A multistakeholder operation that consists of academia, industry, government and marginalized communities to facilitate user-driven innovation in the ICTD domain.

This not only empowers the rural communities but also integrates the innovative potential in the rural marginalized areas within the general national system of innovation.

Inauguration of a new Digital Access Node in Ngwane (Dwesa)


On the 5th of February, several hundred community members of the Mbashe Region (near Dwesa Nature Reserve), staff and students from Rhodes and Fort Hare Universities as well as representatives from industry and government took part in the launch of the Digital Access Node (DAN) at Ngwane Junior Secondary School in the former homeland of Transkei, in the Eastern Cape. The DAN is a point-of-presence of the Siyakhula Living Lab, active in the Mbashe region. The day included speeches given by members of academia, the provincial and district education departments and members of the community. The day also featured song and dance performances by local school children.


 

SiLLMU

The Siyakhula Living Lab Management Unit (SiLLMU) started operations in August 2009. The unit was established through funding from COFISA and its main responsibilities are:

  • to support the operation and plan the sustainability of the Siyakhula Living Lab
  • to enlarge its network of partners and clients (including ENoLL)
  • to involve government more deeply at all levels
  • to generally promote the Siyakhula Living Lab, in order to increase its innovation potential and sustainability

The unit is initially located in Grahamstown and hosted at Rhodes University. It will later be located at the East London IDZ (ELIDZ) with on-site presence in the community as well. It is overseen by the governing body and has two staff responsible for all tasks.

 

Location

The Siyakhula Living Lab project is undertaken in the two villages of Dwesa and Nkwalini. In many ways these communities are representative of the rural realities in South Africa, where a large part of the South African population live.

Dwesa is traditionally a subsistence farming community, and as such depend on their land for their livelihood. The region features a coastal nature reserve and it was the site of the first restitution projects in post-apartheid South Africa. The region has a high potential for both eco and cultural tourism due to the rich cultural heritage and the marine conservation project undertaken at the nature reserve.

 

Partners

   

The CoE was established in March 1997 at Rhodes University with Telkom SA as the anchor industry funding partner. The current industrial partners include established market leaders as well as newcomers. From the outset, the Centre was registered as a THRIP (Technology & Human Resources for Industry Programme) project, with the aim of attracting matching financial support from the government department of Trade & Industry.

 

 

    The Telkom Centre of Excellence in Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) is a research unit hosted within the the Department of Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare.
The research focus of the centre is on the use of computing technology for socio-economic development of marginalized and rural communities. The field-site of our research is a rural community of Dwesa in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.