School of IT presents several research papers at IFIP WG 9.4

The School of Information Technology (SIT) had a strong presence at the recent IFIP WG 9.4 (Working Group 9.4 of the International Federation of Information Processing) conference held in Dar es Salaam. The conference’s theme was “Strengthening Southern-driven cooperation as a catalyst for ICT4D”.

The bi-annual conference is dedicated to information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D), one of SIT’s core research areas.

The conference was well represented by African ICT4D researchers with several UCT staff and PhD students presenting papers including:

• Nexus between country context and the role of external actors in the formulation of national Information and Communication Technology policies.
  By Gregory Kunyenje and Wallace Chigona. 
• An analysis of the discourse embedded in the 2016 World Bank report.
  By Calisto Kondowe and Wallace Chigona.
• The influence of telecentres on the economic empowerment of youth in disadvantaged communities of South Africa.
  By Samkello Lutho Booi, Wallace Chigona, Priscilla Maliwichi and Khaya Kunene.
• E-commerce institutionalisation in Mozambique: enablers and barriers.
  By Fernanda Matsinhe and Salah Kabanda.

Prof Muhammadou Kah, Jean-Paul Van Belle and Wallace Chigona

Prof Jean-Paul Van Belle was part of the well-received panel on Digital Equity. The paper, with co-author Mbongeni Hlabano, was entitled Tracing the Impact of the City of Cape Town’s Open Data Initiative on Communities and Development. 
The paper looks at how open data initiatives can be enhanced to further improve the impact on community development and local government transparency. The City of Cape Town is the first city in Africa to establish an open data presence.

The conference published a double special issue on Digital Platforms for Development: “Digital platforms are restructuring how companies and industries operate, and failure to adopt platforms impacts competitiveness and future growth.”

The School of IT is bidding to host the 2021 or 2023 conference.