Browsing by Author "Chetty, Marshini"

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    Developing locally relevant applications for rural areas: a South African example
    (SAICSIT, in assocation with ACM, 2004) Chetty, Marshini; Tucker, William David; Blake, Edwin H.
    The digital divide between rural and urban areas within developing countries is vast. We investigate how to address this divide by introducing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into remote rural areas. Our aim is to discover how to create locally relevant software applications with appropriate content for these areas. We use a user centred design approach and a modified software development lifecycle that is participatory, iterative and cyclical. This process is based on principles from Participatory Design and Action Research. This paper presents our initial experience of developing a telemedicine application for a rural village in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa using this process. We present an overview of the methodology, describe the software application we have developed and cite several challenges we have faced. Finally we conclude that an inter-organisational and inter-disciplinary approach is needed to develop software for remote areas.
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    MUTI Telehealth
    (2007) Tucker, William David; Vuza, Xolisa; Chetty, Marshini; Blake, Edwin H.; Marsden, Gary; Pearson, Murray; Westerveld, Rudi
    For four years we have been iteratively evolving MUTI, a rural telehealth system, for hospitals and clinics in a remote rural part of the Eastern Cape in South Africa (Chetty, 2005; Chetty et al., 2003, 2004a; Maunder et al., 2006; Vuza, 2006; Vuza & Tucker, 2004). MUTI enables nurses and doctors to use a wireless Internet Protocol-based communication system to conduct patient referrals, request ambulance services, order supplies and generally keep in contact with one another. The primary community-oriented goal was to prevent unnecessary travel by sick patients from the clinic to the hospital, as transportation in these poverty-stricken and geographically dispersed areas is difficult and expensive for the local inhabitants. We hope that the system can enable nurses at the clinic to learn how to treat a wide range of problems locally by consulting with doctors that they normally do not meet or even speak with. We also hope that the system will lessen the workload for doctors at the hospital. As we expected, integrating new technologies into their everyday work lives is not straightforward or easy.
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    Telemedicine using VoIP combined with a store and forward approach
    (Telkom, 2004) Chetty, Marshini; Tucker, William David; Blake, Edwin H.
    Rural areas in South Africa have unique conditions such as remoteness and scarcity of reliable public facilities. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) introduced into these areas must be suitable for these conditions. Using a user-centred design approach based on Participatory Design and Action Research, we have developed a telemedicine application for a rural village in the Eastern Cape. This paper describes how we determined the requirements and design for the application and why we chose Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) combined with a store and forward approach to achieve our telemedicine goals. We present an overview of the methodology we are using, describe the software application we have developed and mention several challenges we have faced to date. Finally we conclude that VoIP and store and forward technologies are appropriate to the South African rural situation.
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    Using voice over IP to bridge the digital divide: a critical action research approach
    (Telkom, 2003) Chetty, Marshini; Tucker, William David; Blake, Edwin H.
    There is a great disparity between those who have access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and those that do not. This phenomenon forms part of the Digital Divide. Many ICTs may be used to help overcome this divide if they are applied in a useful way, providing locally applicable content and services. Critical Action Research (CAR) is an approach used to develop such applications. CAR aims to empower people by involving them in the development process. Using CAR, this project investigates how Voice over IP (VoIP) may be applied in a productive way in an underserviced community. VoIP is an ICT used for sending voice over packet switched networks using Internet Protocol. It can be used to integrate data and voice to produce multimedia applications. In South Africa (SA), VoIP may only be provided by Telkom, the Second National Operator and the Under-Serviced Area Licensees. Using CAR and VoIP, an application is being developed to service a specific need of a particular rural community. The application will either provide a service to a small rural business or aid the provision of healthcare in rural areas. The project evaluates how well CAR integrates with a normal Software Development Lifecycle and makes policy recommendations for the use of VoIP in rural SA.