Having worked in NTT DATA for nearly three decades, Zamma knows the IT industry of Japan inside out, and firmly believes that open innovation will revitalize his company and the industry.

As the head of Open Innovation and Business Incubation, he directs biannual contests and monthly forums to find and introduce promising startups to business units and customers of NTT DATA, and runs programs that put the partner startups on the fast track to proof-of-concept and new business.

Kaz Okada is a Senior Expert in Open Innovation and Business Incubation section of NTT DATA Corporation, which is Japan's largest systems integrator, and he is responsible for globalizing NTT DATA's open innovation program.

His career started as a network engineer serving NASA and the Japanese space agency, but he has also worked as a software engineer at Microsoft in Seattle. He then moved to Washington, DC where he came across countless innovations both as a Manager of Research and Business Development and as a Visiting Fellow of CSIS, which is a top think tank in the United States.
His diverse and international experience makes him an ideal consultant for open innovation, and he is now leading the globalization of NTT DATA’s open innovation program.

Mr. Okada earned his Master of Science from George Washington University School of Business in 2006.

I am a qualified electronic engineer, hold a LAW degree and have 28 years of experience in IT. I have extensive experience in application development, program management, account management and Enterprise Architecture across many industries, from Defence, Telecommunications, Agriculture and Insurance. In my role in as architecture and strategy advisor if have developed many innovation models and have overseen innovation practices in large enterprise environments.

Grant van Niekerk is the Solutions Executive for Dimension Data, South West Territory where he is responsible for leading Dimension Data’s Business Transformation and the Business Units in the Territory.

He started his journey at Dimension Data as the General Manager for the Security business. Over the years he has also successfully managed and made a great impact in his role as the General Manager for Advanced Infrastructure and the Executive for Networking. Grant also fulfilled varies positions prior to Dimension Data including, EUC Regional Manager and Microsoft Regional Manager at GijimaAST.

With his extensive knowledge and insight of the IT Industry, Grant has been a front-runner in successfully managing and executing some of its biggest achievements. In 2016, he received the CEO Award, in the Senior Leader category for Dimension Data Middle-East Africa.

He studied Electrical Engineering after school and later did a master’s in business administration (MBA). Grant believes that education can open a world of opportunity and spent a significant amount of his time as a Managing Partner in a training organization, where he lectured locally and internationally.

Zimkhita has fulfilled multiple roles within Britehouse(SAP BI Manager, Account Manager, Regional Manager for Western Cape Region) where she has made a great impact which has earned her the respect of both our clients and colleagues.

She was an award-winning SAP Analytics Consultant for nine years and served as chairperson of the Africa SAP User Group Business Analytics Special Interest Group. She was also one of only 200 SAP mentors chosen globally due to her willingness to share her knowledge and guide young professionals in the local SAP ecosystem.

Zimkhita subscribes to the philosophy that if you lift others, you too will rise and is a firm believer in the power of giving back and her achievements are a testament to that. Zimkhita was selected as a fellow of the prestigious Techwomen Programme in 2013. The programme is a US State Department initiative that affords emerging leaders from Middle East, Asia and Africa with an opportunity to be mentored by women in STEM fields in Silicon Valley for a six week period.

In 2016, she was awarded the first ever Outstanding Women in ICT award by MTN for her passion for promoting diversity in the ICT industry. She has also supported organisations that help young girls gain access and exposure to the world of technology and in 2018, her efforts were recognised by CoCreateSA and the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a winner of the prestigious Inspiring Fifty award. These awards celebrated women in tech trailblazers in South Africa. She was also a Global Hero finalist in the 2018 Digital Female Leadership Awards that were recently held in Munich, Germany. She is a board member of Siliconcape, a non-profit that aims to promote Cape Town as a global technology hub. Siliconcape has been instrumental in fostering a vibrant and supporting startup ecosystem with over 7k members. She also serves as a member of the Black IT Forum Executive Committee in the Western Cape.

She graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Technology honours degree majoring in Information Systems from the Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Malaysia. She has completed the Dimension Data Global Fast Track Programme in partnership with the IE Business School, Spain.

Kim holds a a BComm Honours majoring in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from NMMU and has work in Human Resources for over 15 years. Kim started her career at Sun International and has been with Dimension Data for 12 years and currently oversees the team that manages HR across approximately 1000 employees in the South West Territory of Western Cape, Namibia and Angola. Kim is on the Dimension Data Leadership Forum and is an active participant in various innovation projects across the territory including Hackathons and working with young tech leaders. Kim has recently completed the “Leading in a Digital World” programme through the IE Business School in Spain.