Mediatech Experiential Process Report 20160226f

CoLab for e-Inclusion and Social Innovation – University of the Western Cape
MediaTech Experiential Process
Technical Report
A UWC CoLab and BARN Collaboration
Report compiled by:
Mike Hamilton
Leona Craffert
Kuhle Sikhota
Collaborators:
PhD Interns: Carlynn Pokpas and Natasha Katunga
CoLab Core Team: Naledi Tsuene, Tlhologelo Mphahlele, Ziyaad Parker, Chiunde Mwanza, Like Scholtz,
Khaya Kunene, Retshidisitswe Lehata, Tapiwa Chihota
February 22nd
, 2016

MediaTech: Experiential Process Report
CoLab for e-Inclusion and Social Innovation - University of the Western Cape 2
Table of Contents
Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 4
Business Activity Areas.......................................................................................................... 6
Context of Discussion .....................................................................................................................6
Data Collection...............................................................................................................................6
Interpretation of Inputs..................................................................................................................8
Application Usage.................................................................................................................. 9
Context of Discussion .....................................................................................................................9
Data Collection...............................................................................................................................9
Interpretation of Inputs................................................................................................................10
Applications Currently in Use..............................................................................................................10
Applications Mentions by Business Activity Areas .............................................................................10
Application Examples by Business Activity Area.................................................................................11
Application Mentions by Application Area.........................................................................................12
Application Examples by Application Area .........................................................................................14
Challenges, Opportunities and Imaginings ........................................................................... 16
Context of Discussion ...................................................................................................................16
Data Collection.............................................................................................................................16
Interpretation of Inputs................................................................................................................17
Challenge Theme Alignment Review ..................................................................................................17
Business Activity Alignment Review ...................................................................................................19
Interpretation of Inputs – Challenges.................................................................................................20
Interpretation of Inputs - Opportunities.............................................................................................21
Interpretation of Inputs - Imaginings..................................................................................................22
Technology and Telecommunication Service Perspective ..................................................... 23
Participant Technology Feedback.......................................................................................................24
Participant Telecommunication Service Provider Feedback ..............................................................25
Feedback session as a reflection on the value of the experiential process ............................ 27
Purpose of the feedback session...................................................................................................27
Data gathering and discussion of themes ......................................................................................27
Comments and interpretation ......................................................................................................30
Conclusion........................................................................................................................... 32

Figures
Figure 1 Capture Board.................................................................................................................................5
Figure 2 Business Activity Areas....................................................................................................................6
Figure 3 Business Activity Ranking Capture Form.........................................................................................7
Figure 4 Capture Board Placement: Business Activity Areas Supported by Technology Today ...................7
Figure 5 Capture Board Placement: Business Activity Areas and Application Usage...................................9
Figure 6 Word Cloud of Applications Currently in Use ...............................................................................10
Figure 7 Word Clouds by Business Activity Area ........................................................................................11
Figure 8 Word Clouds by Application Areas................................................................................................15
Figure 9 Capture Board Placement: SME Challenges, Opportunities and Imaginings................................17
Figure 10 Technology Device Types used by Participants ..........................................................................24
Figure 11 Technology Device Brands used by Participants.........................................................................24
Figure 12 Technology Device Operating Systems on Participant Devices..................................................24
Tables
Table 1 Business Activity Rankings Summary ...............................................................................................8
Table 2 Business Activity Application Mentions Summary.........................................................................10
Table 3 Application Mentions by Application Area Summary....................................................................12
Table 4 Challenges, Opportunities and Imaginings Mentions by Challenge Theme Summary ..................18
Table 5 Challenges, Opportunities and Imaginings Mentions by Business Activity Area Summary...........19
Table 6 Themes on potential impact and value of experiential process....................................................30

