Startup Cities: Cape Town as an Upliftment Startup

Miami Tech Week is an indication that the world is changing for good.  With many disruptions over the last decade, there is opportunity all around the world for any city to prosper in the emerging digital landscape.  Prompted by this challenge from the 1729 website posted by Balaji S. Srinivasan, this post hopes to discuss this in terms of Africa and how the concept of cloud communities and startup cities can see Cape Town fit into this paradigm.  Balaji's outlook of the future and his ideas for digital progress are optimistic and inspiring, and provide an interesting area of inquiry.

With the start of the 2020s upon us, how can Africa prosper from the above forecast?

What is a Startup City?

Balaji  defines a startup city in three ways:

Traditionally, the startup city has been a physical location (like Silicon Valley in San Fransisco) where the physical environment facilitates the growth of these businesses.  It is like a tech hub where the culture and environment fosters startup development so that innovative ideas can flourish and be easily executed. This concept that the startup city depends on a physical location is, however, one that has not stood the test of time. As progress continues at an ever increasing rate, high speed internet, blockchain and cloud computing have made the physical requirements non-essential. A mass tech migration is upon us, and Silicon Valley has lost its position as the digital startup capital of the world. The floor is now open to the developing market to put itself on the map.

Startup cities and the trend of remote work have given rise to the enticing idea that a city anywhere in the world has the opportunity to truly reinvent itself and put itself forward for a spot on the 'cloud map'. Through the concept of crowdchoice and cloud migration, a city can offer itself as a prime location for growth. A fascinating idea is that of a cloud community, forming over a common goal or unique feature, which can then select a location that accommodates and promotes the common goal. Balaji sees this idea as a means to starting a city ‘de novo’, but  if we can move populations to the cloud, then physical locations can benefit from new inhabitants and the prosperity they bring, if  physical cities can match the interest of a cloud community and become a destination for migration. The cloud community need not necessarily start a fresh city, if an existing city can meet their requirements. Leaders can thus set up their cities outside of election cycles by creating an environment in which these people want to invest and to which they would like to relocate.

So where does Cape Town fit into the above definitions? And what are its prospects going forward?

Cape Town Moving Up

Balaji has an interesting list of emerging cities in the remote economy, with an African forerunner clearly missing.

Where else indeed? Africa is not as far behind as most people may think, and opportunities like this are right within many African countries' grasp. Situated within the European time zones, developing African cities can leverage the changing ecosystem to rise up in the global economy. Within South Africa, Cape Town has already shown itself to be a software hub of sorts, with many large international software companies setting up within the city. It is also the startup capital of Africa.  Cape Town and surrounds also boast some of the continent's best universities and talent. With many high performing institutions within and surrounding Cape Town, and the University of Cape Town (UCT) continually being ranked as the best university on the continent, there is budding intellectual capital at Cape Town's disposal. Cape Town is also rated as one of the best metropolitan areas in terms of ease of doing business within South Africa.

For budding startups, Cape Town offers many support communities and a thriving ecosystem for tech enablement. Initiatives such as Silicon Cape and many others, provide a prosperous environment and infrastructure for startups within the cape to get the resources they need, and find support within the community. The Western Cape government has also aligned with this future and is providing support itself to move Cape Town in this direction by providing aid to initiatives such as Silicon Cape and the multiple tech incubators within the provinces. They are also aiming to rapidly improve the infrastructure such high speed internet access and infrastructure.  Cape Town, has most certainly shown itself to be a startup city with a dedicated desire to maintain and exceed its position as Africa's tech startup capital.

Cape Town And The Nomads

As a place of remote work and nomad lifestyle, Cape Town is also highly ranked. On the nomadlist website, Cape Town is rated in the top 10 of destinations!

This is the highest position on the list for an African city by quite a margin! This is due to the high quality of life offered by the city, through an inclusive environment and a great work/life balance in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. This, along with the startup infrastructure in place, positions Cape Town on list of leading remote economies.

However, one of the main concerns of the nomads who've worked in Cape Town is safety & the low income level of the city's inhabitants. These are not trivial issues and one that requires attention if Cape Town wishes to become a global destination in the digital world.

