Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 17 | Page 12

NEWS New app makes restaurant bookings easy Obama Foundation selects Tshimologong’s CEO Lesley Williams D ineplan has launched South Africa’s first instant booking platform for restaurants. It is an innovative app that enables patrons to now browse and instantly make restaurant reservations according to customer ratings, specific cuisines, availability, name, area or even by current location. The Dineplan app allows users to conduct location-based searches, create lists of their favourite restaurants, browse customer ratings and even research different cuisines on offer. Diners can also check a restaurant’s operating hours and even share reservation information with fellow diners including Google Map locations. Dineplan partnered with Bluegrass Digital, a creative technology company with over 20 years of international web development experience to develop this app. It used the latest mobile development technology called React Native to build a native app that uses the same code for deployment on iOS as well as on Android devices without compromising functionality and performance. Bluegrass Digital Managing Director, Nick Durrant, says the collaboration with Dineplan was the company’s fourth completed project using React Native. “This technology stack is quickly becoming our preferred approach over Swift, Java Android, Xamarin or Cordova built mobile apps,” he said. According to Greg Whitfield, a director at Dineplan, Bluegrass was the standout choice for the project because of its previous experience using React Native. “This was a big draw card for the Dineplan team,” he said. “We wanted to create an app that was simple for the public to use to find and instantly book a table at any one of the 1,000 South African-based restaurants currently using Dineplan.” Tshimologong Precinct CEO Lesley Williams J ohannesburg’s leading digital innovation hub, Tshimologong Precinct, has announced that its CEO, Lesley Williams, has been selected as a member of the inaugural class of the Obama Foundation Leaders: Africa programme. “Through Tshimologong Precinct and other initiatives, South Africa has made impressive progress to not only improve our country, but to build much needed skills,” said Williams. “I am excited to form part of this working group and committed to help make Africa better for all.” Over the course of 2017, President Obama met with emerging leaders from nearly every corner of the globe to better understand how the Obama Foundation can support their work. To support and develop the next generation of leaders in Africa, Obama Foundation Leaders: Africa was formed. It is a year-long initiative to inspire, empower, and connect 200 emerging leaders from across Africa to take on the biggest challenges in their communities, countries and continent. Williams was appointed as part of the Obama Foundation’s commitment to 12 INTELLIGENTCIO grow its global network of innovative and ethical change makers who seek to drive transformation in their communities. This programme will provide emerging African leaders from a range of backgrounds with the skills they need to create change. Through plenary sessions, problem-solving workshops, technical trainings and leadership development, this working group will aim to find ways to create and solve African-specific issues. It will kick off with a five-day workshop in Johannesburg. It will also include a town hall meeting with President Obama where he will learn about their experiences and the work Africa is doing. “It is even more exciting as at the same time, while in Johannesburg, President Obama will deliver the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture,” added Williams. “In honour of the 100th anniversary of Madiba’s birth, the lecture’s theme will be Renewing the Mandela Legacy and Promoting Active Citizenship in a Changing World.” www.intelligentcio.com