News

JCSE hosted a successful 2010 Annual Symposium on Process Improvement at the Sunnyside Park Hotel.  Click here for more information and copies of presentations.

Computer Society of SA (CSSA) hosted a meeting on 15 October to discuss issues around the recognition of ICT professionals. The meetingwas attended by representatives of CSSA, the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), the SA Institute of Electrical Engineering (SAIEE), the Black IT Forum (BITF) and the local chapter of the IEEE-Computer Society (IEEE-CS). SAICSIT, representing university lecturers in computer science and information systems from most SA universities, will be represented at future meetings. All organisations represented indicated their support for this initiative.

September 30, 2010—Attendees from 15 U.S. states and 10 countries around the world visited Pittsburgh, the headquarters city for the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute, for the TSP Symposium 2010. Themed Changing the World of Software Engineering, the fifth annual Symposium provided seasoned users of the Team Software Process (TSP), those involved in its development and transition, and those who are new to TSP with four days of enriching tutorials, plentiful networking opportunities, and engaging presentations.

A group of postgraduate students from Wits University and the University of Johannesburg (UJ) have just completed an IT project for The AIDS Consortium.  The students are part of the CoachLab@JCSE programme run by the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE).  Annlizé Marnewick, Project Manager at the JCSE explains “The CoachLab™ programme is a partnership between The Innovation Hub (based in Pretoria), JCSE, Local Industry (Barone Budge and Dominick, Standard Bank of South Africa, Microsoft and Vodacom), UJ and Wits and is aimed at top post-graduate students studying in IT related disciplines. It is aligned with post-graduate programmes at universities and prepares a student for leadership positions in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry.”

 The Skills Corridor, an initiative of SmartXchange and the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE), held a mobile technologies workshop on May 27.  Using the state of the art video conferencing facilities at Dimension Data's Client Experience Centre in Bryanston and a mobile video conferencing unit at their Durban office, together with Cisco's Webex application, delegates in Joburg and Durban were treated to lively presentations on the opportunities arising from the use of convergence and mobile technologies.

Oh no - not another information technology disaster! As lawyers on both sides sharpen their pencils, the future of another major South African IT project hangs in the balance.

Following an initiative by Stefan Gruner who leads the department's SSFM research group, the two IT organisations CSSA-SIGiST (Special Interest Group in Software Testing) and JCSE (Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering) have held a joint seminar about "Software Testing in Small IT Companies" on Wednesday, 21 April 2010, in the Nedbank auditorium, Sandton, Johannesburg.

Prof Barry Dwolatzky starts a new blog - "The Software Engineer" - with a debate sparked by an article in iWeek on whether the South African Government is failing the local ICT industry.

Barry aims in this blog to provide a specialised platform for the South African software engineering community. In it we will discuss the local software sector – its opportunities and challenges. We will discuss skills and how the broader ICT sector can position itself to create significant numbers of new and sustainable jobs. We will discuss how South Africa can export software products and services.

The JCSE is looking for experts in the Software Archtiecture Industry that can share their views and experience at the Software Archtecture Forum.

Prof. Barry Dwolatzky, Director of the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) delivered a keynote presentation at the Software Engineering Process Group North America Conference today and wow'ed the audience with a presentation of the vibrant South African ICT industry

The ITWeb/JCSE IT Skills Survey assesses local ICT skills landscape. The Roundtable held to discuss the results concluded that  the recession and the fact that university graduates are emerging into the job market lacking key skills are the major skills issues.

Message from Prof Barry Dwolatzky, Director of the JCSE at Wits

THE LATEST ITWeb/JCSE skills survey has found that ICT skills priorities have changed slightly over the past year. The 2008 survey showed business intelligence/knowledge management (BI/KM) as the top priority for companies; this year, application development was number one and network infrastructure was second.

The writing of source code in software development doesn't always follow proper processes, which often leads to risks and delays that could have been avoided through better planning and process management.

This is the view of Malcolm Rabson, MD of local software architecture developer, Dariel Solutions.

The JCSE CMMI Process improvement project is one of the dti 's two flagship projects in the ICT&E sector.The dti  has committed R5,42-million to this project over the next year.

The dti, the JCSE and the SAEEC hit the road with an Executive Briefing on Improving Business Performance

Wits University and the University of Johannesburg have partnered with the Innovation Hub and business to launch the CoachLab@JCSE, a leadership development programme for the ICT sector.

The Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) at Wits University and the University of Johannesburg (UJ) together with The Innovation Hub (TIH) and industry sponsors, Microsoft and Barone, Budge and Dominick launched the CoachLab@JCSE on July 28.

A South African becomes the 100 000^th individual worldwide to be trained in CMMI

BY PATRICIA PIETERSE , ITWEB JUNIOR JOURNALIST [ Johannesburg, 21 May 2009 ] - At the ITA skills development summit in Midrand this week, Professor Barry Dwolatzky, director of the Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) at Wits University, said most IT professionals today do not have formal qualifications.

On May 19, the Information Technology Association (ITA), in conjunction with the JCSE and ITWeb, hosted the Skills Development Summit, to examine the relationship between the IT skills crisis and the world economic crisis.

Nadia Nortje from the Electrotechnical unit at the dti and project manager for SAVANT is currently conducting research on Corporate Entrepreneurship and Knowledge Management within the ICT and Electronics (Electrotechnical) Sector.

Prof Barry Dwolatzky, Director of the Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) at Wits University was the only South African delegate at the SEI Software Engineering Process Group.

So far, 2009 has been action-packed, with the JCSE organising/taking part in a number of major events.

Three Wits students automate university's health system in a bid to be readmitted after they were academically excluded.

The JCSE has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the SmartXchange, a Durban-based public-private sector initiative that was established to develop a business base for the ICT sector in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

South African software development companies should cluster to form a body that addresses their common problems and positions them for global competitive advantage.

The XP Forum has been successfully rebranded as the Agile Forum, with the first meeting taking place on the 17 March.

JCSE/SEI meets with DTI regarding international software pilot project.

JCSE partners with SAEEC and the dti to exhibit in the National Pavilion at CeBIT in Hannover,
Germany.

Happy New Year!  The JCSE wishes all its partners and friends a peaceful and successful 2009.  Watch this space, as we will bring you the latest news of our forthcoming activities in the next couple of weeks.

2008 is drawing to a close. The year just ending has been an extremely exciting one here at the JCSE. The year ahead promises to be even better. As the world around us slumps into the gloom of a global recession, how can I possibly be so optimistic?

The Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) has asked its stakeholders to provide input on subjects that they would like to see included in its 2009 programme.

 South African software developers need to be more systematic in their software development process in order to be globally competitive, says Prof. Barry Dwolatzky, Director of the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) at Wits University.

The Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) has asked its stakeholders to provide input on subjects that they would like to see included in its 2009 programme.

South African software development processes are likely to change dramatically for the better in the coming year, says the 2008 ITWeb/JCSE Skills Survey.

Microsoft, one of the JCSE's Platinum Partners, hosted "Developer Manager's Breakfasts" in Joburg and Cape Town.

The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) held a successful roadshow in October to showcase the best in ICT that South Africa has to offer. The roadshow covered key destinations spanning Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg. 

The Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) and QuantiMetrics will be holding a Master Class on the 27th of August on the challenges of estimation in the software development lifecycle.

The Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE), based at the University of the Witwatersrand, wants to learn more about the Team Software Process (TSP).

The JCSE leads SA delegation to Mexico and USA on as part of TSP exploratory trip.