DUT’s Colin Thakur is making strides in the field of digital technology, having been recently invited to India to deliver his paper on e-voting, titled: Transforming the voting paradigm: The shift from inline, to online to mobile voting.

E-voting is the use of electronics to capture and count a vote. This is provided by computers with a touch screen interface, keyboard, jelly buttons and paper ballots which are optically scanned. Thakur says the technology can be used comfortably by the elderly because it also incorporates features such as large fonts, bright colours and audio output. It also relates to the youth with their penchant for technology.

Thakur is the Director of the KZN e-Skills CoLab which is tasked with e-skills education in general, and particularly on the e-enablement of government services for effective service delivery with a bias on e-democracy and e-participation. He conceptualised and introduced InvoTech, an innovation incubator at DUT, where one of his patents is being registered. He also developed a multi-media presentation: Safe Internet for Parents, which he delivers across the country.

Thakur has written five papers and was an international observer in the 2011 Zambian election. He was also the Vice-Chairman (two years), Chairman (three years) and National Treasurer (one year) of the KZN Computer Society of South Africa. In 2010, Thakur was commissioned by the IEC to undertake an international study of electronic voting practices. The study: Electronic Voting – the cross-national experience was completed in 2012.

On his recent trip to India, Thakur’s paper was well-received with the feedback reflecting its novelty and further contribution to electronic voting. More importantly, the sessions provided peer-validation – by researchers from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Austria, Germany, Sweden, India, Hong Kong and Russia – of the proposed model. He was also invited to collaborate with Swedish researchers on this emerging field. Thakur was invited to describe the evolution of voting practices and explain how certain contexts drive technology adoption with respect to elections.

“The appetite for e-voting in the East is very high, there is certainly an emerging trend towards democratic tenancies. Even Australia is looking at electronic voting given the vast size of the country. The Philippines and Japan are already using e-voting. I’m aiming to lobby that way for the reason that voter turnout internationally is dropping. Voter turnout, particularly with the youth, is dropping faster (and) the future of democracy depends on the youth. The only way democracy can work is if it becomes habitual,” he said.

“Think about it, people are using WhatsApp and BBM, to name but a few. So it’s not a joke, it is happening. We need to start changing mindsets in line of the new electronic culture. Will voting online work? I am proposing to use online and mobile voting. You can vote in your pyjamas, vote from home, from where ever you are. You don’t have to be in your voting district. It also becomes ‘green’. For example, India used 12000 tonnes of paper in its last paper-based election which is a whole forest, now elections in India are definitely ‘green’, saving a whole forest,” he said.

E-voting is a popular system internationally perceived to be faster and more efficient. This system is slowly spreading across the African continent in countries like Nigeria and Kenya. “I am particularly interested in the use of e-voting to enable and entrench democracy in Africa,” he said. Apart from the speed difference between the physical and electronic systems, Thakur believes e-voting would be a more accommodating system for expats.

He stressed though the essence is to ensure that the system is usable by the young and old, the rural and urban, the physically challenged and able as well as literate and illiterate voters. Thakur is presently planning to compile a book based on his research.

– Waheeda Peters

Pictured: Colin Thakur