This report is a regional study into the access to and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in five higher education institutions in the Western Cape, South Africa. The investigation surveyed 6577 students and 515 academic staff. The framework for understanding access is based on a "thick" concept which understands access to four kinds of resource groupings: technological, personal agency, social and content. It considers how access is differentiated for different demographic groups, and how academic staff and students access resources differently. Students' and staff ways of using computers are described in terms of a framework adapted from Laurillard's conversational framework (2002).Findings about use describe the breadth and extent of different events and media forms, as well as their use across the curriculum and in different disciplinary domains. The relationship between access and use is also explored.