SPEECH BY GAUTENG MEC FOR FINANCE, MS. BARBARA CREECY, ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE IBM RESEARCH LABORARY, WITS TSHIMOLOGONG PRECINCT, 25 AUGUST 2016.

Programme Director

The Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Witwatersrand, Professor Adam Habib

The Chairman of IBM, Ms Ginni Rometty

Members of the academia

Leaders of business

Officials from government

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great pleasure for me to join all of you on this momentous occasion where we are officially opening the IBM Research Laboratory here at the Tshimologong Precinct.

As the Gauteng Provincial Government, we view this R 700 million investment as a major vote of confidence in our province which is South Africa’s economic powerhouse, contributing 35% to our country’s GDP, between 8 to 10% of Africa’s GDP, 40% of total industrial output and 60% of exports.

We further believe that this investment by IBM will galvanize further Gauteng’s position as a leading subnational destination for foreign direct investment into Africa. In 2014 and 2015, more than R 30 billion of Foreign Direct Investments projects came into our provincial economy.

Given the strengths of our economy, Gauteng is positioned strategically to make a significant contribution in supporting Africa’s new industrial revolution and in helping to drive the Africa Rising Narrative. Gauteng is the gateway to the African continent! IBM therefore could not have chosen a better place to locate this major investment. We commend you for taking the decision to invest in our province. You are at the right place. Gauteng is open for business!

Programme Director, the Gauteng Provincial Government places a high premium on transformative partnerships with the private sector from our country and beyond. These partnerships must help us deal with some of our pressing challenges, including youth unemployment as well as limited access to skills development and entrepreneurial opportunities.

It is with this in mind that we are delighted to partner with IBM and the University of Witwatersrand not only to ensure the success of this project but also to support the growth of the provincial economy as well as promote skills development for our young people as part of tackling the problem of youth unemployment.

As we have said on a number of occasions, to us nothing is more urgent than giving hope to our young people through providing them with quality education, decent employment as well as skills development and sustainable entrepreneurship opportunities.

Equally nothing bothers us more than the slow pace at which our economy is growing. We are of the view that partnerships are essential if we are to re-ignite our economy and place it on a sustainable growth path. We also believe that innovation, technology, research and development will help us identify and unlock the true potential of our economy. It is also in this context that we are keen to be a partner on this project.

In the coming months we will be signing amemorandum of understanding with various institutions of higher learning in our province to ensure that their research and development agenda also supports our efforts to drive economic growth, job creation, innovation, invention, environmental sustainability and the overall competitiveness of our economy, our industries and firms.

When our Premier, Honourable David Makhura delivered the State of the Province Address earlier this year, he made the point that as the industrial hub of our country and the SADC region, we will use innovation, research and development to promote smart and green industrialisation.

He highlighted our commitment, working with the private sector, to take bold steps in driving innovation as part of implementing our programme for Transformation, Modernisation and Reindustrialisation. He also said our interventions in the economy will seek to help us develop new modern, innovation-driven industries in the areas of, among others, high-technology.

In light of this, we are conscious today that advances in technology offer governments across the globe the possibility of re-shaping how we exercise our mandate.

ICT-enabled public service delivery offers an opportunity to improve efficiency and access to public services; develops the transparency and accountability of governments and empowers citizens to better participate in decision making processes.

To this end, the Department of e-Government, which has been established to realize these IT-enabled possibilities, is guided by the National Development Plan and Premier Makhura’s Ten Pillar Programme of Transformation, Modernization and Re-industrialization.

According to the Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) General Household Survey, 2014, almost half of South African households (48,7%) had at least one member who used the Internet either at home, at work, in a place of study, or in an Internet café. In the Gauteng City Region, itself, Stats SA found that almost 60% of households have direct access to the Internet. It therefore becomes necessary for city Region Government to move towards providing on-line services.

Based on upward trends of increasing internet connectivity in the province, it is incumbent on government to provide on-line services.

In taking a decision to become the first provincial government to establish a department of e-Government, this ANC-led province was guided by the need to be at the forefront of developments in technology and innovation for three reasons:

  • Firstly, to deliver optimal technological security, agility and efficiency in our daily operations;
  • Secondly, to reduce the costs of operating a large state machinery and maximize the use of limited government resources, and
  • Thirdly, to provide the necessary business intelligence to assist the administration to make evidence-based decisions to drive the GCR forward.

Guided by these principles we are optimistic that this year’s budget of R1.2 billion will go a long way in implementing our five objectives of our e-Government Strategy.

In addition, through the Gauteng Innovation Hub we are driving innovation as well as to improve the competitiveness of our firms and industries. To-date we have trained over 75 township entrepreneurs through Start-up Weekends and Bootcamps run in conjunction with eKasi Labs Innovation Centres in some of our big townships. Ekasi Labs focus on supporting entrepreneurs and youth with their innovations and fast track the establishment of sustainable and innovative businesses. These centres are catalysing innovation among young township entrepreneurs in our province.

Due to the growing demand of the services provided at the Innovation Hub, we have begun a process that will culminate in the expansion of the Hub’s infrastructure to accommodate more innovators. Work has also begun to integrate the Gauteng Innovation Hub into the entire innovation zone that the CSIR and institutions of higher learning in Tshwane.

We remain committed to the pronouncement we made earlier in the year that we will further collaborate with the University of the Witwatersrand on the development of the Tshimologong Precinct. The primary aim of this collaboration is to support unemployed IT and digital media graduates, as well as township youth in game development and digital innovations.

Programme Director, I am raising all of these to highlight the massive opportunities that exist for collaboration between this IBM Research Laboratory and the work we are already doing. This collaboration will be for the benefit of the provincial economy and in particular our young innovators including our township innovators.

We also see massive opportunities for collaboration between this Lab and our youth empowerment programme Tshepo 500000, through which we seek to give hope to our young people by facilitating access to employment, skills development and entrepreneurship opportunities.

To date since 2014, we have reached more than 250000 young people through Tshepo 500000. We have also placed more than 50 000 young people in sustainable jobs in the private and public sector and more than 500 young people have been assisted to start business of their own.

There is no doubt that with partnerships such as the one between ourselves, IBM and the University of the Witwatersrand, we will be able to reach more and more young people, implanting hope in them and make it possible for them to believe that tomorrow will be better than today and yesterday.

I look forward to seeing the results of this partnership. Time is not on our side. Let the real work begin.

Thank you.

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