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Title: The Western Cape ICT cluster: is distance dead?- [World Wide Web]

Notes: As the world moves into the knowledge age, there is a danger that emerging economies like South Africa will get left further behind. In order to prepare for a knowledge economy, it is imperative that South Africa develops strong capabilities in information and communications technology (ICT). But how can an emerging economy, whose focus is largely concerned with alleviating poverty and seeing to the most basic needs of its people, reach the levels of ICT success of first world nations? This report investigates the phenomenon of clustering, and the particular role that it can play in South Africa. More specifically, the research seeks to understand the development of an ICT cluster in the Western Cape region, and to determine its effectiveness and future viability. The viability is assessed according to a framework developed by Porter (1990), known as the `diamond model`, which provides guidelines for understanding a cluster. A further key issue highlighted in this research is that of distance. The global ICT sector has, in recent years, been proclaiming that `distance is dead` since communications have become cheaper and the world, with the growth of the Internet, more networked. Given its geographical location, the Western Cape provides an ideal opportunity to investigate the distance issue. The region has access to a very small local market, is far removed from the largest national market, and is situated in a country that is geographically isolated from the world`s largest markets.

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