Knowledge Management Approaches to Open Access and Knowledge Equity: Bridging the Digital Divide in South African Higher Education

Abstract

This paper examines how South African universities are leveraging knowledge management approaches to strengthen open access practices in pursuit of knowledge equity, a challenge that has persistently shaped the participation of the Global South in global scholarly communication. In the South African context, these challenges are intensified by historical inequalities that continue to influence access to information, funding, and infrastructure within higher education. Specifically, this study examines how universities integrate knowledge management strategies to advance equity within their open access initiatives, how knowledge management-informed practices influence institutional capacity to enhance research visibility and foster inclusive scholarly participation, and how South Africa’s knowledge management-based open access experiences can inform broader efforts to promote knowledge equity across the Global South. Overall, the findings demonstrate that integrating knowledge management with open access enhances research visibility and impact in South Africa, although disparities in institutional maturity continue to limit equitable outcomes. South Africa’s coordinated approach - national collaboration, strategic resource pooling through consortia, investment in local open access systems, and active engagement in global open access discourse - offers valuable lessons for advancing knowledge equity across the Global South. These experiences highlight that sustainable knowledge management-enabled open access ecosystems require both institutional commitment and national-level coordination, fostering inclusive scholarly participation and reducing dependency.