Dr Jackie Phahlamohlaka
Founder Member
Dr Letlibe Jacob Phahlamohlaka (Jackie) hails from Ga-Phaahla Village in Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga Province. He completed a BSc degree at the University of Zululand and an MSc in Computational and Applied Mathematics at Dalhousie University in Canada in 1991. He received his PhD in Informatics from the University of Pretoria in 2003.
Community service and the broader society
Jackie is the Founder Member of the Siyabuswa Educational Improvement and Development Trust (SEIDET) and served as the Chair of its Executive Committee from its inception in 1991/2 until May 2003. Through SEIDET, he played a remarkable role in contributing to the building of an Information Society in South Africa. The work he has done is documented in a book titled Community Driven Projects: “A Case study of science education and Information Technology in South Africa” which he edited in 2008. The book documents research work done within the SEIDET Community by several academics from the University of Pretoria. Jackie is currently the Chairperson of the Board of SEIDET. A related and recent book that he also Edited is titled “Approaches to Building a Smart Community: An Exploration through the Concept of the Digital Village” and was published in 2021 by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Jackie was also the Chairman of the Board of the KwaNdebele Computer Education Centre (KCEC) as well as VUKUZENZELE Community Organization during the early and late 1990s. A large number of people from the Nkangala Region of Mpumalanga Province were exposed to Computer Education through these Community Projects.
Jackie received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Dr JS Moroka Municipality in recognition of the contribution he has made to community service in the Municipality and the Mpumalanga Province.
South African Defence Science, Technology, Engineering and Security
Jackie completed the Executive National Security Programme (ENSP) from the South African National Defence College in 2007. He has since supervised more than 40 Commandant Research Papers (CRPs) in subsequent Programmes of the College as well as being a regular presenter to the Programmes on the topic of Broadband Access and National Security, with an ICT focus on Cybersecurity.
Contribution to International Scientific Communities
Dr Phahlamohlaka is a member of the South African National Committee for the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). He has been representing South Africa in Technical Committee 9 (TC9) of IFIP from 2004 to January 2024. After serving as the Deputy Chair of TC9 from 2007, he was elected as the Chairperson of TC9 of IFIP in 2010 and served in this capacity until January 2014. He received an outstanding service award from IFIP General Assembly for his contribution. He is the current RSA National Representative in IFIP General Assembly (January 2021 to January 2026)
During his term as the Chairperson of TC9 of IFIP, he established a new Working Group in TC9, the WG9.10 (ICT Uses in Peace and War) and this continues to draw much academic interest in South Africa and internationally. The work done by this WG aligns very closely to the research at the CSIR and other South African Universities.
Government service, academic and the scientific communities
After serving for six years in the Mpumalanga Provincial Government in the Strategic Planning Unit, Office of the Premier, he joined the Department of Informatics, University of Pretoria in January 1996, where he served as a Senior Lecturer for a period of ten years (until Jan 2006). At the University of Pretoria, and in addition to undergraduate and Masters level teaching, he led teams of Honours, Masters and PhD students in a research project that sought to understand how ICT could contribute to socio-economic development in rural communities. This work significantly contributed to a strong Information Systems academic programme at the University of Pretoria. He also curriculated and established an MCom (Informatics) module on Systems and Decision Making within the Department of Informatics, University of Pretoria
Since 2006 to December 2019, Jackie was the Competency Area Manager at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa; where he led a department that provided science, engineering and technology support to the Department of Defence and other Government Departments.
From 2009 to 22 November 2019, Jackie was a CSIR designated member on the Council of the University of Venda, where he also served in the Senate and the Academic Planning Committee of the University.
Jackie has since 2015 to date been an Advisory Board member of the Centre for Research in Information and Cyber Security (CRIC), School of ICT at the Nelson Mandela University
Apart from his managerial responsibilities over the years, he remained an active researcher. Jackie has since December 2019, become a Chief Researcher in Information and Cybersecurity Centre established by the CSIR in October 2019. His research interests are in ICT and Socio-Economic Development, Web-based Group Support Systems, and most recently, Broadband access and National Security. In these domains, Jackie is extensively published and continues to give regular talks both nationally and internationally.
