Shaun Pather, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Information Systems in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of the Western Cape. He is an ICT for Development (ICT4D) expert, and National Research Foundation rated researcher, who focuses on Information Society issues, centered around societal upliftment facilitated by ICT’s, and the impact thereof on policy. Shaun has been involved in both research and real world interventions which seek to minimize digital inequality including through delivering broadband solutions to marginalized communities. He has been involved in national and international advocacy for grassroots based solutions to address the challenges of the rural digital divide. His research output includes papers on ICT for Development (ICT4D), E-Government and IT Evaluation.
Shaun is actively involved from both research and policy perspectives with government, industry and international agencies. He has served on the board of the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa and was a ministerial appointee to the South African ICT Policy Review Panel where he chaired the ICT Industry Growth Committee which led to the new South African National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper. He is the recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Visiting Scholar award (2009-2010, University of Washington). He is an ex Associate Editor of the Journal of Community Informatics and Editor of the Electronic Journal of Information Systems Evaluation. Shaun has previously served on several boards and currently is a Ministerial appointed council member of the False Bay TVET College and the Chairperson of the board of the Zenzeleni Networks Not-for-Profit company.
