Information and Communications Technologies

A useful definition of ICT, in the context of the objectives of the ICT sector, is provided by the OECD, i.e. “ICT goods are those that are either intended to fulfil the function of information processing and communication by electronic means, including transmission and display, or which use electronic processing to detect, measure or record physical phenomena or to control physical process”. This definition accommodates the characterisation of ICT innovations as seeking to produce ICT goods as products in their own right, or seeking to apply ICT goods to enhance physical or social phenomena and processes.

Business Unit Purpose

The aim of the ICT Business Unit is to support South African innovators in applying their skills to create new ICT services and products that present high potential of establishing sustainable social or commercial enterprises. We will source and support information and communication technology (ICT) projects that offer high potential of contributing to stimulating and intensifying innovation, so as to enable improved economic growth and quality of life for all South Africans.

Our Objectives

The objective of the ICT Sector Unit is to;

• Build a pipeline of ICT investment opportunities for TIA to support;
• Assist potential innovators with development of fundable investment recommendations;
• Perform value-adding investment portfolio management on behalf of TIA and in support of individual investments; and
• Facilitate commercialisation of TIA technology development investments.

Technology Focus Areas

1. Internet Start-ups
2. Electronics/Software Integration
3. Software systems

Contact our Business Unit

Sandisiwe Gqibitole - Coordinator

Tel: 012 472 2884

Sandisiwe.gqibitole@tia.org.za

Exciting Innovations

IntelliCred

IntelliCred is an online brand protection and White Label product for businesses to protect their brands, control their affiliates and increase their revenues through secure, traceable channels. This technology provides an easier way to manage official affiliations between companies and their members or businesses and their customers. It is an innovative product which solves the problem that companies currently have when trying to monitor, track and control affiliations, associations and memberships via the web.

The basic function of IntelliCred is to change the way companies issue corporate logos by providing a service of incorporating Trust Seal features into the logos, and its purpose is to give credibility to the logos. Trust Seal enhancements deter copying of logos by ensuring that legitimately placed logos (e.g. on the web, in e-mails, brochures, letterheads, etc.) incorporate verifiable detailed information about the authority to place such logos.

Contactable

Contactable is an enterprise mobility-based technology that allows individuals and organisations to remain interconnected by ensuring that their contact details are never outdated. It is a unique software technology solution that is capable of addressing a number of key needs in the current business arena, the least of which relates to outdated and redundant database information.

The product is a generic technology platform that offers the new generation address book and CRM (customer relationship management), with the basic capabilities of dynamically exchanging contact information amongst users and organisations.

The fundamental problem that Contactable seeks to solve, involves the technological challenges of enabling owners of contact data (e.g. telephone number, address, etc.) to have full control of their data, even when such data is in third parties’ electronic communication devices or platforms.  It is the ability to place the control of updates to personal and business contact information in the hands of the owner of such information that makes the Contactable proposition an appealing innovation. In addressing such challenges, Contactable will essentially establish the owner of contact data as a single point of truth about such data.