Rochelle Mountany has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the leading Southern African Geospatial Information Science organisation, AfriGIS, which specialises in the provision of location-sensitive data and solutions.
As CEO, Mountany will be using her vast experience and expertise amassed over a decade while working for global software giant, Microsoft for 11-years to drive innovation. She holds Master’s degrees in psychology and business and also brings business intelligence to her new role.
Career
Mountany has developed an array of technology strategies during her years at Microsoft, instrumental in shaping third-party software partners and the creation of an environment in which start-ups can easily thrive and succeed across the Middle East and Africa.
She also was chief information officer at AXA ICAS, an international health and wellbeing outfit. In this capacity, she initiated the digital transformation of the entity and also played a pivotal role in several start-up hubs and incubators. Rochelle also has a proven record of success in fostering development of innovative technology businesses.
Leveraging the Power of Geospatial Information Systems (GIS)
The importance of GIS is even more pronounced in Africa where countries can leverage it to deal with, among others, natural disasters, optimise public transport systems and infrastructure. It can also be deployed across key economic sectors such as energy and power, oil and gas, agriculture and telecommunications.
Furthermore, governments can use GIS to obtain crucial information about population density and income levels, risk mitigation and promote sustainability. Says Mountany about her appointment: “There is immense innovation potential at AfriGIS and I’m thrilled to help drive it. More powerful and robust contextual datasets, enriched with customer-specific insights, mean businesses can make better decisions, which in turn translates into a clearer competitive edge in their industry.”
Enabling Intelligence Decision-Making
In a statement, AfriGIS says it has made geospatial information science a robust business discipline, offering customers deep insights into their markets and operations with premium African location datasets. Customers can use those datasets to enable more intelligent decision-making. Mountany says that geospatial information science offers a spatial context for data, enabling location intelligence that drives store optimisation in example, the retail industry. It also supports market analysis by revealing insights into population density and income levels, enhances supply chain efficiency, aids in risk mitigation, promotes sustainability effort, and improves asset management, among other applications.
A Significant Milestone
AfriGI’S chairman and acting chief executive officer, Thabo Seopa, says Mountany’s appointment marks a significant milestone for the organisation. “Rochelle’s extensive experience and proven leadership in the technology and business sectors make her the ideal person to lead our company into a new era of growth and innovation. We are confident that under her guidance, AfriGIS will continue to build on its legacy and achieve even greater successes,” he said.
Formed in 1997 and based in Pretoria, AfriGIS is a level 1-certified broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE). It currently employs more than 100 staff across local and international cities including, Durban and Cape Town in South Africa, Dublin in Ireland and Dhaka in Bangladesh.
