Partners
MoVigo Technologies (Pty) Ltd. is the holding company of JamiiX that was established to open global markets for Community-driven Innovation. With partners and offices in South Africa, United Kingdom, Finland and Malaysia, MoVigo is growing the JamiiX brand to be the leader in management of conversations via Instant Messengers and Social Networks. RLabs is one of the JamiiX stakeholders and work very closely with JamiiX and its R&D processes.
IDM is a community based organisation based in the Athlone area and servicing the local community. Their projects include substance abuse, youth development and work with seniors citizens. An important roleplayer in the Reconstructed Living Lab (RLabs) network with links to communities in need.
The largest Higher Education Institution in the Western Cape region and one of the key roleplayers involved since inception of RLabs.
MXit is the largest Mobile Social Network platform in South Africa and actively moving into other parts of the world. The RLabs and MXit collaboration is unique in that MXit is the instant messenger of choice for JamiiX and the technology scale partner into other countries. With already a number of successful initiatives completed in this partnership some of the future activities will include a partnerships in rest of Africa, South East Asia and South America.
The Finnish and South African governments partership to enhance the country’s innovation system through the Cooperation Framework on Innovation Systems between Finland and South (COFISA). The overall objective of the COFISA Programme is to enhanced the effectiveness of the South African National System of Innovation contributing to economic growth and poverty alleviation. COFISA supported the first phase of the RLabs activies to develop a business plan and feasibility study.
Living Labs in Southern Africa (LLiSA) is a project for establishing a community and network of Living Lab practitioners in the Southern African region, aiming at advancing and supporting open user-centric innovation and Living Labs in South Africa. The network support and coordination project is initiated by three parties: COFISA, SAFIPA and Meraka Institute. RLabs is part of the LLiSA network representing the only Living Lab in the Western Cape.
SAFIPA is a bilateral project between the governments of South Africa and Finland. It aims to support the creation of an environment which facilitates the development and deployment of ICT service applications for the benefit of South African citizens. SAFIPA has provided JamiiX, one of the RLabs initiatives, with seed funding to assist in its commercialization and business development. SAFIPA also provides RLabs with guidance and insight to Incubators and Finnish partnerships.
The Aalto University School of Science and Technology is the oldest university of technology in Finland and a pioneer in the field of technology in the country: its fields of education and research cover all areas of technology that are of importance to the Finnish economy, including architecture. The School of Science and Technology is committed to the provision of high-quality education. The partnership with RLabs provides opportunity for research activities in the area of Community-driven Innovation.
Operating globally with 20 partners worldwide, Youth Research Partners is a youth research and marketing agency built for the 21st Century. Coordinated through the US and UK, this is a network of distributed specialists – youth research agencies and marketers passionate about helping brand managers connect, consumer insight managers get beyond focus groups and product managers source valuable market feedback. RLabs is honoured to be part of this dynamic network providing insight and research into the youth market.
Cell-Life is a pioneering initiative that provides effective technology-based solutions for the management of HIV/Aids. Our primary function is to address logistical challenges in developing countries, such as the provision and distribution of Anti-retroviral treatments, continuous patient monitoring and communication of relevant data. RLabs have partnered with Cell-Life since early 2009 to bring HIV/AIDS information and counselling to users on the MXit platform.
“If everyone would offer 1% of their time, knowledge and income, we can structurally solve poverty”. With this idea the 1%CLUB was founded. The 1%CLUB is the online market place for development projects where you can directly offer 1% to a project of your own choice. RLabs is one of the project partners with the 1%CLUB in using Social Media for Social Change.
Youth for Technology Foundation (YTF) is an international non-profit, citizen-sector organization founded in 2000. Partnering with low-income communities in the U.S. and in rural communities in developing nations, YTF creates enriched learning environments in which the appropriate use of technology affords opportunities for marginalized people, particularly youth. YTF is the RLabs partner in Nigeria where youth are being empowered through the use of Social and Digital technologies to share their stories of hope and for peer-to-peer support.
The Vodacom Foundation was established in 1999 as the primary vehicle for Vodacom to implement its Corporate Social Investment initiatives. In its 10th year of operation its primary focus on education and health, and its secondary focus on security, the Vodacom Foundation supports sustainable projects that help counter social deprivation. These projects provide a channel through which the company shares the profits with the communities in which it operates. This partnership will provide RLabs with the infrastructure and operations to run its mobile support services for 2011 with a specific focus in the Western Cape addressing the substance abuse problems the province is facing.
