MTC to push Swakopmund’s smart city aspirations

MTC and the leadership of the Municipality of Swakopmund embarked on a long-term strategic cooperation on Friday by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which will see the two parties collaborate in supporting the Namibian public sector through the provision of innovative and digital solutions.

Speaking at the signing ceremony in Swakopmund, MTC’s managing director Licky Erastus highlighted: “The MOU is a framework of cooperation that will facilitate strategic partnership, which will edge the town of Swakopmund to transform from a traditional coastal town to a smart coastal town, with a vibrant and connected digital ecosystem. We believe that the fruits of this

partnership will translate into attracting post-Covid economic activity in new areas and also infuse life in the traditional sectors”.

At the occasion, deputy mayor of Swakopmund David Am-!Gabeb expressed that “council has a vision to transform Swakopmund into a smart city. And as part of this smart city concept, our aim is to enhance developmental activities that focus on digital technologies to improve customer experience. We are, therefore, delighted to partner with the digital enabler, MTC, who has committed to help the council towards realising the goal of becoming a smart town”.

With this partnership, Swakopmund aims to achieve smart metering, enhanced service delivery, processes and systems efficiency, transform government transaction services, data driven business processes, better access to and management of information, enhance citizen satisfaction, and to support and nurture local digital innovation and solutions.

MTC’s chief commercial officer Melvin Angula underscored that to become a smart sustainable town, fostering partnership between utility providers and telecommunications operators is key. “Utilities need telecommunication infrastructure that is stable, secure, reliable and interoperable to support a high volume of ICT-based applications and services.

And for the past two years, MTC has worked tirelessly to meet such requirements. As a digital enabler, we have embarked on adopting recent developments in the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and smart grids and meters to drive and support the development of smart sustainable cities,” said Angula.