Minister of telecommunications and postal services, Siyabonga Cwele, during the ongoing GovTech conference, officially opened a R400 000 computer lab at Umlazi Comprehensive Secondary School.
The state-of-the-art lab is equipped with 33 computers with a broadband speed of 15Mbps and is able to connect to other such labs in the country, allowing students and teachers to exchange knowledge and information in real-time.
This, said Cwele, puts it above the speed mandated by the SA Connect broadband policy, which aims to have all government departments connected by 10Mbps lines by 2020, including schools.
In his closing keynote, ex-First National Bank CEO and founder of MonteGray Capital, Michael Jordaan, led delegates through his journey of innovation at the bank, sharing key lessons.
Innovation, he said, is only possible if people are empowered to do things, are empowered to take risks, and are allowed to make clever mistakes without devastating consequences.
Innovation, he added, is about recognising that no one person is smarter than the collective, so tap into the collective wisdom to find solutions to problems and then execute them, because ideas alone are no good - they need to be implemented.
Have fun, he pointed out, citing fun, coffee and wine as critical to innovation - because they encourage energy and creativity. Take people out of their normal space, apply a little wine and coffee and see what happens, he advised.
Hosted by the State Information Technology Agency, the GovTech conferences were launched in 2006. The annual events have become platforms for ICT collaboration, capacity-building and information-sharing.
GovTech is designed to enable stakeholders and delegates from both the public and private ICT sectors to work together to identify new and creative ways to mainstream ICT solutions to South Africans.
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