ICT4D

Crowdsourcing has become a mega trend in recent years, fueling innovation and collaboration in research,
business, society, and government alike.

In this paper, we provide an overview of the theoretical contributions of crowdsourcing to improve democratic governance. We then examine the critical factors necessary for successful crowdsourcing in general (Sharma 2010) and discuss the inherent challenges and risks, particularly in fragile states. We then provide numerous examples from important crowdsourcing and interactive mapping phenomena and initiatives in Haiti, Libya, Sudan, and Guinea
among others. Most of these examples were taken from personal experience, and their accuracy was  checked with key actors. We return to analyzing these cases according to Sharma’s framework. Finally, we provide recommendations for donors.

This paper explores the meanings of women’s empowerment and gender equality
in the information society, looking at the opportunity for progressive change and
critically unpacking the Information and Communication Technology for Development
(ICTD) discourse on gender and development. It also seeks to articulate
a rights-based framework to policy and action that takes on the specific
question of what models of access and connectivity will work for the marginalised
peoples and countries, in a manner that promotes gender justice. The paper was
written for the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development
(UN-GAID) Annual Meeting and Global Forum 2008.

With growing global political weight and one of the biggest digital markets in the world, India, a leading developing country in the G77, is poised to play a critical role in the WSIS+10 Review. In line with its earlier positions on related issues, the priorities outlined by the Indian government for the Review so far prominently feature development and cybersecurity concerns. However, following a new-found alignment on internet-related policy issues across Ministries, earlier priorities regarding enhanced cooperation will now be balanced by active support for multistakeholder approaches to internet governance. For civil society advocates, the Indian government's recent embrace of multistakeholderism is of particular importance, as it provides a new opening for enhanced civil society engagement with the Ministry of External Affairs: the WSIS+10 Review can provide a first opportunity for the Ministry to prove that it is serious about this commitment. The practical impact of this shift in India's policy on the positions of the G77 and the negotiations more broadly may, however, remain limited.

Although the history of Communication for Development (C4D) can be traced back to communication studies’ formal establishment in the first half of the twentieth century, the swift expansion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) over the past two decades has re-shaped C4D into a trendy field with growing theoretical and policy attention. Authored by Emile G. McAnany, Saving the World: A Brief History of Communication for Development and Social Change presents a chronological and theoretical summary of communication’s complex role in development and social change as well as the shifts of paradigms within C4D since the end of World War II. According to McAnany, the purpose of this book is three-fold: to explore how theories and practices have evolved along with the development of communication technologies, to evaluate the current status of C4D in the long-term struggle for development and social change, and to better understand the criteria for assessing the influence of C4D-related endeavours.  In this regard, Saving the World is both an intellectual history of communication’s intersections with projects aiming for fostering prosperity, as well as a call for continuing research and policy attention to communication’s great potential in future policy considerations.

HCI projects are increasingly evaluating technologies in the wild, which typically involves working with communities over extended periods, often with the goal of effecting sustainable change. However, there are few descriptions of projects that have been successful in the long-term. In this paper we investigate what factors are important for develop- ing long lasting community ICT interventions. We do this by analysing a successful action research project and provide five recommendations for facilitating sustained community engagement. CrowdMemo aimed to preserve local heritage in a town in rural Argentina and the project was set up so that it could be continued by the community once researchers had left. Participants created videos about personal memories of the town and over 600 people attended the premiere where they were first screened. The impact has not just been short-term and there has been sustained engagement with the project by stakeholders in the town and wider region: the lo- cal school integrated digital storytelling into its curriculum; the approach has been adopted by two nearby towns; and the project has influenced regional government educational policy.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have created new economic and social opportunities all over the world. Their use, however, continues to be governed by existing power relations whereby women frequently experience relative disadvantage. Amid this inequality are individuals and organisations that are working to use ICTs to further gender equality. These are the issues addressed by the BRIDGE Cutting Edge Pack on Gender and ICTs. The first section of this article consists of extracts from the Overview Report in the Pack. It describes ways in which women have been able to use ICTs to support new forms of information exchange, organisation, and empowerment. The second section, taken from the textbox ‘Telecentres: Some Myths’, describes three assertions which frequently lead to problems in all forms of investment in development-related information exchanges with poor or less powerful groups, not only those relating to telecentres and women.

De burger staat de komende jaren centraal in de volgende fase van de informatiesamenleving. ‘Maatschappelijke informatievoorziening’ identificeert de ontwikkeling van een digitale burger en schetst de contouren van een integrale visie die het ondersteunen van een goed geordende nationale digitale infrastructuur voor burgers mogelijk maakt.

