More than half of participants across the board felt 'positive' or even 'very positive' about the state of play in the ICT industry in South Africa. This is despite the generally tough external environment we have all experienced; 2016, including concerns about political developments, which climaxed in December 2015, with the highly volatile rand.

The general mood of optimism measured by the TechKnowledge snap poll begs the question of whether such optimism is really justified.  We hear both good stories and bad.  On the one hand, some ICT companies are turning in excellent financial results; on the other we hear news of red ink and headcount reductions. We also note major innovation emanating out of industries ranging from banking and retail to public institutions.