A winner of tech boffin with best Covid-19 response to be announce under the Smart City Innovation Awards in Johannesburg later this month. The winner will be announced by the MMC for Finance, Cllr Jolidee Matongo at a virtual awards ceremony on Friday, 29 January between 10am and 12pm.
One of two local tech start-ups will walk home with the bragging rights of being a Smart City trailblazer. The Smart City Innovation Awards are held under the auspices of the City and Wits University’s tech hub, Tshimologong Precinct.
This is a collaboration of academia, corporates, government and entrepreneurs aimed at inspiring digital innovation, propel entrepreneurship and grow tech skills for the knowledge economy.
Both Malii Fintech and Speak are run by young tech boffins at the centre of pioneering innovative digital solutions against the scourge of Covid19.
The Director of the Smart City office – custodians of the Innovation Awards, Lawrence Boya says the awards are designed to challenge small enterprises in the tech space. Boya stated that the innovation awards aimed to develop digital solutions to urban and community issues faced by the City in the new normal.
“The awards are also geared at encouraging tech start-ups to cultivate sustainable technological responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Solutions sought should either save lives or support livelihoods; enable detection, tracking, and prediction of the spread of the virus, enhance communication and improve healthcare and security in the City,”
According to Boya the winner of this inaugural competition will need to present solutions that help the City and its citizens reduce vulnerability, improve food security.
“The solution will also uphold human dignity during the Covid-19 lockdown. These are solutions that may additionally enable citizens to be entrepreneurial and find new ways to sustain themselves.”
Competitors were encouraged to use leading 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) solutions, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Blockchain technology and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Tech solutions were sought in the realm of interdepartmental communication, knowledge and data support, socioeconomic systems. Boya indicated that the solution aimed to combat misinformation and free community engagement platforms, to list a few.
“Smart digital technology solutions help citizens stay connected and allow businesses, citizens and public administrations to find ways to respond faster and in a more integrated way to crises and daily life. Join the “Joburg Future” and share your thoughts on teams@joburg.onpexip.com; Video Conference ID: 121 008 229 6.”