Dr Letlibe Jacob Phahlamohlaka (Jackie) hails from Ga-Phaahla Village in Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga Province. He completed a BSc degree at the University of Zululand and an MSc in Computational and Applied Mathematics at Dalhousie University in Canada in 1991. He received his PhD in Informatics from the University of Pretoria in 2003.
Community service and the broader society
Jackie is the Founder Member of the Siyabuswa Educational Improvement and Development Trust (SEIDET) and served as the Chair of its Executive Committee from its inception in 1991/2 until May 2003. Through SEIDET, he played a remarkable role in contributing to the building of an Information Society in South Africa. The work he has done is documented in a book titled Community Driven Projects: “A Case study of science education and Information Technology in South Africa” which he edited in 2008. The book documents research work done within the SEIDET Community by several academics from the University of Pretoria. Jackie is currently the Chairperson of the Board of SEIDET. A related and recent book that he also Edited is titled “Approaches to Building a Smart Community: An Exploration through the Concept of the Digital Village” and was published in 2021 by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Jackie was also the Chairman of the Board of the KwaNdebele Computer Education Centre (KCEC) as well as VUKUZENZELE Community Organization during the early and late 1990s. A large number of people from the Nkangala Region of Mpumalanga Province were exposed to Computer Education through these Community Projects.
Jackie received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Dr JS Moroka Municipality in recognition of the contribution he has made to community service in the Municipality and the Mpumalanga Province.
South African Defence Science, Technology, Engineering and Security
Jackie completed the Executive National Security Programme (ENSP) from the South African National Defence College in 2007. He has since supervised more than 40 Commandant Research Papers (CRPs) in subsequent Programmes of the College as well as being a regular presenter to the Programmes on the topic of Broadband Access and National Security, with an ICT focus on Cybersecurity.
Contribution to International Scientific Communities
Dr Phahlamohlaka is a member of the South African National Committee for the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). He has been representing South Africa in Technical Committee 9 (TC9) of IFIP from 2004 to January 2024. After serving as the Deputy Chair of TC9 from 2007, he was elected as the Chairperson of TC9 of IFIP in 2010 and served in this capacity until January 2014. He received an outstanding service award from IFIP General Assembly for his contribution. He is the current RSA National Representative in IFIP General Assembly (January 2021 to January 2026)
During his term as the Chairperson of TC9 of IFIP, he established a new Working Group in TC9, the WG9.10 (ICT Uses in Peace and War) and this continues to draw much academic interest in South Africa and internationally. The work done by this WG aligns very closely to the research at the CSIR and other South African Universities.
Government service, academic and the scientific communities
After serving for six years in the Mpumalanga Provincial Government in the Strategic Planning Unit, Office of the Premier, he joined the Department of Informatics, University of Pretoria in January 1996, where he served as a Senior Lecturer for a period of ten years (until Jan 2006). At the University of Pretoria, and in addition to undergraduate and Masters level teaching, he led teams of Honours, Masters and PhD students in a research project that sought to understand how ICT could contribute to socio-economic development in rural communities. This work significantly contributed to a strong Information Systems academic programme at the University of Pretoria. He also curriculated and established an MCom (Informatics) module on Systems and Decision Making within the Department of Informatics, University of Pretoria
Since 2006 to December 2019, Jackie was the Competency Area Manager at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa; where he led a department that provided science, engineering and technology support to the Department of Defence and other Government Departments.
From 2009 to 22 November 2019, Jackie was a CSIR designated member on the Council of the University of Venda, where he also served in the Senate and the Academic Planning Committee of the University.
Jackie has since 2015 to date been an Advisory Board member of the Centre for Research in Information and Cyber Security (CRIC), School of ICT at the Nelson Mandela University
Apart from his managerial responsibilities over the years, he remained an active researcher. Jackie has since December 2019, become a Chief Researcher in Information and Cybersecurity Centre established by the CSIR in October 2019. His research interests are in ICT and Socio-Economic Development, Web-based Group Support Systems, and most recently, Broadband access and National Security. In these domains, Jackie is extensively published and continues to give regular talks both nationally and internationally.
