MIDRAND, South Africa — IBM, supplier of the IBM AnyPlace Kiosk, has confirmed that it will be the sole platinum sponsor of South Africa's first definitive kiosk conference, JusTTouchIT 2009. IBM joins a growing list of top IT companies and vendors already committed to the conference. JusTouchIT 2009 will take place July 29-30 at the Eskom Convention Centre in Midrand, a municipality in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Kevin Kitchin, IBM Retail Store Solutions brand specialist, said IBM is committed to the growth of the kiosk industry in South Africa and will throw its weight behind such initiatives whenever possible.
"The organizers of JusTTouchIT 2009 have assembled an impressive list of international speakers, including one of our own international experts on self-service and kiosks," said Kitchin.
IT integration and support giant GijimaAST is a silver sponsor of the conference and will present a paper on the importance of maintenance and support for an industry that needs to have 24/7 availability.
The conference's keynote speaker will be Robert Porter, CEO of Euro Kiosks Network, an alliance of more than 100 kiosk companies across Europe.
"We have every confidence that JusTTouchit will deliver a highly professional conference focused on educating attendees on the latest trends in self-service technologies," Porter said.
Porter's keynote address will look at global trends and success stories in the industry, and he also will make an in-depth presentation on photo kiosks, the fastest growing kiosk segment in the world. Porter recently was one of the judges for the photo kiosk software awards at PMA '09, the Photo Marketing Association's annual convention in Las Vegas. Porter's photo kiosk presentation at JusTTouchIT is sponsored by the PMA.
"We are pleased to offer our full support and endorsement for the upcoming JusTTouchIT South African kiosk conference," said Porter.
David Ives, director, developer and platform strategy group for Microsoft South Africa, will be the second-day keynote speaker and will address innovations in touch-based computing, such as Microsoft Surface and Active Walls.
"This and many other innovations will change the way we interact with technology, with an intention that we make a difference in people's lives," said Ives. "This presentation will share what innovation is being researched locally and abroad and the impact this is likely to have on people and the world of service management."
Other speakers at the conference include:
• Marcelo Hermida of Wincor Nixdorf, who will present the history of financial services kiosks in South Africa, and a look at their future • Graham Roebuck, also of Wincor Nixdorf, who will present a joint SAP/Wincor Nixdorf paper on kiosks in an employee self-service environment • Matshepo Kekana, of the Guateng (South Africa) Shared Services Centre (GSSC), who will present a paper on kiosks as a means of e-government service delivery • Richard McIntyre, CEO of Crystal Touch, who will speak on kiosk network management, monitoring and content deployment • Fred Scherf, founder and former executive of Deposita, who will speak on cash in a self-service environment • Cornel Van Lingen, CEO of Public Display Technologies South Africa, who will speak on interactivity and digital signage
There will be additional international input from John Anderson of Yeahpoint Australia, a well-established kiosk company with extensive deployments in Australia and underdeveloped environments in Southeast Asia. Yeahpoint has recently opened offices in South Africa.
In addition to the above partners and speakers, exhibitors at the conference will include Epson Printers, Custom Printers, Nomad Electronic Fund Transfer systems, kiosk enclosure builder Heartwood Craft and major South African I.T. company Business Connexion.
