Abstract:
The need to introduce technologies in rural areas so as to capacitate communities towards overcoming
various socio-economic challenges remains a priority in emerging economies. We rely on the foregoing
for the investigation in the Kgautswane community in South Africa, of a range of socio-economic
challenges that can be addressed through ICT. Identified challenges are further filtered for the selection
of an appropriate intervention based on previous experience in the community. The appropriate
challenge forms the basis for the development and deployment of an eProcurement ICT solution for
small scale traders in the community with emphasis on the concept of a sociopreneur (socio-economic
service provider) for leveraging the socio-economic impact of the solution deployed. The overall process
is relied upon to develop a roadmap for ICT solution deployment in rural areas that can serve as a
blueprint for undertaking similar interventions in the framework of ICT for development.
