School of Computing

Community engagement

The School of Computing is committed to community engagement (CE).

Four projects, all forming part of the larger Pro Bono CE project, are associated with the School.

These are: 


Cyber Security Awareness Community Engagement Project (CSACEP)

The goal of this Cyber Security Awareness Community Engagement Project (CSACEP) is to educate children and non-informed Information Communication Te chnologists (ICTs) regarding cyber risks and threats. The aim of CSACEP is to ensure that children and ICT users are able to protect themselves, their children and their community against cyber risks. The primary objective of the CSACEP is to contribute to the overall growth of a cyber-security awareness culture within South Africa.


Computing Pro Bono(Random Hacks of Kindness)

This is a community engagement and outreach initiative of the School of Computing (SOC) purported to exploit the computing and research expertise of the SOC personnel, students, and interested “technology-involved” external stakeholders to conceptualize and develop open ICTs solutions (e.g. simple open educational solutions) that address social and humanitarian challenges.

The focus is on solving real problems for real people using available technologies (e.g. mobile devices).  The solutions are meant to address the challenges identified by local stakeholders (e.g. NGOs) and/or subject matter experts.

The project also offers opportunities of Work Integrated Learning for our technical programming students. This is done by providing a platform for the students to engage with expert developers from industry during the Hackathons; which are events organized to pull together different resources in order to conceptualize and develop open ICT solutions.

The outreach component of the project involves: empowering local communities through various activities, such as pro-bono training, mentoring, and skills transfer on existing ICTs.


Computer Literacy in Communities (CLIC)


As a community outreach project, CLIC aims to increase the level of basic computer literacy under elder community members who never had the opportunity to become computer literate, and may not have access to funds to attend formal training courses. By increasing their capacity for computer use, the project contributes to community development.


School of Computing and ICT Collaboration: 360 degree integration of UNISA ICT, School of Computing and Students.

Join the School of Computing in developing applications for UNISA. 

The aim of this collaboration is to provide students with the opportunity to develop applications for the UNISA ecosystem.  This will allow a student to apply skills and knowledge learned in their studies and apply it in real-life solutions and, at the same time, give back to the academic community.

Who?  All students in UNISA that are currently enrolled for any of the qualifications (Computer Science, Information Systems and Information Technology) are welcome.
 

How? Work together with the School of Computing in developing customised applications for UNISA. 

Typical projects include:
 

Cloud based applications that can be used as an interface between a lecturer and students to streamline communication and announcements.
 
When? Join the launch on:  Date, time and link to be confirmed.