Neotel, South Africa’s renowned converged communications and network operator have just confirmed that they will be sponsoring a panel discussion at the 6th IT Leaders Africa Summit, produced and hosted by Kinetic.

MD and CEO, Sunil Joshi will be taking part in this panel discussion on enterprise technology in Africa during an agenda track focussing on business connectivity alongside CIOs David Visser from Coca-Cola Southern Africa and Mike Davies from Royal Bafokeng Platinum. 

In this session, they will discuss 4G supporting the real time transmission of voice, data and video and whether the technology is sufficient to improve connectivity for unified communications in organisations. Other featured speakers on this track includes Hollard Group Services CTO, Anthony Hlungwane who will focus on the new social and mobile collaboration tools that connect people inside and outside the enterprise, in a way that provides real time communications and access to supporting systems.

Also hear case studies of the alternative strategies taking shape within organisations located in areas with limited bandwidth during a panel discussion with Chandima Miyanadeniya, CIO for Aon; Johan Pistorius, CIO for African Rainbow Minerals; Potlaki Maine, Executive Head IT for Sentech ; Nkosana Mbokane, General Manager of ICT for Perishable Products Export Control Board  and Rocky Gwewera, Group Head of Infrastructure Architecture for Sasol.

The IT Leaders Africa Summit is now in its 6th year, and has for the first time been produced in conjunction with an official advisory panel of industry experts.  This advisory panel includes Rob Sussman, Co-founder and joint CEO of Integr8; Hugo Timmerman, Head of IT Southern Africa for British American Tobacco and Tunde Coker, Managing Director for Rack Centre (A Jagal Group Company)

Dimension Data, established as a world leader in ICT solutions, who serves 73% of the Fortune 100 and 59% of the Fortune 500 companies will also be powering a panel discussion.  Grant Morgan, General Manager: Cloud for Dimension data will be joined by Fundile Ntuli, CIO for ubank; Peter Oeschger, ‎Group CIO for Finbond Mutual Bank and Heinrich Kukkuk, Group Information Technology Manager for Aveng Group in a discussion on the role of the CIO in the age of the cloud. 

This session will answer questions about where the CIO features in an age when decisions to use the cloud are being made by marketing and other functions both within and outside the organisation  

Join us to hear the experts at the 6th edition of IT Leaders Africa Summit on the 18-19 March 2015 at the Maslow hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg.   For the latest ITLA Summit news on speakers, industry providers and content, visit  www.itleaders.co.za  or contact Marcia van Jaarsveld on +27 21 180 7105 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.     

Johannesburg, South Africa – Day in and day out, we are faced with messages about the harm that the printing industry does to our environment. More often than not, these messages are found at the bottom of emails. Contrary to popular and often misinformed belief, the fibre that is used to make paper products is not sourced from the wood of rainforests, indigenous or common garden trees. The printing industry comes under fire for its use of paper yet critics do not take into consideration the facts behind paper manufacturing. Therefore, it is facts such as these that the print industry needs to make known, shredding the misconceptions about print.

Deforestation is a complex and critical problem with no easy answers; however, printed paper is taking a lot of the blame in the public’s mind for this act. We are told to “think before you print” in order to save trees and are regularly shown pictures of clear-cut forests that sadden and anger us. Maybe it is time to think before we don’t print. The fact is, when the demand for paper declines, tree farming also declines which takes all of the important ecological impacts like clean water and wildlife habitat right along with it. Managed forests also help to clean the air that we breathe and offer an improved lifestyle through unmatched recreational opportunities for families who like to hike, fish, camp and study nature. Managed forests do all of this and also provide the pulp that we need for paper and packaging.

So, if you decide to decrease your industrial use of paper, don’t assume that you’re going to save a tree or two. The reality is that decreasing your use of paper has an impact on the future of our forests. The truth is that most paper is 100 percent recyclable and is one of the benefits that make tree farming for printing paper a sustainable industry. Recyclability is one of paper’s credentials as a renewable resource that can begin and end its life in a responsible manner, and you play a key role in this life cycle.

