CRREA: Consumer Rights in the ICT Sector in Eastern & Southern Africa ARISE: African Research for Information Society Emergence Disseminating the Fruits: 5 Short Videos on Acacia Projects Community Project InfoLit -Background -Getting started -Partnerships -InfoLit Centres -Course 1 -Course 2

LINK Centre Projects
This page showcases or provides links to a number of projects undertaken by the LINK Centre.

CRREA: Consumer Rights in the ICT Sector in Eastern & Southern Africa - Empowering regulators to protect consumer rights in the ICT sector

Between 2009 - 2011 the LINK Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and Balancing Act, London, undertook qualitative research into regulation to protect and empower consumers in the ICT sector. This project covered five countries - Ethiopia, Mauritius, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia - all members of the Association of Regulators of Information and Communication for Eastern and Southern Africa (ARICEA).

Research team members in each of the target countries summarised the current position in respect of ICT consumer protection regulation, workshopped and reported on the in-country research they undertook, and drafted regulatory action plans for agreement with the national regulatory authority. In addition, a summary of international best practice in ICT consumer protection regulation was produced.

InfoLit Project

Background
New Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) are causing a great shift in the way society is organised and going about its daily living and working. This new society is referred to as the "Information Society'. This new "Information Society" has impacts in work, education, health, leisure and most parts of modern life.

This has largely led to increasing disparities within countries and between countries, with the educated and affluent few having more access to the information that is shaping the world, and the majority being "information poor".

South Africa is attempting to find ways of increasing the benefits of the coming information age to the majority of the population. This is about access to the technologies, and organisations such as the Universal Service Agency are involved in this work. It is also about skills development, to use these technologies, and to understand the implications that arise there from.

Various studies have shown that South Africa lacks sufficient skills in ICT sector. This will have an impact on the national economy as a whole as it will not be able to take advantage of the changing world economy which values skills more highly than raw materials. Getting asses to and developing the skills within all the people of the country is important for it's continued growth and prosperity.