Full Title: The Role of Information and Communications Technologies in Indigenous Knowledge Preservation
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and digital technologies are omnipresent in the global information society. With the digitalisation of knowledge, including indigenous knowledge (IK), ICT‟s are offering alternative perspectives of knowledge. IK is intricate knowledge acquired over generations by communities as they interact with the environment (Seepe, 2001). IK, like any other knowledge, needs to be constantly used, challenged and further adapted to the evolving local contexts in the global information society. However, sometimes “ICT’s are ill-equipped to handle … context-dependent cultural knowledge since there is a difference between how Westernised cultures and Indigenous cultures view “fact and knowledge … and information and understanding” (Oppenneer, 2010). In this article, the role of ICT’s for IK preservation is discussed.
