Technical sustainability in rural ICT deployments in South Africa

Abstract

Information and communication technology is one of the most versatile technologies that have substantially impacted all sectors of today's world. The flexibility and capability of these technologies to be dynamically and seamlessly integrated into diverse problem domains has made them an attractive problem solving tool. However, the adoption of ICT is not without challenges. In rural South Africa in particular, the sustainability of ICT projects, especially in rural schools, remains a potential hurdle. Concerted research efforts have dealt with the subject of sustainability in dimensions that focus more on addressing economic, socio-cultural, and political concerns. But, technical sustainability, which is critical to ICT infrastructure, has been given little or no attention. Considering technical sustainability in ICT models will salvage project failure and avert resource wastage among other benefits. This paper proposes a technical support model for sustaining rural ICT projects. The model incorporates an e-portal that is linked to a service Cloud. The e-portal provides access to e-resources and experts in real-time. This can help to groom technical skills amongst ICT users and reduce the normal waiting time for technical support.