The role of The Innovation Hub in supporting Local Economic Development

1. INTRODUCTION
According to the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a Smart City is a city that views internet
bandwidth as the new essential bandwidth, as vital to economic growth and public welfare. Being a
Smart City takes more than being wired but it takes a combination of the following indicators:
Broadband infrastructure deployment of broadband communications to businesses,
government facilities and residences, with government providing a catalyst when necessary
through regulation, incentives and even network construction.
Knowledge workforce effective education, training and workforce development that
builds a labour able to perform knowledge work.
Digital inclusion - government and private-sector programs that promote digital inclusion to
ensure that all sectors of society benefit from the broadband revolution and by expanding
citizen participation in government decision-making.
Innovation creation of innovation in the public and private sectors, ranging from e-
government initiatives and efforts to create economic clusters to the formation of risk
capital to fund the development of new businesses, which are the engine of economic
growth.
Marketing smart cities market themselves effectively, based on knowledge of the
competitive offerings of other cities and regions, clear understanding of what leading edge
businesses require, and a determination to deliver it.

The City of Tshwane in collaboration with The Innovation Hub (TIH) planned a Tshwane Smart City
Project benchmarked it against the Intelligent Community Forums definition and indicators of a
smart city. Several advantages position the City of Tshwane appropriately to become a recognised
smart city. For example, its central role as a host of the South African national government is vital. In
addition, the City of Tshwane is part of Gauteng Global City Region, the wealthiest and fastest
growing economic region on the African continent. The City population of two million people has
the highest level of education attainment in the country with four universities (University of South
Africa, University of Pretoria, Tshwane University of Technology and MEDUNSA), and the city is a
national centre of research with seven of the eight National Science Councils, i.e. CSIR (Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research), HSRC (Human Science Research Council), ARC (Agricultural
Research Council), etc. The city is also host to The Innovation Hub which is Africas first
internationally accredited science park.
In building a smart city Tshwane aims to ensure citizen equity by addressing the challenge of wealth
distribution as well as wealth creation. The conditions and processes underway have brought to the
fore collective intellectual wisdom, entrepreneurial spirit and a developmental mind-set that will
ensure that Tshwane is able to address its challenges and tap into a wealth of opportunities.
Critical Success Factors that will determine the success of the City of Tshwane as a smart city, and by
extension the role of the smart city project office are as follows:
Engage universities, research organizations, and private sector and government
departments in a synergistic manner to encourage the spirit of collaboration.
Harness collective intellectual know-how via joint projects with strategic stakeholders aimed
at increasing citizen participation, equity, growth and development;
Work towards building clusters that stimulate economic growth.

2. BACKGROUND OF THE TSHWANE SMART CITY PROJECT
The Innovation Hub is one of the Blue IQ projects based in the City of Tshwane with the aim of
clustering together companies in the high-tech sector. The Innovation Hub evolved from the
Gauteng Development Strategy with the aim of creating a knowledge economy in Gauteng. A Co-
operative Agreement was signed during the 1
st
and the 2
nd
Business Week to partner with the City of
Tshwane in the implementation of the Local Economic Development Strategy. Subsequent to that
agreement further co-operation between The Innovation Hub and the City has evolved.
The Innovation Hub continued to strategically partner with the city in other projects and facilitated
partnerships with other spheres of government, non-governmental bodies, and Private sector
organizations, Institutions of learning and research both locally and abroad and specifically with the
Gauteng Provincial Government. A number of conferences, seminars, exhibitions, knowledge
exchange forums and Networks have already been established.
The Innovation Hub participated in all policy conferences of the City such as the Business Week,
Growth and Development Strategy and ICT conferences organized in the City.
It was in the context of this close working relationship between the City of Tshwane and The
Innovation that the concept of a Smart City was conceived. The formation of an ICT cluster and
Innovation were prioritised as key focus areas for a Smart City programme.
Tshwane SmartCity Project is therefore an overarching project to align the various research,
education institutions, city governance development and business to enhance the economic
development of the city. The key elements of the Tshwane SmartCity Project were; city competence
study/baseline study, Growth Agreement, Centre of Expertise Programme and Broadband Roll-out
through Tshwane Digital Hub.
Therefore the first partnership project to be launched between the TIH, City of Tshwane and the
Youth Development Trust (YDT) was a Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Project in 2005, which
was a partnership between the City of Tshwane Local Economic Development-Enterprise
Development USAID, Khanyisa Information Systems, Embassy of Finland and The Innovation Hub.
This initial project took on board 20 Youth who upon completion of the pilot project formed their
own IT companies, others got employed by other big IT companies and others obtained scholarships
to continue with their studies. Regrettably this youth company did not survive and the project was
close down.



In May 2007, the City of Tshwane took a decision through the Mayoral Committee to establish a
Tshwane Smart City project. During the same year, the City of Tshwane entered into a Memorandum
of Understanding with the City of Oulu in Finland to support in the implementation of the Smart City
concept. The City of Oulu has a history of transforming itself from a traditional economy based on
forestry and fishing to being the Silicon Valley of Northern Europe boasting companies such as
NOKIA and Sonera. The City of Oulu also has best practices and knowledge as an international
leading Smart City. The cooperation between the two cities is being supported by the Association of
Finnish and Regional Authorities - North-South Local Government Cooperation Programme. The aim
of the cooperation is to speed up development in the cities respective regions by benchmarking and
exchanging ideas and expertise on innovation environment development.
The main objectives of the cooperation as set out in the original agreement include the following;
Promotion of the use of ICT in municipal services to bring the information society closer to
the Tshwane people;
Improving municipal services by developing new approaches and modes of operation in the
City;
Promoting good governance and local democracy in the City;
To create business opportunities in the various fields through cluster development, such as
ICT, health bio, clean-tech, life-science and environment;
To develop capabilities and competencies as cities for the future, and
To promote cultural identity and multiculturalism in Oulu and Tshwane.

