Pub Date : 2016-05-11DOI: 10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530636
Melanie Platz, J. van Biljon
Reputable Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Development (ICT4D) collections focused on Sub-Saharan Africa exist but a platform where these silos of excellence can be aligned and shared for open access is not a reality yet. An open browser-based ICT4D knowledge repository (ICT4D-KR) is proposed as an initiative towards addressing the problem. Based on literature, a survey on the usefulness and functionality of a South African ICT4D knowledge repository (SA-ICT4D-KR) and a category analysis of selected existing Knowledge Sharing Platforms (KSPs), a first proposal for an ICT4D-KR maturity matrix has been derived and is presented here.
{"title":"Development of a first version of a maturity matrix for ICT4D knowledge repositories","authors":"Melanie Platz, J. van Biljon","doi":"10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530636","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530636","url":null,"abstract":"Reputable Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Development (ICT4D) collections focused on Sub-Saharan Africa exist but a platform where these silos of excellence can be aligned and shared for open access is not a reality yet. An open browser-based ICT4D knowledge repository (ICT4D-KR) is proposed as an initiative towards addressing the problem. Based on literature, a survey on the usefulness and functionality of a South African ICT4D knowledge repository (SA-ICT4D-KR) and a category analysis of selected existing Knowledge Sharing Platforms (KSPs), a first proposal for an ICT4D-KR maturity matrix has been derived and is presented here.","PeriodicalId":326074,"journal":{"name":"2016 IST-Africa Week Conference","volume":"110 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126840270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-05-11DOI: 10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530704
Joke O. Adeyemo, O. Olugbara, E. Adetiba
Many modern cities are currently encumbered with various challenges among which is the need to promote the culture of environmental sanitation for healthy living. However, advances in information communications technology have given birth to the concept of smart city, which is rapidly being applied to address some of the challenges being faced in such cities. This paper presents the development of an architecture based on smart city technology, for refuse disposal management in communities. A proof of concept prototype was implemented for the proposed architecture using Arduino UNO microcontroller board, proximity sensor, breadboard, refuse bin and a personal computer. The proximity sensor was interfaced with the Arduino board to capture dataset that correspond to the five different positions calibrated on a refuse bin. The dataset was shown to be of good quality since the graph of the mean voltages against the distances is similar to the proximity sensor characteristic graph. To determine the appropriate classifier for realizing the pattern classification unit of the prototype, an experiment was performed using the acquired dataset to train five different variants of the K-NN classifier. The 1-NN classifier was nominated for the prototype because it is simple and it gave higher values of accuracy, precision and recall.
{"title":"Smart city technology based architecture for refuse disposal management","authors":"Joke O. Adeyemo, O. Olugbara, E. Adetiba","doi":"10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530704","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530704","url":null,"abstract":"Many modern cities are currently encumbered with various challenges among which is the need to promote the culture of environmental sanitation for healthy living. However, advances in information communications technology have given birth to the concept of smart city, which is rapidly being applied to address some of the challenges being faced in such cities. This paper presents the development of an architecture based on smart city technology, for refuse disposal management in communities. A proof of concept prototype was implemented for the proposed architecture using Arduino UNO microcontroller board, proximity sensor, breadboard, refuse bin and a personal computer. The proximity sensor was interfaced with the Arduino board to capture dataset that correspond to the five different positions calibrated on a refuse bin. The dataset was shown to be of good quality since the graph of the mean voltages against the distances is similar to the proximity sensor characteristic graph. To determine the appropriate classifier for realizing the pattern classification unit of the prototype, an experiment was performed using the acquired dataset to train five different variants of the K-NN classifier. The 1-NN classifier was nominated for the prototype because it is simple and it gave higher values of accuracy, precision and recall.","PeriodicalId":326074,"journal":{"name":"2016 IST-Africa Week Conference","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126859696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-05-11DOI: 10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530690
O. Seitio-Kgokgwe, Y. Mashalla, E. Seloilwe, Nodumo Chida
Concerns on the status of Botswana's health information systems were raised as early as the late 1980s. Several assessments overtime revealed weaknesses in the system including fragmentation, weak approaches to data collection, management, reporting, dissemination and use. A number of initiatives designed to improve the HIS were also undertaken. The BEANISH (Building Europe Africa collaborative Network for applying Information Society Technologies in the Healthcare Sector) as one of the initiatives aimed to address the issue of poor data coordination, management and reporting through a data warehousing system, the District Health Information Software. Rapid assessment was conducted as part of Routine Data Quality Assessment to determine the capacity of the District Health Management Teams to collect, analyse, and use data. Several challenges were cited including inadequate IT infrastructure including computers and unreliable internet access; limited skills in using the system and inadequate human resource capacity. There is need for more investment and leadership for health information management.
