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
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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.”
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