Ramon Thomas

Current

• Managing Director at NETucation

Past

• Director at Computer Society South Africa
• Director at ICDL
• Business Development Manager at World Wide Worx

• Director at ISETT SETA
• Information Security Specialist at First National Bank
• Information Security Specialist at ABSA
• Information Security Specialist at National Bank of Abu Dhabi
• Senior Consultant at Deloitte
• Network Security Analyst at Global Internet Access
• Firewall Engineer at Internet Solution
• Graduate Trainee at General Motors South Africa

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8 more...

Education

• University of Johannesburg
• University of Johannesburg
• Vista University

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Recommended

23 people have recommended Ramon

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Professional Training & Coaching

Websites

• My Company
• Personal Blog

Ramon Thomas’s Summary

Professional speaker with a focus on the psychology of technology and how to reduce complexity and stress as well as improving decision making. Keynote presentations cover business & technology trends, blogging, social networking and academia. One of my popular talks is delivered across South Africa to parents & teachers on the impact of technology and the development of children.

As a online researcher with ground-breaking research into the online dating, Internet Cafe industries in South Africa as well as cellphone-based instant messaging platform, MXit. I also conduct web-based competitive intelligence reports. And recently I begin offering research support for recruiters and head-hunters on using LinkedIn to find candidates.

Past experience include 7 years in Information Security in the Internet (ISP) and Bankding industries in South Africa, England and Middle East.

Media Interviews: CNBC Africa, eTV Morning Edition (regular), SABC3 3Talk (twice), MNET Carte Blanche, SABC2 Weekend Love, SAFM, RSG, Channel Islam, 702, Cape Talk, Kaya FM, Business Day, Financial Mail, Sunday Times, Cosmopolitan, Fairlady, etc.

Ramon Thomas’s Specialties:

public speaker, motivational speaker, NLP, training, marketing research, influence, online research, communication, presentations, social skills, behaviour, internet security, online safety, presentation skills, psychology, self promotion, sales, direct marketing, facilitation, workshops, seminars, south africa, keynote, dating coach, Johannesburg, mxit, blogging, blogger, social networking, linkedin, podcast, ebook author, napoleon hill, john demartini, uitenhage

Ramon Thomas’s Experience

• Managing Director

  NETucation

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Internet industry)

  December 2003 — Present (4 years 6 months)

  The focus of NETucation has shifted in 2007 from research to training. On the training front I offer seminars on how technology can be used for marketing, public relations, recruitment and more. On the research front ongoing projects include researching the online dating industry, Internet cafe industry, MXit, blogging, social networking and related systems in South Africa.
  
  On an ongoing basis I conduct interviews with industry experts for inclusion on my business blog as podcasts, background and supporting information in research papers. This is supplemented by desk research using private academic databased and other public sources for specific clients when they require a competitive intelligence report.
  
  From time to time we also blog conferences like TEDGlobal and Futurex to showcase conference blogging.

• Director

  Computer Society South Africa

  (Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

  April 2004 — July 2007 (3 years 4 months)

  The Computer Society South Africa (CSSA) helps ICT promotes the professional development of ICT practitioners in South Africa through networking events, conferences and Special Interest Groups.
  
  As a Director of the CSSA, my direct responsibility is developing programs and projects to grow the interest of young people in the ICT industry. I serve on the Executive Committee (Exco) and the Management Committee (Manco). This is a volunteer position which allows me to give back to the community.
  
  Two major projects I have undertaken is the production of a ICT Career Guide which will be available at Futurex 2007 in May next year. The 2nd project which will follow is a national roadshow to all the Universities in South Africa to share with them the trends in ICT Careers and also promote CSSA. As a result of my involvement with CSSA I served on the board of the ISETT SETA and ICDL Foundation, as non-executive director.

• Director

  ICDL

  (Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Education Management industry)

  February 2005 — October 2006 (1 year 9 months)

  Non executive director, strategic direction, relationship building, public relationships, financial management, policy decisions, partnerships, skills development, computer literacy, ICDL, open office, course material

• Business Development Manager

  World Wide Worx

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Information Services industry)

  December 2003 — February 2006 (2 years 3 months)

  Sales & marketing, developing new customer relationships, developing new sales strategies for government business, research, interviews, project development, project management, customer account management, customer relationship management, web marketing, direct marketing strategies online and print, event co-ordination for Mobility 2005 conference.

• Director

  ISETT SETA

  (Government Agency; 11-50 employees; Government Administration industry)

  January 2005 — February 2006 (1 year 2 months)

  Non executive director, financial management, business strategy, relationships, partnerships, industry support, skills development in information & communication sector in South Africa

• Information Security Specialist

  First National Bank

  (Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; Banking industry)

  February 2003 — December 2003 (11 months)

  Responsible for managing and support the network firewall systems. Function included regular upgrades of security patches. Trouble shooting problems reported from internal users (staff) and external users (clients). Strategy development to improve security standards, processes and procedures. Liaison with business and with support departments.

