On 19 January 2018, the City of Cape Town issued a request for ideas (RFI) to the market calling for submissions detailing how the City can make use of digital technology and data to enhance its performance, and which will enable residents and businesses to engage more actively with the City. Read more below:
The City received a total of 168 innovative submissions for its digital city request for ideas initiative. Of this number, 144 local South African companies and 18 international companies responded.
‘We are pleased with the response to the City’s call for innovative ideas that will help us to keep abreast of developments and changes in the digital space. Without divulging too much detail ahead of the evaluation process, the submissions range from smart infrastructure ideas to proposed solutions for the water crisis and opportunities to initiate partnerships with the City among a whole host of other exciting proposals,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services, Councillor Raelene Arendse.
The proposals and ideas that were received are well aligned to leverage the City’s existing infrastructure and data including fibre optic infrastructure, the CCTV camera network and Wi-Fi connectivity
The global challenges of rapid urbanisation, climate change, increased pressure on resources, and the provision of infrastructure and services all need to be addressed at a city level and the City believes that there are technology-based solutions out there that can enhance service delivery and make economic growth for residents a real possibility.
‘Thinking outside the box and developing appropriate solutions will help us move this city from good to great. We look forward to creating some lasting partnerships as we work together to make Cape Town the most digitally connected city on the continent,’ added Councillor Arendse.
The next step in this process is the evaluation of the submissions, with a final scoring workshop to be completed in March 2018. Proposals that are deemed to be aligned with the City’s digital strategy will be considered.
