According to a study by ForgeAhead, the Western Cape has some of the more advanced and innovative e-government frameworks and implementation plans in South Africa.
The results of this study, entitled 'The Western Cape ICT in Government Report', were revealed at the Western Cape Local Government Information and Communication Technology Committee (LOGICT): ICT in Government Provincial Conference last week.
The study indicated that the Western Cape is a good ICT innovator because most municipalities in the region have ICT strategies, as well as master systems plans. Also, its Centre of e-Innovation is seen as an important resource of knowledge for all its departments at municipal, local and district level.
Ashraf Patel, ICT research analyst from ForgeAhead, says "It is important for the Western Cape government to put a mix of ICTs to work for social and economic development, unlock blockages and drive the changes necessary to ensure that ICT is used effectively for service delivery."
The study also found that there are several holes in the province's local government IT infrastructure, caused by lack of budget.
The conference took place in George last week and was themed 'Leveraging ICTs to achieve sustainable service delivery'.
"We were impressed by the resonant desire and commitment by the municipalities, private sector and government to harness the potential of ICTs to effectively contribute to good service delivery in the Western Cape to improve the quality of people's lives," says Jane Mosebi, ForgeAhead MD.
Other topics discussed at the conference were good governance and accountability in local government, the benefits of the municipal ICT blueprint for local government, accessing appropriate grant funding mechanisms to assist in ICT acquisition and implementation, and the role of ICTs in enabling the province to host a successful FIFA 2010 World Cup.
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