Liquid and Western Cape gov continue collaboration – Hypertext

• Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Western Cape Government have announced they will continue their partnership.
• Through this partnership the pair will drive inclusive growth through connectivity in the province.
• The province will see R2 billion invested into connectivity over the next seven years.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a business of Cassava Technologies and the Western Cape Government will continue working to drive digital transformation in the Western Cape.

Together the organisations will continue to expand access to connectivity in the province. Over the next seven years, the partnership will draw in an investment of R2 billion. This investment will be used to increase access to connectivity through free public WiFi hotspots.

“We have enjoyed a fruitful and productive partnership with Liquid Intelligent Technologies South Africa and the State Information Technology Agency for the past 10 years. Broadband ‘1.0’ has delivered enhanced connectivity in Western Cape Government (WCG) corporate buildings, schools, hospitals and clinics, while our e-Centres and rural libraries provide access to information technology and employment opportunities for all our residents, especially disadvantaged youth,” said director-general of the Western Cape Government, Dr Harry Malila.

“These initiatives have made a huge difference in the lives of our residents and boosted the WCG’s overall growth and jobs agenda. I look forward to continuing our partnership in Broadband ‘2.0’ over the next seven years,” Malila added.

While the province has the highest percentage of connected residents in South Africa at 88.1 percent, getting that last percent connected is a challenge as they often represent folks living in rural areas where connectivity can be incredibly challenging to install.

Despite these challenges, it’s important for the private and public sector to collaborate and bring connectivity to more people.

Together Liquid and WCG have launched public WiFi networks in 26 municipalities at 1600 locations. Residents here are provided 6GB of data per month at speeds of up to 20Mbps.

“Since the onset of our partnership, Liquid South Africa has established 1600 free public Wi-Fi hotspots and +2000 sites which include schools, hospitals, clinics and libraries which are used by almost 4 million citizens in the province. Access to high-speed connectivity is the necessary catalyst for driving digital transformation. We have increased data allocation and provided faster speeds, and through the deployment of SDWAN, we even improved the cyber security offering. These efforts will ensure that the province’s individuals and businesses in rural and metro areas alike can take advantage of every opportunity offered by digital transformation effectively and securely,” says chief executive officer of Liquid Intelligent Technology, Deon Geyser (pictured).