5. Conclusions and Recommendations
5.2 Recommendations
In terms of stakeholder relations and management in the KCAAA, the following are recommended:
1. A fully-fledged communication and engagement strategy for ICT interventions in the Karoo must be developed. The strategy should include: 1) the delineation of emergent and participative engagement structures and processes, 2) a plan for communication processes, messaging and channels, and 3) developing an evidence-based understanding of public perceptions and institutional agendas.
2. Engagement processes must be open and inclusive throughout. Research and plans related to changes in ICT access and infrastructure should be openly shared and communicated. Consultation with stakeholders and the public should take place at all stages, including at the stages of research, scoping, selecting options, tendering for contractors, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. The engagement process should be participative and inclusive; no stakeholders or members of the public should be excluded, and the agenda and process should be set by local stakeholders and members of the public. SARAO should remain mindful of power relations and their associated social dynamics at all times. Afrikaans should be the primary language of engagement and communication. All minutes of meetings should be made publically available.
3. All messaging must be valid and consistent. Broken promises, ‘shifting goalposts’
and contradictory messaging have undermined the SKA’s social licence to operate.
Communicating a set of plans, then at a later stage communicating that plans have changed, would be a risk to the organisation. It is imperative that, going forward, all messaging related to ICTs be consistent and grounded in a realistic assessment of the SARAO’s internal capacities and external risks to the SAK project. This will require time and input from SARAO’s senior management.
4. There is a need to more closely coordinate with the NRF and the DSI to align messaging, particularly in the political arena. Parliamentary records and other public platforms reveal several examples of political principals making promises on behalf of SARAO which were subsequently not met. Local publics have grown sceptical of the political principals, signalling a need to align communication to ensure consistency.
5. All previous failures to meet reasonable expectations and communicate consistently must be surfaced, acknowledged, and remedied where possible. This may cause short- term discomfort to SARAO but is necessary for the long-term healing of damaged local relationships. Without such a process, uncertainty and suspicions will remain, trust will remain broken, and adversarial positions will remain entrenched. These actions are critical for the maintenance of the SKA’s social licence to operate.
6. SARAO should reflect on its organisational culture. The history of SARAO’s engagements in the Karoo, including matters related to ICTs, can be seen through the lens of ‘the two cultures of science’ as being driven by the world view of the natural sciences, in which the primary considerations have been scientific, technical, legislative and administrative.
A balanced approach would also include insights from the humanities, which centre the human, and where primary considerations include individual experiences, social dynamics, culture, the political economy and power relations. Local community
In terms of implementable and feasible telecommunications technologies in the KCAAA the following are recommended:
1. Internet connectivity be provided to all priority farms/user locations, by means of VSAT, at least in the interim. This connectivity should be expanded on a per-site basis to allow for farm-wide residential access.
2. A subsidy model be investigated for the installation, obtaining the radios, system operations and maintenance, and data cost of the VSAT service. Detailed suggestions on the development and structure of such a subsidy model cannot be made at this time without detailed information regarding financing options and commitments from all role players.
3. In view of the lack of general telecommunications services in the area, the proposed VHF Low Band DMR emergency communications network should be implemented as a priority, for safety, emergency and business operations.
4. An ‘Operational, Management and Control Centre’ be established for safety and operational reasons and for network monitoring and management.
5. With the recognition that establishing a Section 21 company could be arduous given its function and duration, a public-private partnership (PPP) should be formed to oversee and undertake monitoring, admin and maintenance of the networks mentioned above.
6. That SARAO be required to source the funding of the infrastructure as recommended.
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