Introduction
In response to the Telkom MediaTech call for activity supporting idea generation relating to stimulating
demand for mobile data services, the UWC CoLab team planned and conducted four interactions with
Khayelitsha SME business representatives between September and December 2015. These interactions
included:
 Pilot Study (10th
September 2015). To guide the approach and focus of the Main Study, a Pilot
Study was facilitated on the 10th
September 2015. 11 Participants provided feedback and
observers noted areas of improvement in terms of focus, content, delivery and outcome
expectations. The Main Study planning incorporated feedback and observations noted.
 Main Study (2-6 November 2015). 45 Participants representing SMEs in Khayelitsha were
included in the Main Study. This document provides feedback on the results arising from the
main study.
 Main Study Training Sessions (2-6 November 2015). All Main Study participants were invited to
attend a free training intervention that took place immediately after the Main Study sessions.
The purpose of the training was to address the core challenges experienced by SME
representatives in their use of mobile technology in a business context. (See addendum for
further information regarding the Training Sessions)
 Feedback session (30 November – 1st
December 2015). Participants shared their own stories and
commented on their learnings since having attended the main study and having attended
training.
All interactions were conducted at the BARN in Khayelitsha. The central theme underpinning activities
was the Use of Mobile Technologies in Support of SME Business.
Discussions and activities focused on in all sessions allowed for inputs to be gathered that related to:
 SME Business background
 Participants current use of technology
 Business activities, importance, time spent and use of technology
 Applications being used today
 Challenges experienced
 Opportunities for potential use of technology
 Imaginings (Wish List)

Data inputs were gathered from participants using individual and group based activities. Various forms
were used as a primary individual input where appropriate, and a capture board (shown below) for
consolidating all individual and team inputs was designed. This board allowed for interactive physical
engagement in activities and stimulation of discussion as participants congregated around their team
board and recorded their individual as well as collective inputs.
Figure 1 Capture Board

Business Activity Areas
Context of Discussion
A general principle of using technology to support business suggests that business activity areas were an
ideal focal point for facilitation. A model clustering business activities into key areas was presented and
discussed. The objective was to establish a common understanding (shared mental model) of terms to
ensure data inputs gathered were consistently associated with areas for later analysis.
Data Collection
Group discussion centred on what SME Business Representatives actually do in a normal working week?
Questions raised included:
 How important are each of the activity areas considered to be?
 How much time is spent on each of the activity areas?
 Where are participants using technology to support their businesses
As an individual exercise, participants reflected on their working scenarios and offered their inputs using
a standard form:
Figure 2 Business Activity Areas

Participants updated their team Capture Board transferring information from their form as required.
Each individual attached stickers representing their use of technology to the capture board associating
the use of technology with specific business activity areas. The exercise highlighted the areas where
technology is being used or not and stimulated discussion within teams.
Figure 3 Business Activity Ranking Capture Form
Figure 4 Capture Board Placement: Business Activity Areas Supported by Technology Today

Interpretation of Inputs
Collective input from all participants is summarised in the table below. By way of example: Planning as
an activity area was ranked highest in importance and in terms of time spent. When looking at use of
technology, planning was sixth in the list showing a mismatch between alignment of technology with
importance of activity and time spent. Discussion suggested that participant interpretation of the
concept of ‘Planning” was daily or short term in nature, not long term as suggested in the facilitators
indication of including Business Plan, Marketing Plan, Sales Plan, Competitive strategies etc. What
became apparent was the importance of moving the facilitator and the participants to a shared mental
model where concepts and terms have a common meaning. SMEs lack formal business education
exposure and do not necessarily share a common understanding of business concepts or terminology
with their larger more formal business counterparts. An opportunity presents itself to provide an
integrated training and education approach that incorporates common language terms for both
business and the world of technology.
From an ideation perspective, participants’ indication of their perception of importance as well as time
spent in each activity area could guide potential development of applications and utilities to optimise
activities, improve efficiencies, and reduce time costs. Where the use of technology is not aligned to the
importance or time needs of participant ratings, this can also serve as an area of potential focus during
ideation.
Communicating and interacting with others is shown as the most common activity area supported by
technology. Research and market are next in line. Activity areas where technology use is significantly out
of alignment with perceived importance or time spent include planning, organising as well as learning
and development. These activity areas could be a focus for ideation as discussed above.
Rankings (1=Highest, 10=Lowest) Importance Time Spent Use Tech
Planning 1 1 5
Organising 2 2 6
Interacting with Others 4 3 1
Go Places / Travel 7 4 8
Marketing 3 6 3
Selling to Customers 5 7 7
Buy from Suppliers 9 9 8
Supporting Customers 10 10 10
Learning and Development 8 8 4
Research 6 5 2
Ideation Focus Drivers
Table 1 Business Activity Rankings Summary

