IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

India's minister of commerce and industry, Anand Sharma, said in Johannesburg last month that 33 African countries had already signed on to the network.

The Southern African region is undergoing a major transformation; the scale of investment in infrastructure has grown substantially. Investment within the road, rail, energy and power sectors is expected to reach $148-billion in the next ten years. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has improved immensely in Southern Africa, driven by the realisation that ICT is a key enabler of economic development.

The development of an R84 billion smart city in Modderfontein, east of Johannesburg, did not go as planned.

Back in 2014, Chinese developer Zendai had grand plans to turn Modderfontein into Africa’s version of New York – a high-tech smart city with everything from a CBD to schools, churches, and even low-cost housing.

The vision was a bustling hub that would house 30,000 families, create 200,000 jobs, and be completed by 2030.

The nation’s capital has joined Cape Town and Stellenboschin the race to roll out fast internet to the public, to the especial benefit of the poor, in a move that signals a newfound understanding of ‘digital rights’.

A digital revolution is under way in South Africa, and it is leaving an indelible mark on industry and enterprise. It is changing how we move people and products, how we create and use energy, how we interact with and care for each other. It is influencing how we build our cities, spend our money and manage our wellbeing. It is remodelling our thinking and how we solve problems, and it is pushing us towards a connected future.

Many years of disorganisation at the Department of Communications (DOC) has left SA without a national ICT policy, and without the co-ordinated efforts to stimulate local IT markets. The DOC recently held a colloquium intended to kick-start the policy process, but will it yield results in time to salvage SA's competitive standings?

A national ICT policy should cover three broad areas, while remaining closely aligned to overall government objectives. The stimulation of the IT industry, measured by sector performance versus GDP, is one key area. Another is e-government: the use of ICT to improve government services internally, or deliver services electronically. And regulation is also fundamental, with issues such as spectrum allocation and management of the competitive telecoms environment at the forefront of ICT development.

South Africa is experiencing a significant IT skills shortage, jeopardising its digital transformation and economic growth. Essential fields such as cybersecurity, data analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and software development are notably impacted, revealing a deficit of 20 000 to 70 000 qualified professionals.

This significant shortage of IT skills affects not only business operations but the market as a whole. Globally, the IT industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors, and for a country like South Africa, which is still in its development phase, keeping up with global standards is a significant challenge.

The report that outlines SA’s strategy and planned response to the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) has been gazetted.

This comes shortly after Cabinet approved its publication, charting a way forward for the framework that makes recommendations on how best the country can position itself in the global 4IR context.

Compiled by the Presidential Commission on 4IR (PC4IR), the report was promulgated in the Government Gazette dated 23 October 2020.

Joe Mazibuko, State Information Technology Agency (SITA) marketing services managing executive, told delegates e-government would achieve greater transparency, revenue growth, cost reduction and convenience for local citizens.

The first is the Tsilitwa telehealth project located in the Eastern Cape region. It uses a system where nurses send live pictures of a patient over a wireless network to a remote doctor, while consulting with the doctor about treatment options using a VoIP connection.

MTN South Africa said it took a major step towards bridging the digital skills gap by launching the MTN Skills Academy.

The platform aims to equip young people with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in the digital age, providing a range of courses and training programmes in areas such as coding, web development, digital marketing, and data analytics to name a few.

MTN is more than a connectivity provider – it is also a South African leader in IoT.

It started its IoT journey in Machine-to-Machine (M2M) infrastructure, and now boasts a telemetry base of approximately 6 million subscribers – highlighting the key role MTN plays in the local IoT industry.

MTN’s M2M proficiency is particularly notable through its MTN Connected Things (MCT) CMP platform – which it has built in partnership with Eseye.

The MorphoAccess VP Series is the world's first range of physical access control terminals combining finger vein and fingerprint biometrics in one system. It was unveiled earlier this year at IFSEC International, in Birmingham, UK.

The products are suitable for authentication or identification. The terminals can identify up to 10 000 users; have enhanced anti-spoofing capabilities; and are rated IP65 for ruggedness.

Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane says work is underway to develop a new smart city in the province.

Presenting his state of the province address on Thursday (17 February), Mabuyane indicated that the project was still in the planning and design phase, with the provincial government working to attract investors.

New ‘cities’ are set to be on the blueprint cards for South Africa, and they might just be the ‘smartest’ of all our developments.

The primary goal behind building ‘smart cities’ is connected to President Ramaphosa’s rhetoric that a South African city can be driven by technological advances.

The ANC has been working on plans for a new South African smart city between Port St Johns and Margate on the Wild Coast, reports the Sunday Times.

Minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma presented the plan at the ANC’s national executive committee lekgotla earlier this month.

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.

Departments across the public sector are planning to introduce e-government services with the objective of improving information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure in South Africa. To achieve this, there will be an increased investment in software licenses, specialised computer services, system advisers, and system development.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, ICT Spend in South Africa: Public Sector, finds that the public sector saw an ICT spend of $615,9-million in 2014 and estimates this to reach $707,6-million in 2019. Managed services, combined with fixed and non-cellular connectivity, accounted for 73,1% of these investments.

The lockdown proved to be an eye-opener in terms of how far South Africa must still go to overcome the digital divide, and bring millions of citizens into the digital economy.

This is according to speakers at a webinar endorsed by the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA), on narrowing the digital divide to provide available and affordable Internet access for all South Africans.