According to Mymoena Sharif, the manager of e-governance for the City of Cape Town, the Smart Cape Access Project was designed with the aim of giving communities access to the Internet, and has reached a significant milestone, with approximately 60,000 people accessing free Internet connectivity in nearly 100 public libraries around the city.
'We wanted to ensure that -- as far as possible -- all citizens of Cape Town have access to basic computing infrastructure and the Internet,' Sharif adds.
The truck will operate on a rotating basis across poverty-stricken areas, providing wireless Internet connectivity and also present various other needed services. Connectivity is being sponsored by Vodacom SA.
'The City of Cape Town, in endeavoring to provide services to all, but, in particular, the poorest sections of the city, has to innovate and provide smart solutions,' says Sharif.
'The notion of mobile services provides that innovation and it takes into account the needs of marginalized communities.'
According to Sharif, the rationale for the mobile service stems from the need to extend existing services to areas of need, taking into account the resource constraints, thus maximizing limited capacity within the City of Cape Town by integrating the delivery of those services.
Furthermore the mobile service center is created with the goal of serving all localities in the City with the same quality found in fixed units.
'The Mobile Smart Cape Access Unit further empowers the citizens of the City of Cape Town to use ICT to prepare CVs, find employment, improve business practices, complete school projects or run owner-managed businesses, computer literacy and online content creation amongst other things,' Sharif concludes.