Application Usage
Taken the discussion relating to the use of technology a bit further, focus shifted to identifying
application areas and specific applications in use. Questions were posed in this regard and participants
were asked to:
 Indicate activity areas where applications are currently being used in support of their business
activities
 Give specific examples of applications being used today in business activity area
Data Collection
A team capture board was designed to allow for easy gathering of information. Participants were
grouped into teams for discussion. Each participant’s attached stickers representing their use of
applications to the capture board associating applications they use with specific business activity areas.
Applications mentioned by participants were then grouped into Business Activity areas. Applications
could be referred to generically or specifically (e.g. Email or Gmail).
Where participants had indicated they were using technology in support of business activity, further
inputs were gathered relating to application areas, generic applications and specific applications in use.
Participant mentions were in some cases generic (e.g. Mail programme on my phone) and some cases
specific (e.g. Gmail – Google’s email that runs on many devices).
Figure 5 Capture Board Placement: Business Activity Areas and Application Usage

Applications Currently in Use
Participants listed approximately 100 different applications that were being used currently in their
business activities. This word cloud shows scaled representation of application usage.
Applications Mentions by Business Activity Areas
Collective input from all participants is summarised in the table below. When a sticker mentioning an
application was placed on the board and related to a Business Activity Area, this was considered as a
‘mention’. There were 334 such ‘mentions’ placed on boards and summarised in the table below. By
way of example: More mentions of applications were in the areas of Interacting with others (73) and
organising (62) than being in use in support of going places (22) or selling to customers (18).
Applications Activity Area
Mentions 73 62 46 33 30 22 19 18 17 14
Relative Ranking 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Applications A B
InteractingwithOthers
Organising
Marketing
Planning
Research
GoPlaces/Travel
LearningandDevelopment
SellingtoCustomers
BuyfromSuppliers
SupportingCustomers
Figure 6 Word Cloud of Applications Currently in Use
Table 2 Business Activity Application Mentions Summary

This shows the prevalence of communication application services for supporting human interaction.
Perhaps due to the fact that emphasis was on the use of mobile phone devices, the primary target usage
centred on communications and interaction.
Learning to apply a mobile device to areas of business activity outside of communications requires new
learning and new skills development. The most common use of applications by activity area is indicated
by the relative rankings line.
Application Examples by Business Activity Area
Interacting
with Other
Organising
Marketing Planning
Research Go Places /
Travel
Learning and
Development
Selling to
Customers
Buy from
Suppliers
Supporting
Customers
Figure 7 Word Clouds by Business Activity Area
Applications in use initially include applications installed as standard on devices. Some observations
pertaining to the rate of adoption of application services include:
 The learning required to understand an ecosystem of online application as well as developing
familiarity with licencing and usage retards the adoption of non-standard applications.
 Application purchases online require formal banking services and an online payment capability.
SMEs not only have concerns over fraud and online payment services but may also be restricted
due to not being part of the formal banking sector with such service capability.
 Driven by word of mouth marketing but inhibited by a need for competency development and
familiarity with device user interfaces is an inhibitor to application adoption. The need for

simple user interfaces, intuitive interaction and clarity of function is key to any application
design.
 The complexity of data networking, as well as the accessibility to well performing, stable and
affordable network service in close proximity to where SMEs conduct business needs to be
addressed. Increasing use of, and demand for free Wi-Fi services is apparent. Improved
broadband rollout and cost-effective services will drive usage and demand for mobile devices
and applications.
 Focus on applications that provide free services where costs are normally incurred encourages
SMEs to take risk and cross the line to mobile technology usage. WhatsApp is a prime example
of this.
Challenges and Opportunities are discussed in more detail later in this document.
Application Mentions by Application Area
Market presentation of applications tends to be grouped into application areas or categories and not
necessarily by business activity areas. Online stores typically categorise applications this way. Some
applications are useful across multiple business activity areas (e.g. Email). Accordingly, evaluation of
application usage was based on business activity areas as well as a number of generic application areas
that were identified as targets for grouping.
In which applications areas are SME business representatives using applications in support of their
activities? Applications mentioned by participants were grouped into defined generic application areas.
By way of example there were more mentions of applications relating to social media (55) than to the
category for mapping and navigation (17). Certain application areas enjoy high visibility and are common
usage areas. In some areas specific applications dominate and in other there are multiple choices of
applications but not necessarily a single dominant player.
Applications Application Area
Mentions 55 31 31 28 27 26 19 18 18 18 17 17 15 15 14 9 1
Relative Ranking 1 2 2 4 5 6 7 8 8 8 11 11 13 13 15 16 17
Applications A B
SocialMedia
CalendarandtimePlanning
EmailServices
Camera/Video
ManageMoney
MessagingServices
Web-Browser
PhoneandVideoCalls
FileandDataStotage
Other
MapsandNavigation
Calculator
ContactManagement
SerachTools
Docs,SpreadsheetsandPresentations
NoteTakingandDrawing
OnlineStoresforApps,Goods,Services
Table 3 Application Mentions by Application Area Summary

