SxSW: Initial Thougths

Eve Dmochowska    Events, SxSW    

I’m on Day 4 of my US trip, and although I actually am able to sleep now, my mind is still at that state where I have to ask other people what day of the week it is.

SxSW (South by South West) is an experience, and a half. It’s unlike any other conference I have ever attended. There is no focus, there are no tracks. What there is a plethora of choice of session after session after session. If one is diligent and committed to the cause, one can attend up to 6 sessions per day, each lasting an hour. There is a choice of at least 15 sessions to choose from during each time slot, and no session is repeated. Simple math will tell you that that is a) a lot of talks and b) we are missing out on too many.

What amazes me is how little overlap there is on session attendance among the South African team. Each morning, we summarize for each other what each one of us is attending, while eating breakfast and catching up on work. My friends tend to get excited by talks that would put me to sleep. That’s a good thing: it means we are a diverse bunch, and our skills and interests are wide spread. That translates into a bigger pool of more diverse talent, and also suggests that each one is honing an area of expertise that the others can tap into as needed.

As I said, there is no specific track. So the attendees are 100% responsible for shaping their SxSW experience. That is a bit daunting, but also a lot of fun. It is also very challenging, since I find myself floating all over the space moving from one discipline to a completely different one. The downside of that is that there is a suspicion that I am not getting as much from the conference as I should be, since I touch on subjects briefly (one hour session) rather than going in deep and dirty with a full day track. So, today, my chosen talks are:

• Beyond LAMP: Scaling websites past mySQL
• Merchandising: The other white meat of monatization
• Coding for pleasure: developing killer spare time apps
• System Design and Inspiration (this is a keynote, with no other alternatives. Might give it a miss)
• Crowdsourcing Innovative social change
• Gmail: Behind the scenes

It’s taken me a couple of days to adjust my expectations of SxSW: it is a “conference” that should be used for inspiration, to kick start a creative process, to accelerate your success, to change your approach to your work day, to give you confidence to think out the box. That is very different from a conference that gives you expertise in a specific, narrow discipline that you can translate quickly into increased revenue for yourself. There should be a place for both types of conferences in your annual schedule. I suspect SxSW is the most inspirational, “general” conference out there, and you would be better off if you attend it.

Also, the diversity of the talks ensures that you meet, or at least see in action, the most diverse bunch, of the most amazing people. I saw Chris Brogan having a coffee this morning, listened to Clay Shirky give a talk, am meeting the BBC to talk about Crowdfund. Where else, but here, I ask you?

Popularity: 2% [?]

CITi and IEEE bring top people to 3rd Software Engineering Colloquium

admin    Events, Projects, Start Ups    

Non-profit organisation, the Cape IT Initiative (CITi) and the IEEE Computer Society Chapter (IEEE South Africa Section) are bringing together industry, government and academia to discuss the growth and future of software and software engineering at the third Software Engineering Colloquium in Cape Town on 16 March 2010.

This Colloquium aims to establish tangible and immediate programs to build the South African software industry and create value through engineering.

“One of our primary aims is to put local software engineering on the map,” explains Jenny McKinnell, CITi’s executive director. “And to help achieve this, we have asked some very high-level individuals in the industry to partake in the Colloquium.”

Some of these role players include Prof Sonia Berman, Head of Computer Science Department at the University of Cape Town; Prof Johannes Cronje, Dean of Informatics & Design at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT); Prof Nico Beute, Former Dean of Engineering at CPUT; Jo-Ann Johnston, Chief Director of Trade and Sector Development for the Provincial Government of the Western Cape; Jenny McKinnell, Executive Director of CITi; Dr Joseph Balikuddembe, Systems Analyst for Sanlam Personal Finance; Dr David Hislop, CTO of Korwe Software, and Sian Evans, Attorney at Michalsons, Sian Evans & Associates, among others.

Attendees will include professors, lecturers and students from UCT, the University of Stellenbosch, the University of Western Cape and CPUT, as well as representatives from industry and government.
The technical advisory committee has been meeting extensively over the past few months, and has identified pertinent issues through a series of conversations and eight multi-stakeholder roundtable discussions.

