A baseline study of a Dwesa rural community for the Siyakhula Information and Communication Technology for Development project: understanding the reality on the ground

Abstract

A necessary foundation for implementing Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) projects is an understanding of the existing status of a rural community, in terms of its socio-economic status and its readiness to uptake innovative development activities supported by ICT. A Baseline Study of the Mpume rural community in the Dwesa-Cwebe area of the Wild Coast in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa was conducted as part of an initiating component of the newly adopted Living Lab concept for the Siyakhula ICT project. The Siyakhula Living Lab exists as a collaboration between public-private-civic partnerships to co-create innovative solutions for development. An understanding of the targeted rural community was essential to set a foundation for building on existing living lab activities, and a new Village Connection project aimed at offering affordable mobile phone services in rural contexts. This paper presents the Baseline Study findings, including a summary of the existing local economy and quality of life of the targeted community, and a detailed discussion of the readiness of the communities to be or become partners in the living lab. The findings illustrate the reality and need for development in a typical rural area of South Africa; not only highlighting targeted areas for development that can be supported by information access, but also informing and guiding project stakeholders on how best to implement living lab activities.