Cape Town wants awesome tech ideas to help turn it into SA’s first smart city
The City of Cape Town has called for formal public submissions on ideas to make it the first truly digital smart city in Africa.
The city said that it welcomes ideas from innovators, technologists, telecommunications specialists, advertising agencies, social entrepreneurs, engineers, architects, designers, academic organisations, and NGOs working locally or internationally.
“We are looking for inspiration for new uses for existing technology and data. This will be used to improve our performance and enable residents and businesses to engage more effectively with the City,” it said.
The city said that some of its primary areas of focus include energy efficiency; health and assisted living; platforms for economic, digital and social inclusion; public infrastructure maintenance; and public safety.
It also published a list of “examples” that would improve the City’s ability to deliver quality service – however, it said that this was by no means the full list of technologies it was looking into.
“Proposed solutions should allow for adapting, upgrading and integrating additional functionality. The list is not exhaustive and responders are encouraged to share other ideas,” it said.
You can find the full list of example technologies the City is looking at introducing below.
Examples
- Infrastructure monitoring: Detection and monitoring of the City’s critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, airports, water and power systems.
- Meter reading: Remote/automated meter-reading that allows information to be collected and forwarded to the electricity and water departments for billing purposes.
- Open data: The City’s Open Data Portal aims to make City data available to the public in order to improve access to information and promote open and transparent government while possibly stimulating economic activity. Therefore, the development of applications or analytical tools using the City’s data may lead to efficiencies, cost savings, income generation or positive service delivery benefits.
- Public engagement / participation: Systems for facilitating dynamic public input in order to develop consensus and creative opportunities for enhancing service delivery.
- Public safety surveillance: Additional video surveillance points and cameras, used exclusively for public safety purposes, which police could monitor, especially in high crime areas.
- Sensor technology: Combined monitoring with sensor technology that collects data in real time. For example, the City would know when a traffic signal is out of service.
- Social transformation through information and communications technology / digital skills: Enhancing the lives of our citizens and communities by creating sustainable solutions that drive digital access and improve ICT skills (i.e. Hackathons).
- Street lighting controls: Dynamic lighting systems that can be controlled remotely, react to citizens, provide valuable data, and/or reduce energy costs.
- Transportation analytics: Technologies that can detect changes in traffic flows, pedestrian and cyclist activity, and parking availability.
People interested in submitting their ideas should complete the online form and attach an electronic copy of your response, which must not be more than 10 pages and 10 MB. You may make one or more submissions, depending on which areas of interest you are addressing.
The closing date for submissions is 16 February 2018.
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