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Paul Bisogno (right) and Frederick Achedo a legendary Kilimanjaro guide at Uhuru Peak.
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A daunting image of Kilimanjaro at dawn.
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Innovation communications hard at work.
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Seven very tired but jubilant people descended Mount Kilimanjaro on 16 October, after conquering Uhuru Peak, Africa's highest summit. The success of The Innovation Hub's 'Innovation To The Top' project will, however, not be remembered so much for this feat, but rather for the incredible obstacles that were overcome in reaching the summit.
Bern Goosen and Neal Stephenson are two people who know all about obstacles. Bern is wheel chair bound and Neal an amputee. With the help of a customised wheelchair and the inspired support of his team, Johann Landsberg, Cindy Morom and Nadya Boshoff, Bern completed the summit. Icexpress, a resident company of The Innovation Hub (TIH), sponsored Neal in his first ever attempt at conquering the highest peak in Africa. With just the help of the state-of-the-art prosthetic leg supplied by Icexpress, Neal joined Bern and the team at the top of the mountain and sent a clear message to all physically disabled people, 'obstacles, no matter how daunting, are there to be overcome.'
The group's success was made possible by an amazing collaboration of technologies and the people who managed them. As with most great achievements there was an incredible amount of work that went in behind the scenes. It soon became apparent during my interviews that overcoming the technical obstacles was no less a feat than Bern and Neal summiting Kilimanjaro. The Innovation Hub's Marketing and Business Development Manager, Paul Bisogno, and Johan Kruger - founder and business developer of Human Performance Technologies - were the designated 'mountain techies' and Charmain Kruger, from Kreon Technology, project-managed the combined technologies from Kreon Technology's offices at The Innovation Hub.
Five tenant companies of The Innovation Hub supplied their respective technologies to make 'Innovation To The Top' possible. Kreon Technology managed and coordinated all the technical aspects of the project. Kreon also exposed all equipment to an extreme temperature test (up to -10 Degrees) to ensure a zero failure rate on the mountain. LUUK supplied the software that linked all the technologies; Laipac Africa provided the handheld S-911™ Personal Locator; Icexpress supplied the prosthetic leg worn by Neal and sponsored his trip, while MMB Service Providers' innovative Yellow.TV™ digital media technology enabled global viewers to watch live action of the trip. Two of Innovation Hub's product partners, Flexopower and Panasonic, contributed the enviro-friendly portable power SolarPouch, the 'Tough Book' (laptop) and a video camera. These combined technologies not only made the climb possible, but enabled people around the world to view video feeds from the team. A number of messages of congratulations were received on the project's 35500 SMS number and are an indication of how much global coverage the event enjoyed.
Those of us who witnessed this event had little idea of the obstacles that had to be overcome to make it all possible. Representative from the various companies had to be on hand 24/7 to ensure that everything ran smoothly. "For me the most impressive aspect of this project was the absolute commitment of the people behind the scenes. Without these people we would never have been able to achieve the success we did", says the technical project manager, Charmain Kruger. We often forget that every technology, no matter how advanced, remains dependant on human assistance.
"As we started the ascent Johan Kruger and I had every technical aspect under control. After a couple of days it even started to seem like child's play", says Paul Bisogno. "As the oxygen levels dropped these seemingly basic tasks became almost insurmountable. Suffering from an array of ailments associated with high altitudes I had to call on my deepest reserves to perform the most basic of tasks. Without the help of Charmain and her team we would never have been able to pull this off."
Special thanks need to be extended to Charmain and Leon van Tonder MD of Kreon Technology for keeping the project on course through all the unforeseen obstacles, to MMB who worked all hours of the night and the LUUK team who experienced first-hand what can happen when automated systems go wrong.
A post-trip celebration attended by the participants, the technical and support teams along with their families and friends was held at The Innovation Hub. Everyone celebrated the success of the project as well as the safe return of their loved ones. While 'Innovation To The Top' represents a victory for technology, the real conquerors seem to be the people who made it to the top and those who made the technology work. It was a long time ago, but maybe Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell knew a thing or two when they sang 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough.'
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