At a ceremony held recently at The Innovation Hub, eGov Connect was named as the winner of the mobile category of the Gauteng Innovation Competition. eGov Connect pulls communication between citizens and government, as well as fault-reporting and social media, into a unified user-experience to enable easy interaction with public officials.
The Gauteng Innovation Competition is an annual contest that seeks to foster innovative entrepreneurial ideas to spur growth in the Gauteng economy whilst contributing to job creation and the reduction of poverty. This year, the competition focused on issues that are critical to municipalities.
The competition is run by The Innovation Hub, Africa’s first accredited science and technology park. It is one of the initiatives of the Gauteng Innovation Strategy approved by the provincial cabinet in February 2012.
Vela Tsotsi was named as second prize winner in the mobile category for its USSD-based crime reporting tool, while Gov + Me took third prize for its use of mobile location information to connect citizens with government information specific to their area of residence.
Smokeless Coal won the green category for its combination of waste coal, clay and water to produce a smokeless energy source that burns for longer than conventional coals. SavvyLoo won the second prize in this category for its low-cost, waterless toilet which is easy to assemble and clean, presenting a sustainable alternative to prevent water pollution from waterborne sanitation and pit latrines.
Handy Power Chargers was named as third prizewinner in the green category for its kinetic chargers used on laptops, desktops, cellphones, lamps and radios where there is no grid electricity supply.
Over 100 submissions were received by the time entries for the competition closed on 14 November 2012. This was followed by an intensive adjudication process to identify the top 10 submissions in each category.
The stringent competition called for innovations that address specific focus areas identified by sector and municipality representatives, and required innovators to complete a draft business plan indicating their expected market and likely investment requirements.
Previous winners of the first Gauteng Innovation Competition have made significant progress in the development of their innovations and in accessing potential market partners. For example, a mobile railway information service application developed by Mobility – GoMetro – which was a prizewinner in last year’s contest, has been adopted by MetroRail in the Western Cape and in Gauteng.
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