Dr Anwar Vahed is the Director for the Data Intensive Research Initiative of South Africa (DIRISA).
In his role, he oversees the establishment of the national research data infrastructure, coordinates the development of relevant expertise and the implementation of research data strategies. He is a computer scientist with background and interests in Artificial Intelligence and the data sciences. He has developed the National Strategic Framework for Big Data and led research in Big Data analytics for earth observation at the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Sthembiso Nhlakanipho Mkhwanazi a Senior Project Manager for DIRISA.
He is responsible for planning and overseeing the implementation of a project portfolio in fulfillment of DIRISA’s contractual commitments, including monitoring, evaluation and reporting in the execution of projects and delivery of outputs for the DIRISA team. Sthembiso holds a Masters Degree in Project and Programme Management from Cranefield College in Pretoria.
May Maile is a Senior Software Developer for DIRISA.
Xolani Nkosi is the Project Coordinator for DIRISA.
He holds a Masters degree in Development Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesbug. He has interest in Research, Strategic & Policy Development. Before joining DIRISA, he worked for Meraka Institute’s Strategic Research Innovation Management Unit, CSIR.
Ntswiki Rampyapedi joined the CSIR on 1 October 2020 as a Senior System Administrator for DIRISA. He holds a Master of Computing from the Tshwane University of Technology.
He has experience in the OpenStack environment, an open-source platform, Strategic planning, and execution. His interests include Data Science and Big Data ecosystems.
Prior to joining DIRISA, she worked for the CSIR’s Defense Peace Safety Security unit of the the CSIR. She holds a Masters Degree in Information Technology from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth and a doctorate with the University of South Africa.
In 2016, Nobubele was selected as Techwomen Emerging Leader and chosen to work at Twitter in San Francisco recently. She is passionate about community-driven initiatives, enjoys traveling and tasting culinary treats from from different parts of the world. She considers herself somewhat of an “amateur chef”
He is a computer scientist with interests in DevSecOps, Information Security Event and Incident Management, Vulnerability Management, Threat Intelligence and Threat Modeling.
He has experience working as Software Engineer, Cybersecurity Engineer, Security Operations Centre Analyst and Information Security Investigations Manager.
Before joining DIRISA, he worked as a Team Leader: Cybersecurity Operations Center for a financial institution in South Africa. He is responsible for the security of research data management services and infrastructure, services deployed on OpenStack cloud computing platform. He is a member of the National Research and Education Network in South Africa (SANReN) – Computer Incident Response Team (CSIRT).