Nurture an innovative and inclusive society
There is so much that can be done to make South Africa a more innovative and inclusive country. For example, a major hurdle to social innovation is the high cost of mobile data. Zero-rating specific mobile services would reduce the cost of social innovation and diversify the range of information sources available.
There are ‘easy wins’ that keep being overlooked, which could open new possibilities for national development.
People with disabilities continue to be socially and economically marginalised, often through practical challenges like transport. Innovations like UberACCESS provide new possibility to overcome some of these challenges, if a viable economic model can be found to involve the private sector in services often subsidised at high cost by the State.
The elderly, as well as abused women and children, are highly dependent on the efficiency of the State to contract with suitable service providers. Yet processes of contracting non-government organisations are often inefficient, with little mutual accountability. Similarly, there are often major inefficiencies in State-provided services, which demoralise public servants and undermine the quality of service provision.
Our goal is to remove the chokes that stifle innovation because some groups of people cannot fully participate in our economy and society.
What we will be working on…
From 2017-2021 we will nurture an innovative and inclusive society by:
- Reducing the costs of mobile data for socio-economic development.
- Developing targeted transport innovations that expand access to transport for people with disabilities.
- Promoting the use of efficient technology-based solutions to reduce the administrative load of public servants.
Click here to read how we plan to do it.
| WHAT | HOW |
|---|---|
| Reduce the costs of mobile data for socio-economic development. | Establish, with Government, a social innovation register to enable zero-rating of mobile services that provide information or link people to opportunities. |
| Develop targeted transport innovations that expand access to transport for people with disabilities. | Continue to work with UberACCESS and the City of Cape Town in developing affordable and sustainable transport services for people with disabilities. |
| Promote the use of efficient technology-based solutions to reduce the administrative load of public servants. | Design and develop an application for social welfare services that can be integrated into the public welfare system. |
