A Nigerian professor of Information Technology, Edo-born Tiko Iyamu, last year won three awards at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Cape Town. These comprise two platinum awards simultaneously in the publications and postgraduate supervision categories for 2018 academic year; and a National Research Foundation (NRF) Rated Researcher Award for 2020.
A Research Professor at the Faculty of Informatics and Design, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Cape Town, South Africa, Prof. Iyamu hails from Urhonigbe in Orhionmwon local government area of Edo state.
Each of the awards carries a cash prize of R50,000. The letters conveying the awards to Prof. Iyamu was signed by the Director of Research, Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships of CPUT. In them the institution thanked the Nigerian scholar for his “valued contribution to research at CPUT” and appreciating his research endeavours, expressed “trust that the award will help facilitate further research outputs.” CPUT is the only university of Technology in the Western Cape, and the largest university in the province.
Iyamu served as a Professor Extraordinaire at the Department of Computer Science, University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He was also with the Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa. A widely travelled scholar, Prof. Iyamu has had spells at the Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia. He was a visiting professor at the Flensburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany. His areas of focus include enterprise architecture, health informatics, big data analytics, and IT strategy. He has authored 5 books, and over 135 peer-reviewed research articles in journals and book chapters.
Before he emigrated to South Africa in 1994, the product of St. George’s College, Obinomba, worked at Guardian Press Limited, publishers of The Guardian group of newspapers, in Lagos. He earned National Diplomas in mathematics and statistics at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, and computer science at the University of Lagos respectively. He holds a Master’s degree and a Doctor of Philosophy in Information Systems from University of the Western Cape (UWC) and University of Cape Town (UCT), respectively.
Attesting to Prof. Iyamu’s effective supervisory skills, one of his supervisees, Khayalethu Nunu, in the acknowledgment page of his thesis on “A Big Data Framework to Improve Government Service Delivery in South Africa” submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Technology of the Faculty of Informatics and Design, says of Prof. Iyamu: “Your guidance, patience, wisdom and commitment… made it possible for me to complete my work. You have given me ultimatums, tongue lashings but all of that was to make sure I finish my work. I will forever be indebted to you. May the Lord bless you abundantly and grant you more wisdom.”
Prof. Iyamu is also a recipient of the following prizes: Best Researcher, School of Information Technology, 2013; Institutional Researcher of the year for 2013 by the Polytechnic of Namibia that transformed into the Namibia University of Science and Technology; and National Research Foundation Rated, 2020.
Before starting his academic career, Professor Iyamu held several positions in both Public and Private Institutions in South Africa. He was Systems’ Analyst at Nedcor Investment Bank, and Information Technologist at Metropolitan, an insurance company. Iyamu was a Chief Architect at the City of Cape Town; and IT Architect at Old Mutual. He was also at MWeb, a Telecommunication company, as Head of IT Architecture & Governance.
