With great anticipation and a deep sense of purpose, I welcome you to the 16th edition of South Africa’s flagship ICT stakeholder platform—GovTech 2025. This year, we gather in the vibrant coastal city of Durban at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli ICC, united under a bold and future-oriented theme:

“One Data, One Citizen, One Citizen Service Journey – Digital Transformation.”

In 2024, we made the deliberate choice to pause GovTech—an important decision to ensure that its return delivers enhanced value for all stakeholders, from public servants and policymakers to entrepreneurs and global technology leaders. This intermission allowed us to recalibrate GovTech around national planning cycles and amplify cross-sector collaboration—laying the foundation for strategic alignment, innovation, and measurable impact.

Now, with renewed vision, GovTech 2025 marks more than a return—it signals a reinvention. No longer just an annual event, it is now transitioning into year-long national programme—a driver of innovation with tangible outcomes, policy dialogue and inclusive progress. Our revised vision captures this evolution:

“An ICT thought leadership platform driving collaboration, innovation and solutions for a digitally transformed, citizen-centric government.”

GovTech 2025 focuses on four pillars:

• Policy advocacy
• Innovation scale-up from GovTech showcases
• Skills development for all relevant stakeholders
• Inclusive platform building with youth and SMMEs

Our 2025 theme highlights the critical need for integrated, data-driven governance. It challenges us to reimagine government as a seamless, unified experience—where citizens are served through interoperable systems and secure digital identities. In this new model, One Data represents a single, secure citizen profile used consistently across departments to enable faster, more dignified, and more inclusive service delivery.

We also recognise the transformative potential of AI, automation, and smart technologies. Ethically and strategically deployed ensuring sovereignty of the state, these tools reduce the administrative burden on public servants, accelerate delivery, and improve access for all. Internet and mobile technologies have become gateways to inclusion—bridging the digital divide and creating new possibilities for equitable services.

As we convene this world-class platform, I invite stakeholders from across government, industry, academia, civil society and youth innovation ecosystems to join us. The vision of a smart, inclusive digital government is not the task of one institution—it requires collaborative leadership, shared accountability and national purpose.

I look forward to welcoming you to Durban. Together, let’s build a digital future that reflects who we are, where we serve all with dignity, and leave no one behind.

Kind regards,
Mr. Gopal Reddy
Acting Managing Director, SITA