Two tech startups have the opportunity to win R100 000 each in the Smart City Innovation Challenge, an initiative developed by the City of Johannesburg in partnership with Tshimologong Innovation Precinct.
In an official statement, the City of Johannesburg explains the aim of the innovative challenge.
Read more: ZA: City of Joburg launches Smart City Innovation Challenge for tech startups
In the past weeks, we have been experiencing a new way of living, working, and thinking. When the State of Disaster was announced as the Covid-19 crisis hit South Africa, a new set of rules began to form, and with it a new set of questions and challenges.
South Africans may have understood what needed to be done, but we also understood one rule would be almost impossible for the majority of our country - “social distancing” or, as we prefer, physical distancing - and the disparity between those who can, and those who cannot.
Read more: ZA: Smart cities in the time of physical distancing
The South African government’s handling of its response to COVID-19 is highly commendable. If anything, its response has highlighted the very real need to improve access and connectivity for citizens across all levels of our society. It has shown that accelerating South Africa’s digital service delivery strategy is becoming an increasingly urgent aspect of just how to embrace doing things differently.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND UNIVERSAL ACCESS
The National Development Plan 2030 (NDP) published in 2012 states that by 2030, ICT will underpin the development of a dynamic and connected information society and a vibrant knowledge economy that is more inclusive and prosperous. A seamless information infrastructure will be universally available and accessible and will meet the needs of citizens, business and the public sector, providing access to the creation and consumption of a wide range of converged services required for effective economic and social participation – at a cost and quality at least equal to South Africa's main peers and competitors.
Read more: OPINION: Accelerating SA’s digital service delivery strategy is urgent
The use of video-conferencing and virtual meeting platforms have proved to be a key value-add for how the Department of e-Government intends to carry out its functions in future.
This is the word from Gauteng finance MEC and e-government department head Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, stating how her department is navigating the COVID-19 lockdown.
Read more: ZA: Gauteng e-government dept embraces virtual amid lockdown
Government has made some bold statements about how digital technologies will empower and enable South Africans, but what does a realistic picture for a digital government look like?
What does a digital future really look like? For government CIO Mandla Ngcobo, it all comes down to information. With digital technologies, governments have so many more ways to make smart, strategic decisions. This is where the real value lies for public servants and the average person on the street. For example, when government started brainstorming the idea to build the Gautrain, it first had to ask, 'Why are we doing this?'. And the answer was clear. After doing research, government realised that a large number of people travel between Johannesburg and Pretoria every day and that many of these middle-class professionals are regularly late for work because of bumper-to-bumper traffic. It was based on this data that government made the informed move to build the rapid commuter rail system. “For digital to be impactful, it must be guided by facts, by intelligence and by data,” Ngcobo says.