In order to enhance transparency and accountability, the City of Cape Town has launched a new open data portal. Mayor Patricia de Lille has also stated that it will improve the competitiveness of the broader economy of the city.
This makes Cape Town the first so-called “˜smart city‘ in South Africa, joining cities like New York and London. That being said, Johannesburg and Pretoria are also pushing for approval from their respective city councils.
Cape Town‘s city council approved the decision about four months ago, and since going live on Tuesday (27 Jan 2015) have uploaded 25 data sets for public use. These include city budget data and the location and boundaries of all district parks, community parks, cemeteries and MyCiTi bus stations and routes and even information about government tenders that have been awarded.
According to de Lille, “œmaking data available will empower residents to hold the city accountable. In today‘s knowledge economy, access to data is instrumental in becoming competitive.“
“Making public-sector data available for anyone to use will allow us to tap into the creativity of business and society. It will assist us in building a better city and allow us to truly make progress possible together,” she added.
Source: BDLive Image: Digjitale
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