An ontology-based, multi-modal platform for the inclusion of marginalized rural communities into the knowledge society
- Authors: Thinyane, Mamello , Dalvit, Lorenzo , Slay, Hannah , Mapi, Thandeka , Terzoli, Alfredo
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431218 , vital:72755 , https://doi.org/10.1145/1292491.1292508
- Description: With the information revolution that promises to shape the 21st century, knowledge has become the prime commodity, very much like land, means of production and capital have been at different times in the past. Access to information, made instantly available by the growth of the Internet, determines access to economic resources, social participa-tion and better quality of life. For this reason, the knowledge stored on the Web and the advantages offered by the spread of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are equally important for rich socie-ties to prosper and for poor ones to develop. The only difference is that marginalised communities do not have access to the tools and have little control over the content found in the domain of ICTs. In this paper we describe an intervention to develop the potential of a typical rural community in South Africa through ICTs. This involves providing Inter-net connectivity and deploying a platform to support e-commerce, e-learning, e-government and e-health. The core of the platform is an on-tology-based model designed to integrate and respond to Indigenous Knowledge Systems. This has been achieved by combining a deep understanding of local knowledge and social networks with the use of authoring, communication and ontology-management tools. The prima-ry goal of this new approach is to find a way to make ICT solutions more sensitive to the local context, and therefore more effective. Sec-ondly, we hope to foster a sense of ownership of the project among the community, by capitalising on local knowledge and resources.
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Wi-Fi as a last mile access technology and The Tragedy of the Commons
- Authors: Brandt, Ingrid , Terzoli, Alfredo , Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431106 , vital:72744 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6266-7_33
- Description: With an alarmingly low teledensity in South Africa, just 12%, and not much hope of further wired infrastructure at the local loop level, as the costs incurred are high compared to potential revenue, wireless con-nectivity could be a great asset and service in South Africa. However, the use of unlicensed spectrum in building wireless networks can be comparable to “The Tragedy of the Commons”, the result of selfish be-haviour towards common and limited resources. This paper evaluates the use of 802.11 wireless technologies in building a broadband wire-less network and the effects of high amounts of interference on such a network. The paper concludes that for urban areas 802.11 technologies using unlicensed spectrum is not advisable, unless used in point-to-point links, while its use in rapid rural development (where there is less interference) is very promising.
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