An approach to programming that could enhance digital skills development across the country
I’m a big fan of Cursor for coding with AI, and this movement now has a name – “vibe coding” – which allows people to create programmes by describing what they want in natural language and letting AI handle much of the actual coding. As South Africa grapples with developing digital skills and implementing new coding curricula in schools, vibe coding represents a potentially transformative approach that could democratise software development across the country.
The timing couldn’t be better. With the Department of Basic Education rolling out coding and robotics as part of the new curriculum framework, and the country’s ongoing push to develop digital literacy, vibe coding offers a bridge between traditional programming education and practical software creation. Rather than spending months learning syntax and programming languages, South Africans can now focus on problem-solving and creative thinking while AI handles the technical heavy lifting.
Mwelela Cele interviews Lulu Dube as part of the Memories of Inanda documentary, produced for the eThekwini Municipality’s Ulwazi Programme. Lulu discusses her father John Langalibalele Dube, the founding of the African National Congress and life in Inanda.
John Dube (1871 – 1946) was a South African essayist, philosopher, educator, politician, publisher, editor, novelist and poet. He was the founding president of the African National Congress
Shot at the Dube family home in Inanda in April 2010.
Greyling, E. and McNulty, N. 2011. The number in my pocket: the power of mobile technology for the exchange of indigenous knowledge. Knowledge Management for Development Journal. 7 (3): 256 – 273. Available HERE. See a summary in poster form HERE.
The last decade has seen the development of online databases becoming an established norm throughout the world for the preservation of indigenous knowledge. However, in the absence of desktop computers and ubiquitous Internet access, Africa is limping behind in this quest for global information, with the digital divide ever widening and the wealth of indigenous knowledge fast disappearing for the people of this continent. In a bid to address these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Africa is recognizing the potential of the mobile phone to enable the continent to catch up with the global information society. Since 2000 some 316 million new mobile phone subscriptions have emerged on the African continent. For them the cell phone has become an information hub, the primary interface through which to connect to Africa and to the rest of the world. A recent, promising development has been the introduction of browsers on mobile phones. This, combined with the 3G network all cellular providers have migrated to, means that ordinary Africans are accessing the Internet from their phones in ever-increasing numbers. The success of a number of Internet-based mobile applications means that the average cell phone user now associates his phone with more than just the calls he makes or text messages he sends. He can also play music, show video, find out where he is via GPS and access local and global information. This paper describes a concept for the development of user-generated content compiled in an online indigenous knowledge database, making use of current mobile and web technologies. Informed by empirical practice based on a South African case-study, the different tools are discussed, highlighting the interaction between the library, the community and the technologies. The participating role of local communities leading to enrichment of the database is juxtaposed against the library’s anchor role as custodian of the knowledge resource. The preservation of context-related local knowledge creates a digital library of relevance to local communities. Technical functionality enables the social interaction that results from knowledge sharing. Short and long-term benefits that the community stands to gain are discussed and the limitations of the model pointed out.
Niall McNulty presented a poster at the The Third International m-libraries Conference (http://www.usq.edu.au/m-libraries) in Brisbane, Australia in 2011. The poster outlined the Ulwazi Programme’s plans for developing a system to collect indigenous knowledge via mobiles phones in the eThekwini Municipality.
