The winning entry in the green service delivery category focuses on a valve lifting button that is specially designed for RDP toilets and adjustable for others. It is a simple device that is intended to reduce the amount of water wasted on a daily basis. The device gives the ability to limit the amount of water used when flushing a toilet.
The winning entry in the mobile service delivery category focuses on questionnaire tools (Q-Tools). It tests knowledge via a cloud-based platform that trains and reinforces information required in the performance of various duties.
Gauteng MEC for the Department of Economic Development, Qedani Mahlangu says that competitions like the GIC offer innovators the platform to expose their products to the market and thereby contribute to the Gauteng province’s economic growth and development in innovative ways. “In future, the competition will be run with a focus on three areas Mobile, Green and Biosciences, to build on the establishment of the Biosciences Park at The Innovation Hub,” she says.
Other category winners in mobile technologies are Kobus Van Der Walt from House4shack and Justin Coetzee from Mobi.lity, who designed an electricity substation monitoring tool and a mobile transport information system respectively.
Additional category winners in green technologies are Jan Davel from OneGreen Engineering, who presented a biomass energy project and Carel Snyman from Gridcars.net, whose entry was a battery and solar operated bicycle.
McLean Sibanda, The Innovation Hub CEO, says that the competition provides a robust platform for innovative solutions and services to emerge. “The standard of entries has been high and our team of judges had a very difficult job whittling them down to just five finalists per category. We are proud of all the entries received and congratulate the finalists for their outstanding efforts.” he says.
The competition invited fresh concepts from the citizens of the province, creating a link between the innovators and the Gauteng government in Gauteng. It aims to showcase new ideas and provide the opportunity for innovators to market their ideas. Entries in the green service delivery focused mainly on energy provision and management, waste management, water conservation and low-energy lighting provision. The mobile service delivery entries included innovative ideas for customer relationship management, incident reporting, consumer protection, mobile payments, remote metering, transport information and ticketing.
Finalists were announced after a rigorous judging process by industry experts from across the province, encompassing the mobile and green technologies. The top five entries in the two themes pitched their solutions at the awards ceremony.
Prize details
The top three submissions in each theme received the following prizes:
- First place: R75,000 as a cash prize, and seed funding of R175,000
- Second place: R45,000 as a cash prize, and seed funding of R105,000
- Third place: R30,000 as a cash prize, and seed funding of R70,000
Seed funding will be granted in two payments tied to agreed development milestones. In addition to the cash prize and seed funding, the three winners in each category will receive mentorship and commercialisation support. The theme coordinators will also facilitate linkages with local government for possible procurement of the solutions.
