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Discussion

Pomfret has been identified as one of the beneficiaries of the DACST funded project implemented by the CSIR consortium. The ICT Hub has been established and intensive training in Project Management, PC literacy and business skills has been undertaken with selected community members.

The Pomfret community will benefit from the ICT revolution by accessing information that is of specific relevance to their daily lives, their overall development process and their small business development programmes. In addition, the project would provide the basis for the transfer of IT solutions for development in rural communities in South Africa.

 
Pomfret Business Opportunity Identification Process

The workshop objective was to identify and prioritise opportunities within the community. Two groups identified 50 opportunities and ended up with a priority list of ten. From these ten, three were selected for business planning:

  • Expansion of the ICT HUB
  • Hairdressing
  • Butchery

Community Needs Analysis

Arising from a later workshop with the community leadership a number of new business opportunities were identified:

Devil's Claw and Marula
It is proposed that a feasibility study for the Devil's Claw and Morula project is undertaken. The MEC indicated that the Department of Agriculture had recently completed a report on this.

Publishing of cultural history
Pomfret has a rich diversity of history and a pilot project is underway to begin the collection process of information and a sample of this will be published on the Pomfret web site. However, the magnitude of this project will require more funding beyond the scope of the DACST project.

Game park and Cultural village
These are exciting opportunities that require funding for feasibility studies. The community are in the process of preparing business plans.

HIV/Aids
The ICT enablement of this initiative could have significant impact in the region if incorporated into telemedicine programmes.

The CSIR recognizes that these projects could have a major strategic impact to the area and that wider stakeholder partnerships are required.
 
Outputs and Benefits
  • Provide a communications platform for the delivery of local content, Government and private sector information services as well as for health and education applications.
  • Develop human capacity in the rural environment (Business Advisors, Content developers, Technical Support and Project Managers)
  • Implement small businesses in order to achieve local economic development in a remote rural area.
  • Develop and replicate an assessment methodology for monitoring and evaluation of ICT's.
  • Adjust a replication model for the sustainability of Multi Purpose Community Centres.
The Approach
What makes this project unique is its approach to community empowerment and sustainability. Our experience in this field has led to the development of a framework that stresses the need for the integration of four key factors all contributing to local economic development, namely:
  • Community participation
  • Innovative technologies
  • Applications related to community needs
  • Sustainability
Community participation is critical. With established community structures, a management forum and strong leadership the community quickly moves from being a passive beneficiary to an active partner.
Applications related to community needs are developed in order to enhance quality of life. The main focus here is on training and content development. The training is designed to target the needs of differing groups. PC literacy is given to all trainees but individuals with an entrepreneurial flare are given business skills training. This enables the trainees to become facilitators and support other community members in the development of business plans. Examples of business plans developed to-date include:
  • An ICT Hub providing telecentre, desk-top publishing services, training and business skills facilitation.
  • Hairdressing
  • Butchery
  Pomfret ICT Hub in action
Only after the training has been completed is the technology rolled-out. This allows time for the community to get exposed to the benefits of information technology and provides the opportunity for income generating activities to take place.
Community members recieve Project Management training ICT Hub technician repairing a PC

Sustainability is the "acid test" for such projects and the HSRC are responsible for the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the project. This is essential to gather the "learning" and provides an alternative way for the community to provide inputs into the project.

This framework implies an integrated approach to rural development and the need to establish consortia with diverse skills. This project consortium includes the CSIR, ARC, HSRC, Technikon Pretoria, Renewable Energies Africa and Naledi ya Afrika.