As shown above, the relative rankings indicated the sequence of application areas in terms of
participant mentions. For ideation purposes consider identifying business activity areas with high
importance and / or time ratings, and then associating application areas that can support such activities
but are rated low currently in terms of mentions.

Application Examples by Application Area
Social Media Calendar
and Time
Planning
Email Services Camera /
Video
Manage
Money
Messaging
Services
Web Browser Phone and
Video Calls
File and Data
Storage
Other
Maps and
Navigation
Calculator
Contact
Management
Search
Tools
Documents
Spreadsheets
Presentations
Note
Taking
Online Store

Figure 8 Word Clouds by Application Areas

Challenges, Opportunities and Imaginings
Moving away from specific business activity areas, participants were invited to interact in their teams
and to discuss challenges, opportunities and imaginings. Discussion focus was initially on challenges
experienced in using technology to support their business activities today. Once discussed, teams placed
sticky notes highlighting their challenges. The Word Cloud above show all Challenges, Opportunities and
Imaginings mentioned by participants.
Data Collection
Moving away from specific business activity areas, participants were invited to interact in their teams.
Discussion focus was initially on challenges experienced in using technology to support their business
activities today. Participants could mention anything they saw as a challenge and discussion were free-
flowing and not restricted to specific topics.
A second discussion was then facilitated focusing on opportunities that participants could see for
applying technology to better support their business activities.
Thirdly, participants were invited to offer a wish list for the application of technology beyond their
current experience.

At the end of each discussion period, teams placed sticky notes highlighting their challenges,
opportunities and imaginings onto their team capture board.
Input from participants was grouped using two approaches allowing for a review of challenges,
opportunities and imaginings as follows:
 groupings within challenge themes
 groupings within business activity areas
Challenge Theme Alignment Review
The objective was to highlight core areas of concern that participants experience as a potential target
for supporting them in the future. Reviewing based on challenges themes could provide input for
ideation focus based on pain reduction. A single challenge, opportunity or imaging may relate to one or
more themes. In the table below, any participant mentions of challenges, opportunities or imaginings
are group by challenge theme:
Figure 9 Capture Board Placement: SME Challenges, Opportunities and Imaginings

Table 4 Challenges, Opportunities and Imaginings Mentions by Challenge Theme Summary
As indicated in Challenge Theme table: Self-Efficacy (46), Money (30) and Social Conditions (20) were the
three highest mention areas as far as challenges were concerned.
Challenge Themes were defined as follows:
 Self-Efficacy related to competencies, awareness and understanding as perceived by the
individual participants. This highlights the need for the building of awareness and conceptual
understanding. A key outcome was the positive perception of linking technology to business
activities in all discussions. Participants indicated the lack of willingness to explore irrelevant
applications and waste time learning such applications
 Social Conditions related to risks of physical and online theft, fraud, loss of information or
devices, privacy, inappropriate online behaviour etc., driven by economic considerations in
society.
 Money as a challenge theme ranked third in challenge rankings. Affordability of devices and
data service costs, uncertainty regarding data consumption by specific applications and services,
as well as lack of exposure to or familiarity with online payment and banking services were
focused on.
 Technology – Networks and SPs (Service Providers) highlighted access challenges, coverage and
instability of services, as well as affordability and availability of data bundles as concern areas.
 Technology – Applications mainly related to lack of awareness and understanding of application
usage. Concerns over not keeping pace with technology services and suitability of applications
to mobile context. Privacy issues, resistance to change, need for data by application and user
friendliness highlighted
 Time as a challenge theme related to the issues associated with time consuming and distracting
applications and services (eg. Social media), interruptions, time losses (perhaps due to IT issues
or complexity) as well as activity that is considered irrelevant to business.

