About
Dr Farouk is a South African researcher and policy analyst with an interest in how digital economy innovations contribute to societal inequality as well as how this can be addressed through social impact solutions.
Her interest in social impact technology dates back to the early 2000s when she worked at an NGO that provided ICT training and technical support to non-profit organisations. Following this, she spent two decades promoting social justice causes through internet platforms, with an emphasis on reducing inequality.
A significant achievement in her career was the establishment of the South African Civil Society Information Services (SACSIS), a Web 2.0 start-up, which she founded in 2008. SACSIS was an online platform for policy dialogue and a commentary service that published social justice op-eds by academics and civil society activists for the mainstream media. However, by the mid-2010s, due to the disruption caused by social media platforms, legacy media outlets faced significant sustainability challenges. As a small non-profit media outlet, SACSIS didn't survive the disruption and ceased operating in 2015.
Following SACSIS' closure, Dr Farouk felt the pull of a PhD to reconnect to her roots as a researcher and policy analyst, which is where her career started 20 years ago.
Her PhD dissertation examined the intersection of automation, unemployment and inequality in South Africa. While her study was initially inspired by a need to understand the impact of automation technologies on the labour market, it developed into a comprehensive review of the digital economy in South Africa, exploring the intersection of innovation and inequality more broadly. In this respect, she took a deep dive into the technology start-up sector as the origin of digital innovations in South Africa in an effort to get a better understanding of the impact of these innovations on social transformation. A major theme in her study is a critique of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as a neoliberal theory of change emanating from the World Economic Forum, which has emerged as a significant force in digital policymaking in South Africa.
You can learn more about Dr Farouk and contact her via LinkedIn.