People

Prof. Alfredo Terzoli

Alfredo Terzoli obtained a Laurea cum Laude in Physics from the University of Pavia, Italy. He is currently Professor of Computer Science at Rhodes University, where he heads the Telkom Centre of Excellence in Distributed Multimedia. He is also Research Director of the Telkom Centre of Excellence in ICT4Development, hosted at University of Fort Hare.

His main technical research interest is the building of advanced telecommunication services that merge realtime and non-realtime multimedia streams, in converged networks. He also has a strong interest in ICT for development, where he started and leads a multi-disciplinary, long term, cooperative research project sited in Dwesa, in 2006. The project was re-organized in 2008 as the Siyakhula Living Lab. In 2010, the project was complemented by the start of a software factory, Reed House Systems which is ‘productizing’ and commercializing the innovations realized in the Siyakhula Living Lab.

Dr Khulumani Sibanda

Khulumani is the Head of the Telkom Centre of Excellence in ICT for Development at Fort Hare. He is also a Senior Lecturer within the Department of Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare.

His research interests include Intelligent Systems, Networks and Network Security.

Prof. Mamello Thinyane

Mamello is a Senior Lecturer within the Department of Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare. He is involved with lecturing a number of postgraduate modules in the department, supervising students, involved with the operations at the Siyakhula Living Lab and also with operations at Reed House Systems.

His research interest include ICT for Development , Multi-Agent Systems, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Mobile Application Development, and Social Media.

Prof. Robin Palmer

Prof Robin Palmer (DPhil, University of Sussex) is based in the Department of Anthropology at Rhodes University, and has collaborated with the Institute of Social and Economic Research in several previous research projects in the former Ciskei and Transkei regions. He has been involved with the ICT4D project at Dwesa from the outset.

Prof. Hannah Thinyane

Hannah Thinyane is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at Rhodes University, and heads the Mobility Research Group at Rhodes University. Her research interests are mobile computing, human computer interaction, and the use of ICTs for development.

Prof. Lorenzo Dalvit

Prof Lorenzo Dalvit is currently the MTN Chair of Media and Mobile Communication in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University. His previous experiences include heading the ICT Education Unit in the Rhodes Education Department, coordinating research and ICT for the SANTED programme in the African Language Studies Section of the Rhodes School of languages and conducting research into multilingualism and ICT for the Telkom Centre of Excellence in the Rhodes Department of Computer Science.

He holds a Laurea in Sociology from the University of Trento (Italy), a MA in Applied Linguistics and a PhD in ICT Education from Rhodes University. He took additional undergraduate credits in Economics, Computer Science and isiXhosa as a Second Language and is currently completing a PGDHE at Rhodes. His areas of academic interest range from sociolinguistics to software development under the common thread of improving social and economic participation for members of marginalised groups. He spear-headed projects in software localisation, educational collaboration and software development.

Dr. Caroline Khene

Dr Caroline Khene is a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Information Systems, Rhodes University. She has been a member of the Siyakhula Living Lab since initiation in 2005, which was previously known as the Siyakhula ICT project. Her research interests are mainly around project management and evaluation in ICT for Development projects.

She completed her Ph.D, researching on a comprehensive evaluation framework for rural ICT projects in developing countries. Prior to her PhD, she investigated ICT project management techniques for sustainable rural ICT projects. Caroline also holds a Masters degree in Information Systems, and a Bachelor of Business Science in Information Systems and Mathematical Statistics. She continues to conduct research in the Siyakhula Living Lab and the Sunday River Valley Water project in the Eastern Cape, around sustainable project management practices and evaluating the potential and impact of ICT4D projects.

Furthermore, she has established and leads an ICT4D research group in project management and evaluation, and teaches an ICT4D module at postgraduate level. Her other research interests include requirements elicitation, transdisciplinarity, and water security and sustainability in rural areas.

Dr. Mosiuoa Tsietsi

Mosiuoa Tsietsi is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Computer Science at Rhodes University. He is also the Technical Lead of the Convergence Research Group in the same department that conducts research in the fast changing world of telecommunications and the Internet.

He obtained a PhD degree in Computer Science at Rhodes University in 2012 after developing a framework for the incorporation of user preferences and  operator policies during service execution in a next generation mobile network. He is currently using his software development and research skills to inform the inclusion of telecommunication services into the Teleweaver application server that is currently being built by Reedhouse Systems for deployment in the Siyakhula Living Lab.

Ms. Ingrid Siebörger

Ingrid obtained a Masters degree in Computer Science with distinction from Rhodes University in 2006, where she investigated models of Internet connectivity for previously disadvantaged schools in the Grahamstown circuit. She is reading for her PhD in Computer Science, investigating pedagogically suitable and sustainable ICT architectures for previously disadvantaged schools in South Africa. 

Ingrid is also the project co-ordinator for the Telkom Centre of Excellence in Distributed Multimedia at Rhodes University. She has a strong interest in ICTs for development and ICTs for educational development and has been integral in the development, deployment and maintenance of the networking and computing infrastructure that make up the broadband islands in the Siyakhula Living Lab.

