TECH & INNOVATION: There’s No Such Thing As ‘Township Tech’
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Wesley Diphoko is the Editor-In-Chief of FastCompany (SA) magazine talks about A few years ago, a technology incubator in Cape Town decided to establish a version of itself in a township based on pressure to advance transformation in the technology sector and potential to access funding.
This incubator became just another entrepreneurship programme and office space for all kinds of businesses and less about advancing technology in a township environment.
Lately, it has (together with other so called tech startup organisations), coined the term “township tech”, to potentially access funding targeted for tech projects designed to serve township communities.
How do you even begin to term a part of tech as just tech for a certain sector of society? It is disrespectful to single out tech-solving township challenges as “township tech” as if it's different from solving the same issues for the country, continent and the world.
Here’s why such a term is problematic.
Firstly, it limits the ability of a startup labelled as township tech to grow and access funding from investors. Which investor in his right mind will invest seriously in a startup that is labelled “township tech”?
Whoever coined this may have done so with good intentions, but unfortunately the unintended consequences will not do justice to young people in townships solving real challenges in society.
The truth of the matter is that there’s no such thing called township tech in the same way that there’s no “yuppie tech”.
What we have are edu tech, health tech, fintech startups that are solving education, health and financial challenges in the township environment.
A health or education challenge in a township may have minor differences with a similar challenge elsewhere, but it is still a health or education issue. To categorise health solutions with a health tech label irrespective of where they occur is the correct way.
Economic development practitioners should be careful of marginalising people and entrepreneurs around historical terms in the interest of accessing short term funding.
Technological innovations coming out of townships should be categorised correctly to receive global recognition and support. Local townships should be considered hotbeds of innovation.
This incubator became just another entrepreneurship programme and office space for all kinds of businesses and less about advancing technology in a township environment.
Lately, it has (together with other so called tech startup organisations), coined the term “township tech”, to potentially access funding targeted for tech projects designed to serve township communities.
How do you even begin to term a part of tech as just tech for a certain sector of society? It is disrespectful to single out tech-solving township challenges as “township tech” as if it's different from solving the same issues for the country, continent and the world.
Here’s why such a term is problematic.
Firstly, it limits the ability of a startup labelled as township tech to grow and access funding from investors. Which investor in his right mind will invest seriously in a startup that is labelled “township tech”?
Whoever coined this may have done so with good intentions, but unfortunately the unintended consequences will not do justice to young people in townships solving real challenges in society.
The truth of the matter is that there’s no such thing called township tech in the same way that there’s no “yuppie tech”.
What we have are edu tech, health tech, fintech startups that are solving education, health and financial challenges in the township environment.
A health or education challenge in a township may have minor differences with a similar challenge elsewhere, but it is still a health or education issue. To categorise health solutions with a health tech label irrespective of where they occur is the correct way.
Economic development practitioners should be careful of marginalising people and entrepreneurs around historical terms in the interest of accessing short term funding.
Technological innovations coming out of townships should be categorised correctly to receive global recognition and support. Local townships should be considered hotbeds of innovation.