There are, obviously, no easy solutions to problems of this kind, and it may not necessarily help to single-mindedly expand the affluent areas of Cape Town with the aim of making it a prosperous startup city. A more nuanced approach may be viable that uplifts all the residents of Cape Town whilst also providing a foundation for the most talented minds on the continent to flourish.

The Upliftment Cloud Community

Earlier we mentioned that cities can benefit by positioning themselves as enticing locations for cloud communities, if the city and the community share and align to a common interest.  A community of people that approach the world with a startup mindset, but also have a drive to address global issues, can form within an 'Upliftment Cloud Community'. The idea behind the Upliftment Community is to provide a place for mobile, future focused, tech entrepreneurs and nomads to pursue their goals in the digital world, but also the opportunity to improve the lives of other people. We can include in this concept the natural world, and also focus on the environment and conservation.  This would be a community that sees the bigger picture outside of just technology, where it is acknowledged that we need other people and the world we live in to thrive if we are to thrive too.

Cape Town As An Upliftment Startup

So, Cape Town finds itself in an interesting position. As a city with a great foundation for startups, Cape Town still faces the challenge of being a developing city in a developing nation. The fact that the infrastructure and governmental alignment is already in place, gives hope that Cape Town can raise all of its inhabitants to prosperity. The social responsibility of Cape Town not just as a city that facilitates startup development, but as a startup itself, would be to see all the people and surrounding environment as potential that can aid in growing the city on the global scale, and onto the 'Cloud Map'.

The idea here is to see Cape Town through two of the definitions of a Startup City: A city that already facilitates startup development, and a city that acts as a startup itself. Taking the ideas of crowdchoice and digital migration, an Upliftment Community can form within and migrate to the city. Since the foundations are already in place for this, all we need is to create a cloud community focused on this goal. As a prime location for migration, Cape Town offers those with not only an entrepreneurial spirit, but a desire for social and environmental improvement, an opportunity to make economical and social waves.

One key fact about South Africa is that most people have access to technology in some way. The smartphone penetration rate is exceedingly high, with 95% of eligible South Africans owning smartphones. This exceeds the percentage of people with access to personal computers or laptops, but does pose an opportunity for all South Africans to get in on a digital city. Smartphone access has dramatically expanded the job market over the last few years, with things like Uber  being a trivial but effective example. Smartphone access also opens the door to education resources and personal development apps that many people did not have access to before. Effectively, smartphones have added a whole new branch of budding potential to the work force, which can benefit the people of the city and the startups that migrate there.

Digital startups and entrepreneurs should then not shy away from Cape Town as a migration choice for propelling technological development. Rather, there is an opportunity here, supported by developing infrastructure that already avails itself as a continental leader. With the right mindset, Cape Town can distinguish itself and also provide a foundation for upliftment throughout the community and natural world. Startups within the city, with the aid of the city acting as a startup itself, can include all the people of Cape Town as the city rises in the global economy and brings the rest of the world with it.

Change Driven Development

An example of  development that aims to tackle social issues using blockchain technology is Wildcards.  The principle behind Wildcards is the same principle that makes the idea of an Upliftment Startup City plausible. Created by a team of UCT students, Wildcards looks to provide a more personal and connected means by which people can partake in conservation across the world. By being always for sale, Wildcards ensure that the conservation effort is always upheld. This is but one of the cool ideas that demonstrates the potential of Cape Town as a startup hub, but also as a location which can facilitate social and environmental change in our world.

The reason for focusing on this example is to show all the elements of an Upliftment Startup City in play (and, in fact, this concept includes the natural world as well as the social world as areas of upliftment). With all these digital resources available in every city, projects with the explicit goal of making useful change within the world are clearly possible and desirable. With a cloud community driven by the same ethos backing Wildcards, Cape Town can manifest a unique startup city that has an impact far greater than just economical gain.

The Future of Cape Town

Cape Town has already made a mark on the digital nomad world and has identified itself as a continental leader in technological startups. As a location, it is well poised to become a global leading startup city in the physical sense, as well as a location for digital migration potentially focused on societal and environmental improvement.  The future is open for Cape Town to provide a home for cloud community members with innovative ideas and a drive for change.

ClarityFox pursues interesting ideas  from many different areas.
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