The digitalization of learning environments is changing the face of education. Learners from around the world have unprecedented access to online learning spaces in ways that were unthinkable even a few decades ago. Due to the growing diversity among digital learners, online learning spaces are becoming increasingly international and intercultural. To make e-learning offerings effective at meeting the needs of diverse groups of learners requires a better understanding of available instructional design models. This paper analyzes seven popular models and offers a series of recommendations that designers should follow to ensure that e-learning developed using these models is culturally inclusive.

Virtual teamwork is increasingly becoming a characteristic way of working within and between organisations in the digital economy, bringing both opportunities and drawbacks. This article considers communication in virtual teams and ways in which information and communication technologies (ICTs) can enhance or impede it. It is recognised that the richness of face-to-face communication cannot be captured fully by the tools on offer, although important steps to create team belonging in virtual presence have already been taken. While the tools go some way to permitting distributed team members to interact informally, they cannot go all the way to building and maintaining the personal side of relationships, nor provide stress-relief in many instances. Information overload is highlighted as an example of this failure, and ways to address the problems inherent in ICT-mediated communication and its usage should be sought via inter-disciplinary approaches. On the other hand, the virtual paradigm leads to new organisational forms and organisational culture that tend to strengthen the individual's role in the organisational grapevine.

This thesis uses a contextual case study approach covering the period 1985 to 2011 to examine the construction of Trinidad and Tobago’s ICT4D policy as discourse. The guiding theory of method is contextualism as described in Pettigrew (1990), according to whom a contextual analysis can be characterised as: processual, by emphasising the evolution of actions embedded in specific contexts (structural and otherwise) over time; multi-stakeholder, by recognising the competing viewpoints of reality perceived by actors at different levels; longitudinal, by considering both historical and contemporary views of actions and events. Consistent with this approach a framework has been adopted here that views policy as an iterative process involving the generation of texts from events, the translation of texts into narratives, and competition between alternative narratives resulting in institutions, which, in turn, enable and constrain events. This framework facilitates understanding interactions between actors at multiple levels across time.

Almost everyone in India is conscious of the importance and urgency of the Challenges in Education and these are reflected in several other parts of the world as well. Some of these are the challenge of numbers, of relevance, of Quality, of access, of costs and of speed. There is sometimes a sense of paralysis at the enormity of the challenge and the apparent impossibility of managing conflicting expectations. But we need a change in direction, as suggested in the scenario painted by Edward de Bono. “Imagine a ship at sea that is in trouble. The lights keep going out. The engine is faltering. The rudder is unreliable. The first mate is drunk. The crew is very demoralised. The service is appalling. The passengers on the ship are very dissatisfied. Then a new captain and first mate are brought in by helicopter. Very quickly everything changes. The morale of the crew is lifted. Service improves. The engine is fixed. The rudder is fixed. The lights stay on. Everything is fine. But the ship is still heading in the wrong direction.” The solution to these multiple challenges probably lies in a number of disruptive innovative solutions. These include inculcating self-learning (building on meta-cognition), measuring learning, collaborative and co-operative learning, personalisation of learning and learning analytics. However, in addition to new systems or technologies, we need a fundamental change of perspective. Education is seen as the responsibility of the State and the system is based on authority and licenses and permissions to allow education to be transacted in modern times this is unlikely to work. As Henry Maine had said ' as society progresses, it moves from status to contract'. So must the educational system build contractual relationships between the learner and providers of learning as more important than statutory authority. A very promising technological and pedagogical model that has received a lot of attention during the last few years and adoption by Stanford, Harvard, Duke and almost 100 of the world's top ranking Universities to teach millions of learners is that of the MOOC. The MOOC is considered on the one hand as a panacea for education and on the other as a defilement of the sanctity of the higher education tradition. The truth will probably lie somewhere in between and we must explore the potential of MOOCs to create a model of simultaneously teaching on-site and off-site learners, using synchronous and a-synchronous teacher learner interactions to deliver high quality learning to large numbers , maybe evolve a model for a classroom of 10,000 learners. This event is a step in that direction. We are experimenting here with mounting 10 MOOCs in a variety of subjects, for different target groups delivered by a team of Internationally renowned resource persons. We will be exploring several technological platforms and pedagogical models to find answers to a few interesting questions:
 What is the right size of a learning cohort that is empowered with technology?
 What is the right price for tuition?
 What would be the most appropriate technology platform for mass education?
 What is the best way to cope with linguistic diversity?
 What course programs are best delivered as MOOCs?
 What skill sets must learners have to benefit most from MOOCs?
 What skill sets must educators acquire to teach effectively with MOOCs?
I welcome and thank all those who are contributing to make this unique exploratory endeavour a success.
M.M. Pant

“Information and communication technologies for development”(ICT4D) is the name given to a range of activity which considers how electronic technologies can be used towards socio-economic development of developing communities worldwide. Typical technologies considered in ICT4D include PCs, the Internet, and mobile phones, and the domains of application are as broad as global development itself: public health, education, agriculture, microfinance, sanitation, political activism, and so on.

