City strives for facilities management data based decisions
17 June 2025
The City of Cape Town’s Corporate Services Directorate will receive expert support from Finland on how to apply evidence and data analytics for long-term planning and decision making. As the City is working towards optimising and rationalising its asset portfolio for greater synergy and cost-savings, the Facilities Management Department will greatly benefit from the cooperation with the Finnish Government in centralising the facilities management function of immovable properties.
The Corporate Services Directorate manages a portfolio of City facilities, amongst which 159 City buildings, 120 clinics, 102 libraries and 38 Early Childhood Development Centres, 31 fire stations, 19 Metro Police offices, 31 traffic centres, and 54 Law Enforcement offices, as well as 11 municipal courts.
‘The Facilities Management Department is busy developing digital solutions to improve the way we are managing these properties. For us to achieve the best possible outcomes, we must ensure that our decisions and long-term planning are based on data. Also, data in itself is not the answer, you have to know how to analyse and use the data to achieve the outcomes. The collaboration with Finland is a great opportunity to learn more from the most digitalised country in Europe and the world leader in digital government,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services, Alderman Theresa Uys.
The support is provided under the Finnish Digital and Green Transition (FDGT) Programme, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, and implemented by the HAUS Finnish Institute of Public Management Ltd. The cooperation will take place over six months at no cost to the City:
• The technical assistance will commence in September 2025
• First-off, the technical assistance will focus on developing a City of Cape Town Facilities Management Digital Twin Framework. This will provide guidance to the department about how to use Digital Twin Techology as a strategic enabler for operations
• Thereafter, the implementation of the Digital Twin Pilot Project will follow
‘We are excited to embark on this journey, and I also want to thank the Mayor and the Mayoral Committee for their approval, which will allow us to sign this agreement with Finland,’ said Alderman Uys.
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
