STRATEGIC STYLE
The agri-zone at the Dube TradePort SEZ. Resources - Availability of resources for climate change and land use - Resource use conflicts and trade-offs - Finite skills and infrastructure to be used sustainably Hard infrastructure - Inadequate ICT and specialised analytics in Africa - Unreliability and cost of infrastructure hinders industrialisation - Quality of the infrastructure and the challenge of maintenance - Ageing infrastructure non-performance - New infrastructure backlogs Soft infrastructure - Limited capacity for infrastructural optimisation and maintenance - Policy restrictions hinder implementation of Smart Places - Stakeholder support is obstructed by high costs Services/utilities - Environmental factors affect industries, communities and workers - Incapable logistic processes - High cost of services - Municipalities are not fully functional
The Smart Places value chain consists of the resources (input resources and natural environment); connected with infrastructures (built environment); and delivered as associated services (utilities). Strategic response across the value chain - Leverage ICT infrastructure to catalyse Industry 4.0 - Allow access to resources that enhance economic development - Introduce new long-term industries that enable skilled job creation and stimulate economic growth - Enhance circular economies and green technology to support sustainable resource utilisation and local economic growth - Focus on sustainable solutions that connect industries to improve efficiencies and infrastructure performance
Figure 1: Generic resource and built environment value chain
FORETOLD FUTURE A successful Smart Place delivers significant service productivity and quality improvements as well as opportunities for the local economy thereby securing and enhancing the desirability of the place as an investment destination. It has enough available water, energy and land available to achieve aspirational industrial growth.
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EMERGING TRENDS Several trends have emerged globally that make places more attractive for conducting business. The response to these trends is location specific: - Technology improves socio-economic well-being and transforms public services - Circular economies that support a regenerative system where waste is minimised through operational and technological advancements - Greater management of scarce resources - Smarter infrastructure developments Resources - Technology and smarter ways of doing business - Green technology and materials Hard infrastructure - Smarter resource, infrastructure and service developments - Micro-grids for energy, water and other utilities - Connected infrastructure to ensure innovation and efficiencies - Transforming Africa’s infrastructure landscape - Advanced building technologies - Smart materials Soft infrastructure - Connected institutions leveraging each other’s data - Community-owned and operated utilities (micro-grids) - Flat organisational structures - Human capital development Services/utilities - Real-time remote monitoring and decision support - Automation of maintenance
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REFERENCES 1 Manufacturing Circle, “Map-to-a-Million: Map to a million new jobs in a decade”, 2017. 2 Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission, National Infrastructure Plan, 2012. 3 the dti, Industrial Policy Action Plan 2018/19 – 2020/21, 2018. 4 World Economic Forum, Readiness for the Future of Production Report 2018, 2018.
