Akhona Damane

Office of Digital Advantage at CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research)

Akhona Damane is currently the Manager: Office of Digital Advantage at CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research). He is responsible for facilitating the implementation of the Department of Science and Innovation’s ICT Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap, which seeks to stimulate investment in R&D and Innovation in ICT by both public and private sectors through partnerships with industry, universities, research institutions and international organisations. He guides RDI programs that unearth the potential of the emerging / exponential technologies, such as Data Science, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning, Blockchain, Internet of Things, and Cybersecurity within the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution. He is the current chair for the South African National Blockchain Alliance (SANBA) Leadership Forum and the interim chair of the Advisory Panel for the Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAIR).

Mr Damane has previously worked as the Manager for Knowledge Management and Innovation (2012-2017) at Transnet Freight Rail. Prior to joining Transnet, Mr Damane was employed by the Western Cape Government Department of Human Settlements as the acting Director for Strategy, Monitoring & Evaluation, and Information Management. During 2010-2011, he worked as a part-time Lecturer in Information Systems at the University of the Western Cape, in Cape Town. In recent years Mr Damane has honoured invitations to be a Guest Lecturer at Wits Business School and at University of Johannesburg.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Fort Hare. He has completed a number of training certificates in ITIL 4 Foundation, Systems Analysis, Knowledge Management, Project Management, and Agile PM SCRUM. He is currently studying towards an MBA.

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