Gauteng Business 2016 edition

OVERVIEW Information and

OVERVIEW Information and Communication Technology Nearly two-thirds of all South African ICT companies are located in Gauteng, collectively contributing more than 6 percent to regional GDP. Arange of ICT activities is undertaken within the province, including hardware manufacturing and software design, and various service offerings such as software management, systems programming and technical support. A number of international giants, including Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, ICL, Cisco and Unisys, have a strong presence in Gauteng, where they operate alongside South Africa’s own ICT firms. The Gauteng province is home to a number of dedicated and specialist data centres, many of which service specific companies (for instance, the 27 000 square metre Samrand Data Centre is used by Standard Bank). Specialist data centre operators such as Business Connexion are also located in Gauteng. Metrofibre Networx, a company based in Midrand, is a new entrant to the market and competes with Vodacom and Neotel in providing metro Ethernet technology. Ethernet technology is a fibre-based broadband technology that offers a cheaper alternative to connect subscribers to the Internet or to connect different offices owned by a single company. With a view to driving growth within the ICT sector, the Gauteng provincial government has introduced a programme that provides mentoring support and venture capital for the commercialisation of technology firms. The provincial government has also established a science park in the form of The Innovation Hub. The City of Tshwane has an Innovation Office based at TIH. The metropolitan municipality already has a fibre optic network infrastructure that hosts two technology-related projects, TIH and ASP. Innovation in the sector will be further encouraged by the newly established mLab, a centre designed to support entrepreneurs in the mobile-technology field. The CSIR in Pretoria hosts the mLab facility together with TIH. At a national level, incentives have been introduced and the South African Vanguard of Technology (Savant) programme has been created in order to provide marketing support to the South African ICT and electronics sector and improve the level of awareness of the local sector. Opportunities for investors: • Hardware and software consultancy; • Service support for users of ICT; • Sales and export of ICT technology. GAUTENG BUSINESS 2016 108

Outsourcing Call it business process outsourcing (BPO), call it business process management, call it what you like—the business of outsourcing is about to put the City of Tshwane on the international BPO map. OVERVIEW Outsourcing brings with it many benefits to all the role-players involved. The biggest of them all is most likely that it’s a costsaving measure for tasks that a company requires but does not depend upon to maintain their position in the marketplace, thus such activities are non-core business. A big player in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) field is the contact centre (also known as captive centres, call centres or global inhouse centres) industry. Until recently, India was favourably looked upon by countries in the west, which could have their outsourced work done at a fraction of the costs than would otherwise be expected locally due to much higher labour costs in their countries of origin. According to the national agency promoting the sector in South Africa, Business Processing enabling South Africa (BPeSA), Gauteng is host to the head offices of most of South Africa’s largest companies and the province h as the largest domestic market in South Africa, with approximately 133 800 employees contributing 71% to the national domestic market share. Gauteng is also home to more than 70% of the country’s call centres, and the sector is growing all the time. Among the reason for the rapid growth of the outsourcing industry in Pretoria, is the City of Tshwane’s strategic position in the province to service international Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) investments. At present an estimated 11 000 people are employed in the BPO industry in Tshwane, while the sector annually contributes in the region of R2,5-billion to the city’s economy. The ultramodern Tshwane BPO Park (TBPO), to be created in partnership with the University of Pretoria, will secure the city’s position as BPO leader in the region. Consisting of a contact centre that can seat 3 000 people, an incubator for SMMEs and an academy offering a national tooling programme, the TBPO will benefit both the university and all those living in the metropolitan area and has been described as a milestone that will help to the realise the City of Tshwane’s Vision 2055. Referring to the development of the new project, Tshwane’s Executive Mayor, Councillor Kgosientso Ramokgopa, said over and above the benefits of job creation, infrastructure and skills development envisaged by the Tshwane BPO Park, the City of Tshwane will gain first-mover advantage above other regions, accelerate industry growth and attract new clients. “The Tshwane BPO Park will also position the city as a key role player and an ideal BPO investment opportunity,” said Ramokgopa. Investment opportunity The new Tshwane BPO Park will be the ideal investment opportunity for both local and foreign businesses. Tshwane is the third-largest city in the world in terms of land area, after New York and Tokyo/ Yokohama. It contributes 27% to Gauteng’s economy and 10% to South Africa’s economy. It is South Africa’s automotive industry hub and the main anchor for research, innovation and the knowledgebased economy in Gauteng, owing to the location of renowned research institutions such as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the National Research Foundation, the Department of Science and Technology and Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute. Once operational, the TBPO will provide a globally competitive facility to both the public and private sector and will contribute significantly to the Gauteng Province’s Township Revitalisation Programme. The park will also provide modern fully equipped plugand-play infrastructure including: high-speed fibre-optic link; VOIP; high redundancy servers; back-up power supply; on-site technical support; training; and excellent staff care and support facilities. An on-site incubator will oversee the development of SMMEs in the BPO domain and related industries. 109 GAUTENG BUSINESS 2016