College of Business and Economics | Annual Report 2021 72 TALENT MANAGEMENT AND CAPACITY BUILDING At the end of 2021, Prof Jackie Walters, the founding director of ITLS (Africa) stepped down as the Director and Prof Noleen Pisa was appointed as ne Director from January 2022. In addition, Prof Adri Drotskie was appointed as the Chair of the institute’s board and takes over from Prof Daneel Van Lill in January 2022. ITLS (Africa) houses the department’s postgraduate studies. In 2021, the institute hosted 4 postdoctoral fellows as part of its drive for talent management and capacity development. The PDRFs were: • Dr Adedotun Joseph Adenigbo: Dr Adenigbo’s thesis focused on Air Cargo Traffic at Lagos and Accra airports. He is currently working towards research publications in air cargo logistics. • Dr Chengete Chakamera: Dr Chakamera’s research interest is in transport and logistics. He has several publications in international peer-reviewed journals. He is an experienced supervisor of postgraduate students and is an accomplished academic, a researcher and a seasoned consultant. • Dr Liberty Sheu Mapamba: Dr Mapamba holds a PhD in Development and Management Engineering from North-West University. His current research focuses on a multidisciplinary approach to building organisational and supply chain resilience in transitional situations, focusing on the transition to 4IR and the low carbon global economy. • Dr Mandla Mvubu: Dr Mvubu holds a PhD from UKZN. His PhD research focused on supply chain risk management in the South African third-party logistics (3PL) industry. His current research focuses on the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in warehousing. Two coursework master’s student and one full research master’s student graduated in 2021. In addition, two doctoral, one full research and one coursework master’s student submitted their thesis for examination in 2021. Currently, there are 18 coursework master’s; 10 full research master’s and 12 doctoral students enrolled. POLICY AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES ITLS (Africa) hosted a number of TransportSIG events during the course of 2021 in order to provide appropriate forums for transport, logistics and supply chain information exchange and debate. These events have been very well attended with an average attendance of between 120 and 180 delegates per session. Owing to COVID-19, the 2020/2021 sessions were all held virtually. In addition, since the sessions were streamed on the Zoom platform, delegates could watch proceedings on YouTube. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ITLS (Africa) does research in a number of key areas. Internal research projects range from ongoing surveys to determine trends in the transport, logistics and supply chain management fields, to one-off specialist research projects aimed at addressing the most important current research requirements in transport and logistics in South and southern Africa. In addition to its internal research activities, ITLS (Africa) undertakes commissioned research on behalf of stakeholders in the transport, logistics and supply chain sectors. In 2021, the institute and in particular, Prof Noleen Pisa, were awarded the Transport Education Training Authority (TETA): 4IR Research Chair. The Chair will conduct evidence-based research towards a better understanding of the future of the transport sector’s skills needs. In addition, it will contribute to transforming the sector by training transport sector employees in 4IR technologies; by improving societal mobility solutions and by increasing the employability of transport trainees. Prof Jackie Walters Director: Institute for Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS) (Africa), Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management, School of Management College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg
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