Mr. Mitchell Kavhai

Mitchell Kavhai is a researcher for the Telkom Centre of Excellence hosted in the Department of Computer Science, University of Fort Hare. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Fort Hare researching on the possibility of the effectiveness of e-learning platforms for rural schools. At Masters, he designed an evaluation and monitoring system to measure the impact of ICT interventions in rural areas. This work has been done in the Siyakhula Living Lab, a project that researches on ICT4D mainly for rural areas. His research interests are focused on ICT for development in rural and disadvantaged areas.

Ms. Teboho Mosuoe

Teboho Mosuoe is currently a Master’s student in the Department of Sociology at Rhodes University. Her research interests are mainly in the areas of social development and social policy. She is currently concluding her research in the Siyakhula Living Lab, where she is exploring the influence of the living lab model of ICT for development on the creation and cultivation of social capital in rural communities.

Within the framework of social capital theory, the study attempts to explore social networks and the flow of information within those networks. Her research will further explore how improved social capital can contribute to participatory and innovative initiatives in rural development processes.

Ms. Mathe Maema

Mathe is currently reading towards a PhD degree at Rhodes University. Her research interests lie in the broad areas of ICT4D, Indigenous Knowledge Management and Education. She firmly believes that use of indigenous knowledge in formal education has the potential to enhance learning and root pupils in traditions and environments that may be relevant for them.

Mr. Sikhumbuzo Ngwenya

Sikhumbuzo Ngwenya obtained a Master of Science degree in Computer Science in 2011 from the University of Fort Hare. He is currently working on his PhD research, entitled A critical evaluation of SOA modernization techniques for legacy eServices at the same institution, with a view to complete in 2013.

His research interests are on the development of eService applications to enhance Rural Communities Development through ICT4D initiatives.

Mr. Vusumzi Ndzengu

Vusumzi is currently pursuing a Masters in Computer Science with a focus in Deploying a wireless mesh network with the aim of achieving further ubiquitous network access in rural communities.

Previously, Vusumzi was a Department of Science and Technology intern within the Fort Hare CoE, responsible for providing support to the Siyakhula Living Lab operations, and being involved within the overall ICTD ecosystem around the SLL.

Ms. Hafeni Mthoko

Hafeni Mthoko is a student at Rhodes University, South Africa in the department of Information Systems. She holds a Bachelor of Business Science in Information Systems from Rhodes University. Hafeni is currently studying towards a Master of Commerce in Information Systems in The comprehensive outcome and impact assessment field of rural ICT projects in developing countries. Her research interests include the role of ICT in socio-economic development, impact assessment of ICT4D, ethical practice in development projects, and sustainable development.

Mr. Thoba Lose

Thoba Lose obtained his undergraduate degree (Computer Science, Mathematical Statistics, and Geographical Information Systems)  in 2010 followed by his B.Sc Honours (Computer Science) in 2011 from the University of Fort Hare. Currently, he is working on his Masters research, entitled  Investigating Cloud Computing Architectures to Augment Mobile Phone Use in ICTD contexts at the same institution, with a view to complete in 2013.
 
His research interests are on Internet Services and End User Applications, and Cloud Computing.
 

Mr. Sthembiso Matebese

Sithembiso Matebese is a second year Master's student at the University of Fort Hare in the Department of Computer Science. He holds B. Sc. (Honours) degree in Computer Science from the same institution. For his Master's research, he is working on A Decentralized Multi-Agent Based Network Management System for ICT4D Networks. His research interests include Intelligent Agents, Computer Networks, Software Development, Image Processing and Web Development.

Mr. Anesu Marufu

Anesu Marufu received his undergraduate and honors degree in 2010 and 2011 respectively from the University of Zimbabwe and is presently studying towards his Master of Science degree at the University Of Fort Hare. His research interests include wireless technologies, mobile security, network security, mobile application development, ICT4D, cryptography and Cyber-crimes.

Currently, he is undertaking a research with the title: A security enhancement of M-Commerce systems in an ICTD context. This research is an integration the OSI model protocols, network infrastructure/technologies, the mobile devices, applications, interfaces, firmware and human to device interaction in order to come up with a technical blueprint, user guidelines and policies suggestions..

Mr. Sinesihle Mfenyana

Sinesihle Mfenyana obtained his Bachelor of Science degree (Computer Science & Geographical Information Systems) in 2010 and Bachelor of Science honors degree (Computer Science) in 2011 from the University of Fort Hare. He is currently working on his Masters research, entitled Development of Social Networking Sites Trend Analysis Tool at the same institution, with a view to complete in 2013.

His research interests are on Internet Services and End User Applications.

Mr. Vusumuzi Moyo

Vusumuzi Moyo received his undergraduate degree in Computer Science at Walter Sisulu University in 2011 .He later on did his Honours degree in Computer Science at the University Of Fort Hare in 2012.Currently, he is doing his second year Masters in Computer Science with the research title: Performance evaluation of a neural network tool for network traffic prediction.


His research interests are neural networks, traffic engineering, networking, evolutionary programming and artificial intelligence.

