Living lab feedback

in Cape Town suburb,

We went to the living lab at the Impact center in Bridgetown/athlone following, brought over there by Marlon Parker.
We met with former gangsters, substances dealers and addicts. They shared their former lives with us and spoke about the new life they are getting into. It was very inspiring.
We visited ¾ of Athlone in order to see and feel the people and the community heartbeat throughout Bridgetown, Kewtown, and Sylvertown. We noticed the infrastructure cover:
- Impact centre
- Community centre
- Churches
- Mosque
- Library
- Civic centre
- Community theatre
- Police station
- Community health centre
- Clinics
- hospital
- Crèche
- Eros school (Children with disabilities)
- Primary, high school, and College of cape town campus
- Tuck shop (almost 50)
- Shoprite store
- Van gate mall
- Stadium
- Train station
Those infrastructures are the sign that the City of Cape Town is trying to improve people life condition. The city authorities tried to create employment, open the locality to the rest of the city, early educate inhabitant, to care about their health, and to bring them other possibilities of interest like sport, art performance and etc.

It came to us that people are very young in that community with 2/3 under 40 years old. But 2/3 are unemployed (Source: City of Cape Town, ECONOMIC AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT 2005/06, Socio-Economic Profile of Ward 49, general information from Census 2001, Statistics South Africa extracted by Innovation, Information and Knowledge management Directorate).

Community issues: Unemployment, criminality, substance abuses, sexual abuses, insecurity, hopelessness.

Possible problems: Educational and Cultural trouble (Knowledge of the good)

Possible solution: inoculate Ubuntu philosophy to people

Technology point of view: Why shouldn't we bring technics like data mining, or business intelligence to help see better the community issues and know the accurate answers to provide?

What I learnt: Reiteration of a belief that people can change to the good. They certainly need someone to take them by the hand and show them how to go.

NB: No intention to offense. This is only a feedback of an enriching experience.