The Institute originates from a Steering Committee of twelve persons from academia and industry formed in 1982 for the purpose of founding the South African Institute of Computer Scientists (SAICS) with the following objects:
Stef W Postma, Judy M Bishop, Pierre Visser, Gideon de V De Kock, Niek F du Plooy, Douglas G Laing, Ken J MacGregor, Phil P Roets, Trevor Turton, Gerrit Wiechers, Trevor Winer, Roelf J van den Heever and Derrick Kourie.
During 1992 a process of restructuring commenced for the purpose of fulfilling the mission. Consensus was reached during 1994 to broaden the membership to university graduates and technikon diplomates of three year standing in the fields of Computer Science, Software Engineering and Information Systems.
The SAICS name and constitution was changed to SAICSIT in 1995.
The South African Computer Journal serves as the scientific voice of the Institute. Editors of SACJ and its predecessor the Quæstiones Informaticæ journal:
A record of its early years was published by the then editor, Derrick Kourie, as:
The South African Computer Journal (SACJ), as the successor of the Quæstiones Informaticæ journal founded by Derek Henderson, is part of his heritage to South Africa. This brief historical sketch of SACJ outlines the role of various organisations and people that have been part of the journalʼs story, giving some insight into its financing and functioning, and pointing out highlights in its past editions.
The full article is available at www.tandfonline.com .
A primary strategic activity of the Institute has been the annual conference, which started in 1981 (predating the formation of the Institute). According to proceedings, the 4th conference was in 1987 and the 7th in 1992. From 1995, we have annual records.