Biography
Tessa is currently completing an Honours in Computer Science at Stellenbosch University, with a focus on human-centered computing. For her thesis project, she is creating a pilot mobile app for language data collection in 11 of South Africa’s 12 official languages. Tessa and her team are following a user-centered interaction design approach and working with field workers, parents and caregivers - the end users of the app. The users' perspective helps them create an app that caters to the range of digital literacy skills in South Africa. Tessa also serves as a student representative member on the university’s Research and Ethics Committee, a very rewarding experience.
She is passionate about creating sustainable technology and policies that promote ethical use of personal data. Ethics should be built into systems, not be an afterthought. She also feels strongly about using computer science for social impact and aiding in closing the digital divide in developing countries and regions. To paraphrase Kentaro Toyama, we can do this by identifying the existing human forces that can amplify technological resources, and create resources designed and produced in collaboration with these human forces.