• Information Security Specialist

  ABSA

  (Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; Banking industry)

  May 2001 — August 2002 (1 year 4 months)

  Responsible for managing and support the network firewall systems. Function included regular upgrades of security patches. Trouble shooting problems reported from internal users (staff) and external users (clients). Strategy development to improve security standards, processes and procedures. Liaison with business and with support departments.

• Information Security Specialist

  National Bank of Abu Dhabi

  (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; Banking industry)

  June 2000 — December 2000 (7 months)

  I worked on contract in the Middle East implementing the first Internet banking solution in the United Arab Emirates. My responsibilities included documenting the complete technical implementation of the firewalls, web servers, anti-virus servers, proxy servers all running on the Sun SPARC platform, and working with the internal and external auditors (who happened to be from Ernst & Young in South Africa) to have the complete project signed off by December when it launched. I learnt about the dynamics of working with people from many different countries, diverse ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds.

• Senior Consultant

  Deloitte

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Management Consulting industry)

  April 1999 — October 1999 (7 months)

  At Deloitte I was a Senior Consultant in the Enterprise Risk Services division, more specifically penetration testing of networks and systems. The results had to be written up in reports and this greatly enhances by ability to communicate technical issues in layman's terms. They sent me on a presentations skill course which led to me winning an award at a company team building session in the Drakensburg for leading my team's presentation. During the brief time with Deloitte I was seconded to the London office for a week to assist in a Due Diligence project. This was to prepare Freeserve.net (now Wanadoo) for a listing on the London Stock Exchange by then owners Dixons. And upon return I was transferred to Cape Town office to service clients like Old Mutual, the biggest insurance company in Africa.

• Network Security Analyst

  Global Internet Access

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Internet industry)

  August 1997 — March 1999 (1 year 8 months)

  I was head hunted to join this ISP, at the time the 3rd largest in South Africa, as the System Administrator. I learnt how to manage and support Linux servers running email, web, ftp and databases. After a while I completed the first Checkpoint Certification offered in South Africa and spent a long time researching Checkpoint Firewalls running on Bay Network routers. My roles changed and eventually I learnt to integrate the technical solutions with an understanding of the customer needs because I assisted in the pre-sales process. Sadly this company was sold and the network we built is owned by DataPro, a 1st tier ISP, and the rest by Bytes Technology Group.

• Firewall Engineer

  Internet Solution

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Internet industry)

  January 1997 — July 1997 (7 months)

  I was a Firewall Engineer where I learnt how to install, configure, manage, support and trouble shoot network firewalls for the corporate clients of this leading ISP in South Africa. This job set the tone for my career till 2003.

• Graduate Trainee

  General Motors South Africa

  (Privately Held; 5001-10,000 employees; Automotive industry)

  February 1996 — December 1996 (11 months)

  I was a trainee in the Warranty Department where I learnt about how to write SQL queries and produce reports for management and auditors to track the use and abuse of the warranty payment.

Ramon Thomas’s Education

• University of Johannesburg

  MA, Information Science, 2006 — 2007

  Activities and Societies:

  Currently busy with my Masters thesis: The Impact of the Internet Cafe industry on the Information Economy in South Africa

• University of Johannesburg

  Post Graduate Diploma in Information Management, Information & Knowledge Management, January 2003 — July 2005

• Vista University

  BSc, Computer Science, 1993 — 2005

  Activities and Societies:

  Founder of the Computer Science Society, Volleyball, Klawerjas player

Additional Information

Ramon Thomas’s Websites:

• My Company
• Personal Blog

Ramon Thomas’s Interests:

public speaking, dating & relationships, learning dynamics, stand-up comedy, social networking, tai chi, eastern philosophy, sketching & painting, classical music, cinema, theatre, hiking and swimming

Ramon Thomas’s Groups:

National Speakers Association, Toastmasters, Computer Society, Internet Society, Science Fiction SA

•    eOffice member
•    My Linking Power Forum member
• Forbes.com Entrepreneurs member
•    TopLinked.com member
•    AfricaNews member
•    Napoleon Hill Readers member
•    Child Predator Busters (www.ChildPredatorBusters.org) member

Ramon Thomas’s Honors:

Several best speaker awards from my Toastmasters club (2007)
Distinction in Computer Science in 2nd year (1994)
Merit Award for Mathematics HG in Matric (1992)

Ramon Thomas’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
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• getting back in touch