International development and humanitarian organizations are  increasingly calling for digital data to be treated as a public good because of its value in supplementing scarce national statistics and informing interventions, including in emergencies. In response to this claim, a ‘responsible data’ movement has evolved to discuss guidelines and frameworks that will establish ethical principles for data sharing. However, this movement is not gaining traction with those who hold the highest-value data, particularly mobile network operators who are proving reluctant to make data collected in low- and middle-income
countries accessible through intermediaries. This paper evaluates how the argument for ‘data as a public good’ fits with the corporate reality of big data, exploring existing models for data sharing. I draw on the idea of corporate data as an ecosystem involving often conflicting rights, duties and claims, in comparison to the utilitarian claim that data’s humanitarian value makes it imperative to share them. I assess the power dynamics implied by the idea of data as a public good, and how differing incentives lead actors to adopt particular ethical positions with regard to the use of data.

This paper reports on an investigation into the online visibility of work undertaken in South Africa in the field of poverty alleviation. An experiment with
Google searches was undertaken, motivated by concerns about the visibility of South African research and development work, particularly in a context where social
inequality is extreme and poverty such a critical issue. Aware that much attention – through research and the practice of development work – is being paid to
poverty alleviation1
, the authors set out to examine whether that work could be found easily, and what the nature of the search results would be. Significant sums
of public money are invested in research, which should result in the production and dissemination of locally generated knowledge as a public good grounded in
local realities. A great deal of national and international funding is also spent. Thus, research published online should inform and reflect on national and regional
development practice, while contributing perspectives from the South to the global corpus of poverty research. Research to understand poverty and inform the design
and targeting of poverty alleviation programmes needs to be freely available and actively shared in order for it to accumulate value. In this regard it is argued that
there are exponentially beneficial linkages between research, scholarly publication and social development, which originate with local knowledge production and
are amplified by the availability and discoverability of that research. Availability and discoverability add breadth and depth to the potential use, value and impact
of the knowledge produced

This article is part Eight of a series exploring the links between evaluation and technologies. It considers the rehabilitation of RCTs as a methodology through a new relationship with big data: one that repurposes the technology of RCTs to be useful within the lifecycle of the intervention. Reconsidering the application of impact evaluation provides an opportunity to apply the uncanny valley to evaluation contexts to give us a “good enough” view of results.

"Block Printing is the process of using an object to make an inked impression upon a plain surface. It is one of the oldest and most enjoyable of all the crafts and has given color and pattern to paper, cloth, and other surfaces for nearly 4,000 years.
Today the process is essentially the same. As it is simple and impressive, it is ideal for the beginner. "

Bringing to light the divide in access to digital leisure challenges the sacred tenet on which the global digital project has been built upon over decades-the belief that a good digital life for the poor would be based in work and inherently utilitarian.

The purpose of this paper is to initiate a debate about whether and how we can embed socioeconomic development in information technology (IT). The ICT4D research community has spent significant efforts on critically exploring, problematising and theorising how IT can challenge and often work against development. This paper takes a different approach by exploring if and how to embed development values in IT. The paper contributes by suggesting a concept of development by design, emphasising how to embed development throughout the design and lifecycle of IT. This concept's basis is socioeconomic development as reflected in notions of digital divides, including the values of access to IT, the relevance of IT, social inclusion through IT, and participation in digital innovation. Based on these values and inspired by ideas on how to embed values in IT, this paper also offers an early version of a framework of practice-oriented design principles. This framework can promote socioeconomic development in developing countries by ensuring values being implemented from the design and throughout its lifecycle of IT.

Ponencia: “Sociedad de la Información...¿Cuánto falta para llegar? El caso de los Centros Tecnológicos Comunitarios en la ciudad de Río Cuarto”, en III Congreso Panamericano de Comunicación, UBA, Buenos Aires, 12-16 julio 2005, pp. 109-111, ISBN 950-29-0863-5.

