In the continued efforts to celebrate Women in Technology under the 2023 International Women’s Day theme DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender equality, this week the SABC’s Information Technology: Manager IT Security, Ms. Miso Thusi shares her experience from Wired4Women Tech Forum meeting held recently.

Miso, please share your experience from the Wired4Women Tech Forum meeting.

This forum has brought confidence in my technology journey as I’ve been involved in a variety of industry sectors. The forum has presented an opportunity for exposure to participate in CIO’s (Chief Information Offer) and CISO’s (Chief Information Security Officers) round tables discussions in developing, and shaping IT professionals, IT Decision Makers, and influencers. I was given an opportunity to participate in Zero Trust initiatives and learned to use sophisticated technologies to implement security strategies. In addition, I have engaged in the management of IT assets,  the importance of business competency centers to drive artificial intelligence in business decision-making by use of data/ information,  Cloud computing, management of IT policies, as well as governance, and ensuring compliance.

What were your key learnings from this experience?

Understanding diversity by acknowledging that people come from different ethnic backgrounds and mainly appreciating women in leadership roles as well as the need to support them in accelerating innovation in the technology industry.

Also, I now fully understand that to remain on top of your game it’s not about delegating only tasks to teams but it is about collaborating, guiding, and supporting them to ensure alignment for better results. In addition, it is important to be there when they reach key milestones. Again, when team members trust, and respect each other, they are likely to work effectively, support each other, and continue to deliver results in the event that challenges arise.

What are some of the benefits for you as a  Woman in Technology to be associated with a forum of this nature?

I have realized that I am an IT change maker, the enabler who is passionate about convergence technology and humanity. This forum has brought courage and empowered me to be disciplined, and results-driven as a leader. It has also motivated me to have strong ethics, and a natural aptitude to lead multicultural teams,  as well as not to grow alone but to empower women and young talent to pursue careers in technology.