Collaborations – the way forward in ICT solutions development

The Innovation Hub played host to two international delegations this month, a team from Maryland, USA and another from the Kingdom of Belgium who visited South Africa to build collaborative partnerships and international relations with ICT related government departments.

South Africa and Belgium signed an agreement in October 2006 to build and maintain relations between the respective countries. The agreement, called “The Joint Commission,” was formed to address existing gaps and develop links between the two countries. The parties meet on an annual basis, with the objective to ascertain the requirements for e-Governance and Administrative Simplification processes in SA.  

The Department of Trade and Industry accompanied Belgium IT expert Mr. Bruno Pozzi to The Innovation Hub to acquire a comprehensive overview of the e-government condition in the country, to identify the problem areas and to unearth possible solutions AND explore opportunities for collaboration. More so, the purpose was to share the technologies they’ve already adopted, such as the Identity Smart Cards that is utilised by all Belgian citizens above the age of 12 years. In particular, the governance issues associated with this application was under scrutiny, as it bridges pressing South African issues like security, identification and criminal activities.

“We are always happy to host industry experts within the ICT sector because of our commitment to further develop and expand the ICT industry. We play a vital role in ensuring continuous collaborations between government, academia and corporate stakeholders,” explains Paul Bisogno, Business Development, Marketing & Value-added Services Manager of The Innovation Hub.

Expertron, Qsens and SPSmart shared their involvement, knowledge, concerns and expertise in e-Governance with the delegation too. “The idea here is to create communities in the ICT industry who share information and resolutions to avoid the duplication of solutions that are already in existence,” says Pozzi.

Walter Mudau of the DPSA explains that South Africa and Belgium want to piggyback on each other’s experiences as well as trade in competencies at government level, to ensure efficiency in e-Governance.

Patrick Tonui, Investment and Trade Executive from the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development also visited SA to establish mutual, amicable relations with technology related companies, but most importantly to get a feel for the viability of co-operation between South African and Maryland based companies. The Innovation Hub was an ideal point of contact for him because of the “existing expertise, resources and experience due to the nature of the park.” 

Maryland is vastly experienced in what SA deems as high-tech and high-growth sectors like Biotechnology, Advanced Technology, Modeling and Simulation and Security Solutions. Many application solutions are available in these areas in Maryland and Patrick was able to exchange experiences with representatives from BioPad, Jabula, BMGi, SAPS, ABD and Qsens.

Part of the Innovation Hub Marketing team’s mandate includes linking the Hub tenants with various such industry professionals to cultivate the spirit of collaboration on every level possible. Get-togethers of this nature are beneficial to tenants to understand world markets and trends within their own area of expertise.