Sunrise over the Ugu coastline, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. By Paul G. West. CC-BY-SA

About me

I live in Ugu in the province of KwaZulu Natal on the east coast of South Africa where I am a Senior Education Adviser providing services in ICT, OER, Distance Education, Open Learning, Knowledge Management and Project Management. I am a Key Expert – Education and Skills for the Education for Employability programme, Chapter Lead for the Creative Commons South Africa Chapter and Board Member of the South African Career Development Association. I work mostly online but am also available to travel nationally and internationally for projects. 

Paul G. West by Samora Chapman, CC-BY 4.0

This is my personal website where I host my own and information on some of the projects that I work on. I am interested in and consult on methods and technologies that can help to bring useful learning to the many millions of people who remain locked outside of formal education systems. I believe in systemic fixes to improve how things work rather than the inevitable patch jobs that are needed to keep things running. In my personal capacity, I read and curate information on OER and ICT in Education and Leadership which I post to FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter.


Personal Website | LinkedIn | X | ORCiD


Here are some of my Speeches, Papers and Publications


In particular, please see these reports and articles or blogs.


A little about me . . . I live in Ugu in the province of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. I have consulted on a range of projects since 2017 in South Africa and other countries. Travelling and working online, I am able to work in multiple countries with clients in various parts of the world.


I support the Education for Employability (E4E) programme in South Africa as Key Expert – Education and Skills. I previously fulfilled the roles of Expert in Collaboration and Coordination and Backstopper for the same project.


I am certified on the Creative Commons Certificate course and have facilitated the online course. You can find out more about becoming certified for Creative Commons licenses online. You can see my Creative Commons badges online and the assignments I completed during the course on this website. I am the Representative to the Global Council for the Creative Commons South Africa Chapter. These online articles may clarify a few recurring issues:


My work with the South African Career Development Association (SACDA) as a Board Member has included various roles including to write policies, process and publish continuing professional development units and reviewing applications for new registrations.


I have worked on various reports over the last few years including the Digital Governance Advisory Note for the PSET CLOUD and the Education for the most marginalised post-COVID-19 - Guidance for governments on the use of digital technologies in education. I have supported numerous employability projects for the Commonwealth of Learning in Namibia, Rwanda and Zambia, and report writing for UNESCO.

I was in London, United Kingdom from 2015 to 2017 where I worked with the Commonwealth Secretariat. In this role, I focussed on developing the education KnowledgeHub to connect education professionals through communities of practice and knowledge sharing activities.

At Westminster Abbey where I carried the Commonwealth Mace for Queen Elizabeth at the 60th Commonwealth Day Observance in 2009 when I worked with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) .

Copyright picture: Picture partnership. (912188-) Picture by: Andrew Dunsmore. 09-03-2009. General information: An Observance for Commonwealth Day 2009 was held at Westminster Abbey London in the presence of HM The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. The message for 2009 The Commonwealth at 60, serving a new generation.


Prior to my work in London, I lived in Pretoria, South Africa from 2010 to 2015, where I worked to establish South Africa’s national Career Development Service. My accomplishments included establishing a national career advisory helpline, promotion of career advice through radio, telephone, social media and Internet, and the establishment of the National Career Advice Portal.


Previously, I was based in Canada for 9 years where my last position was Director: Knowledge Management and Information Technology at the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). I joined COL in August 2001 as Education Specialist: Knowledge Management and became Director in July 2006.


I led the establishment of the multi-national “Virtual University for the Small States of the Commonwealth” initiative, a collaboration of Ministries of Education in 32 countries. I also led COL’s work in copyright and working with Creative Commons.


I worked at Technikon SA for 12 years, during which time I lectured in Management; established non-formal education at the institution; supported the creation of institutes and the establishment of ICT centres to support learners. I conceptualised and established the African Digital Library, a service that provides full-text eBooks to residents of African countries via the Internet. My last position at Technikon South Africa was Director: Centre for Lifelong Learning.


Generally, I’m fairly open minded about copyright. If you like something on this site that I created, you are welcome to use it with attribution. Check if I have maybe linked to another site, in which case that site’s copyright license will apply.


If you would like to contact me and do not have my email address, I recommend connecting using LinkedIn and then message me that way. I am open to consulting on projects and am comfortable working online. As travel opens up again post-pandemic, I will be willing to travel once again.