Business development director at Storm Telecom, Dave Gale, says: "Leadership should come from municipalities. They should not lose sight of their own mandates and what they aim to achieve. Everyone talks about technology bridging the communication gap, but they should look at the socio-economic issues, with technology as an enabler."

Mark Baptiste, director for Cisco Systems, says: "I do not think that digital cities is an empty promise by government, but it is all about timing, if the timing is not right the business case will not work." He also believes that the private sector should educate government on possibilities, and how to go about achieving set goals.

The majority of industry players are positive, and believe that this is not going to be an empty promise from government. It will take hard work, through partnerships, and it will not happen overnight, but it will happen, they believe.

Legislation

The issue of legislation has been a great focal point in the digital cities debate and how to get around it is a question that many have asked, but, says De Klerk: "It is not about getting around legislation, but finding legislation that is supportive. Legislation is important, but should not be prohibitive."