Telecommunications giant MTN Group and MTN South Africa on Monday announced the appointment of David Behr as the new CEO for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Centre of Excellence (CoE), effective November 1.

He will succeed Vaughn Naidoo, who held the interim position.

Behr, who has extensive expertise in the enterprise arena, including enterprise cloud, cybersecurity, Internet of Things solutions and platform development, as well as in developing CoEs, besides others, will help MTN achieve the enterprise scale it requires across its 19 operating markets.

A CoE, a centralised unit within an organisation that is responsible for developing and promoting best practices, processes and standards for the business, drives platform and solution development to deploy to business units for execution and customer implementation.

Emphasising the value of high-performing CoEs for enterprise customers, MTN Group chief operating officer Jens Schulte-Bockum says that the ICT solutions are specifically designed to service enterprises in one of the most fast-developing and ever-evolving sectors within business currently.

“By pulling together best-in-class multidisciplinary specialists, we can drive thought leadership and guarantee fast-task execution while enhancing our organisation’s capabilities. This is a powerful value-add to our customers who always expect cutting-edge solutions from us, to help their businesses thrive,” Schulte Bockum says.

Behr will play a pivotal role in advancing MTN’s strategic initiatives, strengthening its partnerships and driving innovation that enhances the company’s customers' digital experiences, adds MTN South Africa CEO Charles Molapisi.

“MTN's Ambition 2025 hinges on the development of world-class ICT solutions, a crucial component of portfolio transformation and the creation of valuable digital platforms. Behr's appointment perfectly aligns with these strategic objectives, particularly in maximising its strategic alliance with hyperscalers and other essential partners,” the company said in a statement on Monday.

According to MTN, Behr, who holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a MSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Bristol in the UK, founded one of Zimbabwe’s initial Internet Service Providers in 1995, nurturing it to become the largest in the country.

In 2012, he joined Liquid Intelligent Technologies and is CEO of Liquid C2, where he has played a pivotal role in shaping the organisation’s achievements.