How is South Africa ’ s largest energy company surging forward to turn the country into a technological hub ?
Eskom enjoys a captive market in South Africa , generating and supplying 95 percent of the electricity across the country and 45 percent in the entire African continent . Technology is the most vital component of the business , and as such , IT and its evolution is a huge focus ; Sean Maritz , Chief Information Officer of Eskom , explains how and why in greater detail .
“ From a CIO point of view , at Eskom we ’ re responsible for the delivery of the IT systems , including the technology and the infrastructure ,” he says . “ In the past we had many different roles and different verticals within IT , but now it ’ s one streamlined organisation . We actually have a seat at the table , so we ’ re all directly influencing the business direction .”
Being CIO of a utilities business comes with its own unique set of differentiators and challenges . One such focus of the energy sector has to be corporate responsibility , and balancing that with the necessary
146 July 2017