Over the past few years, the City of Cape Town (CCT) has initiated a transition to becoming a data-led organisation. Today, Monday 9 September 2024, saw the City launch its Data Strategy. This is a first for an African city, and will be part of the City’s digital strategy, aimed to position Cape Town as a leading city on the continent for use of data driven delivery and planning.
There has been limited focus across Africa on this important aspect of planning as highlighted at the Data-Driven Cities Conference for the Urban Common Good, that took place in February 2024 in Kenya. The conference highlighted that a new era of urban development has begun, where data should not just help in solving existing problems, but also to identify and capitalise on future opportunities.
A new era of data collaboration has been envisaged, driven in part by the increasing availability and importance of data in urban planning and development, and in part by the urgent requirement to ensure future success of African cities in overcoming current spatial issues and challenges. This collaborative approach involves various stakeholders, including government agencies, private companies, non-profit organisations and community organisations, working together to collect, analyse, and share data for the benefit of the cities and their residents.
At today’s launch event in Cape Town, Mayor Geordin-Hill Lewis stated, “We pledged to take service delivery into the digital age, and to ensure unprecedented levels of data transparency for the public. This Data Strategy sets out the detail of how we are achieving this over time.”
‘We are also increasingly measuring our services and infrastructure performance so that we can better manage delivery to the public. We have installed digital tracking systems across our water, sanitation, and energy infrastructure, and invested in human resources to monitor and dispatch rapid response teams where issues arise. We are just getting started, and we encourage the public to continue working with us as we improve the quality and scope of data to underpin our efforts to build a future-fit City of Hope for all,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
In 2018, the City created an internal administrative data strategy. Since taking this crucial step, a lot of work has gone into turning administrative data into useful and pertinent business information that successfully supports decision-making and boosts efficiency and transparency. The Data Strategy will enable better services through evidence-led decision-making, as well as inform better planning for the future. The public will also have the assurance that personal data will be even more safe through stronger systems and governance. More data sources of better quality will continuously be made available for public viewing and analysis.
CCT has secured three-year technical advisory services with the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (UKFCDO), to support the implementation of this first Data Strategy. Since the establishment of the partnership, the City has developed internal capacity and has established a Data Science team. The purpose of CCT’s data strategy is to ensure that data are efficiently collected and leveraged to their full potential, contributing to evidence-based decision-making to ensure the CCT is fully effective and responsive to resident and business needs.