Ms. Caroline Gurajena

Caroline Gurajena has an Honours degree (2012) from the University of Fort Hare. She is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Computer Science at the same institution. Her research is entitled Implementation and Evaluation of an NFC Application for Micro-Payment in marginalized rural areas.

Her research interests are in development of mobile applications and intelligent systems.

Mr. Mnononeli Nogwina

Mnononeli Nogwina received his undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Chemistry at the University of Fort Hare in 2011. In 2012, he received his Honours degree in Computer Science at the same University. Mnononeli is currently undertaking a Masters degree in Computer Science. His research is entitled Development of a Stemmer for isiXhosa.

His research interests are Natural Language Processing and End User Applications.

Mr. Yalezo Sabelo

Yalezo Sabelo received a BSc in Computer Science and Statistics (Cum Laude) in 2011 from the University of Fort Hare where he also did a BSc (Honours) in Computer Science in 2012. Currently, he is pursuing a Masters in Computer Science in the area of  Developing a Mashups tool for end user in Marginalised rural areas. This Mashup tool will allow end users to utilize Mashups without the knowledge of programming.

His research interest are geared towards creating web based applications: SOA, Web services, Web 2.0, MVC and software patterns. He also enjoys programming.

Mr. Mkhuseli Ngxande

Mkhuseli Ngxande obtained his undergraduate degree in Computer Science in 2011 from the University Of Fort Hare and was followed by the Honours degree at the same University in 2012. He is currently doing his Master’s degree in the field of Bioinformatics. He enjoys programming.

His field of interest is on mobile application development, computational biology and web developing.

Mr. Munyaradzi Kapfudza

Munyaradzi is a BSc (Honours) in Computer Science holder with the University of Fort Hare. His research in Honours focused on The Visualisation of Data acquisition Systems for Wireless Sensor Networked systems. Currently, he is a Masters research student with the University of Fort hare. His ongoing research focuses on The implementation of Wireless Sensor Technology in data mining for optimization of renewable energy systems in marginalized communities. The broader image of the research is to create 'smart communities' in the view of 'green IT'

Ms. Pride Nyambi

Pride is a second year masters student in Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare doing a research on: User interaction techniques for ICTD services. Her research focuses on development of suitable interfaces, applications and services for rural communities. She obtained both her undergraduate and honours degree in computer science at the University of Fort Hare in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Her research interests are on Virtual Environments, Cloud Computing and Human Computer Interaction.

Mr Tariro Kazembe

Tariro is a Zimbabwean born at Mutare in the Manicaland province and holds a BSc (Hons) Information systems from the Midlands State University and presently a second year student pursuing an MSc in Computer Science focusing on Online Fraud Prevention using biometrics.

Mr. Dumisani Mbotoloshi

Dumisani is a first year masters student in Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare doing a research on A cost effective ICT4D platform for energy management in rural and marginalized communities.

Mr. Lindani Moyo

Lindani is a first year masters student in Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare doing a research on Creating an intelligence system, based on Bayesian Networks, for fault detection on the Cloud.

Mr. Ntsizi Mphenduli

Ntsizi is a first year masters student in Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare doing a research on Development of a Location Based Service for Zero Effort Technologies focusing on Child trafficking..

Mr. Zukile Ndyalivana

Zukile is a first year masters student in Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare doing a research on Developing a spell checker for isiXhosa.

Mr. Admire Musimwa

Admire is a first year masters student in Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare doing a research on Developing an extensible streaming client.

Mr. Raymond Muranganwa

Raymond is a first year masters student in Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare doing a research on Examining the feasibility and implementation of grid computing infrastructure in rural areas.

Mr. Prince Ncube

Prince is a first year masters student in Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare doing a research on Development of an MPEG7-based multimedia content description and retrieval tool.

Mr. Xolani Delman

Xolani is a first year masters student in Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare doing a research on Development of a part-of-speech tagger in isiXhosa.

Mr. Lizo Masikisiki

Lizo is a first year masters student in Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare doing a research on Development of a Rural Development Application for Land redistribution in South Africa.

Mr. Phumzile Nomnga

Phumzile is a first year masters student in Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare doing a research on An assessment of QoS, GoS and CoS on WiMAX Networks through performance evaluation of Bandwidth.

Mr. Shadreck Mudziwepasi

Shadreck is a first year masters student in Computer Science at the University of Fort Hare doing a research on Development of a Wireless Sensor Network for Zero Effort Technologies (ZETs) to detect child trafficking..

Mr. Ville Kalima

Ville Kalima is the co-web developer for Siyakhula Living Lab. He has previously worked at the Helsinki City Public Works Department where he was involved in their intranet design and database management. His current interests include web development (PHP, HTML, CSS) and Linux systems.

Mr. Juha Pesonen

Juha Pesonen provides marketing and social media strategic advice to Siyakhula Living Lab.

Mr. Eetu Vainio

Eetu Vainio is the co-web developer for Siyakhula Living Lab. Mr. Vainio also works for a Finnish IT consulting company and has experience translating technical documents and user interfaces.

Mr. Aksu Weide

Aksu Weide provides marketing and social media strategic advice to the Siyakhula Living Lab.