21 November 2006

By Anish Abraham

PROVING itself a champion of progress and innovation, the City of Johannesburg won two awards from the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) earlier in November.

Four projects were submitted for this year's CPSI awards; two won, one came second and one came third.

The City's air quality management system won in the category for innovative enhancements of internal systems within government. The system provides accurate and relevant tools for monitoring air quality, developing an inventory of every source of air pollution for the first time in South Africa. This has increased the municipality's competitive advantage when seeking access to capital markets for its developmental and infrastructure programmes.

The Emergency Management Services' foam manifold chemical fire fighting system won public sector innovator of the year

Emergency Management Services' foam manifold chemical fire fighting system won in the category of public sector innovator of the year. The system has two main advantages – the reduction of fire fighting manpower at liquid fires by between 75 percent and 80 percent, and the unique ability to mix concentrated foam with water at the site instead of having to transport large containers of pre-mixed foam. The system is easily transferable to other emergency services.

The City's internet mapping site was runner up in the category for innovative use of information technology for effective service delivery. The site enables the public, developers and others global access to online maps, providing them with spatial information such as street addresses, boundaries, zoning, stands and aerial photographs. Previously this information was only available over the counter; the internet site has helped to cut the time needed to acquire crucial data for planning and development.

The Vuka u Zenzele bucket fire fighting system came third in the category for innovative partnerships in service delivery. Through this project, residents of informal settlements are taught basic fire fighting skills, including the age-old bucket system. This enables communities to take some action against what are mainly shack fires until Emergency Management Services crews arrive.

The Joburg Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (Jike), a unit within the Office of the City Manager, is responsible for submitting innovative local projects for consideration for awards from the CPSI and from international bodies such as the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management.

Over the past three years it has added 25 projects - 10 a year in the first two years and five in the last financial year into its internal Innovation Publication. The most suitable projects from the Innovation Publication are then forwarded to bodies to compete for awards. Four projects out of the five were submitted to the CPSI award in the last financial year.

Past winners of local and international awards include Pikitup's 100 Spots clean-up campaign, which targets illegal dumping hotspots, and the Capital Investment Management System.

"We look for innovative projects within the city which are sustainable, improve service delivery and can be easily replicated elsewhere," said Jean Jacques Mbayo, acting specialist for knowledge management and innovation at Jike.

"The City enters projects into various awards … as a way of encouraging employees to be more innovative in the way they conduct their day-to-day activities."

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