Johannesburg, 16 Jul 2015
In a move consistent with its approach to the application of technology for the enhancement of customer businesses, Britehouse has introduced a multi-layered socio-economic development (SED) initiative known as the #67DayDigitalActivationMovement with several partners on board already. Ed Note: See below for partners
The movement, which is open to all organisations, is based on the United Nations' 1999 appeal to people, as part of honouring Nelson Mandela, to spend 67 minutes of their time doing something practical in support of disadvantaged people.
"We've extended that idea to 67 days. In the past four years the Diepsloot community has involved us in several SED projects and this has shown us that, 67 days is all you need to trigger lasting positive behavioural change within communities that are currently excluded from the mainstream economy," says Emmeline Bester, Britehouse Group CSI Manager.
"This movement comes off the back of the extremely successful pop-up digital hub launched in March this year in Diepsloot as a platform for launching, monitoring, and evaluating SED and enterprise development (ED) initiatives."
Housed in a container equipped with smart technology and Internet access and provisioned with an online repository of skills development resources provided by the Seta accredited Mentec Foundation, the digital hub can be replicated easily anywhere in South Africa and in the rest of the world.
The impact of the hub is deepened by the fact that it is itself an enterprise development initiative. It forms part of Britehouse's incubation of a black owned and managed business headed up by Arthur Anderson.
Britehouse provides Anderson with business mentorship as well as input in the form of solutions or SED spend from its own vendor network, including SAP and Microsoft.
Anderson facilitates the management of the hub and direct liaison with the community and also oversees any points of presence extended from the hub to other communities or organisations.
"In effect, we are outsourcing our SED to an enterprise development beneficiary that will then take responsibility for youth, women, and community development as enabled by the hub," Bester says.
"He and his organisation will identify other small enterprises and match them to the enterprise and skills development obligations of large organisations. There are few things more powerful than a social entrepreneur empowering social enterprises."
The process is extremely scalable. All organisations can take advantage of the Got-Game facilities and approach, either by co-locating in a hub or setting up a hub of their own. Because the hub is replicable and operates as an outsource facility, it reduces the time, money, and effort needed to make a positive impact.
"In addition, each hub creates a multiplier effect, with communities benefiting from a continuously enriched and expanding SED focus. If corporates then also take the 67 Day approach, the multiplier effect becomes exponential."
The Britehouse GOT-GAME hub is designed to be a community resource, focused on creating inclusion in all aspects of the mainstream economy.
It is used for IT training and professional teacher development. It's a safe place for students to study and a place to apply for jobs online via a digital job platform. Students can post their CV's via a Got Game portal, where businesses can find them easily. Having learned IT skills in the hub, people can then put them to work, capturing data, creating documents, and doing other online projects for organisations, globally.
Beyond the IT arena, the hub is used to train in the basics of business young women who start up early childhood education centres.
"Britehouse GOT-GAME is a place of many possibilities, dictated by communities' own requirements", says Britehouse Group CEO, Scott Gibson. "It is naturally and organically driven by synergies. If corporates couple it with a 67 Day approach, it can accelerate individual and community development at a rate that simply hasn't been possible before. And, because the hubs are digital, the effects of SED projects can be monitored and evaluated, enabling success to be measured and, therefore, replicated elsewhere."
Partner list
Because of its transformation potential, the Britehouse GOT-GAME digital hub continuously attracts new collaborative partners.
Britehouse GOT-GAME and its industry partners aim to deliver on Codes of Good Practice, aligned to:
* Skills development of unskilled and unemployed youth
* Enterprise development of micro and small enterprise
* Supplier enterprise development
* Corporate social investment to the benefit of educator and student beneficiaries.
1. Eliance has partnered with Britehouse GOT-GAME to design and build a backend system which will facilitate the entire #67DayDigitalActivationMovement.
2. City Parks and the non-governmental organisation (NGO), Vastfontein Community Transformation, are partnering with Britehouse GOT-GAME in making available training and resources related to horticulture and agriculture. The objective is to incubate community vegetable gardeners, equip community members to be landscapers and provide garden services, and create indigenous and therefore viable green lungs in disadvantaged communities.
3. As part of its own support for education initiatives in rural and under-served communities, Samsung has donated tablet devices to the hub. A Samsung solar generator powers the hub, in alignment with Samsung's drive towards providing underserved communities with access to infrastructure.
4. Got-Game implements effective, sustainable, and scalable social impact solutions that deliver results. Its partner eco-system is ever expanding and it works closely with GreenOutdoorGyms, United Nations Development Programme, LXI Media, South African National Department of Basic Education, British Council, Vastfontein Community Transformation, Feed A Child, to name a few.
5. Britehouse and Mentec Foundation programme have given high potential learners the priceless opportunity to acquire scarce skills within the ICT sector that has greatly enhanced their employability. The programme has also provided them the opportunity to start, manage and sustain their own business venture should they wish to do so. Over 50% of the total learners to date have risen to the role of being the main income generators in their families, where their families' joint income was on average R4 000 p/m and simply could not afford the high cost of tertiary education.
6. Wits University's The Fak'ugesi Digital Africa Festival is an umbrella event hosted by Wits University and the JoziHub in Johannesburg. Each event will turn the spotlight on some aspect of digital technology including software, hardware, networks, digital content and games.
7. Healthy Living will supply digital health and wellness screenings, which will be tracked via the digital platform.
8. Diallo SK will be providing career guidance workshops to a target group of 20 Grade, 10, 11 and 12 pupils and the sustainable support of these students
9. Lego Foundation will participate in the sponsorship of two programmes. The first being the Train the Trainer and 6 Building Blocks with a robotics element.
10. The participation by visual artist John Adams, demonstrating the ability to speed paint a rendition of Mandela which we aim to auction off to raise funds for the Sunrise Secondary School
Britehouse GOT-GAME contacts:
Emmeline Bester
Group CSI Manager Britehouse
011 575 4668 or 083 680 7237 or Emmeline.Bester@britehouse.co.za