenith Sky Bar and Casuarina Wellness Centre.

Revenue, sales and marketing manager Vincent Bouwer: “With our 5-star offering, designer suites and pristine restaurants, guests can submerge themselves in the height of luxury.”

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06.15.17

Luxury goods for all

BY Fast Company South Africa < 1 MINUTE READ

New tech startup Luxity aims to give everyone a chance to sport stylish designer handbags, sunglasses or high heels at affordable prices.

Unlike other second-hand marketplaces, the company focuses on buying and selling authentic used luxury goods that are still in great condition.

“At Luxity, we take authentication extremely seriously, and offer a full money-back guarantee should you ever prove that we sold you a fake or counterfeit item,” explains owner Luke Calitz.

Interested in grabbing yourself a luxurious bargain? Visit one of Luxity’s social media channels for information on new arrivals, or visit the online boutique at www.luxity.co.za.

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06.14.17

R1 million in bursaries makes good advertising

BY Fast Company South Africa < 1 MINUTE READ

In an effort to assist the marketing and communications sector, the AAA School of Advertising has offered R1 million worth of bursaries to talented students. 

AAA is the official tertiary institution for the advertising industry, and successful applicants will receive financial support toward a BA degree in Creative Brand Communication or a diploma in Copywriting.

“At the AAA, we look to harness creative talent and deliver to the industry students who are prepared for the world of work, with skills and educational capabilities that are in line with the agency’s requirements,” says Professor Krishna Govender, executive dean and head at the AAA. 

Bursaries are being offered to first-year students with academic potential and financial need.

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06.05.17

Driving a dependable transport network

BY Fast Company South Africa < 1 MINUTE READ

The
entire public transport network of Cape Town is now available on transport data
platform Where Is My Transport. 

In a “world first”, the firm has captured,
integrated and made available both formal and informally run transport systems.
Developers, transport operators and government officials in the Mother City can
now forge solutions for its less-than-perfect transport system. 

Journey
planners, fare estimators, communications tools, and connected digital signage
are but some of the mechanisms being developed in order to improve access to
public transport information.

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