Digital Doorway

http://www.digitaldoorway.org.za/index_main.php

The Digital Doorway is a South African joint initiative between the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the CSIR that has as its vision to make a fundamental difference to computer literacy and associated skills in Africa. We envisage this happening through the innovative approach of minimally invasive education (MIE).

MIE differs fundamentally from other ICT provision interventions in that it holds that everyone has the inherent cognitive ability to teach themselves, provided computers can be made easily accessible to potential learners and an environment can be created in which they can learn through experimenting.

metaLAB has been working with the Project Team to create a replicable and sustainable Business model that will support the roll out of upto 35,000 units across the country within 5 years.

Overview

The CSIR’s Digital Doorway Initiative started in November 2002 with the first installation in Cwili, a rural community in the Eastern Cape. By the end of March 2005 twenty-four Digital Doorways had been deployed countrywide.

ISSUES

• The CSIR team is keen that, in the pursuit of the end goal of sustainability, the heart of the Digital Doorways Initiative is preserved – especially the Minimally Invasive Education approach and the open source and digital commons elements.

• The DST is keen to combine poverty reduction with social impact to extend the benefits of access to electronic information, payment etc to rural and isolated communities using minimumally invasive education as an entry point.

• Commercial partners are keen to understand the user requirements of communities and individuals in the places where Digital Doorways are to be rolled out and, also the potential for Digital Doorways to be a new platform and a channel for service delivery

Partners

• metaLAB