Information Technologies and International Development: An Overview of Results from Africa & India

Опубликовано 8 сентября 2016, 18:51

Can the Internet help to heal a nation? Can a cybercafé change the economics of a rural village? Why do most rural internet projects in Africa and Asia seem to fail? My research focuses on information and communication technologies for social, economic, and political development. In particular I study mobile and internet-enabled services and their design, impact, and importance within low-income countries of Africa and Asia. In this talk I will overview two on-going projects: " In Liberia we have collaborated with their Truth and Reconciliation Commission to design interactive media and internet services that aid post-conflict reconstruction and healing. Through collaborative user-centered design processes we have developed new online and offline computer environments. For the first time in the history of post-conflict truth commissions Liberia now accepts formal statements delivered over the web. And we have designed rural media kiosks that allow people - most without print or computer literacy - to interact with the commission, attend virtual hearings, and give video testimonials. " In India we are concluding more than seven years of intense study of dozens of rural internet kiosks within one district. We have shown that a number of services and activities at these kiosks were popular, pro-poor, and offered a consumer surplus. In addition we found that financial self-sustainability of the kiosks is possible from modest revenues of less than five dollars a day. Nonetheless, today nearly all of the privately run internet centers have closed. We argue that these sustainability failures are due to financial, political and managerial factors. I will conclude with a broad assessment of designs for computing and communications in low-income countries. Do we really want a desktop in communities that may not value desks? Why have a personal computer in places where technologies are used collectively by communities and not kept for individuals.