A GMA study conducted in 2019 found that by 2025 Gauteng’s roads would be so congested that traffic on the freeway would slow down to 10 kilometers an hour. This means that it will take four hours to travel from Pretoria to the city center in Johannesburg.
Fueling transformation
"The transport sector needs to heed the call for digitization within the next five years in order to deliver value to the customer and make sure that transport is a catalyst for economic growth through smart infrastructure, integration and technology," he said. "The challenge is to use technology to connect the infrastructure we already have."
An
engineer with more than 22 years of experience in infrastructure,
energy and mining – predominantly in the railway environment – Kgobe
remarked that establishing partnerships with the private sector and the
proper government entities will enable smart mobility, allowing for an
easier and quicker commute and enabling the sector to extract the most
out of the freight economy.
Thomas Snyman, Huawei senior account
representative, added that facilitating smart mobility would require an
integrated transport system connected across all transport modes, not
only for commuters but also freight.
"Enabling interoperability
through smart ICT will fuel the transformation of railway, air and road
transport as well as South Africa’s ports. A fully connected rail, road,
air, and port system achieved through unified data sharing using smart
technologies like cloud computing, big data and IoT will improve on
efficiencies, ensure greater safety and security, and provide a better
customer experience at a lower cost," said Snyman.
Integrated systems
"For example, we are currently sitting with a situation where traffic management cannot monitor road conditions, drivers are unaware of road conditions ahead and traffic lights cannot flexibly adjust to road conditions, while current technologies to identify traffic violations can often be thwarted by fog, strong lights or low-resolution cameras paired with high-speed drivers," he observed.
"By introducing
advanced technologies connected over fast networks managed by smart
algorithms we could reduce congestion, identify areas that need
maintenance, and improve road safety in real time."
Snyman added
that 5G networks would be a core component in enabling an integrated
transport system as its greater speeds, lower latency and scalability
would allow for better communication across all transport modes.
Recently, Huawei signed a cooperation agreement with Vodafone and
Hungary’s East-West Intermodal Logistics Services to build Europe’s
first smart railway hub using a 5G private network for internal
communication and technical equipment networking management.
Huawei
ICT senior specialist, Rose Moyo, said: "To ensure work mobility, you
need to be looking at providing internet access and connectivity at any
time and not be trapped within a fixed domain so that even when people
are working remotely operations can continue."
She noted that
significant investments in ICT would accelerate substantial upward
momentum in South Africa’s GDP, but noted that digital transformation in
industry was not isolated and must be led by the national digital
transformation strategy. Meanwhile, Snyman added that as an experienced
provider of transport solutions in more than 40 countries and regions
across 5 continents, Huawei would continue to lend its expertise and
services to support the transformation of South Africa’s transport
sector.
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