Google innovations like self-driving cars are still irrelevant to SA, as the country still needs to address critical issues like Internet access and affordability.
So said Luke McKend, Google SA country manager, in an exclusive interview with ITWeb yesterday.
In May 2014, Google presented a new concept for its driverless car that had neither a steering wheel nor pedals, and unveiled a fully functioning prototype in December of that year which the Internet giant planned to test on San Francisco Bay Area roads beginning in 2015.
So far, Google's self-driving cars have driven many thousands of kilometres to prove their viability. Google plans to make these cars available to the public in 2020.
"Google has some sexy projects like driverless cars and I would love to see some of them here. However, I am not exactly sure how a self-driving car will fare in typical Johannesburg traffic," said McKend.
"Self-driving cars tend to work well where other road users comply with the rules. I'm not suggesting anything about Joburg but let's face it, we might struggle a little," he pointed out.
The real key for Google is to make sure its products are relevant for users in the countries that they are in, McKend noted.
"A self-driving car might be a fantastic addition to, for example, California. However, I am not sure our immediate need in SA will be to have a self-driving car in Joburg or in Accra, Lagos, Kampala, etc."
Basic infrastructure
According to McKend, Internet access is one of the issues the company is trying to solve in Africa.
There are a lot of factors that determine whether people go online or not, he noted, adding that for starters, there's basic infrastructure that needs to be built.
"In SA, we are quite fortunate that the metropolitan areas are well-covered with lots of competing players delivering relatively robust infrastructure. I think our primary challenge at the moment is to extend the same experience to people in the rural areas. We have to ensure everybody in SA has quality of access that enables them to be what we consider a successful Internet user."
Challenge number two is around price from the consumer point of view, he noted, adding that data prices are still exorbitant in SA in comparison to other countries.
Although there are low-end sub-R500 smartphones that are flooding the local market, McKend said the quality of Internet access from these devices leaves a lot to be desired.
He called on the country to reduce the cost of data by introducing more competition into the market.
Spectrum allocation
McKend is of the view that there are also issues relating to the regulation of spectrum available to the operators. He added the country needs to ask serious questions as to how to make spectrum more freely available.
"Google, at the moment, is mostly focusing on trying to figure out how to change the regulatory environment in order to be able to free up spectrum primarily through the TV white space programme. Continuous engagement is the key to ensure this happens. Government doesn't always stay the way it was, so you need to engage on a regular basis to ensure these things work."
Once people have Internet access, McKend said, it must be useful to them. "Unfortunately, what we still see is that in South Africa, as well as the rest of Africa, there is less local content in comparison with other markets. We want to stimulate the creation of local content among locals."
He pointed out the initial growth of the Internet in SA was very traditional in the sense that it was driven by desktop and laptop computers. However, he said, the real shift that has been happening in the past 18 months or so has been the phenomenally rapid move to mobile.
"So the story of the growth of the Internet in SA is synonymous with the growth of mobile. Pretty much each new Internet user is in fact a mobile user."
He believes the move to mobile presents opportunity and challenge for business in the sense that many have "dipped their toes in the water in respect to getting customers online as well as digitising their business".
Point of interaction
However, companies have done this from a desktop point of view, McKend said. "So there is a challenge and opportunity for business to really shift that point of interaction to mobile. That is something we expect to see developing in South Africa and the rest of Africa."
Concluding, he said Google is fortunate to be in SA because it is still a growing Internet market, which is somewhat different from more mature Internet economies where Internet penetration is already extremely high.
"That is great news for companies like Google because it means literally for every second of every day, there are more potential customers. That's a very unique situation to be in because very few industries can say they have a new customer to reach every second of every day."
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