Siyabulela Xuza (27)
JOHANNESBURG – THE presence of a South African young man who has a planet named after him will be among the highlights of the upcoming Accenture Innovation Conference in Johannesburg Wednesday.
EASTERN Cape-born Siyabulela Xuza (27), the Harvard University graduate and rocket scientist hailed as South Africa’s youngest innovator, will be among the guest speakers at the event that brings together participants and the world’s leading innovators to engage on market-ready concepts and disruptive insights.
Xuza is an energy-engineering Harvard University graduate with a passion for harnessing the power of the sun for clean affordable energy.
He has a newly-discovered minor planet in the Jupiter asteroid best named after him, called “23182 Siyaxuza.”
Xuza currently sits on the Africa 2.0 Energy Advisory Panel, a pan-African organisation of the continent’s brightest minds committed to seeking sustainable energy solutions.
He is among a panel of world-renowned experts for the Accenture Innovation Conference, themed “Leading in the New.”
The panel includes Jeffrey Brian (JB) Straubel, the Chief Technical Officer, Tesla Motors, one of the founders of the world’s first electric-car company.
Another panelist is Salim Ismail, Chief Executive Officer of EXO Works and Executive Director of Singularity University. He is the author of the best-selling ‘Exponential Organisations’ – required reading at many of the world’s leading companies.
Ismali is a former Yahoo! executive.
Ntombi Mhangwani, Director of Integrated Marketing and Communications at Accenture, says the goal of the Innovation Conference is to expose industry professionals to radical new insights, breakthrough thinking and disruptive strategies in order to help them take their place in our new, and highly innovative, world.
“While a single brilliant idea brings with it the power to change the world, it needs the right support to help realise its full potential – that of continuing to transform and electrify the world in which we live while simultaneously turning individuals and companies into innovative legends,” says Mhangwani.
Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Ireland, Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations.
Combining unmatched experience and specialised skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and
technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders.
– Guardian
