Savant, the public-private initiative established to actively promote local ICT and electronics, will place South Africa firmly on the map as far as technology, product and skills are concerned. A host of incentives are behind the project including development, investment, export opportunity, increased awareness and trade.
The ongoing project is to date the most comprehensive collaborative effort organised to generate awareness of this country's potential as a powerful source of quality product, intellectual capital, effective channels of communication and proven technological development.
Going forward, all stakeholders - including Savant's founding partners Aubsa, Comparex Africa, CS Holdings, Dimension Data, Information Industry South Africa, MGX, MTN, Nedcor and the SA Electro Technical Export Council (SAEEC) - will assist in helping to shape the initiative into a viable and sustainable catalyst for growth and development.
Savant executive committee member Sar'e Grobler says the project is designed to be the vanguard of industry and will accentuate the country's inherent electronic and technological capability.
"Savant is an initiative led by industry and endorsed by the government through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). It will serve the country by opening up channels of opportunity for industry, particularly within the electronics field. Local development effort has produced many unique products in response to local requirements and South Africa has demonstrated capability to apply first world technology in innovative ways to emerging markets," says Grobler.
"Evidence of this is the local design and manufacture of innovative wireless applications, smart card technology, prepayment and metering systems, transmission lines and infrastructure, to name a few. Although we are very much in the preliminary stages of formulating a vision for the immediate future, we are confident that the initiative will fulfil its role as the means by which we can put South Africa on the world map as far as these sectors are concerned," she adds.
A recent analysis of the ICT/Electronics Sector completed by international strategy consulting firm Kaiser Associates states that electronics export opportunities are diverse but there is an emphasis on those offerings which support or make use of ICT products. One of the recommendations in the report suggests "the creation of infrastructure to market and increase the exposure of South African products to international markets."
At the heart of the Savant executive committee's strategy is the establishment of a powerful online presence to attract attention and disseminate information. The portal is of particular importance and will play a pivotal role in helping to steer the initiative and maintain its course.
At the same time, members will concentrate on an effective game plan to fully promote the six crucial areas involved, namely: IT training & Certification, Wireless Development, Call Centres, Pilot Laboratory, Niche Software development and Niche Application Development.
The Savant website will run on FLUX's WebEasy content management system, which makes it possible for non-technical users, those without any website development knowledge, to create and maintain web pages. It is an open-ended system that easily extends and integrates with other conventional business systems.
"With WebEasy, all information is hosted in a secure environment, and only users that created information will be able to change that content, by logging on with designated usernames and passwords," Hendrik Minnie, managing director of FLUX. Minister of Trade and Industry, Alec Erwin, explains, "Looking ahead, we expect the government and all relevant stakeholders to view the Savant initiative as a credible means of achieving some degree of unity in what are relatively diverse industries. With this measurable buy-in from all sides, we have a powerful means of getting our point across - the process of fully promoting and marketing our ICT and electronics technology sectors and skills will not happen overnight.
However, like most product-related breakthrough's, if we manage to build the foundation correctly, we can leverage off a great deal of benefit."
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