CITI will be at the Small Business Week show at the Good Hope Centre from 17 - 19 November 2009. If you are planning to visit the show, please come and introduce yourself.

CITI's new "Edu-CITI" events, aimed at providing ICT entrepreneurs with opportunities to upgrade their knowledge and ask experts for assistance, have been well attended. On 30 October we hosted a session on "How to protect your Intellectual Property" which generated lots of discussion. We will be holding a similar session again next year.

Our next "Edu-CITI" event will be held in early December and will focus on "How to write a business plan." It will be presented by Odette Potter of Hasso-Plattner Ventures. Notifications will go out via the CITI newsletter and if you have registered for it, you will get one.

The CITI Board met with the Provincial Government of the Western Cape Minister of Finance, Alan Winde, in early November. This was a very productive meeting and we used this opportunity to lobby the Minister on issues of critical concern to the Western Cape ICT community.

CITI subsidiary, The Bandwidth Barn, has launched its new website at www.bwb.org.za. The BWB will be running a course of one day training courses in January and February 2009 aimed at individuals in the ICT industry who (1) are struggling to find employment because their skills are too generic and not supported by general business knowledge, or (2) are battling to move ahead in their career because they do not have the skills required to get promoted to the next level. The course covers Project Management (NQF Level 4), Key Skills for Effective Managers (NQF Level 5) and Time Management (NQF Level 5). To qualify you need to have grade 12 and a relevant ICT qualification with a good pass rate, proficiency in English language skills and, in the category (2) groups, you need to be currently working in an ICT environment.

The BWB will also be running an A+ course from 11-29 January 2010, 08:00 - 12:00 daily.

All the courses are Services SETA approved and sponsored by the Provincial Government of the Western Cape, Department of Economic Development & Tourism. Contact Chris Vermuelen at The Bandwidth Barn for more information.

CITI's new Executive Director, Jenny McKinnell, started on 6 October 2009. You can follow Jenny on Twitter (www.twitter.com/jennyatCITI). Jenny has taken over the reins from Chris Vermeulen, the general manager of the Bandwidth Barn. She will be implementing a number of exciting projects in the months ahead. Register for the CITI newsletter if you want to be kept up to speed.