The African Experience with ICT for Rural Women’s Development

Television, computers and mobile phones can facilitate communication, processing and transmission of information. Singh (1999) defines rural development as the process that lead to sustainable improvement of the quality of life of the rural poor. Rural women play a major role in rural development. ICTs have the potential to improve the quality of lives of the rural women. Information and Communication Technologies for Rural Women’s Development (ICT4WD (Joseph 2007) research stems from the lack of understanding of rural women’s capabilities for their development through the use of ICTs. ICT4WD is an ongoing project that facilitates the development of rural women using ICTs. The aim of this project is to create awareness of the potential of ICTs and to improve the quality of life of rural women through the use of ICTs in developmental projects. This chapter covers only some aspects of the above ICT4WD research project

Technology transfer through industry-University-government collaboration

Abstract: This study examines technology transfer through collaboration between Government, industry and Universities. The Metal Casting Technology Station at the University of Johannesburg (MCTS-UJ) has been a reputed Technology Station and center of excellence for trouble shooting foundry problems and conducting research in South African foundries. The Department of Science and Technology in South Africa funds the Technology Stations Programme (TSP) through the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). There are eighteen technology stations across the country at various universities and three of these focus in supporting the foundry industry. The mandate of the Technology Station is to develop human capital and support localization through technology and skills transfer. In this paper we discuss two case studies one on human capital development and the other on localization of technology with a partner university in Germany and a local manufacturer in South Africa. Both projects, Research and Innovation in Foundry Technology (RIFT) and inorganic binders for environmental friendly moulding material has benefited graduate students in acquiring the necessary skills and industry with new technology through the use of inorganic binders for environmental friendly moulding material which helped to reduce toxic fumes while mould making. This is an innovative idea used while mould making through MCTS-University of Johannesburg and Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany collaboration

The economic and social opportunities of casting technology for rural women

The study examines the economic and social opportunities of additive and casting technology. The Community Casting Project (CCP) is a University of Johannesburg Metal Casting Technology Station (UJ-MCTS) project aimed at converting community-based hand made jewellery and crafts into commercially viable, job creating entities, through a comprehensive number of interventions central to which is additive manufacturing and casting technology. This pilot project which is composed of two phases is the overture to the rollout of the larger project. The six-month pilot project aims to develop and test the business case for the casting technology at three community sites as well as the rollout requirements of the larger project in order to inform the sponsors for the complete project rollout. The paper analyses the rationale and the benefits of additive manufacturing and casting technology. The case study analyses the role of UJ-MCTS in transferring know-how and skills in additive manufacturing and casting technology in an attempt to bring about socio-economic transformation to rural and peri-urban areas of South Africa. The authors propose some opportunities to empower rural women to reap the benefits of additive manufacturing and casting technology to optimise their production processes

Cloud for monitoring and logging solar energy and battery usage

Abstract: Data Acquisition Systems (DAS) can be used to gather changing energy parameters derived from various energy sources. This paper discusses how Arduino based data acquisition systems (DAS) can be used to gather solar energy samples and battery level information for remote monitoring and storage in the cloud. Arduino code was developed on Arduino IDE. An open source third party application was used to capture the Arduino serial transmitted values onto a Dropbox folder where it can be shared via Internet. Arduino hardware is connected to the four small 5 V, 1 W solar panels that are loaded with properly calculated resistors and a designed battery level sensor circuit. Solar energy values and battery usage pattern values were successfully stored into Dropbox for monitoring via cloud

An overview of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Initiatives in rural Africa towards empowerment

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is transforming global economy, but access to use of ICT is not distributed evenly. This research focuses on addressing major economic, political and social challenges faced by rural Africa to access Information and Communication Technology (ICT). A literature survey was conducted to see the role of ICT for rural development and how different countries developed with ICT initiatives. ICT is vital for poverty reduction and in growth of sectors like agriculture, business, health, tourism, education, governance etc. Computer illiteracy, scattered population, HIV/AIDS illnesses, lack of access to internet and telecommunication facilities and lack of good ICT policies which encourages ICT inflow, have been powerful obstacles for the social and economic growth of rural Africa. The authors present a number of successful ICT initiatives on women empowerment, e-schools, e-government, e-commerce, e-health, e-agriculture and e-business that has helped to access ICT in rural Africa. The paper also gives ideas on how rural Africa can get connected. The case studies will elaborate on ICT initiatives for rural African development. The research also focuses on various ways to close digital divide

