An ontology-based, multi-modal platform for the inclusion of marginalized rural communities into the knowledge society

Abstract

With the information revolution that promises to shape the 21st century, knowledge has become the prime commodity, very much like land, means of production and capital have been at different times in the past. Access to information, made instantly available by the growth of the Internet, determines access to economic resources, social participation and better quality of life. For this reason, the knowledge stored on the Web and the advantages offered by the spread of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are equally important for rich societies to prosper and for poor ones to develop. The only difference is that marginalised communities do not have access to the tools and have little control over the content found in the domain of ICTs. In this paper we describe an intervention to develop the potential of a typical rural community in South Africa through ICTs. This involves providing Internet connectivity and deploying a platform to support e-commerce, e-learning, e-government and e-health. The core of the platform is an ontology-based model designed to integrate and respond to Indigenous Knowledge Systems. This has been achieved by combining a deep understanding of local knowledge and social networks with the use of authoring, communication and ontology-management tools. The primary goal of this new approach is to find a way to make ICT solutions more sensitive to the local context, and therefore more effective. Secondly, we hope to foster a sense of ownership of the project among the community, by capitalising on local knowledge and resources.

Exploring Digital Archive System to Develop Digitally Resilient Youths in Marginalised Communities in South Africa

“…The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries www.ejisdc.org culturally sensitive applications for the direct benefit of marginalised youths (Hourcade et al, 2010;Thinyane et al, 2007Thinyane et al, , 2006.…”

“…More specifically, digital resilience means the ability to acquire new digital skills that can help an individual to navigate increasingly digitally-oriented, dynamic societies. The main characteristics of digital resilience include the capacity to create new opportunities, new resources and new skills to cope in a stressful, disadvantaged or traumatic situation (LLobregat-Gómez & Sanchez-Ruiz, 2015;Luthar et al, 2000;Masten, 2001 Developing digitally resilient youths in marginalised communities is thus a lifelong practice of continual education by virtue of its capacity to create new opportunities, resources and skills that will enable the youth to actively participate in the knowledge economy and information society (Thinyane et al, 2007(Thinyane et al, , 2006. Digital resilience is related to positive youth development (PYD) that prepares young people to face the challenges of life through productive activities and experiences that render them socially, morally, emotionally, spiritually, physically and cognitively competent (Sanders & Munford, 2014;Colmer et al, 2011;Heinze et al, 2010;Lerner et al, 2009;Ebstyne & Furrow, 2008;Fraser-Thomas et al, 2005;Lerner, 2005).…”

eServices provisioning in a community development context through a JADE MAS platform

“…The agent architecture fits within the PIASK architecture to provide decoupled, modular, units (agents) of computation that exist within a community [15]. We developed the PIASK architectural pattern as conceptual layering of aggregated application functionality for multimodal, multimedia application deployment in heterogeneous contexts.…”

Determining requirements within an indigenous knowledge system of African rural communities

“…A scarcity of local content and poor ICT infrastructure matched to daily practice and knowledge forms contribute to technology's irrelevance to rural Africans. Different priorities, inaccessibility and perceptions that computers suit only the formally educated [28] contribute to a low usage. However designing appropriate technology which is entwined with practices of Traditional Local Knowledge (TLK) can be used for sustainable development in areas such as agriculture, healthcare and natural resource management.…”