AfriGIS year-end letter 2017

The 9th December Economist cover was, unfortunately, dedicated to South Africa for all the wrong reasons. It reflects one of the milestone challenges our country faces and explains several of the interesting phenomena we see around us in the world of business.

We are, indeed, in interesting times, but in adversity, there is always great opportunity.

AfriGIS’s positioning as an organisation is to answer the “WHERE?” questions and more and more to assist organisations in defining what the “WHERE?” questions are that should be asked. The questions relate to how to do better business, but also how to survive by choosing the right things to do in the right time-space continuum.

Our blessings this past year in many contexts, are too numerous to pen down, the following are just a handful of highlights in the AfriGIS context, quoted from our press office and social media streams:

• AfriGIS celebrated 20 years of answering WHERE, a huge milestone and privilege.
  
• Ten new candidates were part of the 5th annual AfriGIS Learnership Programme, in partnership with MICT Seta and CTU Training.
  
• We hosted four successful Data and Spatial Workshops, showcasing and delivering world-class datasets to our clients.
  
• We attended, exhibited and participated at various conferences and exhibitions which included: Mastering Business Analytics with SAP Solutions, SAFARI into the Credit Industry workshops, SA Geotech, National Treasury’s Data Quest, SABS standards meetings, the International Population Conference, to list a few.
  
• The imminent launch of the new Gautrain website (beta version), www.gautrain.co.za, in collaboration with the Gautrain Management Agency.
  
• Our AfriGIS Map of the Month series took you on scenic routes and interesting places in our beautiful country.
  
• Our flagship address platform, AfriGIS Search, now contains more than 40 million address combinations which are compliant with national and international address standards.
  
• We continued our active participation with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) initiatives.
  
• We expanded on our address, weather and risk offerings, illustrating how we answer WHERE and providing our customers with insights to enhance their decision-making, streamline processes and achieve regulatory compliance. Whether it be in the context of KYC or things in the Internet of Things, our data and insights give context to the questions and answers that drive the future.

Speaking of the future: As we make progress in an era of immense computing power and the proliferation of information, machines and robots, the sensitivity of human emotions and the intertwining of this digital and emotional world becomes ever more visible. We are heading for a future of intuitive interfaces, automated tasks and obsolescence that will definitely have humanity question more than just the reality of immigration and globalisation. The fundamental man-machine interaction that is shaping our future is making the world of WALL-E (a Disney animated movie) a reality sooner than we think.

At AfriGIS these challenges do not go unnoticed as we carefully guide our strategic compass needle to what we believe our customers want and will need, within our construct of delivery. At the heart of it all remains a business offering that solves a particular challenge in an environment of honesty, integrity and passion.

Thank you to our partners, clients and contributors for your continued loyal support and spending time with AfriGIS; you are the reason we are here.

Thank you to the AfriGIS team and loved ones; thank you for the dedication, loyalty and hard work you have exhibited throughout a challenging year. Each one of you forms part of the AfriGIS journey; thank you for bringing your beautiful minds to the beautiful AfriGIS maps.

As always, we remain committed and passionate in our quest to make our beautiful country and the world a better place for all. We look forward to answering your WHERE questions and sharing our insights with you next year.

Thank you to our Heavenly Father for the year, we thank You for Your continued guidance and commit our interactions and endeavours planned for 2018 to You.

Wishing you a blessed festive season!

Regards,
Magnus