Digital, technological and smart innovation spaces have been among some of the more important services accessed by people across the world during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The City of Johannesburg is looking for proposals for smart city innovative solutions in response to the pandemic and is inviting the public to share innovative ideas on how we can go into the future together. The project is happening through a collaboration between the City’s Smart City Office and the Tshimologong Innovation Precinct and Start-ups, companies and innovators involved in such technologies.
In a statement released by the City, Smart City Office leader Lawrence Boya said, “This innovation call is an opportunity for innovators of our city to bring forward their innovative solutions to help our city respond in a smarter way to challenges posed by Covid-19. We also hope to use this initiative to help to grow innovation in Joburg and thus make Joburg the leading African city of innovation.” The lockdown protocols have ignited new thinking about the future of the city, and its residents encouraged the initiative. The City stated that the solutions sought should either save lives or support livelihoods:
• Saving lives solutions are those that will enable detection, tracking, and prediction of the spread of the virus, enhance communication and improve healthcare and security in the city.
• Supporting livelihood solutions are those that help the city and its citizens reduce vulnerability, improve food security, and uphold human dignity. These are solutions that may additionally enable the city’s citizens to be entrepreneurial and find new ways to sustain themselves.
The two winning applications will be taken into a rapid development and prototype launching process through a virtual boot camp and prototyping grant of R100 000 each. This will be followed by an opportunity for further funding to take at least one solution into implementation.
To find out more about the challenge details and how to apply, visit the City of Johannesburg website www.joburg.org.za and go to Campaigns ? Youth Enterprises Info ? Smart City Innovation Challenge.
