Cloudebate™

Hossana Twinomurinzi BSc Hons (Mathematics), Masters (IT), PhD (IT), MSc (Electrical, Electronic, and Computer Engineering) is a C2 South Africa NRF Rated Researcher and 4IR Professor with the Centre for Applied Data Science, University of Johannesburg. He is currently Vice Dean for Research, Innovation & Internationalisation at the College of Business and Economics. He is also supporting the efforts in the College on infusing data science into research, teaching/learning and community efforts.

He is also an Associate Editor for the African Journal of Information and Communication, past Associate Editor at the African Journal of Information Systems, former Chairperson for the ICT4D Flagship at the University of South Africa, and former Secretary for SAICSIT. His primary research interests are in Applied Data Science, Digital Skills, Digital Government, Digital Innovation and ICT for development. He has supervised 15+ Masters and Doctoral students in the areas of data analytics, digital government and ICT for development.

He serves on the editorial boards of several academic publications and has served as a convener and technical chair at several international and national conferences. He has led national research projects of ICT and done contract research in various sectors ranging from the military, government, non-profit organisations and banking. He has management and executive experience, having served in chief executive and senior management positions in South Africa, England, Swaziland and Uganda. He is a professional facilitator and is occasionally involved in social enterprise activities.

Letlhokwa George Mpedi completed his B Juris (1996) and LLB (1998) at Vista University. In 2001 the LLM degree in Labour Law was conferred upon him by the then Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg). He twice received the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) award (in 2000 and 2001) for purposes of researching in Germany for his LLM dissertation and LLD thesis, respectively).

Upon completing his LLB he was employed as a Junior Lecturer in the Department of Mercantile Law at Vista University (Mamelodi Campus). He joined the Centre for International and Comparative Labour and Social Security Law (CICLASS) at the then Rand Afrikaans University as a researcher in 2000. In August 2003, Professor Mpedi accepted a position as a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Social Law in Munich (Germany). Upon his return from Germany in 2006, he was employed as a Deputy Director at CICLASS. In the same year, the LLD degree in Mercantile Law was conferred upon him by the University of Johannesburg.

Before his current position as Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Mpedi served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic and Executive Dean (Faculty of Law) at the University of Johannesburg. He lectured labour law and social security to LLB, post-graduate and certificate students and has delivered papers at numerous national and international conferences. Professor Mpedi has published widely on social security and labour law in South Africa, Southern Africa, and Anglophone Africa. His most recent publications include a co-authored book Labour Law in Ghana (2022) published by LexisNexis, South Africa. Professor Mpedi is an NRF-rated scholar. He is placed in the B category (i.e., a researcher who enjoys considerable international recognition by peers).

Nicole Stremlau is Head of the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, and Research Professor in the Humanities at the University of Johannesburg. She is currently leading a large ERC project on the Politics and Practice of Social Media in Conflict. Her research focuses on media and governance, particularly in areas of conflict and insecurity. Her recent projects examine the role of new media in political participation and governance; media law and regulation in the absence of government or in weak states; the role of media in conflict, peacebuilding and the consolidation of political power; and how governments attempt to engage citizens and communicate law-making processes, particularly constitution-making. She has recently led Oxford’s contribution to a large EU project on media and democratization conflicts (MeCODEM). Stremlau’s doctoral work explored the role of media during the guerrilla insurgencies in Uganda and Ethiopia, and how the successive governments used the media to consolidate political power in the aftermath of violence.

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