Cities of the future: OR Tambo International Airport in Ekurhuleni
In a rapidly changing world, a world of technology and information and innovation where opportunities abound, most cities — the very nuclei our physical existence — still function at less than optimal levels, and still reveal a distinct separation between the rich and the poor.
How can we come together and harness all that is available to create the best possible city for the future? Here are some of the useful insights that have been gathered in the lead-up to the Innovation Summit in various South African cities.
Harnessing collective intelligence to our advantage
Technologies and information can assist us in creating a city of opportunity. Resources are already available — it’s best to learn from and collaborate with those in the know, such as the Innovate Durban Programme. The South African Innovation Summit has also partnered with the Swiss government this year, in order to learn as much as possible from what this first world country is doing in terms of creating cities of the future.
Biomimicry is an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies. It is proving to be highly effective in making a real difference. We must initiate and support more biomimicry projects to shape cleaner, more efficient cities, and people must be taught about the possibilities that exist through utilising this innovative strategy.
Social impact investment is a smart way to find real solutions to real challenges faced by communities; it impacts positively on the environment and still yields financial returns. How can we get more corporations and businesses on board in this regard? World-class tools to measure social impact may be developed through partnerships with the Swiss, cities and university innovation departments. The results of such measurement can attract investment from businesses.
Attitude is vital
From government policymakers to budding entrepreneurs, thought leaders to large organisations, the way we approach the future is vital. We must:
- Not be afraid to fail, as some of the world’s biggest successes came from failure;
- Be curious: every amazing thing started with someone asking, can we do it?
- Become more active. Two billion hours of TV is watched in the US each year; Wikipedia took 200-million hours of work. If people were more productive, 2 000 such projects could have been developed.
- Be the architects of our own future cities. We are not victims on the tide of life. The future is a matter of choice, not chance.
Develop a vision for a future city
One of our biggest problems is that we design cities according to our current problems, instead of creating the future that we want. To create the kind of city we want in the future, we have to visualise this city of opportunity in collaboration with entrepreneurs, innovators, businesses and government policymakers, and then work towards it.
A platform for dialogue between government, community and private sector must be created. Silo-based thinking and behaviour makes it extremely difficult to get things done. A framework for collaboration must be created. The first steps must be taken to open this dialogue up. The most important players must be identified and strategies formulated to bring them together. Easier ways for entrepreneurs to do business with the city must be found and facilitated. Changes need to be made to tender procedures to ensure a more inclusive process. We must look to Durban, where the Innovate Durban Programme is soon to become its own legal entity.
Science and business must be bought together. Even the most gifted scientific thinker may not have business acumen. In South Africa and other parts of the world, many people have great ideas and are tech-savvy and even highly educated, but do not necessarily have the mind-set to run a business. Possible steps to rectify this may be training innovators in business skills, or creating spaces for the tech-savvy to collaborate with the business-savvy.
The internet must be made accessible to all. We build robots that can stack a dishwasher or send people into outer space, yet not everybody has access to the internet, one of the key factors in a successful future for all.
Our cities must continue to find ways to build on thier digital strategies and provide the internet to those on the outskirts of the city; with information and knowledge comes a world of opportunity.
In conclusion, there is still much work to be done. There are ample opportunities — our task now is take action to reach out, meet, collaborate, facilitate, keep talking and work towards a thriving city.
Some of your most important assets aren’t on your balance sheet — yet!
In the past products had a more physical nature; today, knowledge is the key source of competitive advantage in the global market. This shift has reversed the historical pattern where tangibles made up 80% of corporate value. These days, tangibles make up just 18% of corporate value and the remaining 82% is intangible — and yet the value for these intangibles is seldom calculated and reflected in businesses’ financial statements.
Intellectual capital (IC) is the intangible value of a business — it is the sum of everything that everyone in a company knows that gives it a competitive edge. It is the knowledge of a workforce, the training and intuition of a team. It is also collaboration — the shared learning — between a company and its customers, which forge a bond between them that brings customers back. It is knowledge, information, intellectual property and experience, all of which may be used to create wealth.
Knowptima Solutions has the rare and innovative ability to value, measure and capture a business’s IC in order for it to manage, grow and derive monetary value from the 82% of a company that is intangible.
Our IC calculation system is based on econometrics and is compliant with international standards.
How often do small or new companies with brilliant executable ideas fail because they cannot access funding? In approximately 90% of cases this is because they don’t meet investor or bank requirements for asset value. However, these businesses are failing to recognise the monetary value of what is potentially their most valuable asset.
Knowptima Solutions provides the opportunity for start-ups, existing businesses, struggling business, government funders, technology transfer offices, investors, venture capitalists, and even business rescue practitioners and innovators to benefit from knowing the exact value of intangible assets previously not recognised on the Statement of Financial Position. Investors can evaluate and compare investment opportunities with greater confidence and insight.
Entities seeking funding can substantiate their funding applications with a more accurate reflection of asset and company value. In short, almost every company and investor, no matter how big or small, can benefit from the services offered by Knowptima Solutions.
Not only can Knowoptima Solutions provide the service of valuing intellectual capital and innovations, but investors can also be trained and licenced to continuously perform their own valuations. We strongly believe that our methodology will become the new global standard practice.
The current trend in business is to invest in staff training and development, despite the risk of those employees leaving. Knowptima Solutions offers a way to capture the knowledge and experience of your staff before they retire, resign, or are retrenched. This way the value derived from your human capital is permanently retained by the business in a format that is easily controlled and transferred to future employees. Apart from the benefit of transferring knowledge and contributing to business continuity, there is an opportunity to value this intellectual capital and recognise it as a financial asset in your financial statements.
Meet with Knowptima Solutions’ directors and experts to discuss how their unique services could benefit you, your business, or your investments. Knowptima Solutions is so confident in their services and offerings that your first meeting is not only obligation free, but also free of charge.
Contact [email protected] or visit www.knowptima.co.za