LRIT4AE
ICT in Low Resource Settings: Innovating for Africa and Europe through Living Labs
| Coordinatore | FONDAZIONE BRUNO KESSLER
Organization address
address: VIA SANTA CROCE 77 contact info |
| Nazionalità Coordinatore | Italy [IT] |
| Totale costo | 79˙800 € |
| EC contributo | 79˙800 € |
| Programma | FP7-PEOPLE
Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) |
| Code Call | FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IRSES |
| Funding Scheme | MC-IRSES |
| Anno di inizio | 2012 |
| Periodo (anno-mese-giorno) | 2012-11-01 - 2014-12-31 |
Partecipanti
| # | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
FONDAZIONE BRUNO KESSLER
Organization address
address: VIA SANTA CROCE 77 contact info |
IT (TRENTO) | coordinator | 44˙100.00 |
| 2 |
FRAUNHOFER-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V
Organization address
address: Hansastrasse 27C contact info |
DE (MUENCHEN) | participant | 35˙700.00 |
Mappa
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Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)
'The implementation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in developmental contexts presents relevant social and technical challenges. Understanding of lessons learnt and best practices under extreme conditions such as the ones found on the African continent can provide valuable insights for ICT deployment in developed countries. At the same time, the experience in use cases and technical know-how of developed countries can help regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa in harnessing the full potential of ICT for social and economic development. The proposed exchange program between Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK, Italy), Fraunhofer FOKUS (Fraunhofer, Germany), Rhodes University (RU, South Africa) and the University of Fort Hare (UFH, South Africa) aims at establishing a transnational cooperation to define and experiment a set of guidelines, tools, technologies and standard artifacts to facilitate the implementation of ICT solutions to address social inequalities through a Living Lab approach. All the partners have gained extensive experience with ICT for Development (ICT4D) projects in sub-Saharan Africa and have competences in project management, technologies for rural development, user-centric design and infrastructures. Activities will be carried out within the context of the Siyakhula Living Lab (SLL) in Dwesa, a rural area in the former homeland of Transkei, in South Africa. Like many African rural realities, Dwesa is characterised by endemic poverty and lack of services and infrastructure. It has been the site of extensive ethnographic research since the end of Apartheid in 1994. Since 2005 it has been the site of ICT for Development (ICT4D) activities involving the deployment and support of telecommunications infrastructure, internet connectivity and ICT training.'
Introduzione (Teaser)
A multinational research collaboration is developing and implementing guidelines and tools for technological development in rural South Africa. This is being achieved using a research concept called living lab.
Descrizione progetto (Article)
Information and communication technology (ICT) is vital for the improvement of social and economic prospects in rural communities. Dwesa, a rural community in South Africa, has been the site of several ICT for Development (ICT4D) initiatives since 2005.
The EU-funded 'ICT in low resource settings: Innovating for Africa and Europe through living labs' (LRIT4AE) project supports researcher exchanges between Italian, German and South African research institutions. The aim of LRIT4AE is to develop new methods and technologies for the implementation of ICT4D at the Siyakhula Living Lab in Dwesa.
LRIT4AE has analysed the methods used at Siyakhula over the last 10 years, and developed new concepts in mobile technology for future implementation. German and Italian researchers have visited Dwesa and two South African partner universities, while South African researchers have, in turn, visited the German and Italian partners.
Researchers are now developing various new technologies, including a new way to provide Internet connectivity to rural communities, a mobile journalism tool. The applications will be deployed and tested at Siyakhula.
The final phase of the project will evaluate the impact of these new tools on the community at Dwesa, and look for ways to apply these solutions in Europe. Ultimately, LRIT4AE will improve socioeconomic conditions in rural South Africa while also fostering and strengthening international collaboration in ICT4D.