Speakers

Prof. Pius Adewale Owolawi is a dynamic young man who received a B. Tech. Degree (Hons) in Applied Physics/Electronics from the Federal University of Technology (FUTA), Nigeria. He started his career with the Central Bank of Nigeria as a Resident Network Engineer under Safole Nigeria Limited. Afterwards, he proceeded to postgraduate studies in engineering. He obtained Master’s and PhD degrees in Electronic Engineering from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2006 and 2010, respectively.
In 2016, he received an advanced diploma in Remote Engineering, Mechatronics and Robotics from the Engineering Institute of Technology, Australia (EIT). In June 2020 and February 2021, he completed a Postgraduate Program in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning and Data Science and Business Analytics, respectively, both from the University of Texas, Austin, United States of America. Prof Owolawi further strengthened himself in emerging technologies when receiving an additional postgraduate diploma in Cloud Computing from the Great Lakes Institute of Management, India. He obtained a certificate in Management Development Programme (MDP) within the management space through the University of Stellenbosch Business School.
In his quest for knowledge, he further registered with the University of South Africa to study Bachelor of Law (LLB) and Great Lakes Institute of Management, India, to study Postgraduate Program in Digital Marketing.
Besides conventional qualifications, Prof Owolawi has several industry certifications in information technologies, such as Cisco Certified Network Administrator (CCNA) and Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP). Others are Certified Wireless Administrator (CWNA) and Professional (CWSP) and Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE) from well-established proprietaries. In terms of Radio engineering and Optic link design, he obtained Certifications in Radio Planning and Optimization of 2G to 4G from Tele-Resources engineering Ltd in Australia and Certified Fiber-Optic Technician (CFOA) and Fiber-Optic Systems Design (CFOS/D) through Triple Play Fiber Solution, South Africa.
He is a member of several professional bodies, both in South Africa and internationally, such as the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), the Institute of Electrical Electronics (IEEE), South African Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer (SAIEE), South African Radio Amateur League (SARL), South African Amateur Radio Satellite Association (SA AMSAT) etc.
He has worked with several organizations/companies on engineering projects such as Eskom (Energy, Demand Side Management (DSM), Transnet (Embedded Remote Wireless Weight Gauge), GIZ (German development cooperation), and several research-based products. Prof Owolawi has worked with institutions such as the University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of South Africa, Durban University of Technology, and the Mangosuthu University of Technology, where he was a former Head of Department in the Electrical Engineering Department. He has developed accredited programmes in Engineering at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in two universities in South Africa. He has been a reviewer for CHE (Council of Higher Education) academic programmes (Undergraduate and postgraduate programmes) in South Africa for the past few years, 4IR research Chair and Trade and Occupation programme developer with MICTA SETA. His research interest and the focus of postgraduate students under his supervision are Energy hybridization (combined solar, wind and other energy sources, Energy computation and modelling, higher frequency radio spectrum (millimetre and microwave bands), free-space optical wireless communication, fibre-optic communication, Green Energy for mobile Telecommunication, satellite and wireless communication and Image Processing (Activity recognition, facial biometric, medical image, event detection and Robotic vision), Artificial intelligence and machine learning, Computer Vision and Computational electromagnetic. He is currently involved in several projects, such as Agriculture 5.0 and LMS system development, National AI Institute, AI in financial and medical applications and Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT).
Prof Owolawi ranks among the top 500 researchers in Africa, based on his contribution to the body of knowledge and scholarly output between 2015 and 2020.
He has published several scientific papers (over 180 scientific articles) with over 900 citations, served as a technical member and reviewer of several journals and conferences, external examiner for many universities locally and internationally, and reviewer of professorship portfolios for an international university and member of interview panels for the appointment of professors and authored of a book titled “Rain at SHF and EHF for Radio Links in South Africa” Published by a German publisher LAP LAMBERT academic publisher.

Title of Speech: Law-abiding artificial intelligence machines-Law, Ethics, legality, and Privacy
Dr Sheeba Armoogum is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Information, Communication & Digital Technologies (FoICDT) at the University of Mauritius (UoM). She has a PhD in Cybersecurity and is a recipient of the South African Patent for the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems. Embracing her experience in teaching & research with several publications in top journals and conferences for several years has given her a remarkable insight and credence for her academic discipline and research thrust. Her fields of research & study are Cybersecurity, Cyber forensics, Cyberpsychology, Cryptography, AI & Machine Learning, and Wireless/Mobile Communication & Networking. She is certified in both Research Ethics and Research Ethics Evaluation by the Training & Resources in Research Ethics Evaluation (TRREE). She was the past Head of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies at the UoM. She currently heads the CyberSecurity & Forensics Research Group (CSFRG) at the University of Mauritius.

Dr Sheeba Armoogum was part of organizing several international conferences and has served as a member of the Editorial Board of reputed International Journals and as a reviewer for several international Journals and Conferences. Moreover, to promote awareness and understanding of cybercrimes, their impacts, and cybersecurity, she was selected as a speaker for the Cybersecurity Awareness Workshop 2022. She also received recognition to be a guest speaker in Cybersecurity for ERASMUS+ in Lublin, Poland. She was a panelist speaker for the Mauritius Research & Innovation Council (MRIC) conference 2022, Women In Tech Week 2021 by Women In Tech Africa, Mauritius Chapter, and Opportunities & Challenges in FinTech & Cybersecurity 2021 organized by the Mauritius|Africa Fintech Hub (MAFH). She served as a subject specialist in the field of Cybersecurity for accreditation of the programs at the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Mauritius. She is also a Technical Expert for the Information Security Management System (ISMS) at the Mauritius Accreditation Services MAURITAS. Being an active member of International Committees like the Africa Region to International Cyber Security (AFRICC) Steering Committee and the International Cybersecurity Challenge (ICC) Steering Committee and representing Southern Africa as Deputy Secretariate for both the committees has escalated her international experience and leadership skills. She mentors and coaches the Mauritian participants in the International Cybersecurity Challenge (ICC) competition.

She is a recipient of the Women Icon Outstanding Academician Award 2022 and Asia's Innovative Award in Cybersecurity 2022.

Title of Speech: Cybersecurity: You are a target.