Forests mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen through the natural process of photosynthesis. South Africa's timber plantations lock up 900 million tons of CO2 a year, which is a massive environmental service, and a key means of alleviating climate change. If it weren’t for the worldwide pulp and paper industry that has been operating for the last 150 years, the CO2 levels in the atmosphere would be five percent higher (about 0.5 degrees) than they are at present.

We all enjoy the instant communication, information and entertainment that our computers, smartphones and other electronic devices provide. Each new generation of products brings us even more must-have advantages and marketing strategies that lead to the consumer’s belief that life has evolved in such a way that print or paper is obsolete. But every time a newer, more advanced electronic device arrives, an older one becomes electronic waste with very little benefit. Eventually it will have to be disposed of, and the question to then ask is how environmentally friendly this unit was and what harm it will now do to the environment?

While the print industry cannot stop the digital age of communication and its convenience, the electronic distribution of information should not be flaunted as being more environmentally friendly than print. Every decision to communicate has some impact on the environment. For example, whether we send an email or send a letter, we consume energy and valuable resources. There are environmental trade-offs in every choice that we make, and there is no simple “right answer”. Effective stewardship requires a careful examination of the bigger picture to fully understand the impact and performance of both electronic media and print on paper; one that encompasses the entire lifecycle of a product, from raw materials to the energy use and end of life.

In fact, reading a document on an iPad or computer screen produces more carbon dioxide (CO2) than printing out the same document on a piece of paper. A printed document can be read over and over again without further emissions and can also be recycled at the end of its lifecycle.         

• A printed 700-page document emits 85g of CO2 (one copy can be read over and over again without further emissions).         
• Reading a document on a computer for one hour emits 226g of CO2 every time.         
• Burning the 700-page document to a CD is estimated to emit 300g of CO2 for every copy.         
• Burning the document to a DVD is estimated to emit 350g of CO2 for every copy.

Independent campaigning organisation, Greenpeace, has identified electronic waste as the fastest-growing component of the municipal waste stream. Server farms that power computers have become the fastest growing users of fossil fuel in the world, and the amount of energy that they use is doubling every year. Also, manufacturing a computer typically requires the mining and refining of dozens of minerals and metals, including gold, silver and palladium, as well as the extensive use of plastics and hydrocarbon solvents. Most computers are imported from overseas on either ships or planes – the two types of transportation with the greatest carbon footprint. And, that's before they are domestically shipped on trains or trucks.

Locally produced paper eliminates the overseas shipping energy that is used, and most of the paper that is used in South Africa is manufactured domestically. Over 80 percent of South African plantations are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), ensuring that it has the highest level of international certification in the world. The FSC’s Chain of Custody tracks certified material through the production process – from the forest to the consumer – including all of the successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution. Few people realise that all paper in South Africa is produced from plantation-grown trees, recycled paper or bagasse (sugar cane fibre). Some 600 million trees across 762,000 hectares are specifically farmed for use in pulp and paper manufacturing, just as maize was planted for our cereal, and wheat for our bread.

The Environmental Benefits of Printed Paper

Printed paper is made from a renewable resource. Trees can be replanted in places where they were harvested and also in places where they don’t currently grow. As much as we enjoy our electronic devices, they don’t grow on trees and cannot be harvested or replanted.

Printed paper can be recycled, recovered and reused. Over the many years that they have existed, the systems that are in place for these processes are widely available and have become more efficient and sophisticated. In contrast, electronic devices are much more complex and expensive to recycle, recover and reuse due to the toxic nature of many of their components, and current systems are still in the early stages.

Modern commercial printing employs more sustainable practices. From recycling to energy usage, commercial printers are making great strides in reducing their environmental footprints by implementing various practices, these can include:        

• Purchasing products, materials and services from individuals and organisations that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability;         
• Gaining third-party certification credentials;         
• Reducing the impact of chemicals by using vegetable-based inks, eco-friendly soy inks, alcohol-free chemistry and aqueous coatings;         
• Using biodegradable packaging materials and waste paper instead of petroleum-based foam peanuts;         
• Using a higher percentage of paper grades from responsible sources that are recycled, post-consumer and third-party forest certified;         
• Educating employees on environmental information, recycling procedures and certification training;         
• Equipping presses with ink monitoring devices to reduce waste; and         
• Recycling printing plates.