Regional and global strategies to bring the benefits of e-government to Pacific Island Countries (PICs) have been less successful than anticipated despite
large amounts of aid expenditure. National policies and projects likewise struggle to overcome the barriers of geography, isolation, climate, education, language and economic resources that face all Small Island Developing States (SIDs) when implementing ICT infrastructure and applications. In addition, cultural factors specific to each PIC must be taken into account
when developing e-government applications, including cultural attitudes to knowledge and the dissemination of information. The paper proposes a new framework, based on the concept of an ‘information ecology’ that will acknowledge the way in which information ecologies influence behaviors at several levels, including regional, national, sub-national and local. We believe that this framework will support the development of locally grounded, culturally relevant, sustainable and effective e-government policies in the region. The paper outlines some of the background to this project and progress to date.

During the 1960s computing was introduced to Egypt. Its use and applications was limited to the government and the public sector. During the 1980s the introduction and diffusion of computing was widespread following the global personal computer evolution. Personal computers effectively affected organizational development and growth due to the continuous developments in the information technology industry and caused by hardware penetration, software innovations, and the build-up of the telecommunications infrastructure. This paper assesses the software industry in Egypt as a major building block of the information technology industry and a possible active contributor to business and socioeconomic development at large.

a. Les avancées technologiques

Les avancées technologiques ont toujours existé et ont eu un impact important sur les différentes dimensions de la vie. En ce début de siècle, les nouvelles technologies ont mené au développement de nouveaux outils pédagogiques, qui, avec les nouveaux modes de communication ont créé un nouvel état de fait au niveau des formations délivrées jusque là par les moyens classiques.

b. Les acquis de la Psychologie Cognitive

D’autre part, et au delà du simple emploi de l’appareillage technique, l'aspect purement éducatif s’est enrichi des nouvelles avancées de l’approche cognitive, ce qui a mené à éclairer d’un jour nouveau tous les aspects opérationnels qui sous tendent la formation universitaire: La Langue et son rôle formateur, l’appropriation de la connaissance, l’action et son impact sur la conceptualisation et le développement des compétences dans les formations.

c. Problématique et Hypothèse

Ces deux données d'égale importance mettent les éducateurs devant la nécessité d'adopter une nouvelle approche qui se différencie des schémas classiques par son ouverture, sa flexibilité et son efficacité. Est-ce qu’une telle approche nécessite l’adoption d’un nouveau paradigme pédagogique ? Et lequel ? Existe-t-il une stratégie éducative qui répond aux exigences de succès de tels projets académiques? Quelles sont les conditions de succès d'une telle stratégie?

La théorie des Champs Conceptuels forme le canevas théorique de l’approche préconisée. Il s’agira alors de montrer comment ce canevas assure la complémentarité entre une formation par projets, la flexibilité de l’enseignement à distance et les critères de qualité requis. D’où l’hypothèse : Il est possible de mettre au point des formations à distance couplées avec une approche cognitive de résolution de problèmes qui répondent à l’esprit d’innovation et aux exigences de qualité.

This programme of work built on nine months of influential work by DFID’s Growth and Investment Group on the enabling environment for mobile banking and was a direct response to the recommendations of the resultant report: “Mobile banking – knowledge map and possible donor support strategies.” At the start of this programme the use of a mobile phone to conduct payment and banking transactions (m-banking) was at an early stage in a number of developing countries. Because m-banking uses the existing rapidly expanding mobile phone infrastructure, it has the potential to be deployed rapidly and affordably to expand access to financial services among unbanked people and revolutionise remittance flows. Donors were increasingly expressing an interest in whether, and if so, how they could support the realisation of this potential. The case for donors to support m-banking rested on the causal chain linking generally improved access to financial services to the reduction of vulnerability and creation of opportunity for poor households. Although m-banking is one channel in the wider domain of e-banking, there were reasons to single it out for focus - especially because mobile phone usage has reached critical mass numbers in countries with few banked individuals. The sector as a whole was seen as having three main areas of need: ? More successful transformational models which have reached financial sustainability, to create a suitable demonstration effect. ? Systematic information collection and knowledge dissemination to guide potential entrants and policy makers by filling in the gaps identified by the knowledge map in the Annex. The map reflects a field at an early stage—with accelerating volume of reports of launches and new technology, but little systematic knowledge and indeed, little credible or accessible knowledge at all outside of a few chosen models or countries. ? An enabling policy and regulatory environment which has sufficient openness and certainty to allow new models to start-up and grow.