Benefiting from the process of globalisation and becoming an information and knowledge
society has become the vision for many governments throughout the world. However,
becoming such a society is much easier for developed countries as they already possess
some of the prerequisite criteria to be classified as an information and knowledge society.
These criteria include a stable economy, an efficient physical infrastructure, and an
effective ICT infrastructure, to mention a few (Britz 2006; Holmner 2008). As many of
the criteria of an information and knowledge society coincide with the eight Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), it is much easier and faster for these developed countries to
achieve these goals and benefit from the global economy. For developing countries that are
still experiencing a digital divide, these goals seem nearly unattainable. As the deadline
for achieving the MDGs is only five years away, it has become imperative for developing
countries to investigate other roads and possibilities to assist them in progressing towards
attaining these goals at an increased speed. Utilising indigenous knowledge is one of
these roads that developing countries are making use of to reach this destination.This paper was presented at the 6th Biennial ProLISSA Conference, Pretoria, 9–11
March 2011.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_mousaion.html or http://www.unisa.ac.za/default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=2012
