EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Talking tomorrow, today
H
eld under the theme of ‘Talking
Tomorrow, today’ at the Sandton
Convention Centre last year, the
event engaged a range of stakeholders
to not only make them aware of the
complete solutions available from the
company, but to stimulate an important
debate about the increasingly critical role
played by technology.
Designed as a showcase of innovation,
the event gave a comprehensive
overview of smart city technology, green
building solutions and energy efficiency,
and infrastructure and human capital
investment. Here, the focus was buildings
across the board, from hospitals to
universities. “Our aim was to engage
with important stakeholders in order to
understand what is on their wish list in terms
of benefiting their end users,” Archibald
Makatini, GM for sub-Saharan Africa at
the Johnson Control MEA headquarters in
Isando, Johannesburg, says.
Smart cities are not only about ‘bright
shiny new buildings’ but must focus on
developing infrastructure that caters to
the overall needs of society, according to
controls
The concept of the cold chain going digital is a discussion that hasn’t been well engaged throughout the
value chain. Johnson Controls held an innovation day looking at how ‘smart’ buildings can accelerate
infrastructure delivery in the country.
Grahame Cruickshanks, managing
executive, Green Building Council SA.
26
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
Johnson Control panel: from left: Good Hope FM radio personality, Mishka Patel; Peet
Geldenhuys, Smart City specialist engineer, Africa NEXTEC; Justin Lawson, executive director,
CBRE Global Workplace Solutions; Grahame Cruickshanks; and Alfredo Dos Santos, senior
cloud architect, Microsoft.
Archie Makatini.
Makatini. Born in South Africa, Makatini’s
23-year career with Johnson Controls has
taken him from New York City to New
Jersey, Hawaii, California, and now back
to South Africa. “What brought me full
circle was the opportunity. Africa is primed
for infrastructure growth across the board.”
Johnson Controls is ideally positioned to
assist cities like Johannesburg revive their
dilapidated building stock, as it grapples
with a growing deficit of affordable
housing. “A lot of these buildings do not
even have simple functionality such as
air-con. We as a company can assist in
turning Johannesburg around. We have
the knowhow to turn those buildings into
liveable environments.”
A major issue faced by both national
and local government level is its capacity
for proactive maintenance, which is
increasingly constrained by a lack of
funding and the necessary technical skills.
“We have engaged with our partners in
order to demonstrate our capabilities in
COLD LINK AFRICA •
March/April 2020