By Sizwe Dlamini
Following recent statements made by the Minister of Information Communications and Technology (ICT) Savannah Maziya that the government wants to turn Eswatini into a smart kingdom, the Ministry has hit the ground running and has secured E36 million from the government of Taiwan for the initiative.
The proposal for the smart city project began last November and includes the installation of 50 IP public cameras located around various intersections, 4 free WiFi zones, disaster detection technology in rivers, and a message control center in Mbabane.
The aforementioned project will also include upgrading the government network from 4G to 5G.
The Ministry of ICT will be involved in the setting up of the smart city infrastructure and its maintenance which will be achieved in collaboration with RSTP and EPTC.
The operation will then be handed over to the Ministry of Housing & Urban Development and the Mbabane Municipality who are expected to share vital information with other key state agents such as Royal Eswatini Police Services and the National Disaster Management Agency.
The Project is in line with Sustainable Development Goal 11 which seeks to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
The United Nations (UN) has also set a target for cities to strive to become green cities and reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Speaking during the launch of the Mbabane smart city project at the Hilton Gardens Inn, Principal Secretary at the Ministry of ICT Phesheya Dube said that the government had to thank Taiwan for the support.
“The Ministry of ICT sent out a proposal to the government of Taiwan to aid the government in this initiative and they responded promptly by first giving us Integrated International Systems Inc (IISI) who are the project implementers. After communicating with them IISI advised the government to upgrade from 4G to a 5G network to enable live transmission of data and Information to various stakeholders and enhance effective service delivery and security within the Mbabane Municipality”.
Dube stated that the Ministry of ICT supports the project as it will transform Mbabane and allow the delivery of smart services using smart technologies.
“Due to the high costs of maintenance of the 5G network and the related infrastructure, the government would like to encourage the Mbabane Municipality to explore ways of monetizing the viable components of the services to interested parties. Highlighting that this will go a long way in subsidizing the maintenance. Our dream is to pilot with the Mbabane Municipality, and thereafter, expand the project to Ezulwini, Matsapha, Manzini, and the rest of Eswatini.” he said.