In conclusion, a future without print or paper would have a devastating effect on society. It can be said however, that it is in everyone’s best interest to embrace this “technology”.  Think before you don’t print and be responsible with your electronic waste. Use a reputable e-waste recycling company that you know will handle your old electronic devices with the environment in mind.

Konica Minolta South Africa’s award winning bizhub PRESS range of digital printers will keep you printing, safe in the knowledge that these machines were manufactured according to the most stringent environmental certification, as well as keeping in mind the environmental influence that the company has when disposing of the equipment. These multifunction printers also use a 100 percent bio-degradable polymerised toner that is created from harvest plant based oils, which are certified as ‘nontoxic’ when coming into contact with food in packaging. Konica Minolta South Africa brings you a print technology that embraces the environmental benefits of print and paper, optimising the functionality of office automation systems.  

ABOUT KONICA MINOLTA SOUTH AFRICA:

Recently named as international Konica Minolta Distributor of the Year for the eighth time, Konica Minolta South Africa is a leader in advanced document management technologies. Wholly owned by the Bidvest Group, the company focuses on complete business solutions, including production print systems, digital presses, multifunctional products (MFPs), managed print services, vertical application solutions and related services and supplies.  Konica Minolta is one of the only manufacturers in the digital imaging industry, over the past 20 years, to have been awarded the Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) “A3 MFP line of the year” award for three consecutive years. For more information, questions or queries, contact Ritchi Smith at 0800 bizhub | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Debbie Sielemann at +27 (0) 82 414 4633 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..    

Konica Minolta South Africa has improved the performance and production workflow of the bizhub C1805 and C1100 to ensure reliable, accurate and efficient results.  

Product News   JOHANNESBURG  - September 30, 2014 – EFIand Konica Minolta Business Solutions have teamed up to announce the launch of two advanced digital front ends (DFEs) for the new Konica Minolta bizhub C1085 and C1100 family of digital presses. The updated EFI Fiery IC-308 DFE and the new EFI Fiery IC-310 DFE are set to deliver excellent performance and colour quality, end-to-end workflow automation and integration that are compatible with EFI's MIS and web-to-print products.  

The high-end Fiery IC-310 DFE brings faster production performance to the bizhub print engines with Fiery HyperRIP technology, which can process an individual job up to 40 percent faster than other DFEs. It does this by splitting pages to simultaneously process them with multiple processor cores, interpreters and rendering engines. The powerful hardware and feature set makes the IC-310 twice as fast compared to the IC-308 and streamlines the processing of graphic-intensive and variable data jobs to minimise data spikes and avoid lost production time. These improvements make the products ideal for any office environment.  

With the Fiery IC-308 and IC-310 DFEs, users can be assured that their jobs will print correctly the first time. In addition, the DFEs are based on EFI's Fiery FS100 Pro platform technology - the first and only production platform to achieve a 100 percent perfect pass rating from the Flemish Innovation Center for Graphic Communication’s (VIGC) PDF RIP Audit. The rating highlights the DFEs' capabilities for accurate, consistent reproduction of intricately designed files, including jobs with composite overprints, transparencies and other complex design elements.  

The Fiery FS100 Pro platform is also the first to achieve a JDF1.3 Integrated Digital Printing Interoperability Conformance Specifications certification from CIP4, a global not-for-profit standards association, focusing on fostering the adoption of process automation in the printing industry. In addition, both DFEs support all leading industry VDP standards, such as PDF/VT, VPS and the latest PPML 3.0 specifications.  

The robust JDF capabilities of the DFEs allow for seamless integration with third-party prepress and workflow solutions, allowing users to streamline their business operations as well as to reduce the touch points in their business and production processes by integrating their DFEs with EFI's MIS and web-to-print products.  

The optional Fiery JobMaster provides users with the power to profitably produce higher-value jobs by automating complex document preparation and production. This intuitive make-ready product tackles some of the biggest production challenges, such as visual tab insertion and design, bleed-edge and multi-bank tabs, late-stage page editing and numbering, page-level ticketing and chapterisation.  

