News | School of Information Technology

Robotics and AI specialist joins the Dept of Computer Science

The Dept of Computer Science welcomes Sicelukwanda Zwane, who has a consuming interest in robotics and artificial intelligence, to the academic team.

Social media record is not the public, UCT study on ShotSpotter finds

A fascinating research paper by the UCT experts in information systems suggests that social media cannot be read as a straightforward record of public opinion on controversial technologies such as ShotSpotter.

Stokvels’ use of technology does not erode its traditions

Technology, so often blamed for eroding culture, can be a powerful tool for cultural survival when communities control it on their own terms, according to a new University of Cape Town (UCT) PhD study in Information Systems.

AI, bias and the rule of law

In her PhD dissertation, Nokuthula Olorunju examines what a constitutional approach to AI and the rule of law looks like.

Policing capacity is stretched, so technology that promises to pinpoint gunfire is politically attractive. Thomas Quine/Wikimedia Commons

Did Cape Town’s gunshot detection system work? Why jury is still out on what ShotSpotter achieved

Information systems researcher Grant Oosterwyk and his colleagues unpack a recent paper that raises questions about accountability, commercial interests and community participation in the context of surveillance technology.

Human Computer Interaction Lab goes to CHI2026

The Human Computer Interaction Lab at UCT was proud to feature two full papers at the prestigious ACM CHI2026 conference in April 2026 in Barcelona, Spain.

AIS Southern African Chapter gets recognition

The Association for Information Systems (AIS) has recognised the Southern African Chapter (AISSAC) as an outstanding chapter for the 2025 academic year.

A team of five students namely Ayanda Ndlovu, Kendall Sables, Hlalanathi Mashimbye, Mangaliso Mcwabeni and Glen Nohaji who named themselves ‘Five Lanes’ from the Department of Information Systems at the University of Cape Town under the mentorship of Professor Lisa Seymour

UCT students shine at The SAP Signavio Regional Challenge 2026

A team of five students, under the mentorship of Professor Lisa Seymour, entered the SAP Signavio Regional Challenge, where they experimented with real-world business technology, and came third.

Imported gunshot detection systems can marginalise communities

A research paper revealed that when technologies like ShotSpotter travel from the Global North to Global South countries they arrive not simply as tools, but as governance scripts that shape how problems are understood.

The hidden costs of AI’s data-centre boom’

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how organisations work but the “cloud” that supports it is not a cloud at all, writes Grant Oosterwyk.

Call for applications: HPI Fellowships

The Hasso-Plattner Institute (HPI) and UCT Digital Health Partnership annually grants PhD and Postdoctoral fellowships to qualifying students from the African continent for students working in the field of digital health.

The UCT researchers behind MzansiLM. From left: Simbarashe Mawere, Anri Lombard, Dr Jan Buys, and Dr Francois Meyer.

UCT researchers develop AI model for 11 South African languages

UCT researchers have built MzansiLM, an AI language model covering 11 of South Africa’s official languages, addressing a critical gap in AI tools for low-resource languages.