South African civic technology platform GovChat has Opened its headquarters in the Speakers Corner buiding, Capetown.
The platform facilitates engagement between citizens and their elected officials, and a few days ago marked the opening of its headquarters.
GovChat CEO Eldrid Jordaan at the opening of GovChat’s headquarters said,“It’s an exciting time to be a South African technology company where the possible applications of technology to solve critical socio-economic issues are endless.
“We truly can lend credence to Peter Diamandis’ quote, ‘technology is a resource liberating force,’ and what better way than to do this than solve a very simple problem, connect citizens with their elected officials.
He continued, “Government resources are stretched, so there may not be enough public servants to always attend to all citizens issues, likewise, citizens are time-strapped, and don’t have time to make follow-up calls to report issues in their communities. It’s frustrating for both parties. This is where GovChat is uniquely positioned, to help bridge this divide.”
The Presidency’s Deputy Director-General, Matsietsi Mokholo delivered the keynote speech and highlighted how public servants needed to work harder to restore the trust of the public and she noted how government red tape and bureaucracy created barriers to effective service delivery. This she said later leads to backlogs, which in turn are catalysts for community protests.
In her words, “That era where officials operated with no conscience and no moral consciousness is slowly fading away. A future public servant we are envisaging and slowly gravitating towards must be more circumspect and this is where we welcome the creativity and innovation by GovChat to make Government responsive, agile and transparent on its engagements. We also take this opportunity to appreciate GovChat for illustrating how we should take advantage of our smart devices to facilitate a broader conversation that goes beyond texting.”
According to a post by the CEO, the celebratory occasion coincided with the organization’s inaugural ‘Let’s Talk’ roundtable. The compelling topic of the discussion, “How can we harness South African built 4IR technologies to best serve citizens and society?” was expertly moderated by radio presenter and entrepreneur, Kieno Kammies. The panel included Deputy Minister of Communications, Hon Pinky Kekana, Parliament Scopa Chair, MP Mkuleko Hlengwa, MTN Group 4IRGeneral Manager, Mophethe Moletsane, Absa Group Chief Security Officer, Sandro Bucchianeri, Synthesis Cio, Tom Wells and GovChat CEO, Eldrid Jordaan. Panelists emphasized the need for South African companies to harness the opportunities afforded by 4IR but ensure that at the same time, people aren’t left behind.
The GovChat headquarters also endowed with a training center designed to facilitate guidance and instruction such as cyber-related risks and best practice cybersecurity in partnership with specialist instructors from Absa Bank, one of GovChat’s principal cybersecurity workshop sponsors.
Group Chief Security Officer for Absa, Sandro Bucchianeri reiterated President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call on all South Africans to join government in finding solutions to some of the country’s challenges, “The Govchat partnership is an example of where we are partnering with key organizations and initiatives to help educate people and raise awareness around the importance of cybersecurity. We have some of the best cybersecurity professionals in the world working for Absa, and this partnership will enable us to share our expertise and support the government in putting strong cybersecurity protocols in place.” He further elaborated, “We will do this through physical workshops or “Let’s Talk Sessions” that will be open to all ministries. The sessions will provide the participants with essential cybersecurity knowledge which will better enable them to engage with their constituents through the GovChat platform and in the ministries they are serving.”
The event also featured a roundtable engagement which was the first of many such engagements that will take place on a monthly basis, bringing together government, society, and corporates to tackle critical issues, informed by data from the GovChat platform.
“GovChat is determined to engage with and give fresh impetus to the fundamental proposition around the value of being a citizen. How else can we realize democracy between the ballot boxes when we don’t engage one another and proactively seek solutions, long before issues become a crisis? Data gathered from citizens via GovChat will allow us to do that”, says GovChat CEO Eldrid Jordaan.
Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu, closed proceedings. She called on all South Africans, especially corporates to step forward and work with the government to tackle critical socio-economic problems and also announced that her department will host the next Let’s Talk Roundtable.
