Title: Towards a cyber security aware rural community
Authors: Marthie Grobler, Zama Dlamini, Sipho Ngobeni, Aubrey Labuschagne
Pages: 7 pp.
Source: Proceedings of the 2011 Information Security for South Africa (ISSA) Conference
Date (published): 10/08/2011
Date (accessed): 13/12/2011
Type of information: research paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"A large portion of the South African rural community only have intermittent access to computers and are not familiar, nor entirely comfortable, with the use of internet communication or electronic devices. The research conducted by the authors of this paper confirms that this lack of awareness, combined with the inherent dangers posed by the internet, expose local communities to cyber threats. Especially rural communities are not always empowered to deal with these threats.

In an effort to prevent innocent internet users from becoming victims of cyber attacks, a cyber security awareness campaign is developed to educate novice internet and technology users with regard to basic cyber security. The motivation for this awareness project is to educate all South Africans on the safe use of the internet, in an attempt to strengthen the cyber security awareness level concerning the South African network. The hypothesis is that if there are local communities that are not properly educated, their technology devices may remain unprotected. This may leave the South African internet infrastructure vulnerable to attacks, posing a severe threat to national security and eventually affecting communities other than those directly involved.

This research paper focuses on promoting cyber security awareness towards the newly released broadband capability and knowledge transfer within rural communities by means of a voluntary community based training program. This program can be adapted in any environment other than rural communities, but the current focus has been in the rural areas. The program takes on an informal work session approach with presentations and discussion sessions. The cyber security awareness program modules are divided into four main themes: physical security, malware and malware countermeasures, safe surfing and social aspects of cyber security.
These themes are developed in such a way to cover a wide range of topics, including practical advice on phishing attack avoidance and more advanced topics such as preventing social engineering attacks. This paper will introduce the development of the cyber security awareness program, and emphasize the importance for including these specific themes at the hand of international cyber security incidents."

Title: Mobile Technology in Africa: a comparative view between Kenya and South Africa
Author: Mariska Du Preez
Source: MIH Media Lab
Date (published): 07/12/2011
Date (accessed): 13/12/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"A recent GSMA report stated that Africa is currently the second biggest market for mobile in the world. This means that there is huge innovation potential in terms of mobile technology application development, as well as creating solutions (think access to information, ability to transfer money, creating jobs) for the more than 649 million handset owners on the continent.

As part of my research I’ve been investigating the mobile tech space in South Africa and Kenya as well as the developer communities in both countries. It is interesting to see how many differences (and surprising similarities) there are in terms of mobile usage and user statistics."

Title: YouTube launches in IsiZulu and Afrikaans for South Africa. That’s now 51 languages
Author: Paul Sawers
Source: Africa
Publisher: The Next Web
Date (published): 03/11/2011
Date (accessed): 20/11/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"n November 2010, YouTube announced it was adding African vernaculars Kiswahili and Amharic to its repertoire of languages. And today, it announced that it’s throwing another two African tongues into the mix – IsiZulu and Afrikaans.

Ian Parsons & Mthokozisi Dlalisa – Afrikaans & IsiZulu specialists, Google South Africa, said in the blog post:

"For many Africans online, the Internet is something created by other people which we simply consume. We see this with many African languages that have a dominant presence offline (on radio, TV, newspapers), yet are underrepresented on the web today. Seeing your language appear on global services like Google Search, YouTube, or Gmail can help change that. Suddenly, you become part of the conversation.""

