As I walked through Delta Park yesterday, I saw a gentleman throw a bag of dog poo in the bin on his way out. I thanked him, because this is a rare occurrence. Up until a year or two ago, the parks were dog poo-free. People were conscious and had a conscience. They walked with plastic bags and cleared up after their dogs. Not anymore.

If we are clear that data allows decision makers to make evidence-based decisions, we immediately understand the importance of open data to the collaborative process. Data not only has the power to revolutionise and disrupt the way societies are governed but also the way citizens and government collaborate. 

Many businesses find the transition from the silo-style environment to one of cross-functional collaboration, highly challenging. Studies from the schooling environment indicate that collaborative learning teams attain higher level thinking and preserve information for longer times than students working individually.  

There are so many drivers disrupting the workplace as we know it today. Included is expanded lifespans – globally, the rise of smart machines that will make the repetitive, rote type tasks performed by humans, redundant and a globally connected and computational world among others.

Roger Southall, Professor of Sociology at the University of Witwatersrand, in his article, ‘Eight years too late: Mbeki's ANC set a precedent of undermining the constitution*’, suggests that Thabo Mbeki, did our country and himself a great disservice when he accepted the ANC’s directive to be removed as president of the country.