{"title":"Utilization of the District Health Information Software (DHIS) in Botswana: From paper to electronic based system","authors":"O. Seitio-Kgokgwe, Y. Mashalla, E. Seloilwe, Nodumo Chida","doi":"10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530690","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530690","url":null,"abstract":"Concerns on the status of Botswana's health information systems were raised as early as the late 1980s. Several assessments overtime revealed weaknesses in the system including fragmentation, weak approaches to data collection, management, reporting, dissemination and use. A number of initiatives designed to improve the HIS were also undertaken. The BEANISH (Building Europe Africa collaborative Network for applying Information Society Technologies in the Healthcare Sector) as one of the initiatives aimed to address the issue of poor data coordination, management and reporting through a data warehousing system, the District Health Information Software. Rapid assessment was conducted as part of Routine Data Quality Assessment to determine the capacity of the District Health Management Teams to collect, analyse, and use data. Several challenges were cited including inadequate IT infrastructure including computers and unreliable internet access; limited skills in using the system and inadequate human resource capacity. There is need for more investment and leadership for health information management.","PeriodicalId":326074,"journal":{"name":"2016 IST-Africa Week Conference","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132729691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-05-11DOI: 10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530601
Olusola Salami, J. Mtsweni
Technological advancements have provided Banks several means of sending messages to their customers. In the context of business-to-customer interaction, Single Channel Messaging (SCM) model is prominently used by most Banks in Africa. SCM is restricted to one communication medium and messages are not sent based on urgency or priority. The ultimate aim of this research study is to propose and implement a model for Multi-Channel Messaging (MCM) that addresses the weaknesses of SCM. However, in this paper we only present and motivate the proposed conceptual MCM model. Unlike SCM, MCM uses different modes of communication to pass on information to Bank customers. Depending on the importance of a message, MCM provides mechanisms for choosing a channel, amongst available options, that matches the message's urgency or priority. The suitability of the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) as an implementation approach is highlighted as it offers a robust, loosely coupled and scalable strategy for realising the requirements of MCM.
{"title":"Towards a context-aware multi-channel messaging model for African banks: Preliminary investigations","authors":"Olusola Salami, J. Mtsweni","doi":"10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530601","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530601","url":null,"abstract":"Technological advancements have provided Banks several means of sending messages to their customers. In the context of business-to-customer interaction, Single Channel Messaging (SCM) model is prominently used by most Banks in Africa. SCM is restricted to one communication medium and messages are not sent based on urgency or priority. The ultimate aim of this research study is to propose and implement a model for Multi-Channel Messaging (MCM) that addresses the weaknesses of SCM. However, in this paper we only present and motivate the proposed conceptual MCM model. Unlike SCM, MCM uses different modes of communication to pass on information to Bank customers. Depending on the importance of a message, MCM provides mechanisms for choosing a channel, amongst available options, that matches the message's urgency or priority. The suitability of the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) as an implementation approach is highlighted as it offers a robust, loosely coupled and scalable strategy for realising the requirements of MCM.","PeriodicalId":326074,"journal":{"name":"2016 IST-Africa Week Conference","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130395376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-05-11DOI: 10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530682
Joan Mwenda, Marita Turpin
The use of ICT to promote sustainable development, whether socioeconomic or human development, has increased over the past few decades. However, there is a need to ensure that ICT4D projects achieve their intended development outcomes. The Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) Framework provides a possible means to measure the impact of development programs/projects, by focusing on less disadvantaged household's vulnerabilities, assets, processes, structures and livelihood outcomes. The development agencies DFID, CARE and UNDP each have a different version of the SL framework with which to assess developmental impact. This paper discusses and compares the three approaches that are available to apply the SL framework. The paper concludes with a reflection on the three approaches, and recommendations for applying the SL framework in ICT4D.
