Dr. Kiru Pillay
Research Associate, LINK Centre
LINK Research Associate Dr. Kiru Pillay has over 30 years of experience in the information and communiication technology (ICT) sector, with the first 23 years as an ICT practitioner. He has worked across the globe in various industry sectors and roles, including serving as a systems analyst, a project leader, a project manager, and a solutions and enterprise architect.
Pillay has seven years of experience in academia, in teaching, supervision, research and operational capacities, and has also worked for South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). In his role as a Visiting Researcher at the LINK Centre, Pillay provides occasional lectures and supervises Master's students in the Wits Master of Arts in ICT Policy, Regulation and Management (MA ICTPR) degree programme.
Pillay is currently based in the public sector, serving as Chief Director: Cybersecurity Operations in the South African Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), where he is responsible for the national cybersecurity mandate and the management of the national Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT). Pillay's PhD, in Information Systems, is from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). He is Convenor of the Wits Cybersecurity Professional Practice and Leadership Certificate Programme, offered by the LINK Centre in partnership with the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE).