Radical innovation, Uber-hailing transport and its impact: a case study of Uber business in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

The speed of technological innovation and digital technology has increased. Businesses with the right innovations at the right time are becoming millionaires and billionaires overnight. Digital technology has been created by human being. Some people fear it because it is not to their advantages as they lose jobs, and others see their businesses suffer. On the other side, others, especially businesses that adapt to technology, are embracing it. Technology has already improved the profit of other businesses, and it has also affected some workers across the world. The aim of this paper is, through the lens of radical innovation, examine what technological innovation has been able to do in the world of transportation with a special focus on Uber-hailing business in the City of Cape Town. This paper also explains what Uberhailing transport is, and what type of employment is for Uber drivers. Uber transport is convenient and not time consuming. It has created a fair amount of jobs. The workers of Uber covers in this paper are mostly foreign national and immigrants. There is a link between Uber business and migrant labour. They work as car drivers transporting clients from one place to the next around the city of Cape Town. The data presented in this paper is from the survey conducted in Cape Town in 2017.