City of Joburg calls on Jozi digital innovators

The #Hack.Jozi Challenge is inviting inventors to a boot camp for start-up entrepreneurs and aims to contribute towards fostering skills, innovation and entrepreneurship in the digital technology space.

If you have an idea about how you can use technology to help your community and grow the economy, the City of Joburg’s Department of Economic Development and Wits University through the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering want to hear from you.

“We aim to accelerate visionary entrepreneurs in the ICT sector. This is important because ICT is central to improved productivity, economic growth and job creation. We are a young city with a young population and we have excellent business and research capacity that can create the perfect environment for us to develop advanced ICT products and services,” said Ravi Naidoo, executive director for economic development for the city, who is overseeing the competition.

Issues that can be addressed include everything from access to health care to affordable education.

Entries should address challenges in the following categories: general, public spaces/tourism, smart infrastructure and economic development.

Applicants can be individuals or teams, one of whom must live in the Johannesburg area.

Government employees are not eligible.

The deadline for submissions is March 25 which will be followed by a strict pre-screening to be conducted by a technical team.

A committee will select the winners.

The City of Johannesburg has committed R5-million in support to fund the competition and accelerate early-stage ICT start-ups.

The winners will be selected after two elimination rounds.

The city will not take any equity in any of the businesses.

The top 100 contestants will be offered after-hours entrepreneurship and business training that will help them to refine their ideas.

These contestants will be hosted and mentored in Jozi’s digital innovation hub in Braamfontein, where they will have access to various resources, mentors, advisers as well as partners to make their vision of helping their community a reality.

The top 20 will be offered additional business mentorship, and all who make the top 10 will win a one-year membership to the ICT Hub in Braamfontein.

The hub is an initiative hosted by Wits University under the leadership of professor Barry Dwolatzky. To enter the challenge visit https://hackjozichallenge.co.za/ and register your idea.