{"title":"A comparative analysis of approaches to apply the sustainable livelihoods framework to do impact assessment in ICT4D","authors":"Joan Mwenda, Marita Turpin","doi":"10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530682","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530682","url":null,"abstract":"The use of ICT to promote sustainable development, whether socioeconomic or human development, has increased over the past few decades. However, there is a need to ensure that ICT4D projects achieve their intended development outcomes. The Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) Framework provides a possible means to measure the impact of development programs/projects, by focusing on less disadvantaged household's vulnerabilities, assets, processes, structures and livelihood outcomes. The development agencies DFID, CARE and UNDP each have a different version of the SL framework with which to assess developmental impact. This paper discusses and compares the three approaches that are available to apply the SL framework. The paper concludes with a reflection on the three approaches, and recommendations for applying the SL framework in ICT4D.","PeriodicalId":326074,"journal":{"name":"2016 IST-Africa Week Conference","volume":"137 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131352476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-05-11DOI: 10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530581
E. Micheni, Julius Murumba
This paper presents an attempt of providing grid computing as an avenue to heterogeneous e-learning platforms that can be accessed by different hardware and software platforms. E-Learning involves using internet technologies to access learning resources online such as school timetable, courseware, research material, and to run virtual communities for sharing and creating knowledge. Grids can be used as a means to provide education and training through such internet technologies. Literature review is used through examination of scientific research papers in journals and conference proceedings. The objective of the paper is to contribute towards knowledge and lessons that can be applied in Kenya towards effective approaches for development of an e-learning grid infrastructure.
{"title":"The promise of grid computing technologies for e-learning systems in Kenya","authors":"E. Micheni, Julius Murumba","doi":"10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530581","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530581","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents an attempt of providing grid computing as an avenue to heterogeneous e-learning platforms that can be accessed by different hardware and software platforms. E-Learning involves using internet technologies to access learning resources online such as school timetable, courseware, research material, and to run virtual communities for sharing and creating knowledge. Grids can be used as a means to provide education and training through such internet technologies. Literature review is used through examination of scientific research papers in journals and conference proceedings. The objective of the paper is to contribute towards knowledge and lessons that can be applied in Kenya towards effective approaches for development of an e-learning grid infrastructure.","PeriodicalId":326074,"journal":{"name":"2016 IST-Africa Week Conference","volume":"94 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131481985","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-05-11DOI: 10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530685
K. Draai, B. Haskins, R. Botha
To design a network as big as SANReN network design goals need to be determined. The network design process is an iterative one that follows a top-down approach. The network design lifecycle is a continuous process that seeks improvement of the network design so that it better addresses business needs and goals. This paper provides an overview of the network design goals model that provides a process for determining network design goals for an NREN. The model is instantiated in the SANReN environment. The network design goals may be slightly different to a commercial service provider but the process for determining network design goals for a commercial service provider can be adapted for SANReN.
{"title":"Devising NREN design goals from commercial network design guidelines","authors":"K. Draai, B. Haskins, R. Botha","doi":"10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530685","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530685","url":null,"abstract":"To design a network as big as SANReN network design goals need to be determined. The network design process is an iterative one that follows a top-down approach. The network design lifecycle is a continuous process that seeks improvement of the network design so that it better addresses business needs and goals. This paper provides an overview of the network design goals model that provides a process for determining network design goals for an NREN. The model is instantiated in the SANReN environment. The network design goals may be slightly different to a commercial service provider but the process for determining network design goals for a commercial service provider can be adapted for SANReN.","PeriodicalId":326074,"journal":{"name":"2016 IST-Africa Week Conference","volume":"89 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129950371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-05-11DOI: 10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530700
Chris Csikszentmihályi, Jude Mukundane
Communities across Africa depend on radio for access to information, often as their primary source of news and information. Given its importance, surprisingly little ICT work has focused on improving radio. Contemporary ICTs have the potential to catalyze radical changes in ownership models, facilitate greater linguistic and cultural diversity, increase inclusion, and allow for the types of major innovations we have seen in music, television, gaming, or other media in the last decade. The RootIO project set out to test some of these possibilities by building hyperlocal low-cost, low-power radio stations. This paper presents an argument for community media as a focus of ICT, a summary of our research and design process, a technical description of the free/open software and hardware platform we have built, and a description of some early findings from field testing the system.
