A retrospective look at the pioneering days of the industry: a question-and-answer session with David Frankel (Internet Solutions), Mark Todes (Korbitec, Internet Africa) and Ant Brooks, ISPA
This session looked more into the evolution of the ISPA from a small group to more than 120. David Frankel, first ISPA co-Chairman and past MD of Internet Solution, claimed that the industry is too compliant, which in one way or the other have delayed the evolution of the internet as we know it today. Mark Todes, Director of Korbitec, reiterated that ISPA started with a vision to provide a support structure to its members.
The session was dominated by the need to reduce costs, “expanding the pie” (in other words, getting more people to use Internet technologies. Yet we should not forget that about 80 % of the population is claimed to know nothing about these issues, and you could say they have more pressing needs, like running water or electricity.
This session brings back good memories for me because my very first job in Johannesburg was working for Internet Solutions in 1997. I had limited interaction with David Frankel at that time, as I was in the security division. At that time, I only had a BSc in Computer Science, while most of the other team members had Master’s degrees in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering. It reminds me I was thinking that they wanted me to sweep the floor because I was the only black person, and I had the lowest qualification in the team.
My division was called IS Security and we mostly installed firewall systems for companies but I didn’t stay very long because after 7 months I was headhunted by the 3rd largest ISP in South Africa global Internet access in Rivonia and I remember handing in my resignation after they had offered me an increase of around 18% but the reason I resigned us I had negotiated double my salary to move to GIA who desperately wanted a firewall engineer and even with my limited experience doing this kind of work I was able to make a transition and add value to my new employer at that time and the person that hired me was Jon Oliver who was one of the best managers that I’ve ever worked for he was the technology manager for global Internet access and responsible for the technical infrastructure of the ISP of the company and so this was almost 10 years later since I started at the Internet solution and it was so good to see David Franco at that time