It is with great anticipation, a deep sense of responsibility and immense pride that I welcome you to GovTech 2025, officially taking place in the beautiful coastal city of Durban from 8 to 10 September 2025 at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre. Together with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), SITA is honoured to once again bring this flagship event to life under the powerful and timely theme: “Building a Smart and Inclusive Digital Government.”

In 2024, we made the strategic decision to postpone our flagship ICT stakeholder platform. This was not taken lightly, but it was a necessary step to ensure that when GovTech returns, it brings real value to everyone who participates—from public servants and policymakers to innovators, entrepreneurs and global technology partners. We used this pause wisely to align GovTech with government’s planning and performance cycles for the upcoming five-year period, and strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration.

These integrated efforts have since harmonised our plans for greater delivery, cohesion and measurable impact. After carefully considering the options available to us for this year, we are confident that our decision to proceed with GovTech 2025 is the right one—and the result of intentional, future-focused planning.

This year’s theme is far more than a catchphrase; it represents the next chapter of South Africa’s digital public service journey. It signals a new era where technology becomes an active enabler of equity where service delivery is powered by real-time data and where our solutions are designed to meet the needs of all South Africans—not just the connected few.

As SITA, our vision is to be more than a technology partner. We continuously strive to be a strategic digital anchor for the State and a force for inclusive transformation. In this light, GovTech 2025 reflects not only continuity, but a strategic shift in mindset and execution from an annual conference to a yearround programme that drives tangible results and measurable impact.

We are no longer content with powerful dialogue alone. We are focused on delivering policy outcomes, co-creating scalable solutions and embedding innovation deeply into the fabric of government.

GovTech 2025 is the 16^th edition of South Africa’s world-class platform for private and public sector ICT industry, other industries ICT stakeholders and relevant governance and citizens stakeholder engagements. The vision has been revised to being ”An ICT thought leadership platform driving collaboration, innovation, and solutions for a digitally transformed, citizen-centric government”.  

This year the  conference seeks to focus  not only on hosting a great event as we always do without outcomes. The conference therefore seeks to ensure pivoting from GovTech the event to GovTech the programme, making the conference a strategic resource for SITA and the public service. The focus of the conference will also be on delivering tangible outcomes and not just having discussions about various topics.