THE Western Cape is breeding a talented crop of technology entrepreneurs and is on track to become an innovation hub, the province’s finance, economic development and tourism MEC, Alan Winde, said on Wednesday.
After meeting several information and communications technology (ICT) businesses on Wednesday, Mr Winde said more than R50m would be allocated to developing the ICT industry during the next three years. This intervention is expected to create more than 300 new jobs in the sector during that period.
The funds will include contributions from the Western Cape government, the City of Cape Town, the Development Bank of Southern Africa Jobs Fund, the private sector and the Department of Trade and Industry.
The Western Cape is regarded as an attractive destination for IT companies and startups. This has been attributed to its government’s support for entrepreneurial activity. The Cape Town-based Bandwidth Barn, one of the leading ICT business incubators in the world, has been working with the provincial government to encourage innovation.
Mr Winde said on Wednesday that ICT was a priority sectors in the province, employing 30,000 people and contributing R3bn to its gross domestic product.
He said the Bandwidth Barn had played an active role in supporting ICT entrepreneurship in the Western Cape economy.
"Between 2006 and 2010, the Bandwidth Barn tenants and more than 50 successful graduates added more than R800m a year to the region’s economy, and supported about 2,500 direct and indirect jobs," Mr Winde said.
According to a study done by the Bandwidth Barn in 2012, only 48% of ICT startups survive for more than three years.
In comparison, 90% of the initial group of small, medium-sized and microenterprises in the Barn survive beyond this period, the MEC said.
Mr Winde said the Barn concept worked because entrepreneurs had access to shared services, including professional meeting spaces and conferencing facilities. This cut their input costs, which were an inhibiting factor for most small enterprises.
"We need to increase the number of businesses that survive beyond the crucial three-year mark to become established enterprises that make a higher contribution to our economy and employ more people," Mr Winde said.
He said the R50m that would be made available would also go toward the development of ICT skills through CapeCITI’s CapaCITI 1000 programme and ICT enterprise development through the Bandwidth Barn.
The CapaCITI 1000 programme sees the University of Cape Town, Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the University of the Western Cape all providing ICT skills training in fields that include business analysis, IT infrastructure management and programming and software development.
Western Cape finance, economic development and tourism MEC Alan Winde. Picture: FINANCIAL MAIL
THE Western Cape is breeding a talented crop of technology entrepreneurs and is on track to become an innovation hub, the province’s finance, economic development and tourism MEC, Alan Winde, said on Wednesday.
After meeting several information and communications technology (ICT) businesses on Wednesday, Mr Winde said more than R50m would be allocated to developing the ICT industry during the next three years. This intervention is expected to create more than 300 new jobs in the sector during that period.
The funds will include contributions from the Western Cape government, the City of Cape Town, the Development Bank of Southern Africa Jobs Fund, the private sector and the Department of Trade and Industry.
The Western Cape is regarded as an attractive destination for IT companies and startups. This has been attributed to its government’s support for entrepreneurial activity. The Cape Town-based Bandwidth Barn, one of the leading ICT business incubators in the world, has been working with the provincial government to encourage innovation.
Mr Winde said on Wednesday that ICT was a priority sectors in the province, employing 30,000 people and contributing R3bn to its gross domestic product.
He said the Bandwidth Barn had played an active role in supporting ICT entrepreneurship in the Western Cape economy.
"Between 2006 and 2010, the Bandwidth Barn tenants and more than 50 successful graduates added more than R800m a year to the region’s economy, and supported about 2,500 direct and indirect jobs," Mr Winde said.
According to a study done by the Bandwidth Barn in 2012, only 48% of ICT startups survive for more than three years.
In comparison, 90% of the initial group of small, medium-sized and microenterprises in the Barn survive beyond this period, the MEC said.
Mr Winde said the Barn concept worked because entrepreneurs had access to shared services, including professional meeting spaces and conferencing facilities. This cut their input costs, which were an inhibiting factor for most small enterprises.
"We need to increase the number of businesses that survive beyond the crucial three-year mark to become established enterprises that make a higher contribution to our economy and employ more people," Mr Winde said.
He said the R50m that would be made available would also go toward the development of ICT skills through CapeCITI’s CapaCITI 1000 programme and ICT enterprise development through the Bandwidth Barn.
The CapaCITI 1000 programme sees the University of Cape Town, Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the University of the Western Cape all providing ICT skills training in fields that include business analysis, IT infrastructure management and programming and software development.
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