 Technology – Device related to access to and use appropriate devices, suited to purposeful
business activity support, technology challenges, complexity of interaction, unnecessary data
usage.
Business Activity Alignment Review
Reviewing based on business activities could provide input for ideation addressing prioritised
representative focus:
Table 5 Challenges, Opportunities and Imaginings Mentions by Business Activity Area Summary
As indicated in Activity Area table: Learning and Development and Organising were the highest mention
areas as far as challenges were concerned. From an opportunity perspective, Interacting with others is
top of the pile with Marketing and Organising as desired focus areas to exploit. Ideation should perhaps
focus on these four combined challenge and opportunity areas.

Interpretation of Inputs – Challenges
The Word Cloud above show all Challenges mentioned by participants. As can be expected based on
summary table showing Self-Efficacy, Social Conditions and Money as the three main challenge themes,
participants offered many inputs in these area. After each of the Main Study sessions, training was
presented addressing cost management, device and information security, models for appropriate
communication and online behaviour etc.
In any scenario where adoption of technology and services is considered, the three main pillars that
promote adoption are:
 A Sense of Value – It is linked to and will support and improve my business
 A Sense of Self-Efficacy – I will be able to master this
 A Sense of Support – environmental support to provide scaffolding to the learner in the early
stages of experimentation and usage.
For ideation, there is great opportunity to address the core challenge themes in a manner that drives
adoption. Coupled to increased awareness, training to develop and underpin a sense of self efficacy and
the provisioning of supporting resources will give participants the confidence to experiment and
increase utilisation of mobile technology and applications.

Interpretation of Inputs - Opportunities
The Word Cloud above show all Opportunities mentioned by participants. Many of the opportunities
expressed relate to business and self-improvement. There is no lack of willingness to learn and improve
processes to save time, reduce costs, and increase revenues. This Word Cloud provides many
opportunities for the ideation discussion.

Interpretation of Inputs - Imaginings
The Word Cloud above show all Imaginings mentioned by participants. It was noted that participants
struggled to imagine a word outside their daily constraints. Also, perhaps as a result of the lack of
awareness, many expressed imaginings are in fact a reality today to persons outside of the precarious
context of SMEs in the social conditions this study focused on. This highlights the different mental
models that arise out of increased awareness and experiential development. From an ideation
perspective this is perhaps one of the most important areas to focus on. Without awareness building,
change cannot be imagined and demand will not be stimulated.

Technology and Telecommunication Service Perspective
Information gathered from participants during the interactions included some technology indicators.
Participants were asked:
 What type of devices they were using?
 What brand of devices they were using?
 What operating system their device used?
 What telecommunications service provider they used for data service?
 What telecommunication data service they used for internet connectivity?
 How much they were spending on data services monthly?
Feedback gathered was not audited or verified and reflects participants’ input as offered. It was noted
that participants were uncertain of technology concepts, the idea of an operating system etc. Feedback
is summarised and presented in figures that follow:

Participant Technology Feedback
Figure 10 Technology Device Types used by Participants
Figure 11 Technology Device Brands used by Participants
Figure 12 Technology Device Operating Systems on Participant Devices
Smartphone,
31, 59%
Laptop(Win),
14, 26%
Tablet, 6, 11%
Desktop, 2, 4% Laptop(Mac), 0,
0%
Device Types
Nokia, 13, 21%
Samsung, 10,
16%
Blackberry, 10,
16%
Huawei, 6, 10%
Lenovo, 4, 6%
Apple, 3, 5%
LG, 3, 5%
Acer, 3, 5%
Dell, 3, 5%
ZTE, 2, 3%
Toshiba, 2, 3%
AG Mobile, 1,
1%
Telefunken, 1,
2%
Sansui, 1, 2%
Device Brands
Android, 22,
39%
Windows, 20,
36%
Other / Unsure,
8, 14%
IOS, 5, 9% OSX, 1, 2%
Decvice Operating System

Participant Telecommunication Service Provider Feedback
Cellular Data,
34, 57%
Wi-Fi Hotspot,
20, 33%
Fixed ADSL, 6,
10%
Telco Service Provider
Prepaid, 35,
83%
Contract, 7,
17%
Telco Payment Method
156.21
73.70
140.23
-
20.00
40.00
60.00
80.00
100.00
120.00
140.00
160.00
180.00
Voice SMS Data
Average Telco Spend pm

156.21
73.70
140.23
-
20.00
40.00
60.00
80.00
100.00
120.00
140.00
160.00
180.00
Voice SMS Data
Average Telco Spend pm

