With Africa and Middle East witnessing a major transition with Big Data and Analytics, expecting US$68 billion revenue growth (up 28% every year until 2025), renown events organisers Tradepass hosted 700+ Big Data enthusiasts virtually at BYTES ’21: Africa on 20-21 April, 2021.
The summit was glamorized by a distinguished panel of speakers and industry experts from Africa and abroad, including government officials to speak and share their valuable insights on the brimming Big Data and Analytics market of the continent. The summit made every effort to cover all aspects related to the topic concerning Africa, primarily comprising how different businesses operate and how the government can bring in new changes to make a gradual shift towards a digital economy.
H.E. Dr. Ahmedin Mohammed, State Minister from the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, Ethiopia, charmed the whole event by laying the blue print for a Digital Ethiopia through his presentation where he mentioned, “Countries that invest in future industries like Big Data, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, stand a good chance at becoming the leaders and innovators in the 4th Industrial Revolution”.
He also mentioned how moving towards a digital economy will require a completely new mindset, leadership and an improved coordination between the government and the private sectors.
“Automation and Big Data are in my view the two sides of the same coin and if that piece of metal says digital transformation, then I think that is the new-age currency that the African continent really needs and specially to empower their youth through it”, commented Sriram Narayanan, Vice President, Africa & RoW, Automation Anywhere.
BYTES ’21: Africa, covered some really interesting topics related to scaling big data for value, having the right mindset for data science, how to get the right data governance programme, etc. It also engulfed highly related topics like AI and automation, where it shared detailed insights on how automation is extremely crucial for any digital transformation.
The virtual platform presented ample opportunities for networking with the industry experts, gaining market intelligence and collaborating with the top solution providers. The event, though virtual, had all the benefits of a physical event with provisions to ask questions, visit sponsor booths, download brochures and have text and video-based interactions. Overall, it was highly insightful and lucrative for all the professionals hailing from Big Data & Analytics sectors.
Key Speakers:
- H.E. Dr. Ahmedin Mohammed, State Minister, Ministry of Innovation and Technology, Ethiopia
- Krishma Singla, Head of Global Data & Analytics, HSBC
- Anurag Harsh, Group Chief Data Officer, LafargeHolcim
- Bhavesh Talesara, Principal Information & Data Architect, Sasol
- Hartnell Ndungi, Chief Data Officer, Absa Bank
- Paul Stemmet, Chief Data Officer, Dentsu
- Raymond Mahlangu, Group Chief Data Officer, Alexander Forbes
- Emmanuel Lubowa, Head of Business Analytics, Airtel Afric a
- Moloko Komane, Executive Head of Business Advisory, The MultiChoice Group
- Emmanuel Osanga, Head, Data Office – African Regions, Standard Bank Group
- Victor Asila, Head – Data Science, Absa Bank
- Jacky Mampana, Head of Data, Analytics and Insights, Hollard Insurance
- Dino Bernicchi, Head of Data Science, HomeChoice International
- Victor Adewusi, Director – Data & Analytics, Equity Bank
- Mathabo Puseletso, Data Design Authority Lead, Sasol
- David Nyamai, Head of Big Data and Business Analytics, Safaricom
- Ashish Singru, Senior Director & Head, Global Business Analytics Center, eBay
- Ahmed Samir Roshdy, Lead Data Scientist, Vodafone
- Paul Morley, Executive – Group Data Services, Nedbank
- Sunny Ndubuisi Okonkwo, Head Business Data Analytics and Operations Performance, Ikeja Electric
- Sriram Narayanan, Vice President, Africa & RoW, Automation Anywhere
- Martin Kariithi, Head of Data Analytics, ICEA Lion Group
- Nollie Maoto, Executive Head: Business Intelligence, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, FNB South Africa
Key Solution Providers at the event were Automation Anywhere, Talkwalker, Titus Corporation and Minitab while Trusted Media Partner for the event was Cyber Era NG.
