Again I would like to introduce some papers that I found interesting and insightful during writing my thesis.

This time I will introduce the paper “Transforming Recent Gains In The Digital Divide Into Digital Opportunities: Africa And The Boom In Mobile Phone Subscription” from 2006. Based on recent developments it sums up the potential impact of the mobile phone on African society and economy. It was written by Peter A. Kwaku Kyem and Peter Kweku LeMaire (Central Connecticut State University, USA) for an issue of the online available journal “The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries” (EJISDC).

In the following a short summary of the paper:

In the past years mobile phone subscriptions, fixed lines and internet access have increased in Africa quicker than in any other region on earth.  The questions are now if this technological boost can be used for socioeconomic improvements and if, without accompanying measures, it is enough to raise the living standard.

Digital divide:

“The gap results from socio-economic differences in the world that in turn affect their access to digital information. The digital divide thus reflects existing economic divisions in the world.“- from Dzidonu, C.K. (2001) - The Socio-Economic Development Implications of the Digital Divide within the context of African Countries

The digital divide was until 2004 decreased and the access to ICTs in developing countries is now catching up with the western world. A substantial task is now, not to focus just on the physical presence of the ICTs, but to have a clear vision of their use.

The mobile phone is unique in Africa, as it serves as the main communication device now and can take many hurdles, which conventional ICTs did not. Therefore it is the main ICT nowadays available (= becoming ubiquitous) and has a high economic potential.

Direct economic benefits:

• microenterprises
• outsourcing from developed countries is through ICTs possible
• market information for rural and poor areas
• organization and information - substitute for travels and person-to-person communication
• improved banking services through M-banking

Socio-cultural impacts of mobile phones:

• belonging to a communication network rahter than to a place
• strengthen democracy (protests, elections)
• status symbol
• mixing of private and public life
• increased sense of security

Other potential uses and impacts of mobile phones in Africa

• improved health services
• improved education
• e-government

But overall, adoptions of the technology must come with improvements in other infrastructure areas, otherwise there will be no impact. Furthermore governments need to adapt appropriate ICT policies.

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Although the paper doesn’t come up with the most surprising answers, it gives a good overview of the potentials of mobile phones in Africa. I think the main conclusions are still valid though a lot has happened in those two years since the paper was written. For the whole paper I may refer to EJISDC.

In this interview Ugo Vallauri from the Royal Holloway University of London (Department of Geography) talks about the role of ICT4D for grassroots rural community development. In his research he also looks at previously available technologies, like radios, and their value for grassroots development. He points out the importance of bridging the divide between the old and the new, stating that people often get excited about new technologies and forget the value of already existing technologies.

Ugo also briefly introduces some other projects, which sound interesting and promising, like low-power computing for rural areas and an open source software project for blind and visually impaired people. (Ugo, can you provide links?)

This is the 6th interview from our MobileActive08 video podcast series, shot at the conference in Johannesburg (organized by MobileActive and sangonet).

www.flickr.com

Go to ICT4D.at’s photostream

We already announced this via the social networks where we’re present:
We uploaded several pictures we shot during the six weeks of our African film project on FlickR. All of them are CC licensed so you are free to use them.
Above, there’s a random selection.

Just a short notice - ICT4D.at will be present at the SIG GlobDev workshop on December 13th.

The event is affiliated with the International conference on Information Systems (ICIS) and takes place in Paris, France.

I will present my paper “Fighting Hunger with Information - Mashups in ICT4D Increase
Accessibility of Vital Services” and try to talk to (and interview) as many people as possible.

Logo from the SIG GlogDev page

Regrettably on the almost same date there is the conference Mobile Communication Technology For Development (M4D) which looks also quite tempting. Well, can’t do both.