The Da Vinci Institute

General information

The Da Vinci Institute for Technology Management is a School of Managerial Leadership contributing towards socio-economic development and transformation. The Institute’s purpose is to cultivate managerial leaders through the core principles of business driven action learning by offering students a personalised journey of self-discovery and co-creation.

The Institute was established in 2004 as a result of a decision by Warwick University to exit the education landscape in South Africa because of the then revised regulatory requirements for overseas universities in the country. With the support of Mr Nelson Mandela and Dr Ben Ngubane, the Marcus family decided to continue with the work started by Warwick and as a result established what is now well known as The Da Vinci Institute for Technology Management. The Institute was provisionally registered with the Department of Higher Education in 2004.

The first Chief Executive Officer, Professor Benjamin Anderson, joined The Institute during 2005. Under his leadership, The Institute received full registration and accreditation status from the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Council on Higher Education during 2006. The first Institutional Audit was conducted during 2006 by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC).

Being a Mode 2 educational institution, The Institute is focused on the creation of knowledge that is trans-disciplinary in nature, socially relevant and of which the intent is to solve work-based problems and to contribute towards the professional development of the people involved. It is in this context that The Institute facilitates a journey of self-discovery for prospective business leaders and entrepreneurs.

The Institute derives its passion from developing entrepreneurs and future managerial leaders who will contribute towards the facilitation of a sustainable and socio-economic transformed society. The Institute offers a spectrum of learning solutions including aspects related to, amongst other, entrepreneurship, innovation management, systems thinking and managerial leadership. Students are able to participate in small classes, affording them the opportunity to reflect on their own learning and to integrate such with that of people who represent a wide range of cultural backgrounds and organisational realities.

The Institute which is situated in the serene and peaceful suburb of Modderfontein, offers Certificate, Diploma, Bachelor, Master, and Doctorate programmes in the Management of Technology, Innovation, People, Systems (TIPS™) and Business Management(B).

By integrating the TIPS™ (B) framework, The Institute is able to engage, align and become agile in co-creating new workplace realities with students and sponsors. The framework enables The Institute to offer a truly tailored service to meet its client’s ever changing organisational performance needs.

The Institute is registered as a Private Higher Education Institution under the Higher Education Act 1997, registration no. 2004/ HE07/003. The Institute’s qualifications are accredited by the Council on Higher Education and recorded with the South African Qualifications Authority.