Tertiary institution University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) will host the inaugural Digital Africa Festival in August and September to showcase digital technologies that will help improve Africa’s economic prominence and development.

The festival will promote an important fusion between technology, art and critical thinking within the digital technology domain, says Wits Joburg Centre for Software Engineering director Professor Barry Dwolatzky.

Digital technology will have to be used to educate and empower the continent’s more than one-billion citizens and the technology will form the crux of the festival.

“Digital technology and the rise of Africa are two significant forces shaping the twenty-first century. If Africa is to achieve its expected economic prominence, Africans will need to become significant innovators and developers of this tech- nology. “This lies at the heart of the ways in which we manage our lives and run our companies, cities and countries,” explains Dwolatzky.

The festival will focus on the range of research and innovation taking place at Wits and will attract students, researchers and entrepreneurs interested in digital technology throughout Africa. Each event will turn the spotlight on one aspect of digital technology, including software, hardware, networks, digital content and games, besides others.

US-based business agility and just-in-time production method consultancy Kanban for Software Development cofounder Daniel Vacanti and Kanban user and agile software expert Bennet Vallett will present two workshops on leading change and transformation at the second Agile Africa Conference, from August 13 to 15 during the festival.

The workshops are an opportunity, for the first time in South Africa, to learn directly from the cofounder on the implementation and use of the Japanese just-in-time production method Kanban in software development and to interact with the director of a major US company using the Kanban method.

The festival will also host the Process Improvement Africa one-day conference that will focus on the role that process and process improvement play in helping information and communication technology organisations to deliver high-quality products and services in a predictable and repeatable manner.

Further, the Maker Event will cover three-dimensional printing, laser cutters and other rapid prototyping tools, and will enable innovators to explore solutions in the hardware field as easily as software developers do digitally. The Maker Event will provide an opportunity for manufacturers to collaborate, learn and teach.