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Dr Mfazo Cliford Madondo attended the e-MIG Conference in Mauritius

Dr Mfazo Cliford Madondo attended the e-MIG Conference in Mauritius hosted by the Open University of Mauritius at the beautiful venue Intercontinental Resort Hotel from the 14th of May to the 15th of May 2019. This international conference was titled: Global Trends in Management, IT and Governance in an e-World (e-MIG 2019). It was a successful joint project between the Open University of Mauritius (OUM) and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) academic teams. The conference was well planned, organised, led and with effective control systems.
Dr Madondo appreciates the opportunity to represent St Joseph’s Theological Institute at this prestigious e-MIG 2019 conference. e-MIG 2019 was an opportunity to participate and engage in such an insightful, inclusive and multidisciplinary international level conference. As a warm, impressive and encouraging environment with high involvement of postgraduate student delegation and paper presentation from across Africa e-MIG 2019 demonstrated that the future of research is alive. Expert academics and novice academics from various institutions and captains of industries across the world presented a total of 76 papers. Dr Madondo presented a paper titled: Digital platforms: exploring security, privacy and trust concerns among South African celebrities and professionals. Joining other delegates, he connected and networked with various scholars in plenary sessions.
Highlights from the conference proceedings include calls for the academia and the industry to strive for new thinking in the current e-World. Keynote addresses, plenary session papers, and academic papers shared insights on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the future of educational technology, governance and sustainable development and the next digital storm. The empirical findings shared emphasised a new non-linear intellectual process that is required for African solutions to African problems. Thus, academic institutions and industries need to collaborate and network for sustainable research teaching, creativity and innovation in Africa.
In view of the Joseph’s Theological Institute, attending the e-MIG 2019 conference was important. Firstly, the conference broadened the knowledge and awareness of the Industry 4.0 and how it is influencing the e-World today. The e-World brings optimism and opportunities more than perceived threats. Secondly, this conference increased the understanding that the SJTI needs going into the future. In a foreseeable future, research responsiveness is the way to go. Thus, search for collaborative initiatives (practice and research) to the new trends in management, IT and good governance. As a Church institution, this opportunity entails enhancing skills development and developing teaching curricula for the best practice in pastoral management and administration that the Catholic Church in southern Africa requires.