Security hackathon heads to Kimberley

[CAPTION] The Northern Cape edition of the ITWeb Security Summit Hackathon will take place in Kimberley on 1 June at the Sol Plaatje University.

Ahead of the 20th annual ITWeb Security Summit in Johannesburg on 3 and 4 June, the ITWeb Geekulcha hackathon will host a session in Kimberley on 1 June at the Sol Plaatje University.

The Northern Cape edition of the ITWeb Security Summit Hackathon is hosted by the Northern Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT) and Sol Plaatje University (SPU) together with Geekulcha, CompTIA, Telspace Africa and Snode Technologies.

Up to 50 participants in 15 teams are expected to compete.

The event (#SS25HACK) will challenge participants to leverage the power of AI to enhance cyber resilience.

Participants are expected to focus on solutions that use AI to predict, detect and mitigate cyber threats in real-time, ensuring systems remain secure and adaptive to evolving risks.

Geekulcha and the DEDAT have confirmed they will host a public lecture, delivered by Dr James Stanger, chief technology officer of CompTIA, with an opening practical session by Thulani Mabuza, cyber security consultant and team lead at Orange Cyberdefense.

In addition to focusing on building cyber resilience using AI, the lecture will focus on best practices with experience from around the world in cyber security skills development, trust and ethics. This lecture will take place on 30 May from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at Sol Plaatje University, followed by a networking session.

Rodwyn Grewan, senior manager responsible for the knowledge and innovation economy at DEDAT, said: “The Northern Cape provincial government, led by Premier Zamani Saul, aims for a modern, growing, successful province. The Department of Economic Development and Tourism is responsible for supporting skills development for the 4IR. Cyber security is vital for protecting digital infrastructure and ensuring sustainable socio-economic growth.”

The lecture will be followed by a networking session.

The hackathon organisers expect several takeaways from the lecture, including understanding the South African AI, cyber security and threat landscape; how AI is building resilience; the skills development pipeline; as well as the importance of support for skills development programmes like the hackathon.

Geekulcha COO Tiyani Nghonyama said: “Hackathons like these bring an exciting and insightful dynamic in skills assessment to understand where the country is and where to place greater interventions to support the talent pipeline for the industry. A proactive and capable skills force is what the country needs, and we commend the partners for their continued efforts.”

#SS25HACK will run concurrently with the ITWeb Security Summit 2025.

The top three achievers in the 2025 ITWeb Security Hackathon will each be awarded a one-year free individual membership to the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA).

The IITPSA is the only SAQA recognised and IFIP IP3 accredited professional body for ICT practitioners in SA. This one-year membership will provide opportunities for the winners to continue their professional career and skills development, as well as network and engage with other ICT professionals. Winners will need to complete the IITPSA application process to secure membership to the institute.