Feedback session as a reflection on the value of the experiential process
Purpose of the feedback session
As the experiential process was aimed at (i) gaining a better understanding and view of the actual
context of the target audience (SMEs) and, (ii) the realities within which they have to grow their
businesses, it was regarded as imperative for the process to be structured as an open and collaborative
learning process between participants and research team. The main objective of the feedback session
was thus for participants to give feedback on the experiential process (positive and negative) in terms of
the:
 The value they derived from the experiential process,
 Potential impact of the process on their thinking and practices (both in terms of personal and
business usage of digital tools), and
 Their ideas on the kind of support that can be provided to them and other SMEs to assist them
in enhancing the use of digital tools for business purposes.
Data gathering and discussion of themes
An interview schedule was developed to guide the conversations. It was very significant that during both
group sessions, participants spontaneously shared their stories – little effort was required to prompt
them to participate as they were eager to discuss ways of gaining confidence within the digital context,
to grow their respective businesses and to consider options for going forward.
The main themes as identified during the feedback sessions are presented in table 5 below.
Discussion Areas Description of the themes that were identified during the group
feedback sessions
The value derived from
the experiential process
 The acquiring of insight and new skills as a result of the integrated
approach that was followed during the experiential process: where
learning happened both in terms of the business value chain
(business activities, process etc.) and the technology (digital tools)
that can be applied to support/enhance the various business
activities. Training on digital tools happened within the context of
the business activities.
 Development of confidence in terms of dealing with the digital or
technological dimension: concepts such as digital, digital economy,
internet, Wi-Fi (etc.) were demystified and participants started
realising the relevance of these aspects to their business and their
personal lives.
 The interaction with other SMEs; discussion of shared challenges
and the opportunity to learn from one another and to engage on a

very basic level (peer learning).
 Establishment of networks amongst participating SMEs.
Changes in terms of
thinking (personal and/or
business)
 Gaining the understanding and confidence that it is within the
ability (control) of a business owner (SME) to actively grow the
business by applying business principles (as presented in the
business training) and/or by incorporate digital tools (gaining a
sense of agency).
 The business training (business activities engagement board)
provided them with a framework to compare their current business
activities against the whole/total business value chain and to
identify the areas they need to work on to improve their
businesses.
 The notion of collaboration or team work obtained a new meaning
with participants realising that they can collaborate with other
people (individuals and/or SMEs) to assist them in the execution of
their business activities.
 The process contributed towards the realisation that technological
developments have a global impact (the world is changing to
digital) that has direct implications for them. Although the level of
digital awareness amongst the participants ranges from fairly
limited to quite high (in some instances) it is fair to say that as a
whole the group realised that it is a necessity for them to gain more
exposure to and insight in the digital economy and to develop the
appropriate skills and know-how to remain relevant.
 Scepticism regarding the real value of technology (digital tools) was
mentioned. Participants commented on the potential waste of time
and cost implications of experimenting with and searching for
digital tools, products and services that can support them with
particular activities.
Changes in terms of
practice (personal and
business
Anecdotal evidence was provided for changes in business and personal
practices as result of the intervention, and included aspects such as:
 Changing the display of curios to differentiate the stall from those
of competitors.
 Using the electronic dairy to structure and plan work days better
(improve personal productivity).
 Appointing a new staff member on contract to increase sales.

 Focus on business activities they previously did not attend to or
were unaware of.
 Performing business activities while travelling per taxi using newly
acquired skills (business on the go).
 Managing data costs better.
 Implementing measures (although simple) to improve online safety.
 Exploring the value of WhatsApp, Facebook (social media) for
business purposes.
Support required
(personal and other
SMEs) to improve the use
of digital technologies in
their businesses
 Ensure the continuation and expansion of the integrated business-
technology educational process as was done in Khayelitsha. Extend
the opportunity for hands-on skills development such as the
afternoon training session.
 Provide smart devices to SMEs to enable them to utilise internet
and applications.
 Provide SMEs with more information about the digital economy as
this can help them to understand the benefits of technology (ICT’s)
and to identify opportunities that can be exploited.
Requirement for
particular digital
products and services
 Develop or provide a process/service to expose SMEs to and update
them about available and new technologies (digital tools, games
etc.). The focus should not be on the technological specifications
only but should include information on the business relevance of
the tool; on the particular business activity that can be supported.
 Translation/adjustment/ of apps and (and the icons) to be more
user- friendly (UX) and applicable to the context of the small and
very small businesses.
 Support in terms of digital marketing – consider something like a
shared services/platform for the micro and small businesses as they
do not have the capacity to do their own marketing.
 Sponsor the implementation of an internship program where
students (Computer Science, Information Systems etc.) can work
for a period with SMEs to assist them in terms of the digital or
technology component of the business. However, the necessity of a
proper introduction into the business context and life world of the
SMEs prior to the internship is regarded as essential (again a
confirmation of the necessity of an integrated approach).

