Uneven Access to Digital Tools and Tech in Low-Income Informal Communities

Proponents of smartphone and internet access have long hailed their digital tools as the great equalizer expected to leap-frog low-income communities in the global south across the technical divide. However, the reality is a lot more nuanced. Target 9.c of the Sustainable Development Goals required the international community to provide universal and affordable access to the internet in the least-developed countries by 2020. In its latest report (2022, p. 45), the United Nations acknowledged this target was unmet. In many countries of the global south, the lack of regular electricity supply is a fundamental hindrance to such access, but the success stories are tangible where available. This session draws panelists from ground-level experience in low-income informal settlements of Cape Town, South Africa, to ask: In what ways does uneven access to digital tools and technologies change how low-income informal communities build civic and community capacity and self-sufficiency? And, in doing so, how does this equip or challenge communities to mobilize further for social and economic rights?

This event is in collaboration with Columbia GSAPP, University of Cape Town School of IT, and Whizz ICT.

Speakers

Stefan Peter Chavez-Norgaard

PhD Candidate, Columbia University, USA

Stefan Chavez-Norgaard is a PhD Candidate in Urban Planning at Columbia University currently based in Cambridge, MA, as a doctoral fellow with Harvard University’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and a scholar-in-residence at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Using institutional analysis, his dissertation studies how planning schemes are implemented, how residents contest and repurpose formal built sites and plans, and the resultant socio-spatial composition of planned spaces. His broader research interests include planning history and theory; local government and planning law; political economy and world systems; urban governance and democracy; and African urbanism with a focus on South Africa. He has a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Bachelors in Public Policy and Urban Studies from Stanford University. Prior to Columbia, he worked with the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, the New York City Department of Transportation, and the Ford Foundation's Equitable Development team.

Pamela Siphika

Founder, Whizz ICT, Cape Town, South Africa

Pamela Siphika is the Director and co-founder of the Whizz ICT Community Resource Centre. Whizz ICT Centre was established in 2012 with her business partner, the late Mr. Thembinkosi Qondela. After the sad passing of her business partner in June 2020 due to COVID-19 complications, Ms. Siphika then registered the organization as Whizz ICT Skills and Services Centre, to further their shared vision of bringing access and use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and skills development services to low-income communities. Her functions include strategic planning, compliance, operations, dealing with staff performance issues, training and skills development, as well as handling the finances of the company. In addition to her work at Whizz, Ms. Siphika is the Director and Co-Founder of RoofAct Construction and PNC Financial Solutions– whose purpose is to facilitate trainings and skills development, consultation, online services and to spread the concepts of self-sufficiency and success to all youth and women in disadvantages communities.

Pamela holds a National Certificate in Financial Management and a National Diploma in Accounting from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), and is currently pursuing an Advanced Diploma in Accounting Sciences (Postgraduate diploma) with the University of South Africa (UNISA).

Christopher Moonga

Co-Director, Whizz ICT, Cape Town, South Africa

Christopher Moonga is Founding President of RoofAct (pty) Ltd. and co-director of the Whizz ICT Centre. RoofAct specializes in roofing, building, and renovation, as well as general construction and asbestos removal. Mr. Moonga is a Roof Consultant, Contract Director, Graphic designer and Business investor, working with Whizz on operational management, facilities construction, shop-fitting, graphic design, and overall strategic advising and support. Mr. Moonga is a graduate of Libala High School and its Construction program.

Moderator

Gwamaka Mwalemba

Senior Lecturer, Department of Information Systems, University of Cape Town

Gwamaka Mwalemba is a senior lecturer in the Department of Information Systems, University of Cape Town (UCT). He holds a Master of Commerce in Information Systems, Bachelor of Commerce (Honors) in Information System as well as Bachelor of Science in Computer Science all from UCT. He has over 10 years of experience in the ICT and higher education industry specifically focusing on projects and research related to ICT skills and innovation in developing countries context.

The “Conversations on Informality” Seminar Series of the Penn IUR Forum on Urban Informality bring together leading scholars and practitioners for an exchange across academic disciplines and in policy.