ICT

Information and communications technology

Data centres are expanding and new ones are being built.

The biggest data centre on African soil is under construction in Ekurhuleni. Teraco Data Environments secured a R2.5-billion loan in 2021 to build the 50 000m² JB4 data centre on 6ha. The centre will have 38MW of critical power load. The company has five other centres, two of which are in Gauteng. Johannesburg is also one of two South African cities to host a Microsoft Azure data centre.

With several global companies choosing to station their South African headquarters in Gauteng, the province is well connected. More than 1 500km of network fibre has been connected throughout the province, with 1 066 sites such as schools, health facilities, libraries and community centres giving community members and entrepreneurs the chance to be connect with the digital world. A Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) subsidiary, The Innovation Hub, has a programme called eKasiLabs which supports entrepreneurs and young people with good business ideas.

The biggest investors in new technology are banks and other players in the financial sector, where technology is rapidly lowering the barriers to entry for new businesses. This trend is illustrated by the rapid development of new exchanges which are based on sophisticated ICT hardware and software.

One of the provincial government’s stated goals is to get several ICT initiatives to work together. If the work of The Innovation Hub, several eKasi laboratories, the Tshimologong precinct, universities and research institutes could be integrated, a more powerful ecosystem would be the result.

A High-Tech Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is another idea that is being pursued. Making broadband connectivity and free WiFi available to poor households in the province is another task. Gauteng’s Premier will appoint a Digital Transformation Advisory Panel to assist in driving these initiatives.

Various large spatial plans for the province include an element whereby these new cities or settlements will be built as “smart cities”.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria hosts a new body aimed at preparing South Africa

SECTOR INSIGHT The CSIR has launched a 4IR body. for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the South African Affiliate Centre of the World Economic Forum. The “Tshepo 1 Million” campaign links the provincial government with the successful Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and more than 40 large companies. Both Johannesburg and Tshwane have free Wifi networks with Tshwane’s covering 780 zones in places such as libraries, educational institutions and clinics. The Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) runs the SoftstartBTI ICT incubator in Midrand and Tuksnovation, a high-tech incubator, at Pretoria University. Several incentives ONLINE RESOURCES relevant to companies and eKasiLabs: www.theinnovationhub.com Independent Communications Authority: www.icasa.org.za Technology Innovation Agency: www.tia.org.za educational bodies in the ICT sector are available from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic). ■

Teraco’s Isando campus, JB3. Credit: Teraco