Title: Uses, Benefits and Challenges of Public Access Points in the Face of Growth of Mobile Technology
Authors: Wallace Chigona, Ofentse Lekwane, Kim Westcott, Agnes Chigona
Pages: 14 pp.
ISSN: 1681-4835
Source: The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, (2011) 49, 5, 1-14
Publisher: City University of Hong Kong
Date (published): 02/11/2011
Date (accessed): 20/11/2011
Type of information: peer reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"For over two decades, the use of shared Information and Communication Technology (ICT) access has been promoted as a mode for promoting access to technology, especially in developing countries, hence minimising the effects of the digital divide on those on the wrong side of the divide. Recent discourse on the momentous diffusion of mobile telephony in developing countries has questioned the rationale of promoting fixed shared access, since people are bound to prefer mobile phones over shared access points. This paper seeks to empirically explore the use of shared access points in the wake of the increasing diffusion and usage of mobile technology. We explored the actual use of shared computing facilities, the benefits users accrue from using the facilities and the challenges they face in using and in gaining benefits. We used a case study of a shared facility in a disadvantaged community in Cape Town. The study noted that the demand for the shared facilities is still high. We noted that the center is used for both instrumental and hedonic purposes. It was also noted that there are economic, social and psychological benefits from using the facilities. However, it was noted that use of the facilities is beset by a number of challenges which limit use and benefits from the usage. The paper also noted the strategies users employ to overcome the challenges."

Title: The digital revolution in sub-Saharan Africa
Author: Laila Ali
Source: Al Jazeera English
Date (published): 12/10/2011
Date (accessed): 17/10/2011
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"Much has been written about the role technology played in bringing social and political change across much of the Middle East and North Africa, but less is known about the technological revolution that is taking place and transforming people's lives in sub-Saharan Africa.

It is estimated that by 2015 sub-Saharan Africa will have more people with mobile phone network access than electricity access at home. People with internet and no home electricity will reach 138 million, according to the Cisco Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2010-2015.

This deep and rapid mobile penetration is catapulting developing countries into the 21st century and bringing new and previously unimagined opportunities. While schools in the developed world enforce strict policies to keep mobile phones out of the classroom, African schools and universities are now exploring the use of mobile technology to assist teaching.
...
Mobile education
Under the BridgeIt initiative, known locally as Elimu kwa Teknologia or Education through Technology, teachers download video content using Nokia N95 mobile phones, which are connected to TVs in their classrooms, allowing rural schools and communities access to a digital catalogue of locally-developed or adapted educational content.
…
E-learning
In South Africa the concept of using mobile technology to support distant learners is also gaining ground. Pretoria University considers it an extension of e-learning - where distance learners use the internet to access materials to support their studies.
…
An app for that
The use of mobile technology in Africa is not limited to the field of education. In Kenya, high mobile penetration spurred the development of ground-breaking applications that are positioning the country as a regional leader in technology."

Title: Mobile Phones Dominate in South Africa
Author: Jan Hutton
Source: Nielsen Wire
Date (published): 30/09/2011
Date (accessed): 17/10/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"Africa is in the midst of a technological revolution, and nothing illustrates that fact than the proliferation of mobile phones. Consider this: more Africans have access to mobile phones than to clean drinking water. In South Africa, the continent’s strongest economy, mobile phone use has gone from 17 percent of adults in 2000 to 76 percent in 2010. Today, more South Africans – 29 million – use mobile phones than radio (28 million), TV (27 million) or personal computers (6 million). Only 5 million South Africans use landline phones.
…
Nielsen’s recently released Mobile Insights study in South Africa, which examined consumers’ usage of and attitudes toward mobile phones, networks and services, reveals a number of interesting insights:

High levels of network loyalty: 95 percent of subscribers have been with their carrier for an average of 4.2 years, and 81 percent said they’d recommend their network providers to friends and family, reinforcing the importance of word-of-mouth and reputation in the industry.

Move from pre-paid to contracts: While pre-paid plans still make up between 82 and 85 percent of the market, 25 percent of subscribers say they could switch from pre-paid to contract packages within the next year.

Network quality a key decision factor: More than a quarter (27%) said they left their previous provider due to poor network quality.

Nokia rules: More than half (52%) own that company’s handsets, followed by Samsung and BlackBerry, and 56 percent of those currently using other brands indicated their next handset would likely be a Nokia.

How do South Africans Use their phones?

As in other countries, mobile phones are being used in a range of ways aside from talking. South Africa ranks fifth in the world for mobile data usage, ahead of the United States, which ranks seventh.

More than 20 percent of those surveyed said they download ringtones and a similar number said they download music. Wallpapers, screensavers and pictures are also popular downloadables. The mobile phone as an Internet device is also on the rise – 11 percent of South Africans use their mobiles to go online, and consumers aged 25-34 are the heaviest users. Facebook is the most popular social media platform, used by 85 percent of mobile subscribers. Half of all users of Facebook in South Africa access the site via their mobiles. MXIT, a mobile instant messaging platform, is also popular in the country, with 61 percent saying they access the site.

