The City of Ekurhuleni will adopt the top five mobile application solutions, as created by hackers, to its ICT strategy.
This will ensure the City’s apps are improved and provide increased citizen engagement and efficiency when it comes to service delivery.
Speaking at the 48-hour hackathon challenge held recently, Ekurhuleni’s Divisional Head for ICT, Ms Lydia Ntlhophi, encouraged hackers to utilise such platforms as they will open entrepreneurial opportunities for young people.
“As a Digitally Connected City, the City of Ekurhuleni will ensure that the hackathon challenge’s top five solutions are improved to provide real life solutions for Ekurhuleni residents. With the world rapidly switching to a digital era, opportunities are out there for young people. It is up to them to utilise such platforms to create solutions that can make a difference,” said Ms Ntlhophi.
Father and daughter team, Naledi and Mr Pule Phafane scooped the first prize. They walked away with R100 000 for their Vula Robot invention. The App from the Open Robot team eases traffic congestion by controlling how long traffic lights remain open, through mobile devices.
In second place was Dul Track who received R50 000 for developing a solution consisting of hardware and software to help reduce accident rates on the roads. In third place was Blue Mars, which received R20 000 for their Housing and Human Settlement application to monitor housing allocation and minimising corruption.
Ekurhuleni spokesperson, Mr Themba Gadebe said creators of the top five most innovative prototypes with market potential and social economic impact solutions will not only advance the municipality’s ICT strategy, they will also be linked to Ekurhuleni’s BizSpark Incubation Centre where they will receive software and business development training and support on how to improve their ideas into commercially viable products.
