Transcript The Case for Wireless Municipal Networks

Briefing to Parliamentary
Committee on
Communications
The case for “Wireless” Municipal
Networks: A City of Cape Town
perspective
Presented by: Nirvesh Sooful and Raven Naidoo
Date: 9 June 2006
Agenda
Context:
City of Cape Town’s Smart City Strategy
ASGISA Strategy and National Agenda
From Strategy to Implementation
Digital Inclusion and Access to opportunities: Smart Cape
Other initiatives
The critical role of telecoms for Local Authorities and issues
City of Cape Town Vision
Conclusions and Discussion
Agenda
Context:
City of Cape Town’s Smart City Strategy
ASGISA Strategy and National Agenda
From Strategy to Implementation
Digital Inclusion and Access to opportunities: Smart Cape
Other initiatives
The critical role of telecoms for Local Authorities and issues
City of Cape Town Vision
Conclusions and Discussion
Cape Town ICT in Context
Recognised nationally and internationally as a leader in the space of EGovernment (utilising ICT to enhance the city’s service delivery
capability), as well as in the space of ICT for socio-economic
development.
Numerous national and international awards have been bestowed upon
the city.
City’s case studies have been used nationally, on the African continent
and internationally as an example of best practice.
The City of Cape Town has also implemented certain ICT for
development projects on behalf of the Western Cape Provincial
Government.
There has also been several discussions with other local authorities in
the Western Cape about the sharing of resources and skills from the City
Of Cape Town (related to ICT). Also with DPSA and SITA
Address by Minister of Communications at Nedlac
ICT Annual Forum Meeting, 25 January 2005
City of Cape Town has positioned itself to become one of our most
technologically advanced cities, through successful IT sector
intervention.
By implementing its visionary transformation strategy, Cape Town is now a
frontrunner in South Africa’s National IT Strategy.
The benefits for all have been enormous. E-government services have been
developed; the service to its citizens has been improved. All city employees
have access to mainstream banking giving low-income employees a measure
of economic empowerment. The cherry on top of the cake for this project, is
that they have instituted the largest IT training programme in our history,
boosting the IT skills of the city by training thousands of employees.
IT businesses owned by the formerly dispossessed are also benefiting through
this partnership. In order for Cape Town to establish itself as a municipal
services leader there had to be a partnership between, business, labour and
the community.
I am sharing this success story with you because I want to see more of such
initiatives.
Context
ICT for Development and ASGISA
We re-affirm the vision that Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) have a strategic and
important role to play, both as an enabler of growth in the
economy and as a development trampoline to leverage our
people out of poverty
-Deputy Minister of Communications, MP Radhakrishna
Roy Padayachie, Budget Vote Speech 2006/07
Agenda
Context:
City of Cape Town’s Smart City Strategy
ASGISA Strategy and National Agenda
From Strategy to Implementation
Digital Inclusion and Access to opportunities: Smart Cape
Other initiatives
The critical role of Telecoms for Local Authorities
City of Cape Town Vision
Conclusions and Discussion
Smart Cape Access Project
Objective: to ensure that all citizens of Cape
Town have access to basic information and
communication technologies (ICT).
Public access model that allows computing
facilities to be provided cost effectively, using
open source software and piggybacking on
existing infrastructure and resources.
Word processing and other applications
Connected to the Internet
Web sites
E-mail
Enabler of other social and economic
development initiatives by the City
Where are we now
100 communities connected
(500+ access points)
+ 80 000 users. Rapid growth
in new users (5000 per month)
Access to relevant local content
key to a successful egovernment programme
Mobile Smart Cape launched
by Premier earlier this year
The President says….
“Entire communities need to be exposed to the
benefits of ICT and positive attitudes created
towards the cultivation of awareness and
everyday access and use of this technology so
as to bring all our people into the information
age.”
From Strategy to Implementation - Other initiatives:
ERP implementation (Largest ICT transformation project in South Africa)
Very successful, collection rates increased from 84% to 96% i.e. R794 Million
per annum
Entrepreneur Support and Business Development: Digital Business
Centres
3 launched, 2 planned for next year, voucher scheme, etc.
Youth Development and Job Creation: Kulisa Project
130 youth, 95% employment
ICT for the masses
ICT skill a basic requirement for entry into the economy, 20 training centres
Open Source
OSS Competency Centre, real projects that touch real people
Intergovernmental/ Multi-sector action
DPSA, USA, SITA, PGWC, CITI, HP, Dell, Microsoft, Ghana (Accra), Spain
(Basque Govt.), etc.
Agenda
Context:
City of Cape Town’s Smart City Strategy
ASGISA Strategy and National Agenda
From Strategy to Implementation
Digital Inclusion and Access to opportunities: Smart Cape
Other initiatives
Critical role of telecoms for Local Authorities & issues
City of Cape Town Vision
Conclusions and Discussion
Key Issues
Cost effective telecommunications is essential to:
connect local government and enable government service
delivery (Goal 1: Connected Local Government)
create connected local communities to uplift, empower
and improve the lives of all residents (Goal 2:
Connected Local Communities)
Extensive use of telecommunications by municipalities
Key Limitation: High Cost of Telecommunications
prevents any of these being achieved
Goal 1: Connected Local Government
The use of ICT within local authorities has become far more
important than ever before.
