On the 14th to the 16th of May 2019, Spier Wine Farm, Stellenbosch, will be the designated destination for many insightful discussions focusing on the development of physical asset management in Southern Africa. Proud hosts, the Southern African Asset Management Association (SAAMA) are inviting delegates to be a part of an exclusive group of industry professionals and keynote speakers, which could facilitate a change in their approach towards asset management. One of these remarkable facilitators is Dr Calie Pistorius.

During his presentation, Dr Pistorius will explore how emerging technologies are disrupting asset management and how strategic innovation risk should inform the corporate innovation strategy as well as the broader corporate strategy. According to Dr Pistorius, companies rely on technology in spite of its continuous change and evolution – some gently and incrementally and others swiftly and radically. However, this wave of creative destruction fuels the emergence of new industries. At the same time, those who, as Dr Pistorius says, 'fumble the future', invariably follow their obsolete technologies into obsolescence. Inevitably, the dynamics of technological change has a strategic business impact which presents strategic business risks that must be addressed – either as the exploitation of opportunities or the mitigation of threats.

Dr Calie Pistorius is the Director of DeltaHedron Ltd, a UK-based consultancy specialising in technology intelligence and decision support to assess the strategic business impact, opportunities and risks presented by emerging technologies. He is a Chartered Engineer and an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Business School, Ohio State University and the University of Pretoria. Dr Pistorius is an extraordinary professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Stellenbosch and a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the UK, and the University of Pretoria in South Africa, where he was also the Director of the Institute for Technological Innovation and Chairman of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI). Added to this noteworthy curriculum vitae, are his widely published articles and globally delivered keynote presentations on the management of technology and innovation.

His current consulting clients include companies in the telecommunications, construction, information technology, steel, energy, mining, chemical, electronics, food and beverage, paper and pulp, health and aerospace sectors.

Concluding Dr Pistorius’ presentation, delegates will not only be equipped to assess the strategic impact, risks and opportunities presented by emerging technologies in asset management, but the application thereof.