 Facilitate access to mentors and coaches – for guidance, moral
support, advice (in an integrated manner) to assist them on their
way to digital maturity.
 Provide information on successful local South African SMEs that are
using technology to make a success of their businesses. (If you see
someone on your level using technology, it is inspiring.) The fact
that there are no visible role models (relevant to the very small and
small businesses), contribute towards a perception that success is
in the reach of “other” people only. Successful South African role
models can provide a “pull” factor.
 Do not forget about the older generation – they require a different
kind of guidance and nudging to develop digital skills and up their
usage.
Table 6 Themes on potential impact and value of experiential process
Comments and interpretation
 It is clear that the success of the experiential process can be directly related to the integrated
approach that was followed where the discussion about digital skills and usage of digital tools was
done in the context of the business value chain and the business realities of SMEs. Initiatives to
increase the uptake and usage of digital tools and services should be approached from an integrated
business process–technology approach.
 Engagement of the whole person is required as agency, personal mastery play a critical role in
determining the attitude, confidence and approach towards the development of the necessary skills
(business, digital and personal) to grow their own businesses. It is thus recommended that an
education intervention aimed at enhancing technological uptake (data usage), should ideally consist
of an integrated approach consisting of (i) people (ii) business process and (iii) technology
components.
 The participatory process adopted for the experiential process, supported by the use of the
engagement board resulted in peer learning (discussion, sharing etc.), which participants identified
as one of the most valuable aspects of the experiential process. This seems to be an important
principle identified during the process that should be included in educational interventions aimed at
enhancing ICT update and data usage (products, services etc.). Future educational interventions
should take cognisance of the nature and different elements of the Khayelitsha experiential process
 An unintended consequence of the experiential process was the establishment of networks amongst
the participating SMEs. The participatory and open learning approach, facilitated by the application
of the engagement board, played a significant role in this respect and should be included in the
design of similar intervention processes.
 The project team was initially concerned about the fact that the 45 participating SMEs represent
different sectors and varied significantly with respect to “business maturity” levels. However, the

ability to network across sectors and different maturity levels was identified as one of the most
valuable results of the process. It contributed towards peer learning and in some respects resulted
in new business opportunities and collaboration.
 Information on successful local SMEs as role models can play a significant “pull factor” by
demonstrating that progress and success are indeed achievable.

Conclusion
Participants engaged actively in Main Study Sessions, Training Sessions and the Feedback Session.
Information shared and perceptions recorded enable a foundation to be established for evaluation and
input to ideation processes.
By approaching SME participants in their world, and providing a non-threatening engagement that
stimulated networking and learning for each participant, trust was established between facilitators and
participants.
Linking technology to Business Activity Areas was key for participants and preferred to a model where
technology is normally discussed in isolation. Focusing on principles and not training on specific tools
was perceived by participants to be useful and clarified both business and technology concepts for all.
Coupling the training to the Main Study Sessions and adapting the delivery to address challenges that
were still ‘front of mind’ maximised contextual linkages and promoted understanding and retention.
This was clearly articulated during the follow up Feedback Session.
All in all, this model represents a repeatable approach, aligned to SME needs, in a context they
comprehend. Awareness building, education and training, and support are needed to create a context
and an environment for growing the use of technology and the exploitation by SMEs of data services in a
manner that is aligned to their specific business needs.
The SMEs live and work in constantly precarious social conditions. Businesses and consumers have to
deal with day-to-day challenges that are typically outside of what may be considered a normal business
environment. While technology can positively impact SME businesses and the lives of individuals, the
social conditions present challenges that any technology solution and service developer must be
cognisant of.
There is a need and there is willingness to learn. We can make a substantial difference by enabling SMEs
to make informed decisions and thereby allow them to focus on business related application of
technology.

Mediatech Experiential Process Report 20160226f

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