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SA lags behind in true smart city innovation

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 25 Oct 2018
Simon Bromfield, territory manager at Autodesk Africa.
Simon Bromfield, territory manager at Autodesk Africa.

South African smart city initiatives are failing to keep pace with smart city innovations in other countries on the African continent.

This is according to Simon Bromfield, territory manager at Autodesk Africa, speaking to ITWeb on the side-lines of an Autodesk University event, in Johannesburg, yesterday.

Bromfield believes that while SA is making efforts to implement various smart city initiatives nationwide, the country is still lagging behind African counterparts such as Kenya and Nigeria.

"There are many organisations in SA trying to own the concept of smart cities by developing smart technologies such as smart traffic lights, smart surveillance systems, free WiFi and smart water delivery systems, among others.

"These technologies don't necessarily create a smart city ecosystem as they are only one element of what a smart city is all about. A smart city is when all the elements are interconnected and talk to each other, to fit into one ecosystem, drawing valuable data to improve efficiency of cities across the country."

Making reference to Kenya, Bromfield explained the smart city concept currently being discussed in SA is very narrow, and the discussions should be broadened beyond the infrastructure, traffic management systems, free WiFi and other technologies we see in the country.

Konza City, 60km from the centre of Nairobi in Kenya, is expected to become the African version of Silicon Valley. The city is a large technology hub planned by the Kenyan government, after it entered into an agreement with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, to standardise the development of what many consider would lead to the creation of the first African smart city.

The project, expected to cost around $14.5 billion, consists of implementing smart building connectivity, diverse innovation projects and world-class infrastructure, supporting the country's sustainability and inclusive growth, expected to lead to job creation.

"When you look at what Kenya is doing around their smart city initiatives, they have implemented their smart city concept to create an entire ecosystem, not just a few elements of it.

"Lagos in Nigeria is another example of a city that has created a fully connected smart city ecosystem beyond just urban development."

Cities of the future

According to IDC's Worldwide Semi-annual Smart Cities Spending Guide, global spending on the technologies that enable smart cities is forecast to reach $80 billion by the end of 2018, with spending expected to accelerate to $135 billion in 2021.

Research and advisory firm Technavio states economies in the Americas and Europe have been working on developing smart cities for a decade, and have already implemented many projects, while India and African countries are still in the pilot phase.

Nigeria's smart city initiative was introduced by government a few years ago to address expansive city challenges. One of the country's biggest smart city initiatives is Eko Atlantic, known as the satellite smart city.

Once complete, the project is expected to present a wide range of innovative housing, fibre-optic communication connections to every plot of land, large marinas connected by an internal water-way and luxury smart apartments. It will also feature innovations similar to those of San Francisco's Marina District, which is known as a world-class commercial and residential hub.

"The difference between these countries and SA is that their smart city initiatives do not exist in silos, but are built on interconnected valuable models that will make people's lives easier," Bromfield pointed out.

"When you look at the new buildings currently being built in Sandton today, we need to use technology to determine the impact of such projects: How much parking space will be required? Do we need to double the road capacity? Do we need to double the Gautrain tracks to accommodate the increasing workforce that will be working from Sandton, once the construction projects are complete? Information that can be drawn from integrated smart systems."

Contrary to Bromfield's sentiments, this year, Cape Town was named the smartest city in Africa by the Smart City Playbook, a report documenting the best practices of cities around the world produced by Machina Research and Nokia.

"Smart city strategies implemented in Cape Town, which contributed to a high score in the research include: E-government, which provides better access to more efficient service delivery; the provision of ICT skills programmes, promoting social and economic development; public WiFi and improving the city's broadband infrastructure; the use of CCTV cameras, making the city safer; and Cape Town's open data portals, the first of its kind in Africa," according to the Smart City Playbook.

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