DELAY TOLERANT ICT TO BRIDGE UNDER-SERVED REGIONS OF RURAL SOUTH AFRICA.

Rural areas often suffer from slow and unreliable network infrastructures, which limits access to content and services that may promote economic development. In this context, we aim to explore how low-cost ICT systems for collective intelligence can be used to bring internet connectivity to such under-served areas in developing regions. In our use case, micro-entrepreneurs equipped with low-complexity cinema-in-a-backpack systems can deliver educational and entertainment content in remote villages. Wireless connectivity is granted to micro-entrepreneurs by means of a delay tolerant network (DTN). In such networks, inexpensive wireless enabled infostations mounted on public transportation vehicles deliver content without the support of telecom operators or any other dedicated network infrastructure. The reduction in cost will eventually enable new business opportunities in under-served rural areas. Here, we argue for a delay tolerant system, bringing periodic and intermittent coverage to under-served areas. This network is meant to provide opportunities for sustainable employment and revenue to local entrepreneurs and services for the local communities. We will demonstrate the value of this work by conducting a six month long field deployment in rural South Africa, in partnership with local institutions. We also aim to show that this network provides a valuable service to the community through usage logs and user interviews. We present our infostations and the cinema-in-a-backpack system and introduce the network scenario in an ongoing project that provides communities in rural South Africa with cinema experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]