Wipro and GIBS partner to design 'Future CIO' programme

L to R: Shaun Rozyn, Stafford Masie and Abdullah Verachia

The programme's objective is to impart leadership skills, build proficiency in technologies of the future and help mould leaders with a globalised outlook that will enable them to lead their organisations into the future successfully.

The USP of this programme is that the nominations will have to come directly from the CEOs and boards of their respective organisations, across industry sectors, in South Africa. The candidates will be further shortlisted by a panel of experts. The first batch will commence in August 2015 and will have a total of 20 candidates. Two seats have been exclusively reserved for previously disadvantaged candidates and small-to-medium enterprises.

GIBS is a top-ranked African business school with expertise in developing industry-aligned executive development programmes. It has been ranked as one of the top business schools globally, by the UK's Financial Times, since 2003. GIBS will co-design and implement the programme.

Three modules

The programme comprises three modules and is spread over a period of six months. The first module, which focuses on enterprise leadership will be conducted at the GIBS campus during August over four days. The second module will see the candidates travel to India in October for seven days, where they will receive in-depth theoretical and hands-on training on global leadership skills and technology themes. As a part of the curriculum, the programme will also provide the opportunity for the candidates to interact with business leaders, CEOs, CIOs and CTOs from leading global organisations. The last module on functional leadership will be conducted over four days at the GIBS campus in November 2015. Once the programme is completed, the individuals will be well placed to become future CIOs and CTOs.

"The growth of a sustainable economy in South Africa hinges on skills development, something which Wipro is committed to supporting. We strongly believe that CIOs and CTOs have an important part to play in the success of businesses today and in the future. We believe that true business transformation will require significant amounts of teamwork and collaboration, and we are proud to partner GIBS on this ground-breaking initiative," said Ulrich Meister, Senior Vice-President, Continental Europe and Africa of Wipro.

"Ultimately, the focus of the programme is to transfer skills, knowledge and insights to enable executives to convert these learnings into the strategy of their organisations. The composition of the programme includes enterprise functional leadership, which is delivered on campus, as well as a week of international travel. Candidates will be nominated by their organisations, and an admissions committee will review all applications," said Shaun Rozyn, GIBS Director of Executive Education.

Participants in the programme will have access to the best in thought leadership through exposure to some of the country's leading and established experts in their respective fields. They will gain invaluable exposure to high-level problem solving and strategic thinking, which will encourage and nurture real innovative thinking in a global business context. The GIBS Future CIO programme will offer candidates insight into disruptive business and technology trends, key strategic factors for globalising operations and more. All participants will benefit from course content on the importance of corporate governance.