Universal digital inclusion: Beyond connectivity, affordability and capability

Traditionally digital marginalization and exclusion were understood to be a factor of connectivity to the Internet, affordability of the technology, and the capability of the communities to utilize the technology. ICT for development (ICT4D) interventions have been undertaken that address these specific factors of marginalization, however, it remains that communities are still excluded from the global knowledge society. In this paper we argue that key factors towards reaching greater inclusion and participation of the digitally marginalized communities, are the knowledge-centricity and context-sensitivity of the undertaken interventions. The solutions developed, and the services deployed, must intrinsically encapsulate the local knowledge within the community of deployment. Based on this premise we have developed an architectural framework, named PIASK, that formalizes the contextualization of the developed applications within the socio-technical environment and positions them within the local knowledge system of the community. We highlight the components of this architecture and discuss its implementation through a knowledge platform for a community in South Africa.