Research Article
Digital Inclusion: A Model for e-Infrastructure and e-Services in Developing Countries
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-319-98827-6_7, author={Alfredo Terzoli and Ingrid Sieb\o{}rger and Mosiuoa Tsietsi and Sibukele Gumbo}, title={Digital Inclusion: A Model for e-Infrastructure and e-Services in Developing Countries}, proceedings={e-Infrastructure and e-Services for Developing Countries. 9th International Conference, AFRICOMM 2017, Lagos, Nigeria, December 11-12, 2017, Proceedings}, proceedings_a={AFRICOMM}, year={2018}, month={8}, keywords={e-Infrastructure e-Services e-Government ICT4D Networks Teleweaver Broadband island}, doi={10.1007/978-3-319-98827-6_7} }- Alfredo Terzoli
Ingrid Siebörger
Mosiuoa Tsietsi
Sibukele Gumbo
Year: 2018
Digital Inclusion: A Model for e-Infrastructure and e-Services in Developing Countries
AFRICOMM
Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-98827-6_7
Abstract
A large portion of the South African population is still not connected in a productive manner to the Internet, despite the existence of a government 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 Africa. 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 integration 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.