The activities anticipated for the cooperation include;
Establishment of the City of Tshwane Innovation Office at The Innovation Hub;
Formation of Innovation partnerships between local industry, universities, and local
government culminating into the development of an action plan for a Tshwane Growth
Agreement.
To transform the economy of the city by using knowledge-intensive industries;
To create citizen wellness;
To achieve City government operational efficiency; and
To be enhance ICT connectivity to the community and businesses
In the city.
In 2009, the Smart Innovation Office launched the Tshwane ICT Cluster Network consisting of TIH
resident companies including some members of the INNOV8 community. The intention was to use
the ACTIVATOR platform - a mectanism to promote collaboration of industry, government,
universities, and research orgnasiations) to foster the culture of generating home-grown
innovations.Other milestone are the launch of phase 1 of Wi-Fi Hotspots ( provision of Free
internet) and provision of ICT support for the Primary Health Care clinics.



3. Key programme milestones and achievements:

Year

Date Objective Deliverables
2007 May
2007
Establishment of Cooperation
Agreement between the City of
Tshwane & City of Oulu Finland.
MoA between City of Tshwane & City of Oulu
signed in Oulu in May 2007, the agreement with
the City of Oulu is in respect of the following
areas;
Sourcing expertise from the City of Oulu
on the development of a broadband
business model for the City of Tshwnae.
Development of an integrated
development plan ( Innovation
partnership ) and a Growth Agreement
between the CoT , local industries,
universities, and research institutions.
Transfer of technologies (billing systems,
security etc) between the two cities.
High-Technology Business 2 Business
exchanges between the respective cities.

2007 Dec
2007
Signing of Service Level Agreement
between The Innovation Hub and
City of Tshwane for implementation
of Tshwane Smart City Project
Setting up of Tshwane Smart City Innovation Office
at The Innovation Hub and transfer of R9 million
project budget to be administered by The
Innovation Hub to set up an office and suitable
staff.
2008 March
2008
Establishment of City of Tshwane
Innovation Office at The Innovation
Hub.
Appointment of Project Director (Butana
Mboniswa), ICT Project Manager (Gift Mphefu)
and Office Manager (Mbali Nkomonde)
Mar
2008
Strengthening of Tshwane-Oulu
Cooperation
Exposure of the Smart City project team to the
Finnish innovation environment Visit to the City of
Oulu Finland and other cities.
Nov
2009
Positioning of the Tshwane Smart
City programme
Brand developed with marketing material to
position the Smart City programme.
2009 Tshwane e-Health Project a
model of collaboration on the
ACTIVATOR platform between
partners Vodacom, Geomed,
National, Provincial and municipal
clinics.
A pilot programme to support the roll out of
primary health care services in the Tshwane area
by using ICT for information gathering for
Community Health Care Workers (Unompilos) . In
addition, the pilot involved the development of
electronic records for the clinics the use of the
digital pen and a model of collaborating for the
three tiers of government clinics (local, provincial
and national)
June
2009
Development of Tshwane ICT
Cluster
Launch of Tshwane ICT Cluster Network
consisting of TIH resident companies,
members of The Innovation Hub virtual
community the INNOV8 including other
companies from other parks in Tshwane. The
intention was to use the ACTIVATOR platform
to promote collaboration amongst local
companies and to foster the culture of
generating home-grown innovations.
June
2009
Establishment of Tshwane Wi-Fi
Hotspots in Community Centres
Launch of phase 1 of the Wifi Hotspots( free
internet sites) in community libraries and
payment centres. The main users of the internet
sites are school learners, the unemployed, youths
and rate payers.
July
2009
Development of a Tshwane Smart
City Master Plan
Tshwane Smart City Master Plan developed by
Maraswi Consulting was a culmination of a
consultative process with key stakeholders of the
CoT to establish their understanding of the
Smart City concept and identify priority projects
for the Tshwane City smart.
Sept
2009
Visit by City of Oulu to Tshwane for
a technical assessment of the
Tshwane Fiber Optic Network
Technical report of the CoT fibre optic network.
2010 Nov
2010
Re-vitalization of Tshwane Smart
City Project Office at TIH
Appointment of Venture Solutions as contractors
for a period of 6 months to facilitate workshops
for the Finnish Knowledge Exchange visit as well
as to develop a business plan for the revised
Smart City programme for 2011/12.
Dec
2010
Tshwane- Oulu Knowledge
Exchange Visit
Host a delegation of Finnish comprising
representatives from City of Oulu, University of
Oulu, Oulu Bioforum, Oulu based companies, and
Centre of Expertise Programme for a series of
workshops with key players in the City visit to key
sites in the City.
The outcome of the workshop will inform the
future agreements between the two cities, and
the strategy and action plan for the City of
Tshwane Innovation Office and the funding
proposal for the Finnish team.
June
2011
Development of a revised Smart
City programme
A concept document and new business plan
2011/12 that proposes a revised model for the
Smart City programme going forward with a
proposed new role for TIH