ICT is needed for communications between offices and
staff, to enable local authorities to effectively collect
revenues due to it, to be able to service citizens equitably
in all areas, to improve customer relations, to inform
communities about programmes and initiatives, etc.
Connecting local government will allow it to:
Create highly efficient and effective local government service delivery
Reduce transaction costs
Improve revenue collection
Allow anywhere, anytime service to citizens
Provide one-stop shops for citizens to deal with all aspects of local
government services in an integrated manner
Make local government more customer friendly and citizen oriented
Create better accountability, responsiveness and transparency of all
systems (reducing bureaucracy and providing performance metrics)
Reducing discretion and arbitrariness
Goal 2: Connected Local Communities
Access to information and the ability to exchange and process
information is increasingly the key to personal upliftment and economic
competitiveness.
LGs need to bridge the 'digital divide' between those who have access
to connected computers and the skills to use them, and those who do
not.
Provision of telecommunications networks in municipalities is a critical
infrastructure impacting the economic growth, development and
competitiveness of local communities in the global economy, (incl.
expansion of the network to include provision of computers for use by
citizens)
‘A community is a community through the connections among its people.’
Why is Telecoms so fundamental to Cape Town?
Internal Operations
Cash Offices, email, depots, stores, SAP, HR, Intranet, etc.
Security- CCTV
Citywide telephony system
City Call centre
Traffic lights
Emergency services (radio)
Electronic Road signage
Telemetry system for electricity management and SCADA for water
Telecommunications in the context of social and economic
development of City.
High Cost of telecoms (City of Cape Town example)
Current telecommunications bill is estimated at more
than R100 million annually
Not including SCADA, Traffic Control, Smart
Cape, etc.
NO CONNECTIVITY To Clinics, Youth Centres,
etc.
Agenda
Context:
City of Cape Town’s Smart City Strategy
ASGISA Strategy and National Agenda
From Strategy to Implementation
Digital Inclusion and Access to opportunities: Smart Cape
Other initiatives
Critical role of telecoms for Local Authorities & issues
City of Cape Town Vision
Conclusions and Discussion
Thinking Outside the Box
Moving telecommunications from a cost centre to an
economic enabler
Smart City Telecommunications vision: by 2010 Cape
Town will be…
A City whose residents, businesses and institutions are
connected to each other and the world
A City where every house and business will be connected to
the City Administration and to the Internet
A City in which all residents will have access to digital
information and communication and the skills to use it
A City where high-speed connectivity to the Internet is a basic
infrastructural service guaranteed by the City Council in a
manner similar to water, electricity and solid waste collection.
It was this thinking at drove us into applying for the PTN license which was
granted on 30 December 2004.
PTN License
The City will be able to install and manage its own
telecommunication network infrastructure in the roads,
servitudes and pavements over which it has control. Thereby it
can reduce the costs of telecommunications for the City whilst
also enabling the provision of low cost connectivity to service
centres, libraries, clinics and other community facilities.
The PTN License places the City in a good position to reduce its
costs and promote socio-economic development in the City.
Current Telecoms Activity
Progressively migrate to a telecommunications network better
suited to serve the City and at lower costs
The City has issued a tender for Telecommunication services to
the City, including the option to build a network for the City.
Based on using wireless technologies, the City expects to save
up to 40% of its current annual expenditure on Telecoms.
The City is assessing its Telecommunication needs for hosting
the 2010 World Cup and will gear its telecommunications
network towards accommodating the high demands of that
event.
Agenda
Context:
City of Cape Town’s Smart City Strategy
ASGISA Strategy and National Agenda
From Strategy to Implementation
Digital Inclusion and Access to opportunities: Smart Cape
Other initiatives
Critical role of telecoms for Local Authorities & issues
City of Cape Town Vision
Conclusions and Discussion
Conclusions (1)
Connecting facilities and staff is a critical enabler of government service
delivery.
The current high cost of telecommunications and a purely commercial
regime for dealing with local government is therefore one of the key
issues affecting service delivery at a local level.
Local government is also best suited to addressing the digital divide at
a local community level and has a particular interest in the development
of the information society and the knowledge economy as these are
key to its socio-economic development mandate.
Local government needs to ensure that all local communities have
access to telecommunications in the same way as they are provided
with access to roads, potable water and electricity.
Conclusions (2) – we would like to see:
That all local governments be licensed on application to be able to
provide telecoms infrastructure within their boundaries. This
infrastructure can be in the form of fixed line infrastructure within the
roads, pavements and servitudes run by the local authorities, or in
form of wireless infrastructure.
That all local authorities may use this PTN infrastructure to provide
services to themselves.
That all local authorities can lease access to this infrastructure in the
form of available unused network capacity to other licensed
operators. This could help stimulate the economy within
disadvantaged areas.
That all local authorities can interconnect with licensed operators, on
the basis of the interconnect rates determined by ICASA.
Open Invitation
The City extends an open invitation to all members
of the Portfolio Committee to visit its Smart City
Projects to see how ICT is making a difference to
the lives of ordinary people
Discussion
Let us
work
together
for a
better
country
Contact Details
Nirvesh C Sooful
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
City of Cape Town
4th Floor Podium Block
Civic Centre
12 Hertzog Blvd
Tel: +27 21 4001250
Fax:+27 21 9570026
Email: [email protected]
Web Site: www.capetown.gov.za/smartcity