Johannesburg residents have been challenged to help solve the city’s problems using technology, and could win a share of R5m in prize money in the process to fund their own start-up businesses if their ideas are selected.

City of Johannesburg head of broadband Zolani Matebese says the initiative, called the #Hack.Jozi Challenge, will pay people for their ideas that will turn Jo’burg into a “city we all want to live in”.

The #Hack.Jozi Challenge is an initiative between the city government and the Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering at Wits University.

Applications take the form of a YouTube video and online application form, with 6 March set as the deadline for ideas. Award winners will use IBM’s Bluemix, a platform for building applications, provided as a service in the “cloud”.

“No issue is too big or small. Issues that can be addressed include everything from access to healthcare to affordable education. If you have an idea about how you can use technology to help your community, we want to hear from you,” says Matebese.

“The #Hack.Jozi Challenge is a boot camp for start-up entrepreneurs and our aim is to contribute towards fostering skills, innovation and entrepreneurship in the broad area of digital technology.”

Anyone can enter, he says. Applicants can be individuals or teams, must live in the Johannesburg area and have a valid South African ID. Government employees are not eligible to enter.

Once the deadline for submission has passed, there will be a pre-screening process by a technical team. A committee will select the winners, who will undergo a month-long process of business training and technical “hackathons”. Winners will be required to demonstrate their ideas on a demo day as well. — (c) 2015 NewsCentral Media