SA business decision-makers acknowledge that wider availability of WiFi would contribute to a smart city strategy, although majority of them don't feature smart city projects in their budgets.
This is according to the 2018 WiFi in South Africa report recently released by Ruckus Networks, an ARRIS company, and business technology research firm World Wide Worx.
The group surveyed IT decision-makers at 106 large (100 or 200 staff members) local companies on their attitudes to smart cities, with an additional sample of 20 small and medium businesses (up to 100 employees) also being interviewed to give an overall view.
According to the report, 95% of the interviewed leaders believed that readily available WiFi would be beneficial to the development of a smart city strategy, adding that some of the major benefits of smart cities include boosting the economy and attracting new business.
Notes the report: "While SA is still a long way from having a true smart city, business decision-makers are aware of its benefits.
"Albeit only 24.5% of businesses feature smart city projects in their budgets, a figure which can be considered relatively high, given that the smart cities is a relatively new concept and no South African city has a clear programme in place to achieve this.
"Even more, a substantial proportion (37.8%) of companies expect to have a budget for smart city projects in the future."
Barriers to smart cities
The survey found that 76% of respondents indicated that fibre infrastructure is the biggest tech barrier to smart cities roll-out. This was followed by the lack of an IOT ecosystem, no unified view for the city and infrastructure stability.
It noted: "Approximately 20% of respondents found the barrier to smart cities were non-technology related with the lack of funding cited by 71% of respondents. This was followed by the cost of access at 40%. These findings suggest that financial issues are the core challenge facing smart cities.
Riaan Graham, sales director for Ruckus Networks, Sub-Sahara Africa, says infrastructure and connectivity lie at the heart of smart cities.
"We still have many challenges that are making the development of smart cities difficult, but we are working towards getting the foundational elements right.
"If we look at SA, a number of the major cities are undergoing phases of re-urbanisation, where we are also seeing new town or city centres coming up, like Cosmo City near Kaya Sands, Johannesburg, for example.
"The pace of this implementation process varies between city centres, and is largely being driven by demand from the growing populous in these cities, and resultantly the growing stress on available infrastructures, service delivery and the effects of climate change that are forcing local governments and town planners to think more innovatively and engage in steps to transform these centres into smarter cities.
"Most of the major cities in the country have the necessary basic infrastructures needed to move towards a smarter model, however, available capacity and access remain a challenge in under-developed nodes.
"What we need to realise is that infrastructure and connectivity lie at the heart of smart cities where connectivity allows for effective data collection to ensure positive growth within the cities, tailor-made to fit the needs of the people and as well as addressing unique challenges they might be faced with."
City developments
Both Johannesburg and Cape Town aspire to become smart cities. Currently, their focus is most keenly observed in the delivery of forward-thinking transport routes, and these are definitely delivering investment opportunities in new areas.
By integrating technology into services, both cities are well on their way to becoming 'smart'.
Last year Cape Town was recognised as a major tech hub, with potential to be a rising global player, and ranked number 22 among the world's top tech cities. Meanwhile, Johannesburg has expanded access to its free WiFi network as part of the city's smart city programme.
"Looking at the broader African region, we are faring well. A case in point is Nairobi having introduced smart street lamps that use LED lighting, saving the city money on energy costs.
"Additionally, the lamp poles have WiFi embedded in them which helps with air quality probes and with the installed IOT be installed, which is one of the key building blocks to smart cities and CCTV cameras can be connected as well.
"Nairobi is fast-tracking the smart city race and already has a smart system in place that can adapt to the changes in the environment in an effort to provide integrated and intelligent services to the city," noted Graham.
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