Cape Town Latest Tech News

Even the touristic V&A Waterfront this week got in on the act, with the news collaborative city workspaces firm OPEN is to open a new co-working space – Workshop17 – in the area.

The city is traditionally thought of as a tourist destination, with over four million arrivals at Cape Town International Airport each year.

The city is working hard to shed this “Weekend city” image, and creating and supporting a startup community in the city is central to this.

Adzuna research reports the city is the country’s top hiring hub for startup and tech firms, with more than 50 per cent of startup jobs advertised in Cape Town.

The excellent local universities, and the assistance offered by the Silicon Cape Initiative help in making the city a popular spot for startups.

Free Wi-Fi spots are common across the city, while a fibre-optic network is also being laid.

The assistance provided by the city goes a step further – it is actually employing startups to come up with solutions to make it a better place to live and work.

This week the City of Cape Town put out its second call to action to local startups this month, announcing it is seeking an evidence-based, high impact and targeted workforce development solution.

The city is looking for a solution for its residents that will deliver effective demand-driven human development and business placements, with any proposed solution enhancing existing interventions.

“Depending on the form of the winning submission to address this challenge, it is expected that the winners will work with the city through knowledge share, a pilot or other demonstration of their winning solution in the city. Alternatively, the solutions shared through this challenge could be used to inform a specification for a formal procurement by the City of Cape Town,” the city said.

Disrupt Africa reported earlier this month the city had called for startups with possible solutions to its urban challenges to assist it in revolutionizing informal trading in the city.

With the support offered by the city to startups, and the opportunities it provides for startups and government to further consolidate their links, Cape Town may yet deservedly earn the title of South Africa’s startups capital.

(Credits to TOM JACKSON)

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