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
Research Testbed Networks: Practical Tools for Service Delivery?
- Wertlen, Ronald R, Siebörger, Ingrid, Tsietsi, Mosiuoa, Shibeshi, Zelalem S, Terzoli, Alfredo
- Authors: Wertlen, Ronald R , Siebörger, Ingrid , Tsietsi, Mosiuoa , Shibeshi, Zelalem S , Terzoli, Alfredo
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429204 , vital:72567 , https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1681-4835.2012.tb00351.x
- Description: The Telkom Centre of Excellence (CoE) at Rhodes University, housed in the Computer Science department was opened in 1997. The CoE's focus on Distributed multimedia service platforms soon showed that the technology being researched could be applied in the disadvantaged peri‐urban communities. The CoE has thus concentrated its research on building a testbed network that delivers real services to real users. In 2007, the testbed was extended to include a marginalised rural area in the Siyakhula Living Lab. The greatest factor in the sustainability of the CoE testbed network has been maintaining usefulness to all the stakeholders over the last 12 years. Industrial funding, University outreach goals and research goals could all be harmonised, while sustaining the delivery of high quality informatics services in the community. This paper presents a brief case study of the communications network testbed and how it was applied to the Development Informatics space. It analyses the roles played by stakeholders in either assisting and sustaining or obstructing the service delivery. It makes key recommendations on best practices for research networks that can also bring informatics to disadvantaged communities. It shows how testbeds for the research of new technologies can be designed so as to allow Development Informatics work to take place on such networks.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Wertlen, Ronald R , Siebörger, Ingrid , Tsietsi, Mosiuoa , Shibeshi, Zelalem S , Terzoli, Alfredo
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429204 , vital:72567 , https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1681-4835.2012.tb00351.x
- Description: The Telkom Centre of Excellence (CoE) at Rhodes University, housed in the Computer Science department was opened in 1997. The CoE's focus on Distributed multimedia service platforms soon showed that the technology being researched could be applied in the disadvantaged peri‐urban communities. The CoE has thus concentrated its research on building a testbed network that delivers real services to real users. In 2007, the testbed was extended to include a marginalised rural area in the Siyakhula Living Lab. The greatest factor in the sustainability of the CoE testbed network has been maintaining usefulness to all the stakeholders over the last 12 years. Industrial funding, University outreach goals and research goals could all be harmonised, while sustaining the delivery of high quality informatics services in the community. This paper presents a brief case study of the communications network testbed and how it was applied to the Development Informatics space. It analyses the roles played by stakeholders in either assisting and sustaining or obstructing the service delivery. It makes key recommendations on best practices for research networks that can also bring informatics to disadvantaged communities. It shows how testbeds for the research of new technologies can be designed so as to allow Development Informatics work to take place on such networks.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
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