While the Colloquium is not exclusively aimed at software engineers, the agenda is being driven by them. The engineers believe that without the software engineering profession being adequately recognised and accredited, there cannot be a continued growth of world-class software creation locally.

“The bottom line, is there are real people doing real work in this country in terms of software engineering,” says Dr David Hislop, CTO for Korwe and IEEE Senior Member. “They need to be not only recognised, but empowered in the industry.”

Some of the key issues that the technical team believes need to be addressed include the reference model of the Cape software industry; the ICT skills crisis and skills pipeline; innovation, research funding and access to capital; rewards and recognition for software innovators, inventors, designers and architects; legal compliance, IT governance and King III; and the professional recognition of software engineers. Agile development, cloud computing,and open source (FOSS) will also be discussed.

In a survey commissioned prior to the 2007 Colloquium which included input from SMEs based in the Western Cape, as well as software customers and development partners from the bigger enterprises, government departments and training institutions, issues surrounding a shortage of skills arose. “In terms of the supply of skills locally, it has been stated generally by respondents that there is definitely a shortage of adequate skills from the local employable workforce and that it hence makes sense to hire expatriates or even sometimes repatriate skilled workforce from overseas,” the report stated.

The report also highlighted a gap between what is being taught and what is needed by industry identifying “intellectual laziness for innovation and continuous learning” as a major cause of the brain-drain of the ‘gems’ and stagnation of average skills locally.

“Today, three years after the Second Colloquium, the ICT skills crisis remains an issue of critical concern to our industry and academic institutions,” says McKinnell. “It is clear that addressing the issue requires that we speak as one voice and take action. We are hoping that the discussion at the Colloquium will result in the creation of a multi-stakeholder initiative to grow the skills pipeline.”

These issues and more will be addressed and explored at this year’s Colloquium.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Take your venture to SxSW without getting on a plane

Eve Dmochowska    Events, People, Projects, Start Ups, SxSW    

Ok…things are getting a bit frazzled here, as final arrangements are made by the delegation on its way to SxSW…but a whole bunch of excitement is in the air.

As a final “push” to push S Africa on the unsuspecting attendees, I would like to give each SAfrican delegate 30 badges of South African startup logos (one badge=one logo; one delegate=30 badges). They can do with them as they wish…put it on their computer bags, tshirts, give away. Whatever.

If you have a startup, and a logo, and want to send it SxSW…send it to me as a file. We’ll make it happen.

(Well, I hope we’ll make it happen. Someone has to foot the R3,000 bill. If anyone wants to sponsor this, and get a *big* badge of *their* start up at SxSW…give me a call!)

Popularity: 35% [?]

Crowdfund launches! Let’s go!

Eve Dmochowska    Funding, Projects, Start Ups, SxSW    

I have been thinking, dreaming and scheming up this idea for months, and I have finally co-ordinated my life well enough to make this a core project for the next 12 months.

The Crowdfund concept is simple:

Pool the money of 1000 South Africans who invest R1,000 each towards a R1 million angel fund to help online start-ups get off the ground.

There is hardly any decent angel investment network, or even an angel investment culture, in South Africa. That has had devastating consequences the local online industry, and we are paying the price by not launching many (hardly any?) online applications with global appeal.

An angel network is crucial, because it provides the capital to startups to develop ideas into prototypes. Those ideas can then be taken to a more formal investment vehicle, like a venture capitalist, who is eager to invest more money, but only toward a proven concept.

The logic goes like this: Out of 10 companies in which a Venture Capitalist (VC) will invest, about six will fail. Two or three might break even. And one or two will be hugely successful, and will make the entire investment in the ten companies worthwhile. Problem is: you really do need to hedge your bets. Which is difficult to do, if there are no startups to choose from.

The Crowdfund aims to fix that. Not only do we want to change the investment mindset of an angel investor, but we want to encourage the development of good, solid, viable and huge-potential ideas, that can then be launched on the global scene with the help of local or international VCs.

It won’t happen if you don’t get involved. We need a crowd to make the Crowdfund work!

If you are intersted to find out more, please visit the website www.Crowdfunding.co.za .

Popularity: 2% [?]