Telkom is behind the continent’s leading ICT conference and bolstering innovative solutions to solve cybersecurity challenges through the SATNAC (The Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference) Cybersecurity Hackathon 2022. Following the success of the 2021 GEW (Global Entrepreneurship Week) Hackathon in partnership with 22 on Sloane, Telkom FutureMakers, in partnership with Amdocs, Unistream, Geekulcha and 22 on Sloane, has launched a cybersecurity hackathon as a pilot to complement the SATNAC proceedings.
The Hackathon is geared at uncovering new solutions from university students aged 18-35 in ICT who have a knack for solving complex problems. The purpose of the Hackathon is for university students, including technical university students, with experience in research in the cybersecurity field to prototype solutions that will solve cybersecurity problems. The successful teams of 3-5 members at the end of the Hackathon will be afforded an opportunity to pilot their solutions with Telkom and Amdocs, a leading provider of software and services to communications and media companies The initiative builds upon Telkom’s long-standing efforts to foster technology innovation and entrepreneurial competencies of our youth.
Mmathebe Zvobwo, The Enterprise and Supplier Development Executive at Telkom, commented, “Telkom FutureMakers is passionate about promoting technology innovation that seeks to move the country forward through addressing challenges faced in the ICT sector. The industry suffers huge losses annually due swim swap fraud through digital identity theft and it is crucial that we keep ahead and counter the increase of cybersecurity fraud.”
The Cybersecurity Hackathon aims to counter the rise of fraud across all business sectors including sim-swap fraud In the ICT sector due to insider threats linked to digital identity theft and business e-mail compromise. The solution will seek to mitigate human error through sophisticated technologies and automation.
The Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC), taking place in August, is an annual event hosted under the auspices of Telkom and attracts more than 400 delegates. SATNAC has become the continent’s leading ICT conference where Industry, Academia and Operators publish on matters concerning progress achieved in applied research in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. Industry leaders share their views on the latest trends and developments.
The winning teams will also have an opportunity to be part of Telkom FutureMakers Enterprise Development Accelerator if they have registered businesses. The Hackathon will take place virtually between June and August 2022, with the Hackathon finale taking place over the weekend of 19 – 21 August 2022.
