Speaking at the inaugural summit on mobile health last week, deputy minister Obed Bapela said SA has been chosen to host the next three summits by Global Society Mobile Health and the Mobile Health Alliance.
He added that the summit's aim is to come up with practical solutions, relevant to developing countries, on how mobile health can help improve healthcare delivery.
Noting that mHealth services could be distributed easily across the country due to the high mobile penetration rate, Bapela listed four key ways in which South Africa would benefit from such services. These included raising the average life expectancy, reducing infant mortality rates, fighting disease including HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and augmenting the country’s health ecosystem.
Read more: Communications deputy trumpets importance of mHealth services in South Africa
More than 23 million people are registered to vote in this year's municipal elections, and the IEC has printed 70.5 million ballot papers, for the first time printing the sheets in colour. Previously, only national election ballots were printed in colour.
However, reams of paperwork, physical voting and standing in queues could soon become a thing of the past, as the commission is exploring whether electronic voting will become a reality.
Read more: ZA: Independent Electoral Commission ponders e-votes
During his budget vote speech yesterday, deputy minister Hlengiwe Mkhize said this is because the department acknowledges that technology in education is increasingly occupying a dominant space in the 21st century.
“E-learning has the potential to fast-track open and distance education and training, which will enable access for vulnerable groups, including the disabled and learners from rural communities.”
When vehicles pass under gantries for the open road tolling system and the registration is attained, eNatis will be used to identify the owner of the vehicle so they can be billed accordingly.
However, the eNatis system has come under heavy criticism in the past. The traffic system had a troubled start when it first got off the ground in 2007. The service has since had a bad reputation, with downtime at licensing centres blamed on the solution.