My name is David Risinamhodzi, a PhD student with the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. I am passionate about development especially in disadvantaged spaces. I am currently working for Walter Sisulu University as an IT Lecturer which I joined in a bid to positively impact the poor rural communities around the university. My passion for development can also be seen in the research areas I am currently engaged in, such as awareness of security and privacy for the rural communities. My PhD work is based on Technology and Engineering education with the focus being townships and rural communities in SA. I have been working with Kwa-Thema, Zwelihle and Mbazwana communities over the past 2 years. The Hackathon model I am using has proven to be very interesting to skills transfer to the unemployed youth and participating older community members. Amongst the successes we have enjoyed is the building of interconnected communities as we bring them together in order to share insights and on problem solving. The other skills that have been successfully transferred to the community members are, website development skills, mobile APP building skills, basic research skills as well as soft skills. At the heart of the community project as a focus on skilling communities so that they can solve their own problems and by extension become sustainable. 

The project equips communities with an understanding of the value of community data as a commodity for usage in benefitting the community.