By Dumisani Sigogo – Southern Africa Editor, The African Gazette Johannesburg based tech NGO – Empire Partner Foundation (EPF) is redefining the provision of public sector services through smart solutions.
EPF hosts monthly hackathons to motivate young people to follow digital entrepreneurship and is now the nerve centre for the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), in actively seeking digital solutions for communities across South Africa.
SALGA and EPF recently sealed a multi-year deal, which will see the two share resources and expertise in seeking lifesaving solutions for socio-economic challenges.
In terms of the agreement, the two entities will stimulate and inspire youth technology innovation for the development of solutions for the local government sector.
These include digital solutions for water, energy, healthcare, education, agriculture, rural development, transport, housing, unemployment and security.
Last week, EPF hosted its ninth hackathon at its offices in Sandton, focusing on how to use technology to generate crime insights in order to reduce crime in our communities.
The foundation says that currently law enforcement takes an average of more than two hours to arrive on scene in response to emergency calls; thus there is need for more responsive solutions.
20 developers took part in the hackathon and were selected from a pool of 88 applicants to join the second Hybrid hackathon that took place virtually and at the EPF Headquarters.
The winning team was TTTBS and their solution is a mobile app and USSD-based system, which would be used to report criminal activities and provide a quicker emergency response.
The foundation says that beyond finding societal solutions, it is also encouraging digital entrepreneurship.
Jasmine Mokwena, head of marketing at EPF comments: “EPF has so far created 10 permanent jobs, 15 intern opportunities and provided 10 bursaries. EPF is also currently developing an Innovation Campus that will teach underprivileged youth futuristic courses such as gamification, AI and robotics and software development.”
However, she cautions that digital entrepreneurship in South Africa is still facing massive obstacles that Mokwena hopes EPF will help overcome.
“Some of the main challenges that discourage digital entrepreneurship are lack of financial and general support from circles around the youth, their backgrounds, as well as the government and companies. The current basic education system also does not expose the youth enough to the digital revolution,” she says.
Dumisani Sigogo is a senior journalist based out of Durban. He is currently the Southern Africa Editor for The African Gazette.
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