SCTalks - WaterTech

 

Prior to joining Wesgro, he was the Director of Trade and Investment in the Office of the Executive Mayor at the City of Cape Town.  Tim previously served as Member of Parliament and Shadow Minister of Finance for the Democratic Alliance (DA).  He was the MP for Cape Town's "Good Hope" constituency and the Parliamentary Counsellor to Lindiwe Mazibuko. Tim also completed a stint in investment banking and in addition served as the Vice President for Africa on the Bureau of Liberal International, the global group of liberal parties, and currently sits on the board of Silicon Cape, Cape Town's technology promotion initiative. 

Ulrike Rivett - University of Cape Town, Director of the School of IT


Ulrike Rivett is the Director of the School of IT of the University of Cape Town. She is a Professor of Information Systems and leads the iCOMMS research team in the Commerce Faculty. Her and her teams work is focused on understanding the use, application and impact of ICTs in developing countries. Over the last 15 years, she has identified  a paradigm shift from an overenthusiastic hope for the mobile phone infrastructure to facilitate service delivery to a vision that speaks to change which is found when the people experiencing the problem create solutions that may use technology but are not driven by it. 

Presentations:

George Gabriel



George is spearheading the development of an online knowledge management and community engagement platform where leaders in government, business and communities can access the most up-to-date, relevant and fact-checked information. In support of this process, I am creating a campaign called the Alliance for Cape Town’s Future, to highlight the importance of bringing business, civil society and government into a more efficient and dynamic partnership.  In addition to helping with the water crisis, these efforts are also designed to accelerate the development and adaption of innovation in both technical and social matters. This is not only critically important for our local situation, but will also be a learning opportunity for other cities around the world facing a similar crisis (The 11 cities most likely to run out of drinking water.) Our future ‘smart cities’ can only work if we are as innovative with our people processes as we are with our tech.


Thomas Bartleman - Tiny Eco 

Prior to joining Tiny Eco, Thomas spent four years in Silicon Valley. After completing a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering, Thomas worked in the energy, software and transportation industries. This resulted in a unique perspective about the intersection of sustainability, modularity and physical products. TinyLoop -- the first product by Tiny Eco -- brings the closed-loop shower concept to Cape Town and Africa. TinyLoop is a compact, portable device that offers every person the opportunity to take a near-infinite shower using less than 10L of water. We need to build on the conscious consumption habits Day Zero has helped us form and create products that make it easier to do so.

Mattieu Theron - Plant the Seed, CoFounder



Born and bred in the deep south of Cape Town, in the beautiful community of Kommetjie, Matt is driven, friendly, hardworking, and positive individual. Passionate about people, life, the outdoors, constant learning, and seeing ‘the bigger picture’, this in combination with a background in economic development, has lead him to see and understand that education is the key to moving forward to a more inclusive, sustainable and positive future. Mattieu has just  finished off his Master’s degree in Economic development – which was focused  on the racial desegregation in South African schools post 1994.

Justin Beswick - SisiSasa, CoFounder


Justin studied a BSc in Biotechnology, followed by Honors in Financial Analysis & Portfolio management at the University of Cape Town.  He has a passion for using business as a tool to help drive positive change in the world. This has led to a fascinating journey over the years; from technology startups to marine expeditions.
His primary focus now is on SisiSasa, an IoT platform currently in private beta and wrapping up own involvement with the Genius Of SPACE project in the Langrug informal settlement, Franschhoek. It is this project which he'd like to share some learnings on addressing some of these water challenges with the Silicon Cape community. 
He is actively involved in growing communities that foster entrepreneurial mind-sets, skills and idea sharing that lead to action. Justin achieves this by channeling his time and efforts as curator of TEDxCapeTown and through communities such as the Sandbox Network, World Economic Forum Global Shapers and Singularity University.

Blue Route Water Solutions

Blue route Water Solutions was created in 2018, our company was created out of the ashes of the drought crisis. Our logo of our company is a huge symbol of our vision. The cracks in the land symbolizes our grey water and how we tend to turn this dire situation into a new dawn for Africa hence the symbol of new growth BLUE.
This company was formed to make a difference within the Western Cape and the surrounding provinces.  With implementing our concept, we hope to prolong or even eliminate #dayzero. The founders of the company are three ordinary citizens Jean Pierre Campher and Johan Johnson who are currently Mechanical Fitters apprentice at Transnet Engineering, Veronica Solomon the third person has a background in business management. 


Panel

Lance Greyling - City of Cape Town, Director of Enterprise and Investment


Lance Greyling graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1996 with an Honours in African Studies majoring in politics and economics. He also received a Post Graduate diploma in Sustainable Energy from the University of Stellenbosch in 2009. During the past twenty years he has held positions in the private sector, civil society and the national government sphere. He first started out as a partner in a production house called Matchframe Pictures, which produced television commercials and raised funding for video programmes. After a year and a half expedition around Africa he took up the position as regional manager for GLOBE Southern Africa, which empowered parliamentarians on issues of sustainable development.

In 2004 he entered the world of politics when he was elected a national Member of Parliament. During 2004 to 2015 Lance Greyling served on a number of parliamentary committees including education, finance, public enterprises, minerals and energy and environmental affairs. He was also a parliamentary whip and in 2012 became the Shadow Minister of Energy.
 
In March 2015 Lance Greyling left the world of Parliament to take up the position of Director of Trade and Investment in the Mayor’s Office at the City of Cape Town.  After the local government elections in August 2016 he became the Director of the newly formed Enterprise and Investment Department in the Directorate of the Mayor.
 
Lance Greyling also serves on the board of a number of organisations including Wesgro, Economic Development Partnership, Cape Town Tourism and the Bulungula Incubator a rural development NGO. He was also recently awarded a fellowship in the African Leadership Initiative. 

Maximillian Kaizen - Treeshake, CoFounder



Max is a futurist, technologist and cultural diplomat. 
She is co-founder of Treeshake, a learning and strategic advisory firm helping pioneers and global organisations deepen their digital marketing and participative storytelling capacity to be understood, resilient & create movements. With a firm focus on finding inclusive economic opportunities in the UN Global Goals to make change and money. Clients include Ogilvy & Mather, World Economic Forum, Thirst, UNFPA, Lewis Pugh Foundation. 

Philip Kiracofe - Startupbootcamp Cape Town, Managing Director


Philip Kiracofe brings 20-years of direct operational and venture financing experience spanning a diverse range of industries in the US, India, Asia and South Africa. He has co-founded or led numerous companies including a pioneer online grocery service company, an India-based venture capital fund, the first large-scale social networking site, and a New York-based property development firm.
 In 2009, he founded Horizen Partners to incubate and advise far-reaching projects based on the foundations of innovation, adventure and sustainability. Current projects include Horizen Ventures (early stage VC), WhereIsMyTransport (transit solutions for governments and operators), SwingDev (Outsourced Silicon Valley development projects) and Tech Lab Africa. He has previously advised South African start-ups including Over, Springleap, and Playlogix and plans to raise a new venture fund in Cape Town.
In his leisure time, Philip’s interests range from adventure and endurance events to wine. Philip attended the United States Air Force Academy, where he studied Computer Science and Behavioral Science.