
John Bosco Arends
Chairperson, Chartered CIO Council
John Bosco Arends is the Chairperson of the Chartered CIO Council and Group Head of Information and Network Technology Operations for the City of Johannesburg. He holds the prestigious Chartered CIO Certification and is a Certified ICT Professional (SA). In his role as Chairperson of the Chartered CIO Council, he reports to the Patron, Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, and also serves as an advisor to the ICT Steering Committee for the Minister and Director General of the Department of Employment and Labour.
Arends has over 40 years of experience in ICT, having advised CIOs across the public and private sectors, including government, banking, and retail. His career highlights include receiving the 2006 African ICT Achievers Award for enabling ICT in the public sector and contributing to the first E-Government Framework in South Africa alongside the DG of Communications, Andile Ncaba. He has also served as an advisor on E-Government for several SADC and ECOWAS countries, such as Lesotho, Namibia, Uganda, Ghana, DRC, and Sudan.
Arends’ contributions extend to the international stage, representing the CIO Council at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He has been an integral part of initiatives like the Presidential Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS, where he reported directly to President Thabo Mbeki, and has acted as interim Chairperson of the ICT Steering Committee for the Department of Justice.
Throughout his career, he has led the development and implementation of ICT governance frameworks, including COBIT, ITIL, ISO, and BSM, and spearheaded public sector governance management. Arends has played a pivotal role in managing complex bids, PMO delivery, and large-scale projects across ERP, BI, ECM, outsourcing, cloud, and connectivity sectors. His expertise in ICT governance spans over 20 years in the public sector, where he has been involved in strategy, procurement, business transformation, and change management.
He also has extensive experience with tender committees, ensuring compliance and overseeing procurement spend, while negotiating business and outsourcing agreements between public and private sectors. Additionally, Arends has developed government best practices, ICT policies, and strategies, and has facilitated internship and skills development programs for graduates and previously disadvantaged individuals.
Committed to driving government transformation, Arends has led initiatives to make Smart Government, economic development, service delivery, and citizen empowerment a reality. He played a crucial role in integrating the Eastern Cape Provincial Government’s ICT functions into SITA and was awarded the first Chartered CIO Certification in South Africa. His dedication to advancing the ICT sector continues through his advisory role for the Department of Employment and Labour and as interim Chairperson of the ICT Steering Committee for the Department of Justice.