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TOWARDS THE DIGITAL CITY IN eTHEKWINI: An overview of debates and issues

TOWARDS THE DIGITAL CITY IN eTHEKWINI: An overview of debates and issues. Nancy Odendaal School of Architecture, Planning and Housing University of KwaZulu-Natal. OVERVIEW OF DEBATES. ICT. Governance. ?. Cities. SPATIAL LIMITATIONS. Centralization of Metropolitan Government

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TOWARDS THE DIGITAL CITY IN eTHEKWINI: An overview of debates and issues

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  1. TOWARDS THE DIGITAL CITY IN eTHEKWINI:An overview of debates and issues Nancy Odendaal School of Architecture, Planning and Housing University of KwaZulu-Natal

  2. OVERVIEW OF DEBATES ICT Governance ? Cities

  3. SPATIAL LIMITATIONS • Centralization of Metropolitan Government • Location of Citizens in relation to Municipal offices • Ward system • ICT as information and inter-active decision-making tool

  4. CO-OPERATIVE GOVERNANCE • Cooperative approach to service delivery • Continuous flows of information and knowledge sharing required • Examples: IDP Nerve Centre and DIMS • ICT as coordination and information dissemination tool

  5. NPM AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE • The relationship between e-governance and Managerialism • ICT and organisational cultures • Emphasis on economic growth and service efficiency • Digital Divide • ICT and institutional / policy imperatives

  6. UNDERSTANDING INFORMAL NETWORKS AND PROCESSES • The relationship between the “space of flows” and “space of places” • Grassrooting the space of flows • Value added by ICT (Castells, 2000) • Smart Communities • Local Government as facilitator of the “Digital City”

  7. EMPOWERMENT AND ACCESS • Socio-cultural responses to Digital Technology • Spatial constraints to ICT access • “Splintering Urbanism” (Graham and Marvin, 2001) • Universal Access • Sustainability and backbone support

  8. ICT INITIATIVES • ICT initiatives at various levels, with multiple aims • Developmental aspects not always clearly stated, but expected • Mostly focused on administration, yet empowering potential realized • Digital Divide at local level • Influence of Managerialism

  9. ADMINISTRATION Connectivity amongst Municipal Offices Enterprise-wide GIS Internal Coordination Efficiency Communication Holistic approach Community connectivity Skills development Intranet GOVERNANCE Infrastructure Included the excluded: SMME development City-city networks Other govt. agencies? Emphasis on LED SMME development Web site Empowerment of small firms Smart Xchange E-community strategy eThekwini ICT Policy ICT-CITIES-GOVERNANCE SPATIAL COOP. GOVT. ICT & NPM NETWORKS ACCESS

  10. CONCLUSION • Holistic framework • Integration • Organisational difficulties • Central driver • Socio-community aspects to be considered more carefully • Digital city v.s. Smart Communities?

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