The Gauteng provincial government yesterday launched Blue IQ, the consumer-friendly brand for its strategic economic infrastructure investment programme (SEIIP).
The new management team of Blue IQ will be responsible for the 10 mega-projects conducted under the auspices of the SEIIP, which includes the Pretoria Innovation Hub.
The hub is a R258 million, 10-year project involving the Gauteng government, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the University of Pretoria, aimed at stimulating the local IT industry.
"We believe this project will spur the next wave of knowledge-intensive industries in the country," says Blue IQ CEO Pradeep Maharaj.
The 60 hectares of land allocated to the hub on the outskirts of Pretoria is situated between the university and the CSIR, and plans include building strong links between the businesses situated within it as well as with partners. Marketing and business support services are also to be provided to participants.
SEIIP is a R1.5 billion programme which includes plans to build a high-speed rail link between Pretoria and Johannesburg, revitalising the Newton area in the Johannesburg city centre and establishing an automotive industrial cluster in Gauteng.
The overall programme is aimed at accelerating economic growth in the province from the approximately 2% recorded in 1997 to the 5% to 7% required for job creation. The strategic plan to achieve this shift is divided into three areas: creating a value-added manufacturing sector, developing the service sector, and creating an environment attractive to IT, telecoms and bio-medical industries.
Provincial MEC for finance Jabu Moleketi says while many global technology companies operated in SA and Gauteng, there was little input from local industry. "The indigenous component into the IT sector was at levels that needed huge improvement," he said at the launch of Blue IQ.
But despite the relative importance given to the IT sector in strategic documents, the Innovation Hub is the only actual technology project among the 10 planned, with a total budget that represents just over 15% of the amount to be spent on Blue IQ.
Officials involved in the hub project say the main activity at the moment is securing anchor tenants and attracting investors to the venture. The Blue IQ face to SEIIP has a similar purpose, to create investor excitement and ensure buy-in from taxpayers.
While construction on the hub is only due to start in 2003, five small companies have already been established in the HUB2B (Hub to be), a semi-experimental precursor to the main event.
GautengOnline.com, the provincial plan to provide 25 computers to every school and free Internet access to all pupils, does not form part of the Blue IQ/SEIIP initiative, but Maharaj says the two will coordinate their actions.
"GautengOnline provides the smart people for the smart province that we are creating," he says.
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