An ontology-based, multi-modal platform for the inclusion of marginalized rural communities into the knowledge society

With the information revolution that promises to shape the 21st century, knowledge has become the prime commodity, very much like land, means of production and capital have been at different times in the past. Access to information, made instantly available by the growth of the Internet, determines access to economic resources, social participation and better quality of life. For this reason, the knowledge stored on the Web and the advantages offered by the spread of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are equally important for rich societies to prosper and for poor ones to develop. The only difference is that marginalised communities do not have access to the tools and have little control over the content found in the domain of ICTs. In this paper we describe an intervention to develop the potential of a typical rural community in South Africa through ICTs. This involves providing Internet connectivity and deploying a platform to support e-commerce, e-learning, e-government and e-health. The core of the platform is an ontology-based model designed to integrate and respond to Indigenous Knowledge Systems. This has been achieved by combining a deep understanding of local knowledge and social networks with the use of authoring, communication and ontology-management tools. The primary goal of this new approach is to find a way to make ICT solutions more sensitive to the local context, and therefore more effective. Secondly, we hope to foster a sense of ownership of the project among the community, by capitalising on local knowledge and resources.