The SMART Stellenbosch Innovation District Management Organization (SIDMO) commits to transitioning Stellenbosch into a showcase SMART and sustainable town by 2020. In doing so SIDMO commits to:
•The establishment of a SID website to be a full-scale online innovation system and exchange designed to connect, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs and financiers to markets and social needs
•To establish a specific not-for-profit intermediary and innovation management organization needs to be established to assist with the management of potential and established projects, firm clusters, networks and potentially matching university research outputs to industry needs. The aim of this intermediary organization is also to assist in the establishment of new projects, and to source finance and skills for each project that may contribute to a SMARTER and GREENER Economy.
•Gather a network and database of individuals and companies involved in Green Economy Activities in the Western Cape region – in collaboration with the Global Change Research Group at the University of Stellenbosch.
•Additional research outputs are to do innovation system analysis of the Green Economy and Green Economy Technologies and Diffusion. The first Student is to produce work on the Technological Innovation System of Solar PV in the Western Cape and South Africa.
•The first round of projects leading towards a SMARTER town of Stellenbosch needs to be established via the online innovation SMART projects matrix.
•Work with the municipality and the university to re-design the Khayamandi Economic Corridor to transform this multi-million Rand building into a skills lab for ‘barefoot’ engineers; base of the pyramid entrepreneurs; commerce; but also to be used as physical space linkage facility to other innovators and zones in the SID such as Technopark; the University etc.
•Additional projects are to assist in the facilitation of World Design Capital 2014 projects, and to help raise finance and build project teams around WDC project ideas.
2014 – 2020 will be a period of continued networking and building of the networks and online innovation system necessary to transition Stellenbosch town into a SMART and sustainable Town.