Speakers
Professor Ian Jandrell
Professor Ian Jandrell is Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Systems and Operations at Wits University. In this role, he provides strategic leadership across key operational and support portfolios that underpin the University’s academic and research mission, including Property and Infrastructure Management, Services, ICT, Campus Protection Services, the re-imagining of Wits’ property portfolio, and the implementation of the University’s online strategy.
Professor Lynn Morris
Professor Lynn Morris is Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation at Wits University. She is an A-rated and internationally recognised scientist with extensive experience in research leadership and management. Her work has made major contributions to understanding the antibody response to HIV, and she has played a leading role in validated end-point assays for HIV vaccine clinical trials.
Professor Vukosi Marivate
Professor Vukosi Marivate is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Pretoria, Director of the African Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AfriDSAI), and holder of the ABSA UP Chair of Data Science. He also serves on the United Nations Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence. His work focuses on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing, with a strong emphasis on local and low-resource African languages. He leads the Data Science for Social Impact research group and has worked on projects in science, energy, public safety, and utilities. He is also a co-founder of Lelapa AI, the Masakhane Research Foundation, and the Deep Learning Indaba.
Professor Inger Fabris-Rotelli
Professor Inger Fabris-Rotelli is a Professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Pretoria. She is the immediate past President of the South African Statistical Association (SASA), co-chair of the SASA Data Science Group, and is active in the broader mathematical sciences and data science community, including NITheCS-related activities. She has made significant contributions to postgraduate supervision and research development in statistics and data science, and has supervised many honours, master’s, and doctoral students. Her research interests include spatial statistics, GIS, remote sensing, image processing, spatial epidemiology, and criminology. She is an NRF-rated researcher and has served in several professional leadership roles nationally and internationally.
Professor Benjamin Rosman
Professor Benjamin Rosman is a Professor in the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at the University of the Witwatersrand, founding Director of the Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute, and head of the Robotics, Autonomous Intelligence and Learning (RAIL) Laboratory. He was also named in TIME magazine’s TIME100 AI 2025 list, in the Thinkers category, in recognition of his contribution to artificial intelligence and the growth of Africa’s AI ecosystem.
Professor Paida Mhangara
Professor Paida Mhangara is Head of the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand and a Wits MIND Fellow. He is a senior Earth Observation scientist whose work spans remote sensing, land-atmosphere interactions, machine learning for land-cover characterisation, and advanced geospatial modelling for environmental monitoring.
Professor Kanshukan Rajaratnam
Professor Kanshukan Rajaratnam is Director of the School for Data Science and Computational Thinking at Stellenbosch University. He is widely recognised for his leadership in building data science capacity in South Africa and for advancing interdisciplinary work at the intersection of data science, policy, and strategic decision-making.
Professor Thokozani Majozi
Professor Thokozani Majozi is Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation at the University of Cape Town. He is a distinguished scholar in sustainable process engineering and a highly respected academic leader whose work has made important contributions to engineering research, innovation, and the broader higher education sector.