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SERVICE DELIVERY TECHNOLOGY

level, the technology also makes it possible for the department
“I can be sitting in the office and walk through the construction to monitor the sectors of the economy that benefit from the
site without me needing to be there and see the milestones inputs into the built projects.
reached on site without having to drive to the site,” remarked
MEC Mamabolo. “Digital technology and artificial intelligence [are] not the
future anymore; [they are] the present; [they have] taken off.
At the time of the launch, drone technology was used in a What we are doing now is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of
dry run to remotely monitor construction at the Greenspark what we can be able to achieve. We are living in very exciting
Clinic site, without having to physically visit the project. The times,” said Musonda.
construction site is in Fochville, about an hour’s drive south-
west of the City of Johannesburg. Among the ground-breaking Visiting University of Toronto professor, Murray Metcalfe, of
capabilities of this collaboration is the ability to regularly monitor the Globalization Centre for Global Engineering concurs that
the progress of architectural drawings on-site, an extremely there is a huge opportunity for sub-Saharan African countries
important feature as it empowers DID to detect any variations to better themselves through the use of technology.
from the plans. This is crucial, especially in containing cost
escalations and guaranteeing that a project will be delivered “We see this fertile combination of the use of technology,
according to the plans. strong engineering schools, very entrepreneurial environment
and the potential growth of the economy given projected
The director of UJ’s Centre for Applied Research and Innovation growth of the populations, particularly in cities.
in the Built Environment (CARINBE), Professor Innocent
Musonda, believes it is now possible to process photos taken “We see all those things creating an opportunity to leapfrog
by the “staff” complement of five drones to generate both 2D ahead from a technological point of view to bypass a number
and 3D models. of issues with other world cities and to move to a new unique
African form of a city to be defined by Africans.”
“We can check whether the information that is claimed by
contractors is there or not there,” said the Professor, adding Acknowledging that technological advancements often face
that pictures from the drones are exported to a software rejection by communities fearing a loss of jobs, Metcalfe notes
program that overlays what was initially imagined to what was that these advancements can be used to benefit communities.
constructed and compares them for variations. “Certainly, in general, people are hesitant regarding change,
particularly around issues of privacy and access to personal
The capabilities of the programme will drastically reduce data; we see that in Canada also. However, there is great
scope variations and shifting milestones, which delays service evidence that there will be other new types of industries that
delivery and leaves state coffers bleeding while also opening will require greater human endeavour than it has in the past,
the door for the corruption and fraudulent activities that have while some tasks may be automated with the use of artificial
marred the industry. The technology also helps the department intelligence.
to conduct quality checks during the construction process as
opposed to discovering variations only once the project has “There will be other things having to do with the advancement
been completed. of human life, of research into healthcare and social services.
Certainly there are great opportunities and challenges,” he
“We are trying to improve our work and these new capabilities said.
are an important aspect to our systematic and continued
determination to root out corruption,” said MEC Mamabolo Technological advancements that were once thought to
who also spoke out against the abuse of scope changes. be a figment of the imagination are now coming to life and
fundamentally changing the way the world addresses its
In addition to being able to accurately measure supplies such challenges. n
as sand on site, the technology makes it possible to track
material supplies for maintenance purposes. At a broader SAnews.gov.za

Volume 12 No.2 of 2019 | SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW 11