The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has taken interest in the locally developed Digital Doorway initiative, and partnered with its developer, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). They plan to supply Digital Doorway containers to several countries, and assist in developing ways to produce them locally in those regions.
The Digital Doorway container is a rugged computer system which encourages self-learning of computer and information skills for both children and adults in areas where ICT infrastructure is scarce.
According to the CSIR, Unicef has built a concept demonstrator using the Digital Doorway as a reference. The prototype is now being developed into a portable version called the 'Bee' mobile communication system for deployment in humanitarian emergencies, says the CSIR.
“The concept was to develop a Digital Doorway-in-a-suitcase, which could be checked in with an airliner carrying Unicef staff to various disaster areas,” the council explains.
It adds that the 'Bee' project will act as a content server and a communication hub within disaster areas. This will help with Unicef's relief work and the process of re-building of communities.
According to the CSIR, the development process has resulted in Bee evolving into a 'village server'. “This will provide content as well as a gateway for services to other devices via GSM, WiFi or other communication backbones. It will allow Unicef staff to use their Blackberrys or iPods to communicate with the village server.”
After testing the concept, the UN decided to inject more funding into this initiative.
Ronel Smith, Digital Doorways project coordinator at the CSIR, says the tool was developed with a vision of making a difference to computer literacy and associated skills in Africa. “Underpinning the project is the idea of people's inherent cognitive ability to teach themselves computer skills with minimal external intervention,” she explains.
Smith says each Digital Doorway serves as both a tool for computer literacy development and a source of information on a range of subjects.
“The content includes the OpenOffice suite, educational games and programs, an introduction to computer terminology, scientific software, 10 000 books from project Gutenberg, a snapshot of the Wikipedia, Mindset curriculum-based educational content, interactive science simulations and numerous other applications for children and adults,” she says.
Deployable in cities and remote areas through satellite Internet, the Digital Doorway provides Internet access to children and communities that are otherwise unreachable by computer labs or Internet cafes, notes Smith.
This initiative, a collaborative project between the CSIR's Meraka Institute and the Department of Science and Technology, has gained recognition in countries like Australia, US, Ethiopia, the Solomon Islands, Lesotho, Uganda and SA.
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