ICT's Top Women: Rising Stars

PR Log (Press Release) – Feb 05, 2008 – Leslie Maliepaard is one of those dynamo's one tends to find leading the pack in business. Co-owner and director of on-line wine eCommerce company Waterfront Web aka WineWeb, Maliepaard's vibrancy and pursuit for innovation is starting to pay off as her business takes the SA wine industry by storm.

Maliepaard's contribution to the world of ICT was recently recognised as the "Best budding ICT Company" when she won a Women in ICT 2007/8 business award.

The Women in ICT Achiever programme was initiated in 2006 and it continues to award South African women business leaders who have achieved within the ICT sector whilst at the same time creating a cadre of women role models within the Western cape.

Out of 30 entries only 8 women were legible to participate in the ICT programme which began in May 2007. At the end of the programme participants had to present their business ideas to the Lion's Den in October where the judging panel narrowed down the entries to 4 outstanding winners.

More than 200 people attended the glamourous CITI's annual gala banquet at the Kelvin Grove Ballroom on the 13 December 2007. Announcing the award winners, Executive Director Viola Manual of CITI indicated that the calibre of these rising stars was exceptionally high which proved challenging for the judges when selecting the winners. Empowerment of women within the digital divide is the key focus of this initiative. Building a strong national ICT brand that captures the vibrancy and innovative nature of South Africans will address the under-representation of women in the field of ICT.

Amanda Greeff of Steps Engineering, Fiki Fesi of Sistas, Kathy McCabe of Radical Learning, Leslie Malipaard of Waterfront Web were awarded their respective awards. Photographers and film crew captured the moment whilst the winners were swept away for interviews and congratulations.

WIICT 2007 was sponsored by both the Western Cape Provincial Government and the City of Cape Town.