The Maxum Digital facility will support and develop entrepreneurs in the gaming, animation, virtual reality sectors. It will further identify and support developers in the creative industries which has previously been neglected.
The facility is a partnership between The Innovation Hub, the innovation agency of the Gauteng Province a subsidiary of one of the provincial government’s agencies, the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency under Gauteng Department of Economic Development, Wits University’s Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering and the Gauteng Department of e-Government.
MEC for Finance Ms. Barbara Creecy who is leading the Department of e-Government said it was exciting to be launching such an initiative which will see the modernizing and development of creatives in the country.
“This includes organizing boot camps for developers, and establishing incubators such as this one, as well as the ekasi labs to support the ongoing business needs of emerging entrepreneurs.”
The hub has managed to incubate 16 (sixteen) youth and woman – owned entrepreneurs and the facility is continuously looking at expanding its impact by offering value added services. By the end of the financial year the digital hub
has envisaged that it would have 14 more incubatees, bringing it to a total of 30 (thirty) entrepreneurs.
The hub will promote the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among the youth. It will support the entrepreneurs with much needed business and technical support to develop their business concepts, branding, coding, testing workshops and legal or intellectual property advice in digital gaming and digital technologies.
“We want them to develop into vibrant, innovative, cutting edge enterprises that will create jobs and offer a better quality of life to our people. The has been minimal transformation in this sector mainly because of its inaccessibility, the Maxum Digital Hub has therefore been setup as a catalyst to bridge the gap of access to resources and the markets in the gaming, animation and virtual reality,” said MEC for the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Lebogang Maile.
For more information contact:
John Sukazi
Spokesperson for MEC for Finance Ms Barbara Creecy
MEC Spokesperson
0837724885
john.sukazi@gauteng.gov.za
Or
Castro Ngobese
Spokesperson for MEC for Economic Development, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development Mr Lebogang Maile
060 870 1806
Castro.ngobese@gauteng.gov.za
For media releases, speeches and news visit the Gauteng Provincial Government’s portal at www.gauteng.gov.za
