TeleWeaver: an innovative telecommunication platform for marginalized communities in Africa
- Dalvit, Lorenzo, Gumbo, Sibukelo, Ntshinga, Lindikaya, Terzoli, Alfredo, Hansen, Susan
- Authors: Dalvit, Lorenzo , Gumbo, Sibukelo , Ntshinga, Lindikaya , Terzoli, Alfredo , Hansen, Susan
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431317 , vital:72763 , https://www.academic-bookshop.com/ourshop/prod_2659103-ECEG-2013-13th-European-Conference-on-eGovernment-Como-Italy-PRINT-version.html
- Description: Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) is becoming an increasingly important and multi‐faceted area of research and software development. Particularly through provision via mobile devices, e‐services can potentially reach and improve the lives of millions of people living in marginalised areas. The efforts of many governments in sub‐Saharan Africa are frustrated by poor tele-communication infrastructure, lack of skills and unsustainable models of intervention. In this paper we describe the holistic solution offered by the TeleWeaver platform. The novel approach to the development of the software, the strong sense of social responsibility of the developers and the collaborative spirit that shaped the ecosystem of which Tele-Weaver is part, warrants the adoption of an innovative approach to its marketing and implementation. On the one hand, the project needs to provide returns on investment and generate profit for the key stake-holders (ie government at the local and national level, academia, indus-try and socio‐-entrepreneurs in the target community). On the other, it must benefit all members of the marginalised communities it is intended to serve as well as the global community of software developers. Tele-Weaver was developed in close collaboration with the community of Dwesa, a rural area on the Wild Cost of the Transkei regions in eastern South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Dalvit, Lorenzo , Gumbo, Sibukelo , Ntshinga, Lindikaya , Terzoli, Alfredo , Hansen, Susan
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431317 , vital:72763 , https://www.academic-bookshop.com/ourshop/prod_2659103-ECEG-2013-13th-European-Conference-on-eGovernment-Como-Italy-PRINT-version.html
- Description: Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) is becoming an increasingly important and multi‐faceted area of research and software development. Particularly through provision via mobile devices, e‐services can potentially reach and improve the lives of millions of people living in marginalised areas. The efforts of many governments in sub‐Saharan Africa are frustrated by poor tele-communication infrastructure, lack of skills and unsustainable models of intervention. In this paper we describe the holistic solution offered by the TeleWeaver platform. The novel approach to the development of the software, the strong sense of social responsibility of the developers and the collaborative spirit that shaped the ecosystem of which Tele-Weaver is part, warrants the adoption of an innovative approach to its marketing and implementation. On the one hand, the project needs to provide returns on investment and generate profit for the key stake-holders (ie government at the local and national level, academia, indus-try and socio‐-entrepreneurs in the target community). On the other, it must benefit all members of the marginalised communities it is intended to serve as well as the global community of software developers. Tele-Weaver was developed in close collaboration with the community of Dwesa, a rural area on the Wild Cost of the Transkei regions in eastern South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Living lab methodology as an approach to innovation in ICT4D: The Siyakhula Living Lab experience
- Gumbo, Sibukelo, Thinyane, Hannah, Thinyane, Mamello, Terzoli, Alfredo, Hansen, Susan
- Authors: Gumbo, Sibukelo , Thinyane, Hannah , Thinyane, Mamello , Terzoli, Alfredo , Hansen, Susan
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431302 , vital:72762 , https://www.siyakhulall.com/sites/default/files/ISTAfrica_Paper_ref_18_doc_4809_0.pdf
- Description: Underdevelopment and poverty represent key challenges faced by the modern world, which have attracted the attention of NGOs, civil society, government and multinationals. Various undertakings including the United Nations Millennium Development Goals articulation and the World Summit on Information Society highlight the global commitment towards addressing these problems. The solutions to these problems should be derived out of well-structured innovation systems that take into consideration the grassroot context and concerns. A number of in-novation models have been formulated and utilized effectively in differ-ent industries, and some of these have equally been used effectively in community development contexts. This paper elaborates on the Living Lab methodology and its application in ICT4D contexts, highlighting the effectiveness of this model towards integrating end-users within their problem solving effort. This is discussed through the backdrop of the Siyakhula Living Lab, an ICT4D intervention. The embedding environ-ment for this model, which enables key synergies with other stakehold-ers, is also discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Gumbo, Sibukelo , Thinyane, Hannah , Thinyane, Mamello , Terzoli, Alfredo , Hansen, Susan
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431302 , vital:72762 , https://www.siyakhulall.com/sites/default/files/ISTAfrica_Paper_ref_18_doc_4809_0.pdf
- Description: Underdevelopment and poverty represent key challenges faced by the modern world, which have attracted the attention of NGOs, civil society, government and multinationals. Various undertakings including the United Nations Millennium Development Goals articulation and the World Summit on Information Society highlight the global commitment towards addressing these problems. The solutions to these problems should be derived out of well-structured innovation systems that take into consideration the grassroot context and concerns. A number of in-novation models have been formulated and utilized effectively in differ-ent industries, and some of these have equally been used effectively in community development contexts. This paper elaborates on the Living Lab methodology and its application in ICT4D contexts, highlighting the effectiveness of this model towards integrating end-users within their problem solving effort. This is discussed through the backdrop of the Siyakhula Living Lab, an ICT4D intervention. The embedding environ-ment for this model, which enables key synergies with other stakehold-ers, is also discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
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