B. Dwolatzky

Bio: B. Dwolatzky is an academic researcher from University of the Witwatersrand. The author has contributed to research in topics: Software development & Agile software development. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 43 publications receiving 379 citations.

Linking the global positioning system (GPS) to a personal digital assistant (PDA) to support tuberculosis control in South Africa: a pilot study.

Abstract: Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading clinical manifestation of HIV infection and caseloads continue to increase in high HIV prevalence settings. TB treatment is prolonged and treatment interruption has serious individual and public health consequences. We assessed the feasibility of using a handheld computing device programmed with customised software and linked to a GPS receiver, to assist TB control programmes to trace patients who interrupt treatment in areas without useful street maps. In this proof of concept study, we compared the time taken to re-find a home comparing given residential addresses with a customised personalised digital assistant linked to a global positioning system (PDA/GPS) device. Additionally, we assessed the feasibility of using aerial photographs to locate homes. Results: The study took place in two communities in Greater Johannesburg, South Africa: Wheillers Farm, a relatively sparsely populated informal settlement, and a portion of Alexandra, an urban township with densely populated informal settlements. Ten participants in each community were asked to locate their homes on aerial photographs. Nine from Wheillers Farm and six from Alexandra were able to identify their homes. The total time taken by a research assistant, unfamiliar with the area, to locate 10 homes in each community using the given addresses was compared with the total time taken by a community volunteer with half an hour of training to locate the same homes using the device. Time taken to locate the ten households was reduced by 20% and 50% in each community respectively using the PDA/GPS device. Conclusion: In this pilot study we show that it is feasible to use a simple PDA/GPS device to locate the homes of patients. We found that in densely populated informal settlements, GPS technology is more accurate than aerial photos in identifying homes and more efficient than addresses provided by participants. Research assessing issues of, confidentiality and cost effectiveness would have to be undertaken before implementing PDA/GPS – based technology for this application. However, this PDA/GPS device could be used to reduce part of the burden on TB control programs.

Defining Agile Software Quality Assurance

Abstract: Agile software development methodologies have since their inception claimed to improve the quality of the software product. The agile practitioners have also claimed that use of the agile approach has greatly improved the quality of their products. However, software quality is a rather complex concept; in fact some have defined the entire discipline of software engineering as the production of quality software. Quality according to ISO 9000 is defined as "the totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs." In the existing agile literature there as not been a comprehensive definition of which characteristics of software quality are improved by the use of agile processes in developing software. In this paper an innovative technique is introduced for evaluating agile methodologies in order to determine which factors of software quality they improve. The technique uses a set of adapted software quality factors as defined by Bertrand Meyer and McCall.

Terrain based routing of distribution cables

Abstract: Specifying the actual layout of all overhead power lines and underground power cables is one of the key tasks to be carried out in the design of electrical distribution networks. Voltage drop and other network calculations can be performed only after the length of each cable segment is determined. Although automatic cable routers are currently available, they are mainly for formally planned urban areas. These routers are not always appropriate for use in designing rural distribution networks, because they fail to account for some of the special circumstances found in rural areas. A more practical approach bases automatic cable routing on the terrain of a given area rather than on the layout of roads. The automatic distribution network router (DNR) finds the least-cost path (not merely the shortest one) connecting two nodes. This article briefly discusses methods currently used to determine cable routes for distribution networks, the unsuitability of these methods for routing cables in rural and informal urban areas, the proposed approach that relies on dividing the terrain into cost regions, and the benefits gained in its application. Emphasis is on the practical application of the new approach.

Designing a usable mobile application for field data collection

Abstract: It is envisaged that, particularly in African countries under the NEPAD initiative, mobile technology will play a crucial rote in the collection and maintenance of spatial information about the country's infrastructure (i.e. water, electricity, roads, communication networks etc). While much of the underlying technology may already be available, usability of the mobile applications remains a serious concern. This work investigates the usability of a mobile application for field data collection in the utility industry. The purpose of the investigation is to gain better understanding of usability requirements for a mobile field data collection application but more importantly, how to meet these requirements from a usability engineering standpoint. Firstly, we give some background information on mobile computing and its role in field data collection. Secondly, we describe the design and implementation of the field data collection prototype. The analysis of usability requirements is based on a field study of underground utility closure sourcing work employed at a telecommunications utility. A usage-centered design approach is used to design the user interface, which is implemented as a working prototype on a pocket computer. And finally, we discuss the usability testing of the prototype.

Demand-side energy management performed using direct feedback via mobile systems: Enables utilities to deploy consumer based demand response programs

Abstract: Electricity demand in developing countries is expected to rise significantly by the year 2020. Electricity consumers in both developed and developing countries are not active participants in the operations of electrical networks. Research has shown that significant benefits may be achieved when consumers participate in such electrical network operations. In these instances consumers were able to reduce their electrical energy consumption via coordinated demand response programs. However, there are some challenges in offering or deploying a consumer-based demand response program. This paper presents a novel system which enables electrical utilities to provide their consumers with a consumer-based demand response program.

The Effects of Rural Electrification on Employment: New Evidence from South Africa

Abstract: This paper estimates the impact of electrification on employment growth by analyzing South Africa 's mass roll-out of electricity to rural households Using several new data sources and two different identification strategies (an instrumental variables strategy and a fixed effects approach ), I find that electrification significantly raises female employment within five years This new infrastructure appears to increase hours of work for men and women, while reducing female wages and increasing male earnings Several pieces of evidence suggest that household electrification raises employment by releasing women from home production and enabling microenterprises Migration behavior may also be affected (JEL H54, L94,

Inferring the effectiveness of government interventions against COVID-19.

Abstract: Governments are attempting to control the COVID-19 pandemic with nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). However, the effectiveness of different NPIs at reducing transmission is poorly understood. We gathered chronological data on the implementation of NPIs for several European, and other, countries between January and the end of May 2020. We estimate the effectiveness of NPIs, ranging from limiting gathering sizes, business closures, and closure of educational institutions to stay-at-home orders. To do so, we used a Bayesian hierarchical model that links NPI implementation dates to national case and death counts and supported the results with extensive empirical validation. Closing all educational institutions, limiting gatherings to 10 people or less, and closing face-to-face businesses each reduced transmission considerably. The additional effect of stay-at-home orders was comparatively small.

The age of discontinuity: guidelines to our changing society

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