Exploring smart communities in SA

While the concept of smart cities has been explored in academic literature and implemented by several countries around the world, the idea of smart communities has not been substantially explored in underdeveloped countries, which are still predominately rural.

This is according to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) Chief Researcher in Information and Cybersecurity, Dr Jackie Phahlamohlaka, who conceptualised and edited the book, Approaches to Building a Smart Community: An Exploration through the Concept of the Digital Village.

Researchers from the CSIR and various South African universities recently launched the handbook, which provides practical approaches to building smart communities for underdeveloped and information-deprived communities in developing countries.

The book was commissioned by the Siyabuswa Educational Improvement and Development Trust (Seidet), of which Phahlamohlaka is the founder and Board Chair. It contains unique recommendations informed by the researchers’ years of academic work and direct involvement in community development through the use of information and communications technology and architectural and engineeringtype experimental development work.

Since the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), there has been a strong drive to establish smart cities. “This refers to reconfiguring urban areas into modern spaces that utilise different types of electronic methods and sensors to efficiently collect data and manage assets, resources and services.

“A smart community, on the other hand, advocates the building of an interconnected community that leverages smart technologies to benefit citizens, businesses and service organisations for economic growth, social benefits and environmental sustainability,” Phahlamohlaka explains.

The book features 10 chapters on the building of smart communities and the topics range from entrepreneurship training to digital ecosystems and smart infrastructure as the basis of a smart community. Twelve researchers collaborated on each chapter.

“The book is expected to help communities around the globe find a suitable approach to try themselves and, by doing so, find something that positively contributes to the quality of lives of people in those communities,” says Phahlamohlaka.

Inspiration behind the book

Another book edited by Phahlamohlaka, launched in 2008 and titled CommunityDriven Projects: Reflections on a Success Story, A case study of science education and information technology in South Africa, chronicled the success of Seidet.

In 2011, Phahlamohlaka started exploring the concept of a Seidet Digital Village and challenged his CSIR colleagues to see if possibilities existed for the Seidet Centre to be morphed into a smart community centre. Several papers were co-authored and published.

“I then realised that one approach based on the Seidet experience would not be enough to assist communities in developing countries. I identified other researchers who had done related work that qualified them to propose an approach to building a smart community that others could try, from a developing country’s point of view. This is how the [latest] book was conceptualised,” he says.

The book was also inspired by challenges posed by the 4IR.

“We are in a developing country and well-developed concepts such as smart cities only apply to a small proportion of our geographical spread. The bigger spread is made of

villages, townships and rural communities that also need to benefit from the digital revolution. There was good research work done by the contributors that needed to be implemented at community level,” says Phahlamohlaka.

To put the book together, he presented his high-level thoughts on what he hoped to achieve to the researchers. “I wanted a book that would latch onto their personal work. I want the readers to see for themselves that the approaches proposed are made by people with first-hand experience and interest. I selected the contributors based on these criteria and worked with each researcher to complete the chapters,” he explains.

Improving service delivery

The book is expected to add value to government programmes and departments, which can try various approaches to improve service delivery in communities.

“I believe some communities will be inspired into action to try one or more of the approaches proposed, and am hoping that when they do, the book will serve as a guide,” says Phahlamohlaka.

“The book plants the seed for collaboration with local government ... an observation from the Presidential National Commission on 4IR is that the concept of smart cities would best be implemented as smart communities in South Africa.”

The plan is to turn each of the chapters into a costed proposal and obtain funding to try the approaches.

Phahlamohlaka, from GaPhaahla Village in Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga, completed his Master of Science in Computational and Applied Mathematics at Dalhousie University in Canada and a PhD in Information Technology at the University of Pretoria. He also completed the Executive National Security Programme at the South African National Defence College in 2007.

He is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Information Technology Professionals of South Africa, a member of the South African National Committee for the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), and represents South Africa in Technical Committee 9 of the IFIP.

To read the book’s preface or purchase a copy, visit https:// www.cambridgescholars.com/ product/978-1-5275-7152-5