The use of embedded DAS for electronic signal measurements

Abstract: Data Acquisition Systems (DAS) are mainly used with transducers to gather changing parameters such as temperature, pressure, velocity, etc. The transducer will convert each parameter to small varying electrical signal which is then sampled and digitized by the DAS before it passes it to the host computer where it is going to be analyzed and / or stored. This paper discusses how embedded DAS can be used for measurement and generation of electronics signals, mainly for the purpose of experimenting. We will develop a prototype of embedded DAS that can generate and measure waveforms that are commonly used in the electronics field

Information and communication technology policy imperatives for rural women empowerment : focus on South Africa

Abstract: It has been established that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are key drivers for rural development. However, while many countries such as India and South Africa have made significant investments in rural ICT infrastructure and its developmental spin-offs, rural women are still neglected when it comes to access to ICTs. This neglect is evident in the ICT policy initiatives in South Africa as an example, where the relevant policies lack any significant or direct attention to rural women’s development. If ICT policies do not address the gendered digital divide in rural areas gender inequality will be encouraged. This paper gives insights on how information exchange by means of ICTs such as Internet, mobile phones and radio could foster economic growth and empowerment of rural women in South Africa. In addition, the paper discusses the role of relevant stakeholders in ICT policy formulation for more effective and appropriate communication, and innovative ways of using ICTs for women empowerment in rural areas. The authors make recommendations for ICT policy development that would better serve the needs of rural women leading to their empowerment

Convergence opportunities and factors influencing the use of internet and telephony by rural women in South Africa and India towards empowerment

Abstract: Access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can have dramatic impact on poverty alleviation for rural women and for achieving socio economic development goals. Rural women need to treat ICTs as an empowerment tool and a means to a living. The use of mobile communication devices and internet are changing the way agricultural activities are managed by farmers nowadays. Rural women's lack of mobility and less hands-on computer experience might hinder women's welfare and empowerment. This paper analyses how use of the telephony (both cellular and land line), internet and other ICTs can benefit rural women in educational, business and economic sector. Women in rural India and rural South Africa were marginalized partly due to their lack of ability in being vocal when it comes to empowering themselves using ICTs due to cultural norms in India, and apartheid in South Africa. Over the years, unlike other developing countries, the above-mentioned countries have its unique ICT projects meant for empowering rural women. This paper is driven from the authors' commitment for rural development and rural women empowerment. It highlights different low-cost ICT initiatives and strategies taken by women's organizations, various companies and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for rural women empowerment. The paper also highlights various factors influencing use of internet and mobile phone adoption by rural women. Various bottlenecks for the community projects, factors de-motivating the use of mobile phones and internet by rural women and possible solutions for these are also mentioned

Complex societal problem related to the internet access and electricity access in DRC

Abstract: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s current situation is characterized by a catastrophical very poor access to both Good Quality Electricity (GQE) and High Speed Internet (HSI) which are natural rights and primary needs. If the limited access to GQE and HSI are established fact we are concerned about how it affects the individuals in particular and the country in general and what parts of DRC are affected by this problem. In this paper we describe this identified societal problem in “natural language” through some stages towards the comprehensive understanding and perception of our core hypothesis: “The access to GQE and HSI for all DR Congolese localities/towns/villages of at least 1,000 families is a complex societal problem”. We give a solution to part the problem. The current part consists of the global understanding of the problem by the stakeholders. It is a first brick that will contribute to solving a global problem. This paper does implement the first step/layer of a much broader methodological framework, having 9 layers, which is called COMPRAM (Complex Problem HAndling Methodology). The first layer of COMPRAM does involve three core steps: (1) personal consideration and observation by the analyst(s) (named M1), (2) information retrieval from literature and other sources (called M2), and (3) discussions with selected relevant experts and stakeholders (called M3)

Creating social learning spaces to enhance the learning experience

Social media has been used effectively for teaching and learning for many years in developed countries. It seems there needs to be an understanding of the affordances that social media could bring to the learning space in the African context. We use qualitative research and content analysis to see how and why the learners used social media in a private Higher Educational (HE) institution in South Africa to enhance their learning experience. The course was split into face-to-face lectures and social media use by the learners and facilitators. The learners were required to engage with various social media tools to collaborate and share skills with their classmates and facilitators. We also explore the affordance of social media. Content analysis was done to see the participation of the learners in the course’s Facebook page. Data was also collected from the focus groups that led to findings that indicate that WEB 2.0 tools had the potential to support learner collaboration that is self-directed and engaging. Learners adopted social media with confidence and used it to learn beyond the borders of the physical classroom. Daily interactions and the sharing of artefacts resulted in an informal and vibrant learning ecology that became self-sustainable ..