Digital Inclusion: A model for e-Infrastructure and e-Services in Developing Countries
- Terzoli, Alfredo, Siebörger, Ingrid, Tsietsi, Mosiuoa, Gumbo, Sibukelo
- Authors: Terzoli, Alfredo , Siebörger, Ingrid , Tsietsi, Mosiuoa , Gumbo, Sibukelo
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/430973 , vital:72733 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98827-6_7
- Description: A large portion of the South African population is still not connected in a productive manner to the Internet, despite the existence of a govern-ment plan for public broadband, ‘SA Connect’. One reason for this could be the lack of an appropriate model, through which connectivity can be diffused in a meaningful way through all areas of South Africa. This paper presents the model developed over more than a decade of experimentation in real life settings in the Siyakhula Living Lab, a joint venture between the universities of Rhodes and Fort Hare, South Afri-ca. The model proposes the ‘Broadband Island’ as basic e-infrastructure unit, which clusters nearby points-of-presence hosted in schools. In each Broadband Island is located an applications integra-tion platform, TeleWeaver, which monetizes channels of access to the local community, to support the e-infrastructure while providing useful services to the population and the Government.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Terzoli, Alfredo , Siebörger, Ingrid , Tsietsi, Mosiuoa , Gumbo, Sibukelo
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/430973 , vital:72733 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98827-6_7
- Description: A large portion of the South African population is still not connected in a productive manner to the Internet, despite the existence of a govern-ment plan for public broadband, ‘SA Connect’. One reason for this could be the lack of an appropriate model, through which connectivity can be diffused in a meaningful way through all areas of South Africa. This paper presents the model developed over more than a decade of experimentation in real life settings in the Siyakhula Living Lab, a joint venture between the universities of Rhodes and Fort Hare, South Afri-ca. The model proposes the ‘Broadband Island’ as basic e-infrastructure unit, which clusters nearby points-of-presence hosted in schools. In each Broadband Island is located an applications integra-tion platform, TeleWeaver, which monetizes channels of access to the local community, to support the e-infrastructure while providing useful services to the population and the Government.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
E-Government as a Means to Support Communal, Large ICT Infrastructure in Poor Areas
- Gumbo, Sibukelo, Terzoli, Alfredo, Tsietsi, Mosiuoa
- Authors: Gumbo, Sibukelo , Terzoli, Alfredo , Tsietsi, Mosiuoa
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431287 , vital:72761 , https://www.academic-bookshop.com/ourshop/prod_5067238-ECEG-2016-Proceedings-of-the-16th-European-Conference-on-eGovernment.html
- Description: Citizen-facing e-Government appears inevitable given current technol-ogy trends, and certainly has many advantages. One overlooked bene-fit, in our opinion, is its potential to make financially viable communal “large ICT” installations, which would diffuse ICT in poor communities where ICT is currently absent.(By “large ICT” we refer to end-user equipment such as desktops or laptops, on which would be possible to produce content, including software. The presence of “large ICT” in a community is critical in our opinion for the empowerment of the commu-nity, especially its younger component.) This paper explores this poten-tial in e-Government, describing a model conceptualized in the Siyakhu-la Living Lab in South Africa and partially implemented, through an inte-gration platform named “TeleWeaver”. The model behind TeleWeaver is an adaptation of the classic Internet business model-whereby users of services do not directly pay for the services they use. This model is especially relevant currently in South Africa, because of the an-nouncement by the government to pilot connecting to the internet gov-ernment facilities, including schools, in eight poor district municipalities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Gumbo, Sibukelo , Terzoli, Alfredo , Tsietsi, Mosiuoa
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431287 , vital:72761 , https://www.academic-bookshop.com/ourshop/prod_5067238-ECEG-2016-Proceedings-of-the-16th-European-Conference-on-eGovernment.html
- Description: Citizen-facing e-Government appears inevitable given current technol-ogy trends, and certainly has many advantages. One overlooked bene-fit, in our opinion, is its potential to make financially viable communal “large ICT” installations, which would diffuse ICT in poor communities where ICT is currently absent.(By “large ICT” we refer to end-user equipment such as desktops or laptops, on which would be possible to produce content, including software. The presence of “large ICT” in a community is critical in our opinion for the empowerment of the commu-nity, especially its younger component.) This paper explores this poten-tial in e-Government, describing a model conceptualized in the Siyakhu-la Living Lab in South Africa and partially implemented, through an inte-gration platform named “TeleWeaver”. The model behind TeleWeaver is an adaptation of the classic Internet business model-whereby users of services do not directly pay for the services they use. This model is especially relevant currently in South Africa, because of the an-nouncement by the government to pilot connecting to the internet gov-ernment facilities, including schools, in eight poor district municipalities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
TeleWeaver: an architectural overview of a customised application server for rurality
- Tsietsi, Mosiuoa, Terzoli, Alfredo, Gumbo, Sibukelo
- Authors: Tsietsi, Mosiuoa , Terzoli, Alfredo , Gumbo, Sibukelo
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/430624 , vital:72704 , 10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530616
- Description: The Siyakhula Living Lab in the rural Eastern Cape province of South Africa has been in existence for over a decade now. In this time, sever-al software artefacts have been developed by students and partners with the aim of providing contextually-relevant services to the rural community. However, reliance on different platforms and paradigms has meant that the deployment of such services would be difficult to implement and maintain reliably in actual practice. What is required is a single software platform that can act as a docking station for multiple applications, as well as a routing substrate for applications living inside and outside the platform. A candidate platform to enable this is currently being integrated under the codename Teleweaver and is built from a free, open source J2EE application server and integrates with other software components. This paper provides an architectural overview of the platform and demonstrates how it provides a sustainable context for application development going forward.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Tsietsi, Mosiuoa , Terzoli, Alfredo , Gumbo, Sibukelo
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/430624 , vital:72704 , 10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530616
- Description: The Siyakhula Living Lab in the rural Eastern Cape province of South Africa has been in existence for over a decade now. In this time, sever-al software artefacts have been developed by students and partners with the aim of providing contextually-relevant services to the rural community. However, reliance on different platforms and paradigms has meant that the deployment of such services would be difficult to implement and maintain reliably in actual practice. What is required is a single software platform that can act as a docking station for multiple applications, as well as a routing substrate for applications living inside and outside the platform. A candidate platform to enable this is currently being integrated under the codename Teleweaver and is built from a free, open source J2EE application server and integrates with other software components. This paper provides an architectural overview of the platform and demonstrates how it provides a sustainable context for application development going forward.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
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