IBM has named Mombasa in Kenya, Durban in South Africa and Abuja in Nigeria among its IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant recipients for 2014.
Smarter Cities Challenge is a competitive grant programme that sends teams of some of IBM’s most talented experts to select cities and regions worldwide to provide pro bono consulting expertise on the most critical issues faced by communities today. This year, the company will be helping at least 16 cities and regions around the world this year address issues ranging from clean water, healthy food, and revenue generation, to job development, efficient transportation, and public safety.
How it works is that IBM teams invest months studying a local issue chosen by a winning municipality. They then spend three weeks on the ground in the region gathering and analysing all relevant data, while meeting in person with dozens of members of the government, citizen, business, and not-for-profit communities. At the conclusion of these studies, IBM presents comprehensive recommendations for solving the problem, followed weeks later by a more detailed, written plan for its implementation.
An IBM team will visit Mombasa County later this year to review and recommend strategies for enhancing revenue collection and management.
“We are honoured and elated to receive this award. We are confident that it will go a long way in helping us to elaborate mechanisms that will increase efficiency in revenue collection and ultimately improve service delivery to our citizens and to Mombasa as a preferred tourist destination,†said Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.
Smarter Cities Challenge was originally conceived in 2011 as a three-year grant program, but positive feedback encouraged IBM to extend the initiative.