STAATSKOERANT, 31 Mei 2024 No. 50741   141 South Africa is home to data centre investors and cloud providers with global reach, competencies, and experience, providing efficient and affordable data storage and processing facilities due to economies of scale acquired over years of operation. However, the government faces limited resources and increasing citizen needs, necessitating a balance between both against finite financial resources. While there might be sentiments favoring government-built data centers for full control, the prohibitive costs associated with building, running, and maintaining these facilities could render them unsustainable and impractical, potentially becoming white elephants in a few years. Currently, South Africa faces electricity supply challenges. Given that data centers operate 24 hours a day and consume vast amounts of electricity, reliance solely on the national grid may be insufficient. Therefore, it is crucial for data centre owners and operators to implement additional alternative energy resources to prevent operational disruptions. The establishment and operation of data centers require specialized technical skills, which may not be widely available in South Africa at present. Even where such skills exist, the government must compete with the private sector, with its limited funding, to attract these skilled professionals. Given these challenges, it may not be feasible for the government to own and manage data centres with its limited resource base. Data-sharing across government departments has proven invaluable in enabling the government to provide integrated support services during times of disaster, such as during the Covid-19 pandemic, when different government departments had to collaborate to deliver integrated services to citizens. This data-sharing can also support integrated planning and evidence-based policies and services, assisting the government in providing comprehensive support to citizens from birth to old age. For instance, data-sharing by the Departments of Health, Education, Social Development, and Home Affairs can ensure that upon birth, a child is immediately registered in the birth register and acquires a birth certificate and identity number from Home Affairs. With a record of the number of children born in a particular year, the government can plan for their education, social support, and infrastructure needs in advance based on empirical data. This approach can also aid law enforcement by enabling tracking and tracing based on citizen records, such as fingerprints. Therefore, data storage and processing infrastructure must facilitate data-sharing and systems interoperability. 19 This gazette is also available free online at www.gpwonline.co.za