{"title":"RootIO: ICT + telephony for grassroots radio","authors":"Chris Csikszentmihályi, Jude Mukundane","doi":"10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530700","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530700","url":null,"abstract":"Communities across Africa depend on radio for access to information, often as their primary source of news and information. Given its importance, surprisingly little ICT work has focused on improving radio. Contemporary ICTs have the potential to catalyze radical changes in ownership models, facilitate greater linguistic and cultural diversity, increase inclusion, and allow for the types of major innovations we have seen in music, television, gaming, or other media in the last decade. The RootIO project set out to test some of these possibilities by building hyperlocal low-cost, low-power radio stations. This paper presents an argument for community media as a focus of ICT, a summary of our research and design process, a technical description of the free/open software and hardware platform we have built, and a description of some early findings from field testing the system.","PeriodicalId":326074,"journal":{"name":"2016 IST-Africa Week Conference","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130050301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-05-11DOI: 10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530627
Dorien Baelden, Leo Vanaudenhove, Wouter J. Grové, J. Njenga, Leona Craffert, Koenraad Stroeken
ZoneIT - at the University of the Western Cape renamed in UDUBSit - was first developed by the University of Ghent in Belgium as a sharing application for and by the student community. This app is adapted and contextualised to the UWC context by way of a living lab approach. This paper describes and analyses the results from the needs analysis, which formed the first step in the living lab approach of adapting and implementing the app. The premise of the whole project is, that a living labs approach to ICT4D - much more than a technology transfer approach - leads to better adaptation and adoption of technology in different contexts. The main reason is that a living lab approach is inherently participative in nature.
{"title":"UDUBSit. A location based mobile application for the University of the Western Cape a living lab approach in support of participatory ICT4D","authors":"Dorien Baelden, Leo Vanaudenhove, Wouter J. Grové, J. Njenga, Leona Craffert, Koenraad Stroeken","doi":"10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530627","url":null,"abstract":"ZoneIT - at the University of the Western Cape renamed in UDUBSit - was first developed by the University of Ghent in Belgium as a sharing application for and by the student community. This app is adapted and contextualised to the UWC context by way of a living lab approach. This paper describes and analyses the results from the needs analysis, which formed the first step in the living lab approach of adapting and implementing the app. The premise of the whole project is, that a living labs approach to ICT4D - much more than a technology transfer approach - leads to better adaptation and adoption of technology in different contexts. The main reason is that a living lab approach is inherently participative in nature.","PeriodicalId":326074,"journal":{"name":"2016 IST-Africa Week Conference","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132914636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-05-11DOI: 10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530660
Zenville Erasmus, A. Bagula
The adoption of solar technology and subsequent investments in solar installations is a low polluting power source alternative that can mitigate the dangers raised by greenhouse gas emissions and increase universal electricity access in a modern world where power generation plays a vital role in the world countries' economies. This paper presents and discusses the development of a cost effective remote sensing network for the continuous acquisition of remote energy yields and performance measures of a network of installed solar power systems. As a new innovative solution that demonstrates a low cost mechanism using existing network infrastructures, the remote sensor system being developed presents the following key benefits: Access to a Photovoltaic (PV) system from anywhere through the use of the Internet, reports of power output and energy production trends, verification of system operation, collection of data for service and maintenance planning and the use of least cost devices to enable replicability of the solution.
{"title":"Remote sensor network for off-grid renewable energy monitoring","authors":"Zenville Erasmus, A. Bagula","doi":"10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530660","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAFRICA.2016.7530660","url":null,"abstract":"The adoption of solar technology and subsequent investments in solar installations is a low polluting power source alternative that can mitigate the dangers raised by greenhouse gas emissions and increase universal electricity access in a modern world where power generation plays a vital role in the world countries' economies. This paper presents and discusses the development of a cost effective remote sensing network for the continuous acquisition of remote energy yields and performance measures of a network of installed solar power systems. As a new innovative solution that demonstrates a low cost mechanism using existing network infrastructures, the remote sensor system being developed presents the following key benefits: Access to a Photovoltaic (PV) system from anywhere through the use of the Internet, reports of power output and energy production trends, verification of system operation, collection of data for service and maintenance planning and the use of least cost devices to enable replicability of the solution.","PeriodicalId":326074,"journal":{"name":"2016 IST-Africa Week Conference","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125236609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}