Siemens, a manufacturing company, has partnered with Legae Larona, a 100 per cent black-owned women enterprise, to create merchandise using data visualisation of Alexandra Township (Alex) printed onto South African woven fabric
Keshin Govender, group head of Communications, Siemens southern and eastern Africa, said, “We embarked on a data visualisation project in Alexandra to see what could be learnt about the ‘DNA’ of the township but also how this information could be better understood to improve living conditions for the community.”
“After tapping into our digital resources to consolidate this data, we used the visualisation to create layered patterns of the community which were then printed onto South African woven fabric. The result; a vivid visual representation of the community of Alexandra told through its data attributes,” Govender further added.
Siemens CEO for southern and eastern Africa, Sabine Dall’Omo, commented, “Using the data visualisations we were also able to identify areas where we could make a tangible and sustainable difference in the Alexandra community.”
“As part of our Enterprise Development programme, we identified a 100 per cent black women-owned business, Legae Larona Sewing Cooperative, who then used this fabric to create great South African products for our employees as well as members of the broader South African business community. The cooperative is now a fully functioning business receiving orders from other companies as well,” she added.
“Through data, a lot could be learnt about an industry, community or a city. At Siemens, we are leading the charge towards digitalisation including the challenges it brings and we’re using that to positively impact the country,” she further added.
