Location technology can transform South Africa\u2019s\ntransport system \u2013 but don\u2019t expect to see self-driving cars on our roads any time\nsoon. What\u2019s more relevant is the need for the public and private sectors to\nwork together more closely to unlock the significant social and economic\nbenefits that more efficient transport and mobility systems would bring to the\ncountry, including less congestion and fewer road accidents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was the message from Michael B\u00fcltmann, Managing Director in charge of international relations at HERE Technologies, a global leader in mapping and location platform services. He was speaking at an event hosted by the international law firm Covington & Burling in Johannesburg, to discuss how digitisation could support better mobility, safety and integration in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSociety\nneeds to solve some fundamental challenges, and relevant location data can play\na key role in creating a better future for mobility in South Africa,\u201d said B\u00fcltmann.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we\nknow where the goods and people are, and how and why they move, we have the\nbasis for a system that matches demand and supply far more closely and uses our\ntransport infrastructure more efficiently. But no company, government or\nindividual can do it all themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s\nall about collaborating. If we get real-time data use right, it would have a\nprofound effect on the way the entire economy works – less congestion, fewer accidents, more efficient\nuse of vehicles and public transport, less air pollution, greater quality of\nlife, and potential savings of billions of rands in fuel, time and safer\nroads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking\nat the event, the CSIR\u2019s Dr Mathetha Mokonyama said that despite the billions\nof rands pumped into the country\u2019s mass public transport network in recent\nyears, 90% of commuter seats available are still provided by either cars or\ntaxis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have\nthe right to dignity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\nwant to see indignity, look at people getting up at 2am to get unreliable\ntransport to a job that only pays R3500 a month. In our country, access to\ntransport is critical for people to make a living, and our focus as a country\nshould be to implement an equitable and just transport system that caters to\nall sectors of society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Robert\nKayihura, senior advisor in Covington’s Johannesburg office, said that it was a\npleasure to support the event that brought together so many viewpoints on the\nquestion of the effective use of data and location intelligence to enhance the\nmobility of goods, people and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile\nthe harmonisation of regulatory regimes around the continent will take time, a\nkey takeaway from our discussions is the critical need to build a shared vision\nof the future through consistent public-private dialogue and collaboration in\norder to accelerate and ensure the sustainable and safe digitisation of Africa,\u201d\nhe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul\nVorster, the Chief Executive of the Intelligent Transport Society of SA\n(ITSSA), said the effective sharing of data between metros, government and the\nprivate sector would \u2018go a long way\u2019 to improving the efficiency of existing\ntransport infrastructure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe\nstarting point is to improve what we already have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce we\nknow what we have \u2013 that is, data – we can start solving real problems, like\nknowing where the demand and supply are. But to do this, metros will need to\nlearn from each other, and they often face political hurdles in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
B\u00fcltmann added that increasing levels of\nurbanisation across the world were creating the need for cities to better\npredict, manage and plan future urban movement. Combining and analysing data\nfrom different, complementary sources could help South African cities to\nimprove urban planning, relieve congestion and curb pollution for better\nquality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nevent was also attended by Presidential Investment Envoy Phumzile Langeni, the\nNational Planning Commission\u2019s Themba Dlamini; SANRAL\u2019s Alan Robinson; and Dr\nR\u00fcdiger Lotz, the Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy. The guests were\nwelcomed by Witney Schneidman, the head of Covington\u2019s Africa practice and\nformer Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the U.S.\nGovernment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Location technology can transform South Africa\u2019s transport system \u2013 but don\u2019t expect to see self-driving cars on our roads any time soon. What\u2019s more relevant is the need for the public and private sectors to work together more closely to unlock the significant social and economic benefits that more efficient transport and mobility systems would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":28896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4950,172,6,298,19,9059,10675,13,306,262],"tags":[11011,10998,11000,10999,11001,11012,11013,10997,11005,11006,745,10995,10996,76,11008,11004,11007,11002,11010,453,11009,11014],"class_list":["post-28895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-events","category-insights","category-main-story-newsletter","category-regional-news","category-south-africa","category-thought-leadership","category-top-stories","category-transport","category-used","tag-alan-robinson","tag-covington-burling","tag-csir","tag-digitsation","tag-dr-mathetha-mokonyama","tag-dr-rudiger-lotz","tag-german-embassy","tag-here-technologies","tag-intelligent-transport-society-of-sa","tag-itssa","tag-johannesburg","tag-location-data","tag-michael-bultmann","tag-mobility","tag-national-planning-commission","tag-paul-vorster","tag-presidential-investment-envoy-phumzile-langeni","tag-robert-kayihura","tag-sanral","tag-south-africa","tag-themba-dlamini","tag-witney-schneidman"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28895"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28968,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28895\/revisions\/28968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}