Bigger and better ICTS Techfest

UCT’s Information and Communication Technology Services (ICTS) Techfest will be held in Memorial Hall on 17 and 18 April to showcase the latest in tech goodies.

All staff and students are invited and all attendees stand a chance to win some eye-catching tech prizes. But more on that later.

This annual event, hosted by ICTS, will feature all UCT’s approved vendors, such as DigiCape, Microsoft, Pinnacle and First Technology. These vendors will be showing off and talking about their latest products and technology. For the first time, non-UCT tech companies Cell C and SMG Technologies will join the line-up of exhibitors.

Says ICTS’s communications coordinator Niki McQueen, “We hope to have many more [non-UCT tech companies] joining us next year.”

Cool technology on display

ICTS has also joined forces with the School of IT, launched as UCT’s Innovations Lab, which will be bringing along some “very cool technology”, such as a drone, 3D printer, 3D virtual-reality goggles, an Amazon Echo speaker and an Emotiv headset.

“We see artificial intelligence playing a large role in the technology of the future, and some of these gadgets are fantastic examples of that,” says McQueen.

“Our goal with Techfest is to get students engaged with and passionate about technology and to highlight the services that ICTS provides to campus.”

UCT’s eResearch team will also be on hand to answer any IT queries or suggestions students or staff may have.

Oh, and there will be freebies too: popcorn for all, and the chance to enter a draw to win a prize. These include:

• an iPad mini
• an HM Jamoji bluetooth speaker
• Skullcandy STIM headphones
• a Go-Rock Cube bluetooth speaker
• a Western Digital Live media player
• an HP laptop bag