ABOUT EFI:
EFI (www.efi.com) is a worldwide provider of products, technology and services leading the transformation of analog to digital imaging. Based in Silicon Valley, with offices around the globe, the company's powerful integrated product portfolio includes digital front-end servers; superwide, wide-format, label and ceramic inkjet presses and inks; production workflow, web to print, and business automation software; and office, enterprise and mobile cloud solutions. These products allow users to produce, communicate and share information in an easy and effective way, and enable businesses to increase their profits, productivity, and efficiency.  

ABOUT KONICA MINOLTA SOUTH AFRICA:
Konica Minolta South Africa is a leader in advanced document management technologies. Wholly owned by the Bidvest Group, the company focuses on complete business solutions, including production print systems, digital presses, multifunctional products (MFPs), managed print services, vertical application solutions and related services and supplies. Konica Minolta is one of the only manufacturers in the digital imaging industry, over the past 20 years, to have been awarded the Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) “A3 MFP line of the year” award for three consecutive years.  

For more information, questions or queries, contact Ritchi Smith at 0800 bizhub | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Debbie Sielemann at +27 (0) 82 414 4633 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

Konica Minolta South Africa assists Cape Town opera protégé, Anelisa Mahlungulu, in moving closer to achieving her dreams.  

CAPE TOWN - September 17, 2014 – Bidvest company, Konica Minolta South Africa has pledged to assist a promising young opera singer in need.

Cape Town branch manager, Alten Hulme, heard a plea for financial assistance on local radio station, Cape Talk. The presenter mentioned that a 16-year-old girl with a natural talent for opera had been ‘discovered’ in a Cape Town township.

With the assistance of the local community choirmaster and a charity organisation within the township, Anelisa Mahlungulu had been tested by the University of Cape Town (UCT) with the result that the institution recognised her rare gift. The University also advised that she needed to be enrolled in a school that would allow for university exemption. UCT further identified Wynberg Girls’ High as the ideal school, but Anelisa needed financial assistance to help her move forward.

On hearing the request, Hulme immediately sprang into action by calling the radio station and on behalf of Konica Minolta South Africa, he offered to sponsor Anelisa’s schooling and hostel costs. Konica Minolta South Africa will also sponsor Anelisa’s music lessons until the end of her matric year.  Waltons, another Bidvest Group company, has also agreed to fund Anelisa’s stationery, transportation and uniforms.

Anelisa has since begun her third term in Grade 10 at Wynberg Girls’ High, where she has her own room in the hostel and now too has her very own bed. Anelisa receives three cooked meals a day and, for the first time ever, she is now able to study at a desk. Since the initial outreach, she has performed for a number of dignitaries, including a teary-eyed Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She also sang before a large audience at an outdoor venue which earned her a standing ovation that lasted several minutes for her first full 90 minute performance.

“Although Konica Minolta South Africa’s primary focus is to see to it that Anelisa does well enough at school to be admitted to university, the company will also do what is needed to support her singing career. In fact, we have already been in touch with Cape Town Opera (CTO), Africa’s top opera company, which has undertaken to expose her to real opera and to assist in the learning process. Konica Minolta South Africa already has a very strong sense of community, with several projects in place that identify and assist not only staff members’ children, but also children with potential from poor communities. Anelisa fits perfectly into this category and we will follow our new ‘Proudly Bidvest’ and Konica Minolta South Africa protégé with great interest in the years to come,” says Hulme.

About  
Konica Minolta South Africa is a leader in advanced document management technologies. Wholly owned by the Bidvest Group, the company focuses on complete business solutions, including production print systems, digital presses, multifunctional products (MFPs), managed print services, vertical application solutions and related services and supplies. Konica Minolta is one of the only manufacturers in the digital imaging industry, over the past 20 years, to have been awarded the Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) “A3 MFP line of the year” award for four consecutive years.

For more information, questions or queries, contact Ritchi Smith at 0800 bizhub | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Debbie Sielemann at +27 (0) 82 414 4633 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.