Dimension Data top cream to head Internet Exchange Point Association
Rowan Kleintjes, Managing Director of Dimension Data (DD) (left), has officially been appointed as the new Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Internet Exchange Point (IXP) Association of Namibia, while his colleague, Hasting Tjipueja (right), Client Manager at Dimension has been appointed as Vice-Chairman.
Kleintjes previously served as vice-chairman of the Executive Board of the IXP for a period of three years.
Kleintjes has been a member of the IXP Association of Namibia since its inception in 2014. Kleintjes said, “It is a fantastic privilege and honor to be elected as Chairman and to be part of the development of exchanges point in Namibia. This provides the opportunity to be even more effective as part of the team, and make a greater impact in the ICT sector of Namibia, which has grown to become a very important tool in the future of, especially Business Namibia.”
“As we need to grow and develop the association, we are in the process of upgrading current equipment and systems in place at IXP Namibia. Equipment needs to be replaced and we need to stay abreast on the latest developments. IXP is there for its members to share internet traffic and try to avoid expensive transit cross border traffic costs,” he said.
The IXP Association, according to Kleintjes is continuing to become more critical to the Namibia Information, Communication & Technology (ICT) sector. Kleintjes said “The IXP Association is becoming of strategic importance to Namibia, as the internet is seen as a basic human right in other African countries. Our Vision 2030 talks about the economy being dependent on the ICT sector, and we have less than 12 years to achieve these objectives.”
Hasting has been a member of the IXP Association since 2014 on a volunteer basis, and has just stepped on board officially.
“Elected as the vice-chair, I am really excited to add value to the local ICT community, which is my way of giving back and contributing to the O&L Group,” he said.
Hasting also reckons that IXP Namibia has a very important role to play in the local ICT sector.
“Although the IXP Association is a sleeping elephant for now, it has a lot of potential to increase the national content of Namibia, and keeping data within the country. Largely, the ICT sector is a critical component to the national economy. While it was underestimated in past, the ICT sector being structured in realization of its importance to the growth of the Namibian economy,” he added.
O&L Executive Chairman, Sven Thieme said the two appointments is testimony of the fruit of the group’s commitment to growing its people to become impactful employees and individuals of change in the Namibian society at large. Dimension Data is the IT company in the Ohlthaver & List stable.
