While channel hopping a couple of days ago, I caught a British diplomat referring to South Africa as the miracle nation. At the time the comment aggravated me to such an extent that I flipped right past and failed to get her name. But Mrs British Politician, on which damn planet are you living? The only miracle here is that a corrupt and damaging government has not been overthrown by angry citizens.

Each year, more than 270 000 pedestrians lose their lives on the world’s roads. The government reports that in the Western Cape pedestrian deaths increase by 22% over the festive season.

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. 

Those who have attended any of my talks or been subjected to my overly enthusiastic ranting on collaboration, know my passion for the topic of cities. I fervently believe that citizens can fix broken cities and citizen collaboration can create magic in any city.

When our grandchildren ask about what life was like, what will we tell them? Will we tell them that we were among the generations that learnt real lessons from the past, that we despised the vast disparities between people, that globally there was enough for all, that this was shared and that we embraced the collaborative era? That we shared ideas and solutions to major and minor challenges with communities that shared purpose?