Conference paper presented at the Indigenous Knowledge Technology Conference this November 2011 in Windhoek, Namibia.

1. The Number in my Pocket: the Power of Mobile
Technology for the Exchange of Indigenous
Knowledge
Elizabeth Greyling and Niall McNulty

2. Introduction/Background
• The global information economy is driven by the Internet
• The African information community has limited access to ICTs
for reasons of cost, accessibility, etc.
• Local African content on the web is low due to capacity to
record, transfer and disseminate information
• Limited role of heritage and information practitioners as
providers and gate-keepers of African information
• Limited buy-in to digital resources by local communities,
retarding of digital skills development and socio-economic
transformation

3. Introduction/Background - continued
• Increase in the use of mobile devices in urban, peri-urban and rural
areas along city boundaries
• Mobile technologies are currently being developed for a wide range of
applications, with functionalities to allow potential users to interact
• Libraries moved focus towards patron-focused services, in particular
the provision of digital information material
• Ulwazi Programme - a micro-level intervention that combines IKS and
appropriate technology to address the digital divide on the
communities’ terms, prompted by their own experience of their reality

4. Goals/Objectives
• To enable local communities to become part of the global
information society
• To make African stories part of the global information economy
• To build capacity in digital communication skills
• To make Libraries and Information services relevant in the quest for
social transformation
• To promote community participation in local government structures

5. The Ulwazi model
• Three cornerstones on which the programme rests:
• Community - who is the most important member in the
partnership
• Library - who is the anchor partner providing security, support
and continuity
• Technology in use – the most dynamic aspect of the
programme, using open source software and social media

6. The Community
• We regard the community as the most important member in the partnership
because:
• Through volunteer field-workers, the community records their own
knowledge in a community-specific way, adding an inalienable,
imprescriptible value to it
• Participants communicate with each other in a community-specific way,
enriching social interaction processes and thereby building social
capital
• Social networks thus established promote the attainment of economic
outcomes
• Community participation - contributes to the protection of local
knowledge

7. Community participation

8. The Library
• Anchor partner – stability of position, both within the community and within the
government structure through which it is established; providing infrastructure
• Providing training, supporting technology and data collection
• By virtue of the profession, the library provides content management and
information skills
• Cultural and historical data is curated in a socially distributed fashion, as a ‘living
document’, a ‘work in progress’
• The library is responsible for programme review and re-direction
• Outreach function is in step with UN Millennium Development Goals and the
WSIS Action Plans that speak to access, capacity-building and development of
local content in the vernacular

9. Training

10. Technologies used
• We use a combination of open-source and social media applications for
archival and heritage purposes
• A conscious decision was made to use open source software based on
availability, licensing fees and a common philosophy of sharing. These
include:
• LAMP server hosts our website
• MediaWiki used to manage the Community Memory database
• WordPress used for blogging (main programme blog and project specific
blogs)
• Creative Commons Share and Share Alike Licence
• Social media applications are used to create new entry points for the
programme. These include:
• Facebook, Twitter & Flickr

11. How it works
• Potential volunteers are identified through consultation with local
community leaders
• Training is then provided to volunteer field-workers in digital media,
oral history and ICT skills
• They go back to their communities and collect stories, adding them
to a collaborative website hosted by the Ulwazi Programme
• Field-workers also transfer skills to interested community members
• The system is open - anyone can access the information and add or
edit a story

12. Going mobile – the number in my
pocket
• Access to the internet via mobile phones is more common in South Africa than via
desktop connections and most new phones come with a basic browser installed
• We felt we needed to develop a way to make the information in the Community
Memory available on mobile phones and also to explore ways of collecting heritage
resources through mobile phones
• As phase one, the Community Memory database was adapted to work on mobile
phones
• A scaled down version of the interface was created, with limited graphics and
functionality; a script was installed on the server which automatically detects when a
mobile phone accesses it and which then serves the scaled down version to the user
• Currently , eight percent of visitors access the website through a mobile device

13. Analytics report: Mobile

14. The mobile field-worker
• As an extension of the already successful field-worker programme, we are thinking of
implementing a mobile field-worker programme
• Interested members of the community would register with the Ulwazi Programme, and
would receive training and clear instructions on how to conduct a mobile submission
• Using a free Gmail address, field-workers could submit an article, audio-recording or
image via email from their mobile phone
• By setting up a unique email address on our server, post@ulwazi.org, and assigning it
publishing rights in the database, all emails sent to this address could be converted
into entries in the database
• The subject of the email becomes the title of the page, the content of the email
becomes the copy of the page and any attached media inserted into the page
• For users without a browser on their phone an SMS gateway could potentially be
developed, which converts the text message to an email

15. Technology in use

16. Analytics report: Visitors

17. Analytics: Global

18. Analytics report: Location

19. Analytics report: Search Terms
• Umemelo - traditional 21st birthday celebration
• Umbembesco - a Zulu traditional ceremony that forms part of ilobola
negotiations
• Izaga - Zulu proverbs
• Zulu houses - information on traditional building practices
• Izinganekwane - traditional Zulu children’s stories
• Indigenous games - a category devoted to South African indigenous
games
• Umbondo - Umbondo is one of the stages of lobola

20. Results
• We have proven that specific technologies for recording and uploading of Indigenous
Knowledge in an ordered, structured and controlled manner can be done
• Currently around 700 articles, half of them in Zulu (the local vernacular), provide online
access to local Indigenous Knowledge
• Web analytics show a steady increase in visitors - from Durban, the rest of South Africa
and internationally
• Most of our visitors arrive through search engines such as Google which suggests that
people are searching for local information online
• At a recent pilot project run at township and rural schools, the mobile fieldworker
concept was met with great enthusiasm and easily mastered
• Over the past year, we have seen a steady increase in access via mobile devices

21. Lessons learnt
• High turnover of fieldworkers
• Incentives sustain interest
• Communication with fieldworkers problematic
• Training is a slow process
• The programme is labour intensive
• Community people are keen to participate

22. Limitations
• We are practitioners providing a service in a public library
environment, relying on available research which leads to
assumptions about ICT understanding and usage patterns
• Low levels of ICT literacy and understanding of the Internet in
communities make it difficult to explain the objectives of the
programme fully
• Despite efforts from the fieldworkers, participants have a poor grasp
of intellectual property rights (Creative Commons) which limits their
understanding of the implications of their participation in the
programme

23. Potential outcomes
• Preservation and management of local Indigenous Knowledge
• Economic empowerment through skills development
• Enhancement of self-esteem and self-confidence impacting on
advancement of social capital
• Knowledge provision carries the seed to behaviour changes and
informed decision-making leading to social transformation
• Collaboration and knowledge sharing bring about cross-cultural
understanding and tolerance
• Public libraries in Africa re-affirm their relevance in a digital era that
threatens to render them redundant.

24.
Ulwazi Programme
Thank you for your attention!
!
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www.ulwazi.org