Andiswa Mlisa recently served as the Acting CEO of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) for 12 months after serving as SANSA’s Managing Director of the Earth Observation Programme. In this role, she was responsible for setting and executing the organisation’s strategy for the uptake of Earth observations towards creating a capable state, betterment of the people, and appropriate management of environmental resources. Most recently, she took the lead in developing the Space Infrastructure Hub business case and SANSA’s hosting of the Digital Earth Africa Programme Management Office.
Ms Andiswa has been associated with promoting Earth observation from the beginning of her care, such as being co-chair of the Group on Earth Observation (GEO) Capacity Building Committee and a co-chair of the GEO Programme Board. During her secondment by the South Africa Government to the GEO Secretariat in Switzerland, she coordinated the establishment and implementation of the first Regional GEO Initiative, AfriGEO. She was also the Chairperson of the South African Committee on Spatial Information (CSI). Her passion for space industry development led her to facilitate and have SANSA sponsor the establishment of the South African space industry association, ZaSpace Inc.
She has authored and co-authored numerous publications and participated in several local and international conferences. In addition, she has professional memberships on local and global space and Earth observation platforms, including the South African Council for Space Affairs (SACSA).