Hello, my name is
Aldred Dreyer
Digital Broadcasting, Business Development, Automation
- info@aldreddreyer.co.za
- +27 82 459 6149
About me
I am a performance driven professional with a solid understanding of technology and its application in the business of ICT. I have extensive experience in rolling out large scale projects in emerging markets as an executive, engineer and project manager.
I am an experienced executive that help clients transform their businesses to digital in a sustainable manner.
Skills
My notable achievements include the
- Implementation of a national digital terrestrial television network in Namibia and migrating viewers from analogue TV to digital TV viewing,
- Accelerating the analogue TV switch off program in South Africa leading to the first transmitter being switched off in the Free State province in in January 2019,
- Established an international business unit for a multi-national signal distribution company carrier to expand their business into sub-Saharan Africa.
- Centralised the provision of IT services for a Media group in South Africa & outsourcing the backend development function for the group’s websites.
My natural leadership ability and strategic focus led to the recommendation of a standard for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) for South Africa in 2001, the adoption of MHEG as a middleware for DTT Set Top Boxes (STB) in 2008, the agreement on the SABS technical specification for the DTT STB in 2009, the adoption of High Definition (HD) as a minimum standard for the DTT STB in 2011.
I am a PRINCE 2 trained project manager, qualified trainer, an avid mentor and coach. I chair the SACIA Broadcast Industry Group (BIG) council in South Africa and the Digital Radio Mondial (DRM) representative in South Africa.
I hold a B-Tech degree in Electrical Engineering, ECSA registered, SACIA registered BCT professional, member of SAIEE & a PRINCE2 trained project manager.
My Experience
Jun 21 - Jun 22
TVU Networks
Business Development: Southern Africa
1) Grew the sales pipeline by 140% within 12 months. 2) Appointed resellers and partners in the region. 3) Developed a rental rate card for local equipment rentals. 4) TVU now engaging the top 10 broadcasters & operators in the region through demonstrations and POCs.
2020
ACCENTURE SOUTH AFRICA
Contract Delivery Lead
1) Responsible for the P&L for an OTT contract. 2) Responsible to grow the sales pipeline for the account. 3) Oversee delivery of new features - Agile scrum teams. 4) Oversee dev ops and application operations. 5) Business consulting to client to use MVP and the lean start up method to introduce new features to the platform. 6) All staff working from home since March 2020. Teams distributed across the region in South Africa, UK, India and Latvia.
2018 - 2019
Department of Communications: South Africa
PROJECT DIRECTOR
1) Program Head for the national analogue television switch-off project. 2) Member of the Digital Migration Advisory Council (DMAC), advised the Minister of Communications on ways to fast-track digital TV migration. 3) Developed a new delivery model to accelerate digital TV migration in South Africa. This model was approved by cabinet in October 2019 and is currently being implemented by the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies. 4) Liaised with key stakeholders; broadcasters, MNOs, signal distributors, ICASA and the CSIR to adopt the most efficient frequency spectrum plan to ensure the quickest switch off of the national analogue TV networks. 5) Switched off the first analogue TV transmitter in the Free State province in January 2019. 6) Revised project processes leading to a 50% improvement in the registration rate of indigent households applying for a subsidy. 7) Reached 1 million registrations by January 2019. 8) Revised project processes leading to a 253% improvement in the installation rate of TV decoders and antennae. 9) Project transparency & buy-in was achieved through involvement of the key stakeholders in the planning and execution of the program.
2017 - 2018
SENTECH SOC Ltd
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE
1) Implement a international business unit 2) Developed a sales pipeline 3) Defined customized services and solutions for targeted markets 4) Develop proposals for providing solutions specifically designed based on the customer needs
2016
eMEDIA Investments
(etv, eNCA, Platco Digital)
Group Chief Technology & Information Officer
1) Provide strategic technology direction for the group 2) Provide shared service for group IT and broadcast engineering 3) Manage technical broadcast operations 4) Manage the contract with Sentech, the national signal distributor 5) Provide IT development support (back-end and front-end) for the group for all online products.
2012 - 2016
NAMIBIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION
Group Chief Technology Officer
1) Implemented digital television migration in Namibia and met the ITU June 2015 deadline. 2) Executed an IT strategy improving the IT environment maturity rating from 0-1 to 2-3 within 24 months. 3) Implemented a project management function & capex program to align with government’s 3-year medium term expenditure framework. 4) Implemented a spectrum planning and management function 5) Developed a tariff model to carry other broadcasters on the nbc digital terrestrial TV platform. 6) Managed TV, RADIO, Outside Broadcast TV studio facilities, engineering and IT sections. 7) Manage transmitter networks consisting of a C-Band satellite uplink, DTT multiplex, 1 analogue TV network and 10 FM networks. 8) Manage the capital projects for digital broadcast (TV and Radio studios) and transmission infrastructure.
2008 - 2012
SOUTH AFRICAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION (SABC) LTD
Technology Project lead
1) As part of the 3-member team, developed a digital multi-platform, multi-channel and multi-device strategy for SABC 2) Implemented a digital terrestrial TV (trial consisting of 3000 TV users. 3) Specified the technical requirements for the DTT network, set-top box and DVB multiplex system. 4) Chaired SABS sub-committee to develop the SANS 862 standard for digital terrestrial television decoders. 5) Implemented a MHEG-5 middleware system to enabled interactive TV for the DTT trial 6) Implemented the DVB electronic program guide system for the DTT trial 7) Developed a process to test digital terrestrial TV decoders (combination of automation and manual testing) 8) Managed SLAs with services providers.
2002 - 2008
SOUTH AFRICAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION (SABC) LTD
Manager: Technical Liaison
1) Manage the Sentech contract and associated service levels for 3 TV channels & 18 Radio stations 2) Managed the TV and RADIO network expansion programs 3) Quality management of the broadcast networks 4) Administered SABC's frequency spectrum register. 5) Managed the development of the user requirements for a new national digital contribution network
1997 - 2002
SENTECH SOC Ltd
Junior Technician to Senior Technician
1) Install, commission signal distribution infrastructure. 2) Project execution: Propose workable design solutions, write execution plans for required discipline (FM and TV), equipment procurement, installation, testing and commissioning. 3) Investigate and propose design solutions for a Digital Terrestrial Television network: study rollout examples from around the world, develop design solutions for South Africa. Investigate & propose services that can be offered. This included measurement of different multiplex configurations vs mux capacity vs signal coverage. 4) Provide training to staff by compiling and presenting courses about digital compression and transmission. Courses compiled and presented include Digital Compression, DTT and Digital Video Quality. 5) Sentech representative at Southern African Digital Broadcasting Association (SADIBA). Chaired a working group that recommended a DTT standard, minimum receiver functionality and acceptable quality of service for South Africa in 2001/02.