The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provincial government is pushing ahead with plans to establish technology hubs as part of its growth and development strategy.
According to Clive Coetzee, GM of infrastructure management and economic services, provincial officials are moving in accordance with findings of a feasibility study conducted in 2012, which found four proposed technology hubs are feasible and desirable.
The hubs will be established in Pietermaritzburg, Newcastle, Port Shepstone and Richards Bay - areas that provincial officials describe as "strategic economic nodes" in the region. The KZN treasury notes the hubs want to commercialise innovative ideas through which products, processes, strategies and services are formulated in a bid to create jobs and wealth.
Coetzee notes that one of the targeted sites - adjacent to Oribi Airport in Pietermaritzburg - will focus on aerospace innovation. "The site is within a 3km radius of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, entertainment, recreation and shopping, as well as public transport, indicating good access.
"The KZN province acknowledges the need to enhance and expand its existing knowledge economy in order to grow and sustain its current economic sectors and to be globally competitive," adds Coetzee.
Falling behind
Mark Walker, director of insights and vertical industries at the IDC for Middle East, Turkey and Africa, notes although SA's economy remains one of the strongest in Africa, the country has plenty of room to grow its technology innovation. He says Kenya remains one of the region's most attractive destinations for technology start-ups, thanks to focused investment in connectivity in that country.
"South Africa was, for a long time, the most attractive destination and - even though this economy is still bigger than Kenya's - they outfox us from a technology innovation point of view," he says.
The east African country aims to create one of the continent's leading technology hubs in an investment of more than $500 million (R5.4 billion). Dubbed Konza Technology City, the Kenyan government has noted it will aim to boost the country's education, life sciences, telecoms and IT outsourcing sectors.
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