Platform overview
The ECDC Economic Symposium Platform is the official commitment accountability and economic matchmaking system for the 2026 Eastern Cape Export Symposium & Exhibition. It was built on a single premise: every pledge made on the Symposium floor must be traceable to evidence by the time the Provincial DDG takes the stage at the 2027 Symposium.
The platform has four role-based portals, each serving a distinct audience:
Full CRUD on the commitment ledger, delegate directory, organisations, and projects. Requires MFA.
Live accountability dashboard with sector-by-sector delivery rates, at-risk queue, and intervention tools.
Project showcase, AI-assisted investor–project matchmaking, and delegate directory access.
Own profile management, meeting scheduling with other delegates, and iCal export.
A public accountability tracker at /tracker is visible to anyone without logging in — so journalists, civil society, and citizens can hold commitments to account.
Roles & access
Every user account is assigned exactly one role. Roles are enforced at the database level via Row-Level Security (RLS) — they cannot be bypassed by editing a URL or API call.
| Role | Portal | Key permissions |
|---|---|---|
| Admin | /admin/dashboard | Full CRUD on all tables. Can set commitment status, approve evidence, manage users. MFA required. |
| Government | /government/dashboard | Read-only on all commitments. Can view at-risk queue and commitment detail. |
| Investor | /investor/projects | Project showcase, own matches, delegate directory (when open). Cannot see commitment rand values of others. |
| Delegate | /delegate/profile | Own profile only. Can request and manage meetings. Visible to others only when directory window is open. |
/admin/users) is where roles are assigned after registration.Getting started
Follow these steps to access the platform for the first time:
Register your account
Wait for role assignment
/login.Sign in and land on your portal
Complete your profile (delegates)
/delegate/profile including bio, organisation, delegate type, and country. Your profile is only visible to other delegates when the directory window opens.Admin portal
The Admin portal is the control centre of the platform. All nav items are accessible via the Menu button in the top navigation.
Dashboard
/admin/dashboard
KPI tiles (total pledged, commitments, delivery rate), at-risk preview, and countdown to 2027 Symposium.
Commitments
/admin/commitments
Full ledger with search, filters, and pagination (50/page). Create, update, add evidence, soft-delete.
Organisations
/admin/organisations
Manage investor, government, corporate, and DFI organisations. Archive/restore with soft-delete.
Projects
/admin/projects
Investment-ready project showcase. Create and edit projects linked to organisations.
Delegates
/admin/delegates
Full delegate directory management. Bulk-open visibility when directory window opens.
2027 Roadmap
/admin/roadmap
Cumulative impact tracker and readiness indicators for the 2027 Symposium.
Report
/admin/report
Generate live CSV or print-ready HTML reports from three DB queries (not screenshots).
Config
/admin/config
Set Symposium date, directory open date, and 2027 target date without touching the DB console.
Users
/admin/users
List all registered users, assign roles, and deactivate accounts.
Audit Trail
/admin/audit
Append-only log of every create, update, and delete action across the platform.
Security
/admin/security
Set up and manage TOTP multi-factor authentication for your admin account.
Commitment ledger
The commitment ledger is the core of the platform. Every pledge made at the 2026 Symposium is entered here by an Admin within 24 hours.
Creating a commitment
Navigate to Commitments → New
/admin/commitments/new. All fields are required unless marked optional.Fill in the pledge details
- Organisation — Select from existing organisations or create a new one first.
- Sector — Choose the sector the pledge falls under (e.g. Agriculture, Manufacturing).
- Type — The pledge category (e.g. Infrastructure, Employment, Export).
- Value (ZAR) — The rand value of the commitment. Cannot be zero.
- Responsible official — The named person accountable for delivery.
- Pledged date — The date the pledge was made (usually the Symposium date).
- Deadline — The agreed delivery deadline.
Submit — a reference ID is issued automatically
ECDC-COM-2026-XXX. This ID never changes. Share it with the responsible official as the canonical reference for all future correspondence.Updating commitment status
Status and progress percentage are Admin-writable fields. Navigate to the commitment detail page and update via the status form. The four allowed statuses are:
No progress recorded yet. Default on creation.
Work has begun; evidence may or may not exist.
Deadline at risk. Triggers the intervention queue on the Government dashboard.
Commitment has been fulfilled. Evidence required.
progress_source field on a commitment is either admin_asserted (default — Admin has stated progress without uploaded evidence) or evidence_backed (at least one evidence entry exists that justifies the percentage). Only set evidence_backed after evidence is actually submitted — the system does not do this automatically.Soft-deleting a commitment
Commitments are never hard-deleted. Use the Archive button on the commitment detail page. This sets a deleted_at timestamp and removes the commitment from all active views, but it remains in the audit log and can be restored.
Evidence & progress
Evidence entries are the accountability backbone of the platform. They are append-only — once submitted, an evidence entry cannot be edited or deleted. This is an intentional design decision to prevent retroactive manipulation of accountability records.
Submitting evidence (Admin)
Open the commitment detail
/admin/commitments/[id] and scroll to the Evidence section.Add an evidence note
Submit — the entry is timestamped and linked to your profile
Public evidence submission
Organisations can submit evidence without an account via the public evidence page at /evidence/[commitment-id]. The commitment reference ID (e.g.ECDC-COM-2026-004) is the entry point — share it with the responsible organisation so they can submit progress updates directly.
/certificates/[id]. They are publicly accessible and can be shared or printed without logging in.Government dashboard
The Government portal provides a live accountability view of all commitments with no ability to edit — government users are observers and auditors, not editors.
