Welcome to Jean-Paul Van Belle's brief "work" CV.
WORK EXPERIENCE
In 1984, I started lecturing in the Department of Management (then still called Business Economics) which is part of the Faculty of Economic & Management Sciences in the University of the Western Cape (UWC). My initial lecturing subjects were Financial Management and Quantitative Management Techniques. During these years, I got very involved with UWC's advanced PLATO system for Computer-Based Education, where I compiled a comprehensive undergraduate curriculum in both general and financial management.
In 1986 I enrolled at the Graduate School of Business (University of Stellenbosch) for a part-time M.B.A. This resulted in a technical report on financial spreadsheet modelling and a greatly stimulated interest in personal computers - a fairly natural combination. I naturally got involved in various staff/student literacy courses and university committees and to this day some of my colleagues still believe in the fallacy that I know something about computers :-)
Around 1990, UWC started putting some more emphasis on Academic Development (AD). I got involved academically with a analytical and financial skills development course (MAN235) within the department. In 1991, I was seconded for a year to the Computer- Supported Education unit to manage the down-sizing project of mainframe CBE "Plato"to a PC network-based system "Socrates". Apart from learning a lot of technical (PC hardware, networking, Novell, Quest) and management skills, I wrote a fat fundraising proposal which got IBM South Africa to sponsor the R 500 000 IBM computer lab.
That's the time when I also enrolled for a part-time B.Com (Hons) in Information Systems at U.C.T.. There, my horizons were opened a bit wider than my hitherto largely technologist's point of view and I got more interested in the management implications of information systems. As part of the requirements, I did some empirical research on the use of expert systems in South Africa.
After returning to my "home department", we sought to replicate the UCT model and rationalize all the different IS-related course offerings ("Introduction to EDP" offered by CS, "MIS" offered by both Management and Accounting) into one single department. Eventually we managed to convince senate to approve the establishment of a separate IS department in the faculty. I got seconded to become acting head of the department. As any new department is inevitably understaffed, I got to writing fundraising proposals which the Dean took around on his visits until he struck gold at Old Mutual who agreed to fund a chair.
In 1997, I joined the extremely dynamic Information Systems department at University of Cape Town as a senior lecturer; was promoted to associate professor in 2003. I am head of the section post-graduate studies (honours/masters/doctoral). I established and managed the highly successful community outreach programme for our honours students in 2004. Currently lecturing in the Masters and Honours programmes and the Post-Graduate Diploma in Distributed Information Systems. I have also lectured courses in Research Methodology, Systems Architectures, UML modelling, E-commerce, Information Technologies and various introductory IS courses. I worked with a number of web-based learning tools including Archi and WebCT.
[Candidate in the Economic Sciences, 2-year curriculum, '79-'81] : "Grote Onderscheiding" [Great Distinction]
"Kandidaat in de Economische Wetenschappen"
"Licentiaat in de Algemene Economische Wetenschappen" [Licentiate in the General Economic Sciences, 2-year curriculum, '81-'83 : "Grote Onderscheiding" [Great Distinction] Thesis submitted: Empirical Tests of Stock Market Trading Strategies. [Thesis was awarded the "Best Licentiate Thesis of the Year"]
I also completed the first year
of "Candidate in the Philosophy" successfully in '81 [Distinction].
"Master of Business Administration" (M.B.A.) ['86-'88; part-time]: "Cum Laude". I received the Old Mutual Gold Medal for academic excellence. A technical report on computerized cash flow models was presented as part of the requirements: "The U.S.B. Growth Model, a Multi-variable Financial Computer Model for Growth Businesses."
B.Com. (Hons) in Information Systems ['91-'92; part-time]. I received the Anderson Consulting Gold Medal. Technical Report submitted: "A survey of the current status of expert systems in South Africa". This Report was judged the "best TR" in the Accounting Dept and awarded the Trust Bank Gold Medal.
Ph D. [1997-2003; part-time]. Dissertation submitted: A framework for the analysis and evaluation of enterprise models.
See the special publications section.
My current research efforts include the following (refer to my publications page for publication downloads):
I did my doctoral studies and published a number of papers on the evaluation of business models.
I have supervised a large number of research students on the adoption and implementation of information technologies in a South African/developing world context. This includes the implementation of M-commerce technologies and other information technologies such as knowledge management, open source software and educational technologies. Both quantitative (e.g. TAM, IDT) and qualitative (e.g. ANT, cases study) research approaches are explored.
I am currently establishing a research project to development portable ICTs for school teaching support in developing country context.
I have a long track record as a long-distance trail runner. In 1994, I became the first on record to cross Europe on foot, running 5459 km from the North Cape (Norway) to Gibraltar. I have initiated and organised a number of regular trail runs in the Western Cape, of which the annual Peninsula Ultra Puffer 80km is the most well-known in the public media. I have written a number of articles which have appeared in running magazines, including Runners World (SA).
I am also a keen endurance adventure racer. When I was the navigator for team Energy, we won a significant number of adventure races. Since my ob-injuries, I do the occasional mountain bike and have won a few orienteering-MTB events. I have hiked and run many parts of the world.
I enjoy travelling and have visited numerous countries and regions around the world, generally seeking an active travel experience.
I enjoy reading popular science (mainly mathematics and cosmology), science fiction, philosophy and artificial intelligence. I am fluent in Dutch, English and Afrikaans. I understand French (although I lack the conversational practice) and basic German.
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