Senior cloud and infrastructure engineer at the CSIR, Otshepeng Mabuse, participated in the 20th Public Sector Innovation Conference, which was held at Bela-Bela in Limpopo, from 19 to 21 August 2026. As our government continues to embrace the need for digital transformation, secure, resilient and locally maintained digital infrastructure is getting more important than ever. Otshepeng highlighted that her central idea was that every digital-government policy must eventually meet a machine.
Otshepeng was invited to speak about Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) in the context of Sebowa and South Africa’s data sovereignty journey. She approached the topic from the area of her deep understanding through “infrastructure”: how trusted, locally operated cloud infrastructure can support the implementation of ILM requirements while strengthening digital sovereignty.
Her contribution to the presentation was to show what happens when decisions about information must be implemented in real machines, platforms, and operating processes. By highlighting the importance of infrastructure that is both trusted and locally governed, Mabuse demonstrated how digital sovereignty can create opportunities for improved public service delivery and innovation. Currently at the Centre for High-Performance Computing, Mabuse is part of the team developing a Localised Cloud Platform from the ground up. Using bare-metal infrastructure and open-source cloud technologies, the platform is intended to strengthen South Africa’s locally controlled cloud capability and support the country’s broader data sovereignty goals.
The discussion formed part of the broader Public Sector Innovation Conference programme, which brought together government leaders, technology experts and innovation practitioners to address challenges and opportunities facing the public sector. “What I appreciated most was that the conversation was not limited to technologists,” Mabuse said. It also offered an opportunity for government leaders, policymakers and engineers to engage with one another, because digital sovereignty cannot be achieved through technology alone. The policies and decisions made at government level must ultimately be supported by infrastructure that can put them into practice securely and reliably.
As digital transformation continues to grow across the country, trusted infrastructure and effective information management remain critical enablers of future-ready government services. With Mabuse contributing to the ongoing conversation on how secure digital ecosystems can support innovation while ensuring that public sector information is managed responsibly and sustainably, it showcased the role the CSIR plays in supporting initiatives that advance digital transformation, data governance and innovation, contributing to a more secure and resilient digital future for the nation.
Published 17 September 2026