SMS text messaging is practically ubiquitous among South African mobile customers, and is used by almost 4.2 times more people than e-mail. More than two-thirds (69%) of consumers prefer sending texts to calling, in large part because it is less expensive, and 10 percent believe texting to be a faster way of communicating.

The majority (60%) of South African mobile users said they are aware of mobile banking services offered by banks, but only 21 percent say they use such services. A much larger number of those aware of the services said they would never use them, suggesting banks might need to invest in communicating the benefits and security of mobile banking."

Title: South Africa mobile Internet usage soars to 39%
Source: IT News Africa
Date (published): 10/08/2011
Date (accessed): 10/08/2011
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"The Mobility 2011 research project, conducted by World Wide Worx and backed by First National Bank (FNB), reveals that 39% of urban South Africans and 27% of rural users are now browsing the Internet on their phones.
The study excludes “deep rural” users, and represents around 20-million South Africans aged 16 and above. This means that at least 6-million South Africans now have Internet access on their phones.
...
The most dramatic shift of all, however, is the arrival of e-mail in the rural user-base and its growth among urban users. There has been a substantial shift among the latter, with urban use rising from 10% in 2009 to 27% at the end of 2010. While the percentage growth among rural users is lower, the fact that it was almost non-existent a year before means the 12% penetration reported for 2010 indicates mobile e-mail becoming a mainstream tool across the population."

Title: Universal broadband for all: ANC
Source:MyBroadband
Date (published):15/11/2010
Date (accessed):16/11/2010
Type of information:article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
„In the ANC’s latest newsletter the ruling party punts the importance of broadband to all South Africans.

The ANC supports, among other things:

* Asymmetric interconnect rates for operations in rural areas;
* Re-farming voice spectrum to be used for broadband provisioning in rural areas;
* Prioritizing high capacity spectrum for wireless communications in rural and urban poor areas will be needed.”

Title: Voice Search in Underrepresented Languages
Authors: Pedro J. Moreno, Johan Schalkwyk
Source:Google Research Blog
Date (published):09/11/2010
Date (accessed):12/11/2010
Type of information:blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
„Today we’re introducing Voice Search support for Zulu and Afrikaans, as well as South African-accented English. The addition of Zulu in particular represents our first effort in building Voice Search for underrepresented languages.

We define underrepresented languages as those which, while spoken by millions, have little presence in electronic and physical media, e.g., webpages, newspapers and magazines. Underrepresented languages have also often received little attention from the speech research community. Their phonetics, grammar, acoustics, etc., haven’t been extensively studied, making the development of ASR (automatic speech recognition) voice search systems challenging.

We believe that the speech research community needs to start working on many of these underrepresented languages to advance progress and build speech recognition, translation and other Natural Language Processing (NLP) technologies. The development of NLP technologies in these languages is critical for enabling information access for everybody. Indeed, these technologies have the potential to break language barriers.”
via https://twitter.com/#!/RitseOnline

Title: Does ICT Benefit the Poor? Evidence from South Africa
Authors:Stefan Klonner, Patrick Nolen
Pages: 35 pp.
Date (published):01/03/2010
Date (accessed):12/11/2010
Type of information:research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
„We study the economic effects of the roll-out of mobile phone network coverage in rural South Africa. We address identification issues which arise from the fact that network roll-out cannot be viewed as an exogenous process to local economic development. We combine spatially coded data from South Africa's leading network provider with annual labor force surveys. We use terrain properties to construct an instrumental variable that allows us to identify the causal effect of network coverage on economic outcomes under plausible assumptions. We find substantial effects of cell phone network roll-out on labor market outcomes with remarkable gender-specific differences. Employment increases by 15 percentage points when a locality receives network coverage. A gender-differentiated analysis shows that most of this effect is due to increased employment by women. Household income increases in a pro-poor way when cellular infrastructure is provided.”
via https://twitter.com/#!/LisaCespedes