IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The shift toward paperless parking systems is transforming the way shopping centres and malls manage vehicle access, payments, and security.

While first-world countries have rapidly adopted advanced digital parking solutions, South Africa is gradually catching up, facing unique challenges and opportunities.

This article explores how paperless parking systems compare between South Africa and developed nations.

The South African Broadband Forum kicked off in Johannesburg this morning, aiming to facilitate affordable broadband and ICT access to local consumers.

The aims of the SA Broadband Forum include maximizing the rollout of fibre and wireless broadband infrastructure, stimulate the provision of local content, enhance e-government and e-citizenship, stimulate the adoption and use of advanced broadband connections and the implementation of a national broadband strategy.

Although it is undeniably difficult to look back to February 2020 while still in the midst of a global pandemic, reflection can, in fact, reveal the many positive developments (and lessons) that the crisis has brought.

From a digital transformation perspective, February was significant in that it marked the month of South Africa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), in which government outlined key initiatives that would place the country on track to realise economic growth through large-scale digitisation. These initiatives included three key focus areas:

• grassroots development – bringing coding and robotics to primary schools;
  
• higher learning – including plans to build a new University of Science and Innovation in Ekurhuleni; and
  
• the development of a world-class smart city.

This is according to the 2012 edition of the World Economic Forum’s Global Information and Technology Report.

The report says sub-Saharan Africa remains the most poorly connected region on earth, with a distinct lack of access to affordable information and communication technology (ICT) and a severe lack of skills.

President Cyril Ramaphosa last week delivered South Africa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona), and the proverbial dust has now settled.

This dust may have been kicked up by those who oppose him, his leadership style, his party, the ANC, and the way it is leading this country. Conversely, others were left unimpressed by what was delivered in the address, as it provided them with nothing to make their lives any better or provide genuine hope.

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa used the State of the Nation Address to highlight the importance of building a smart city in South Africa.

This presents industry with significant opportunities as the world embraces a digital future.

"We have tightened our security and computerised systems at all our branches to ensure the passports that are being issued cannot be duplicated by anyone", Mr Apleni said.

He said it was plausible to issue the new passport within the next 12 months to all passport holders. Mr Apleni said this was a vital step in reopening negotiations with the UK home office regarding the lifting of a UK visa requirement on South African passport holders.

SAP Africa has announced the successful graduation of all 75 South African students from its SAP Skills for Africa job creation initiative. The South African chapter of the SAP Skills for Africa initiative was announced four months ago and forms an integral part of SAP Africa’s commitment to train ICT consultants across the continent.

The successful graduation today of all 75 South African students follows the first group of graduates from Kenya who completed the SAP Skills for Africa training certification in 2013 and 2014, as well as in Morocco in 2015.

Universities have had to ramp up their compute power to accommodate the increase in online learning since the onset of the pandemic and the resulting move toward hybrid learning models.

This is among the findings from an IDC study, “Post-Pandemic IT Infrastructure in South African Universities”, released by Dell Technologies.

Smart cities offer a multitude of advantages for both government and residents. They use technology and data to improve the efficiency of a city and the lives of its residents, including making the city more environmentally sustainable.

Take Singapore, for example. From digital healthcare to contactless payments systems, near-universal broadband and energy-efficient buildings, Singapore has become the global poster child for smart cities.

The Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Prof Hlengiwe Mkhize, and the Vice-Minister of Cyber Space Administration of the People's Republic of China, Wang Xiujun, today concluded a successful South Africa-China Internet Roundtable in Durban, eThekwini.

The Deputy Ministers were accompanied by delegations that included representatives of government departments, state-owned companies, the private sector, ICTs, small, micro and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs), industry associations, advisory bodies and other government agencies.

A new South African city driven solely by smart technologies is taking shape in Lanseria, Gauteng, said president Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) before a joint sitting of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces this evening, after lengthy disruptions from the Economic Freedom Fighters.

Referencing his previous SONA, the president reiterated his dream of a smart South African city.

The smart city is not hoverboards and flying cars, which is something of a disappointment for most of us, but is about improving citizen quality of life by transforming resource usage and access to services.

The smart city, as defined by Wikipedia, is a ‘technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data’. Forrester says it is interconnected systems that optimise services and improve citizen experiences. And these intelligent environments are considered to potentially be the best route for Africa, which has the highest urban growth rate in the world, according to an analysis across 7 600 urban agglomerations in 50 African countries.

High crime rates are a reality of South African life. For that reason, a number of our cities have already created camera-based monitoring systems to deter criminals, or identify and prosecute them if they transgress the law.

One example is Safe City Msunduzi, an entity of the Msunduzi Municipality, which monitors 169 CCTV cameras across Pietermaritzburg. Some are going even further – like the City of Cape Town, which is building on its camera-based system to deploy drones, gunshot sensors and a tech-heavy Highway Patrol Unit that will automatically scan number plates.

Singapore, which is ranked among the smartest cities in the world, is looking to make a deal with South Africa.

Reuters reported that a delegation of Singaporean companies is in the country this week to explore opportunities in manufacturing, logistics, and consumer goods, as trade between the two nations continues to surge.

Enterprise Singapore, the city-state’s trade and enterprise agency, said the business mission forms part of its Scale-Up Programme.

The authors of the paper, principal analyst Nick Jotischky and senior analyst Sheridan Nye, found that east African countries including Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania had taken the benefits of delivering public services using cellular technologies to citizens and small businesses faster than SA, particularly in the agricultural sector, for the payment of utility bills, and other financial transactions.

This is according to industry players, who also point out that there are no specific degrees or diploma courses in SA for telecommunications engineers.

“Virtually every higher education institution in this country offers some kind of information technology training. Add to this the wide range of internationally recognised and accredited IT qualifications that are provided by vendors and manufacturers of IT systems,” says Graeme Victor, CEO of Du Pont Telecom.

Urban areas in South Africa are rapidly evolving, necessitating modern solutions to tackle multiple challenges, from resource management to environmental sustainability. The concept of smart cities has gained significant traction globally, and South Africa is no exception, with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ambitious Lanseria Smart City project paving the way.

If successful, this development can demonstrate the intersection of technology and urban planning, and it reflects how tech giants like Asus Business, with its suite of business technology solutions, are crucial in realising such visions.

Urban October sent a clear message to governments to build people-centred smart cities where technology, data, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) are leveraged to improve daily life and help communities recover from shocks. This global day highlights real-time, data-driven decision-making and showcases initiatives that put citizens first.

“Cities do not succeed because they are ‘high-tech’. They succeed because they are fair, responsive and easy to live in,” says Alexander Tikhonov, regional director for SAS Middle East, Türkiye and Africa (META). “That requires trusted data, explainable analytics and the discipline to measure whether public services are actually improving for people.”

Limpopo village is set to receive a smart village micro-grid that will provide solar-powered electricity to rural communities through smart grids.

The project will be launched on Friday by electricity and energy minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa at Madimbo Primary School near Musina. It aims to provide sustainable, reliable and affordable energy to areas where connecting to the national grid is difficult or costly, says Eskom.