August 31, 2007
By George Matlala
INTERNATIONAL experts are expected to attend a conference to discuss how companies can improve their efficiency.
The Commit Symposium, hosted by the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) and information technology company Dimension Data, is happening on Monday, 3 September and Tuesday, 4 September at Dimension Data's Campus in Bryanston.
It will focus on how companies can use capability maturity model integration (CMMI) to improve their software development.
According to Professor Barry Dwolatzky, the director of the JCSE, the conference will help companies to improve their development processes, which in turn will enhance their predictive power, optimise quality and reduce costs.
"Next week's symposium will unpack CMMI for chief executives and executives," he says.
The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University developed CMMI for the American government to help companies to improve their development processes, he explains. The model helps in areas such as planning, project monitoring and preparing contracts for clients and suppliers.
Andile Ngcaba, the chairman of Dimension Data Africa and Middle East, will chair the conference. Speakers include Mike Phillips, the SEI head of CMMI; Rafael Salazar, an assistant professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey University in Mexico; and Nidhi Srivastava, the head of quality function at Tata Consultancy Services in the United States.
Plenary sessions and panel discussions will look at various elements of CMMI - the first day will focus on the benefits of the model, while the second day will unpack how it works.
Phillips will shed light on how the model can assist local companies in improving business processes internally and in bidding for offshore development contracts from Europe and the US.
Companies and representatives from the CMMI pilot project, which is being run by the JCSE, will be able to interact with speakers during breakaway sessions. Organisations participating in the project include the State IT Agency (Sita), First National Bank (FNB), Psybergate, the University of the Witwatersrand's Computing Services, IBM and Nedbank.
"The pilot is being run in order to build a strong case to present to the Department of Trade and Industry the request the government's support for the mass adoption of CMMI as a tool to improve business processes within local companies," Dwolatzky says.
The JCSE is a partnership between the City and Wits, aimed at developing the growth of the local information and communications technology (ICT) sector.
Based at the university's Lawson's Building on the corner of Jan Smuts Avenue and Jorissen Street, the centre promotes best practice in software engineering. This includes promoting the use of international best practice in software engineering and growing the local ICT sector.
Registration for the event can be done online on the Dimension Data website.
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