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- Two online platforms to empower small businesses in South Africa have been created by government.
- The Innovation Bridge Portal connects investors and partners with innovative South African projects and allows them to interact.
- Digitech is branded as an app store, but doesn't allow users to download apps and temporarily had admin as both the username and password for the site, after nearly R750 000 was spent to redesign it.
- For more stories, visit the Tech and Trends homepage.
Two government departments in South Africa have built online platforms aimed at empowering small businesses in South Africa – with varying degrees of success.
The Innovation Bridge Portal (IBP) is a platform that was launched in 2017 by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), which later received support from the Department of Small Business Development and the World Bank Group.
The IBP connects innovative South African projects and businesses with potential investors, partners, or people interested in innovations in South Africa.
It also "accelerates the journey of an entrepreneur and innovator by providing quality, relevant and timeous information and opportunities, revealing the ecosystem, and easing the burden of having to register on multiple government websites," said Michelle Harding, a programme manager at the DSI who has been heavily involved with the IBP.
"The Innovation Bridge Portal is the only local platform that the public can visit to get a sense of some of the many innovations being developed in universities and science councils," said Harding.
The platform is being used and has received over 690 000 page views to date and there are 3 220 registered users.
The creators of the IBP created a platform so entrepreneurs and innovators can gain exposure for their initiatives, but the system relies on those featured businesses taking up possible matches generated by the system by responding to inquiries on the platform, said Harding.
The IBP also provides information on relevant events and opportunities such as innovation challenges or market days that users might be interested in attending. It has also been scaling up through partnerships over its years of operating and said that it may consider expanding its offerings by creating a knowledge and learning centre and a credit rating tool to open up more funding opportunities, amongst other innovations.
News24 had a look at some of the projects displayed on the IBP and found useful elements such as detailed descriptions of the project, links to media content, and links to the website of the South African initiative where available.
Digitech
Another government-founded website, which was created in 2022 by the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) is Digitech. This is a digital products portal that aims to expand the adoption and use of digital products developed in South Africa according to the website.
A banner on the home page of the site calls Digitech an app store, despite the fact that there is no functionality that allows apps to be downloaded on the site.
READ MORE | Un-appy state: Govt spent nearly R750 000 redesigning an app website that's currently down
Digitech drew widespread criticism almost immediately after it was launched. Then-DA spokesperson for telecommunications and digital services, Solly Malatsi said that the "app store" looked like a Grade 8 IT project.
The government spent nearly R750 000 redesigning Digitech because the old site "did not meet DCDT specifications," said Communications Minister Mondli Gungubele in response to a parliamentary question.
"The security of the new Digitech site has been enhanced and new design has been implemented," said the minister.
But both the security of the site and the new design have come under fire.
ITWeb reported that, following the redesign, the back-end of the Digitech site could be accessed by simply using 'admin' for both the password and the username.
The company contacted the DCDT and the password was changed so that 'admin' would no longer work.
On the design front, MyBroadband reported that a R950 template was used to build the website.
Natasha Mazzone, the DA's communications spokesperson said in a statement earlier this month that Digitech is a "blatant disregard for taxpayer money".
The DA is demanding answers regarding both the authorisation of the contract and the consequences that will flow from the "failure and waste of taxpayer money".
