A local broadband war, which has reduced the cost of Internet access for South Africans, will “drive SA into a dot-com boom”.
Opening the Technology Top 100 Awards ceremony last night, science and technology minister Naledi Pandor explained that, while SA is “by no means a technology colony”, the broadband war will play a large part in bringing SA into global innovation.
The minister said local start-up businesses need to now start taking advantage of the cheaper access to Internet services. “All we need now is the courage and imagination to be great,” she added.
According to Pandor, there is still a lot of work to be done, both by private enterprise and government, to encourage innovation in the local market. However, she noted that government needs a special focus on innovation in the second economy.
She said government will look at encouraging innovation from old industries, which have not moved with the times into the new economy. She pointed to street vendors and small businesses that service rural areas and lower income townships.
“We need to evolve those old industries and encourage people who don't have the skills and education to participate in the new economy.”
She said many of the international benchmark emerging markets have criticised SA's government for not providing the right support for start-up businesses, and she hopes to rectify that by making support services more visible and accessible.
“There are support methods, but they are disparate. We need to bring those together and make them available,” she noted. Despite the troubles, Pandor said there is hope, since South African innovation is on par with the European Union average.
She said with Internet access on the rise, these innovations will only increase and put SA on the technology map.
Related story:
TT100 wants more black firms
Share