Regional Global Positioning | Western Cape Government

Regional Global Positioning

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Positioning Western Cape/Cape Town as a Global Digital Hub

 

To be part of building the profile of Cape Town as Africa’s Tech Capital register here:  http://bit.ly/Cape_Town_Africas_Tech_Capital

 

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The Western Cape is the best performing region for technology startups on the continent of Africa. The province boasts some of the most exciting and rapidly growing start-ups on the continent. Research shows that the Cape Town/Stellenbosch region already employs more than double the amount of people in the tech sector than both Nairobi and Lagos combined (Endeavour Insights, 2018). To date, we have not maximised upon this position while others with lesser credentials have laid claim to this status.  It is now time to take a stand and declare that Cape Town is Africa’s tech capital.

 

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(Endeavor : Aug 2020: http://insight.endeavor.org/partner/capetown/

 

How can we make this claim?

In 2018, the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT), in partnership with the City of Cape Town, started an initiative to properly position the province both domestically and internationally to be as what we are now calling Africa’s ‘Tech Capital’.

The Start-up Genome Ecosystem Report 2020 ranks Cape Town as the second highest ranked African city in their Top 100 Emerging Ecosystem Rankings [i]. (https://startupgenome.com/reports/gser2020) second only to Cairo.

Similarly, the Startup Blink Ecosystem Report 2020 ranks the South Africa startup ecosystem as the number one ecosystem in Africa,  with Cape Town ranked as the top start-up ecosystem in South Africa. [ii]

 

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Savills Tech Cities 2019 report indexes cities from around the world and ranks them against 100 individual metrics to establish which cities are the most successful homes for start-ups. The six index categories cover:  business environment, tech environment, city buzz and wellness, talent pool, real estate costs and mobility. Cape Town was the only ranked city based in Africa that featured on their top 30 list.[iii]  (https://www.savills.co.uk/tech-cities/index.html#cape-town)

 

 

The core elements are in place to reinforce our position as Africa’s leading digital economic region.  Cape Town and Stellenbosch, amongst others places in the Western Cape, are ideally suited to capitalise on the opportunities that the digital economy has enabled. Looking forward, we see the digital economy as one of the Western Cape’s competitive advantages and we will be doubling down on our efforts to attract investment into the province, promote outward trade of our digital products and capabilities, and enhance the uptake and adoption of digital technologies among with Western Cape companies in order to improve on our growth and competitiveness.

As an initiative of the Western Cape Government, City of Cape Town and Wesgro, supported by key stakeholders operating in the digital economy, we have chartered a way forward to launch ourselves as Africa’s tech capital.

 

(Savills Tech City Rankings: 2019)

 

How did we come to this position?

The Western Cape Global Digital Region Co-ordination forum was established on the 23rd May 2018 to provide guidance into initiatives that would set and position the Western Cape as a Global Digital Region. Forum members include DEDAT, the City of Cape Town, WESGRO, Silicon Cape, Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CITI), LaunchLab and Startupbootcamp.

The process started with building the business case for the digital proposition of the Western Cape/Cape Town tech ecosystem. Research was conducted into the local tech ecosystem as well as a comparative analysis of countries that have also positioned themselves as digital hubs. Key attributes of the region were also identified that could be linked to the success of digital hubs. The business case provided a comprehensive analysis of the digital proposition of the Western Cape and what would be required for the Western Cape to establish itself as a Global Digital Region.

 

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(Executive Summary Report Strategic Positioning: 2018)

 

In December 2018, the key stakeholders in the digital economy participated in a design thinking workshop. The objectives of the workshop were to:

  • Identify insights from global leading practice to apply to Cape Town and the Western Cape.
  • Identification of Cape Town and the Western Cape’s strengths and challenges.
  • Determine customer segmentation of potential target market.
  • Formulate a value proposition to underpin Cape Town and the Western Cape’s digital aspirations.
  • Conclude key inputs to determine a desired market position for Cape Town and the Western Cape.

The process included the identification of personas in the tech space, what their key sources of value were and how to attract these personas into the ecosystem and support the development, as well as address challenges faced.

It became apparent that a more holistic approach was needed. This needed to include consideration of inbound global interest and investment into Cape Town and the Western Cape. This included the targeting local stakeholders (citizens and businesses) in the development of the unique value proposition of the region.

The workshop also identified possible value propositions that the initiative should take to the local tech ecosystem to provide input into the value proposition that best fits the Global Positioning of the region.

Over 100 stakeholders representing the personas identified in the research were identified with view to testing which value proposition and position statement to best represent the digital eco-system in the Western Cape. An online survey approach was used and a total of 40 responses were received. 

The process concluded the following vale proposition:

Value Proposition:  Ecosystem leadership, purpose and opportunity:

  • Cape Town’ a place to live your best life enabled by a dynamic ecosystem and inspired by boundless, purposeful opportunities for innovation and growth
  • Cape Town; a place with a world class digital ecosystem, where resources and talent meets commercial and social opportunity.
  • Cape Town; a place where talented people thrive and are nurtured by the Mother City’s unparalleled beauty and lifestyle.

 

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Based on the outcome of the engagement with the stakeholders on the value propositions, the research conducted and the international benchmarking, a ‘Marketing Tactical Plan’ was developed. This plan provided recommendations to DEDAT and stakeholders with a vested interest in the digital space on how best to position the Western Cape as a digital region, what markets to engage with, which stakeholders are important both local and international and how best to engage with these stakeholders in order to achieve the Global Digital Region Positioning of the province. From this, the ‘Tactical Plan’ is a 3-year plan to positioning and support the objective of establishing the Western Cape as a Global Digital Region.

 

How will the industry benefit?

Despite the strength of Cape Town’s tech ecosystem and the overwhelming evidence that Cape Town is Africa’s leading tech capital, other African countries/cities have already attempted to claim the position as leading the African tech ecosystem/s on the international stage. We have been slow to respond and has not presented a unified message to the international market that we are truly the strongest tech ecosystem in Africa.

The initiative therefore seeks to clearly represent the values, skills, talent, innovation and lifestyle offered by the tech ecosystem of Cape Town/Western Cape and showcase Cape Town as Africa’s Tech Capital. It also seeks to stimulate the local tech ecosystem into identifying and capitalising on opportunities for their skills and services or incorporating technology into their business to compete in a global market.

The intention is to create a single, iconic brand with which companies can choose to associate. This will be somewhat like the ‘Proudly South African’ approach. Companies will have licence-free access to the logo and other brand assets. To use the brand, companies need to pledge their support to the values and intent of the brand to ethically represent the tech eco-systems.

 

To be part of building the profile of Cape Town as Africa’s Tech Capital register here:  http://bit.ly/Cape_Town_Africas_Tech_Capital

 

 

Logos of WCG, Invest SA, City of Cape Town and Wesgro

 

Related articles: 

https://memeburn.com/2020/11/cape-town-africa-tech-capital/

https://ventureburn.com/2020/11/western-cape-launches-tech-ecosystem-initiative/

https://www.itweb.co.za/content/Pero3MZxdlyvQb6m

http://aiexpoafrica.com/2020/11/10/cape-town-africas-tech-capital/

 


[i] https://startupgenome.com/reports/gser2020

[ii] Startup Blink Ecosystem Ranking Report 2020

 

The content on this page was last updated on 18 December 2023