More than R90 million has been spent on the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, which aims to turn Braamfontein into a substantial digital hub.
The precinct, which is championed by the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE), is an ambitious ICT cluster development project which will be officially unveiled on 1 September 2016, as the new technical heart of SA, says Professor Barry Dwolatzky, director of JCSE.
The Tshimologong Precinct is located at 47 Juta Street in Braamfontein, Johannesburg and extends half the city block between Station and Henri streets.
The first phase of the project, adds Dwolatzky, will be completed and fully operational by 19 August, in time to host the Fak'ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival.
"At the centre of the project, lie six buildings which are intended to provide ICT infrastructural support to members of the precinct and visitors who want to work on their innovative ideas, entrepreneurship skills, and IT-related projects, using various kinds of technologies offered by the precinct.
"Five out of six buildings have already been completed. We are now fitting in the Cisco network and doing the final touches on the smart meeting rooms," he notes.
One of the buildings is the IBM Research Laboratory, a fully fledged science lab, where cutting-edge research dealing with big data analytics, smart cities and the Square Kilometre Array telescope, is conducted. Researchers were recruited from Africa, SA and other parts of the world, adds Dwolatzky.
"This is only the second science lab of its kind in Africa and the 13th in the world, huge investments have been injected into the lab which will be launched on 25 August," he elaborates.
Another building making up the precinct, continues Dwolatzky, is the Design and Validation centre, a two-storey building outside the courtyard of the JCSE that will be used by the Gauteng department of e-government for the demonstration and testing of new technology.
"Any vendor that wants to showcase and test new technology will get an opportunity to run proof of concept demonstrations of their products which will undergo testing and approval processes as a first step towards procurement," he points out.
Smith Street is where the Digital Innovation Zone (DIZ), is situated. The building, which is rented out by Wits, has been running programmes such as the Hack Jozi Challenge and the DIZ spark internship programme since last year.
"The building is currently being used to train 50 unemployed youth in a four-month coding programme run by Accenture. We also have around 20 start-ups that are being incubated here. The rest of the building is used as a functions and events space," Dwolatzky continued.
The Technology Incubator area, near the JCSE offices, will be used as a co-working open space and smart meeting room where entrepreneurs will work on their start-ups and business ideas, he notes.
"Phase two of the project is the sixth building, which will be completed in the first quarter of 2016. We still need a few million rand for the furnishing and internal equipment to run digital-related programmes.
"We would like to thank our strategic funding partners who have provided all our previous funding. These companies are IBM, the City Of Johannesburg, Telkom, MMI, Microsoft, Gauteng provincial government, ACSA, Technology Innovation Agency and Cisco," he concludes.
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