A small of Moshate, just outside Mokopane in Limpopo is amongst the many villages in South Africa that are mostly youth populated and does not lack in need for development in various aspects of livelihoods.
On 22 April 2023, the Limpopo (LPDev) Development Ecosystem led a data literacy workshop co-hosted by the Human Sciences Research Council and Codebridge Youth with a key focus on increasing youth participation in civic duties.
Codebridge Youth is a hub for learning, innovation and collaboration focused on introducing and advancing both government and citizens through the use of civic technology to aid in problem-solving and data-driven decision making.
It was against this backdrop that the Limpopo Developer Ecosystem's lead, Mr Nick Thobejane sought a need to kick-start a process of establishing a Codebridge Youth chapter in Mokopane.
About 40 participants attended the data literacy workshop which helped channel thinking and mindset of working with data for problem solving. Mr Katlego Mohlabane from OpenUpSA alluded to the fact that these programmes always bring learning in a fun way.
The workshop was also supported by the Geekulcha Student Society (GKSS) at the Waterberg TVET College and took the following structure:
- Participants were introduced to what data is and what it means for everyday's life
- A journey in developing data stories to extract and depict meaning of the data
- Assessment of local challenges and paint picture against the datasets provided
- Presentations were done by the participants at the end with prizes given
Data Literacy for smart citizenship is the ultimate goal through events such as these to ensure that no one is left behind as the world grows smarter and smarter.
More of these programmes will be hosted through the Limpopo Developer Ecosystem and the community is urged to follow Geekulcha on different social media platforms for updates.