KPI tiles
Total pledged (ZAR), total commitments, delivered count, and at-risk count — all drawn live from the database.
Sector delivery table
Side-by-side comparison of total pledged vs delivered per sector, with a colour-coded progress bar.
At-risk queue
All commitments with status at_risk, sorted by deadline proximity. Click any row to drill into the full commitment detail including evidence.
2027 readiness tracker
Countdown to the 2027 Symposium date (from platform config) and a cumulative impact chart.
Year-on-Year charts
Sector-level YoY comparisons to track whether investment commitments are growing or declining.
Investor portal
The Investor portal connects capital with investment-ready Eastern Cape projects using a deterministic scoring engine — no black-box AI, no cold introductions.
Investor profile setup
An Admin creates your Investor record at /admin/organisations and links it to your user account. Your investor profile stores:
- Mandate sectors — which sectors you invest in (e.g. Agriculture, ICT, Manufacturing)
- Ticket size — minimum and maximum investment in ZAR
- Geography — Eastern Cape only, national, or pan-African
Match scoring
The match score (0–100) between an investor and a project is computed by a pure function with three factors:
45 pts
Sector alignment
Your mandate sectors intersect with the project's sector.
30 pts
Geography
Your geography includes the project's province or is national.
25 pts
Ticket size
The project's funding ask falls within your min–max range.
Click Run matches on /investor/matches to compute scores against all active projects. An AI match note is generated for the top matches explaining the strategic rationale.
Delegate directory
The delegate directory lists all registered Symposium delegates — SMMEs, exporters, academic institutions, and international partners. It has a time-gate: delegates are only visible when the directory open date has passed.
platform_config and set by the Admin at /admin/config. It is not hardcoded. Before that date, the directory shows a "Coming soon" message.Your delegate profile
Navigate to /delegate/profile to update:
- First name, last name, job title, phone number
- Delegate type (SMME / Exporter / International / Academic)
- Country of origin
- Bio (shown to other delegates when the directory opens)
- Number of meeting slots you are making available
Bulk visibility open (Admin only)
When the directory window opens, an Admin can press Open All Delegates on /admin/delegates to set visible_in_directory = true for all delegates simultaneously. Individual delegates can also be toggled one-by-one.
Meeting scheduling
Delegates can schedule one-on-one meetings with other delegates — in-person at the ICC or virtually. The system prevents double-booking at the database level.
Booking a meeting
Browse the delegate directory
/investor/directory (investor) or find a delegate via the admin panel.Open the slot picker
Select a slot and mode
Confirm and track
/delegate/meetings./delegate/meetings. The .ics file works with Google Calendar, Outlook, and Apple Calendar.Reports & exports
The Report page at /admin/report generates live outputs from three database queries — not screenshots or static exports. Every number is current at the moment you generate.
📄 CSV Export
Downloads a spreadsheet of all active commitments with reference ID, organisation, sector, value, status, progress %, and responsible official. Suitable for Excel or any BI tool.
🖨️ Print-ready HTML
Opens a formatted A4 report in a new tab. Use Ctrl+P / Cmd+P to print or save as PDF. Includes ECDC branding, live totals, and a sector breakdown table.
Platform configuration
Critical platform dates are stored in the database (not hardcoded) and managed at /admin/config. Changing them takes effect immediately across all views.
2026 Symposium date
Used in the hero badge and event detail. Currently 19–21 August 2026.
Directory open date
When delegate profiles become visible to other delegates and investors. Setting this to a past date opens the directory immediately.
2027 Symposium date
Drives the countdown timer on the admin dashboard and the 2027 Roadmap page.
Security & MFA
Admin accounts require multi-factor authentication (MFA). The platform uses TOTP (Time-based One-Time Passwords) compatible with Google Authenticator, Authy, and 1Password.
Go to /admin/security
Scan the QR code with your authenticator app
Enter the 6-digit code to verify
On next sign-in, enter the 6-digit code when prompted
Public tracker
The public accountability tracker at /tracker requires no login. It shows:
- All active commitments with reference ID, status, sector, and progress
- Year-on-Year sector comparison table
- Portfolio-level progress bar
- Links to public evidence pages for each commitment
Share this URL with journalists, civil society organisations, or any member of the public who wants to hold commitments to account. The page is designed to be bookmarked and revisited.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change a commitment's reference ID?
No. The reference ID (e.g. ECDC-COM-2026-004) is immutable once issued. It is enforced by a database trigger. This is intentional — a commitment that changes its ID loses its audit trail.
Can a commitment be permanently deleted?
No. All deletes are soft-deletes — a deleted_at timestamp is set. The commitment disappears from active views but remains in the audit log. Admins can restore it.
What happens if a meeting is cancelled?
The meeting is marked cancelled and both delegates' slot availability is restored automatically. The cancellation is logged in the audit trail.
Who can see commitment rand values?
Admins and Government users see full values. Investor and Delegate roles see aggregated totals only on the public tracker — not the per-commitment breakdown tied to a named organisation.
How long does role assignment take?
Admins are notified of new registrations via the notification bell in the admin nav. In practice, role assignment happens within one business day of verification.
Can an investor see which projects other investors are matched to?
No. Match data is scoped to the logged-in investor's own profile. RLS at the database level prevents cross-investor visibility.
Does the platform work on mobile?
Yes. All portals are fully responsive. The admin nav collapses to a hamburger menu on mobile. The slot picker works on touch devices.
Ready to sign in?
If you already have an account, go to the platform portal.