Originally posted on the GBI Portal – Page 32

Access to Knowledge in Emergency situations: Looking at the situation in Jordan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Written by Sonia Randhawa and reposted from GenderIT.org.

Access to knowledge is vital at any time. This is especially evident in times of emergency where a lack of knowledge can be disastrous, as graphically illustrated during the Asian tsunami of 2004 when meteorological services were aware of an impending disaster, but were unable to find channels of communication to warn affected communities. Also graphic in this instance was the gendered nature of the disaster – in Aceh, up to 80% of those killed by the tsunami were women. Reasons given for this range from the nature of women’s clothing, that women were more likely to be at home at the time of the tsunami and that women were more likely to put the safety of their children before their own safety.

This is not an isolated case. Natural disaster statistics are rarely disaggregated by gender, although anecdotal evidence suggests that women are disproportionately affected. In addition, analysts argue that disasters occur by design and that the impact of natural disasters shows a bias towards the socially excluded. According to Elaine Emerson:

“On balance, those most socially excluded and economically insecure in any society or

community are least able to access or control resources needed during and in the aftermath of a

damaging cyclone or lengthy drought. Women, the frail elderly and children, members of

subordinated cultural or racial groups, the chronically ill, undocumented residents, the pre-disaster

homeless, and other socially marginalized populations are least likely to have the social power,

economic resources, and physical capacities needed to anticipate, survive, and recover from the

effects of massive floods, long-lasting drought, volcanic eruptions, and other extreme environmental events.”

This has led to aid and relief agencies such as Oxfam attempting to counter previous gender-blind policies that worsened the impact of disasters on women. The lack of gender disaggregated informationⁱ on the impact of natural disasters is a key problem in addressing the gendered nature of their impacts.

This article will compare two very different situations, that of a comparatively developed nation in the Middle East and a nation that has been ravaged by over a decade of civil strife and war. Jordan in the Middle East has one of the lowest internetⁱ penetration rates in the region, but almost a fifth of people have internet access. The GDP per capita, in purchasing power parity of Jordan is over 10 times that of DRC.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has an average life expectancy of just 45 and internet penetration of under 2 percent. While urban areas are relatively safe from conflict, over 2 million people have been displaced in the Eastern part of the nation, and violence continues to claim around 1,200 people per day, either directly in conflict, or indirectly through deaths due to a lack of clean drinking water or other easily avoidable health problems.

The similarities between Jordan and the DRC are few. But in both societies the status of women remains low, when compared with other countries in the region, and internationally. The Global Gender Gap Report 2006 ranked Jordan as 105th out of 115 countries in terms of closing its gender gap in economic participation and opportunities, while there are few Jordanian women in leadership positions in either politics or business, the number of Jordanian women enrolled in ICT courses has outstripped men, since the mid-00s. Nevertheless, and despite the Governmentⁱ‘s key role in ICT policyⁱ, women make up less than a fifth of the core ICT workforce.

One of the main problems women have in accessing knowledge is directly related to poverty and illiteracy. In both countries, the interviewees said the problem of access to knowledge in an emergency situation is only part of a general problem of women’s access to knowledge – although women’s literacy rates in Jordan are among the highest in a highly literate region.

This is further worsened when it comes to issues of sexual and reproductive health due to cultural taboos surrounding the discussion of sexual violence – issues that are particularly crucial in DRC where sexual violence is increasingly seen as an acceptable method of subduing one’s perceived cultural or racial enemies. In one month in 2008, 1,200 women were reported to have been raped.

Literacy and education

The main problems facing women who need to access information in an emergency situation are those they are faced with daily. Key among these is low levels of literacy. While in the short-term, such as in a natural disaster, word of mouth or radio are usually key providers of information; in the aftermath a lack of literacy can severely hamper women’s ability to respond to situations or absorb new information quickly and effectively.

This is related to women’s access to education. In DRC, there are few women who attend university, and it is seen as an impediment to making a good marriage – educated men prefer wives with little education, according to Lulu Mitshabu. There are few educated role models for women to emulate, either in government or private enterprise, and if a family has the choice between spending resources to educate a boy child or a girl child, the boy child will receive preference. In conflict areas, children of both sexes are faced with the problem of losing several years education due to displacement, and there are few facilities to help those in such a situation – the already over-stretched aid agencies are concentrating on ensuring the short-term survival of the refugees. Considering both the long-term nature of the conflict and that there are no apparent solutions in sight, this problem is acute. Ms Mitshabu also says that the impact of this on access to knowledge is disastrous – not only are children unable to read or write, this also hampers their ability to assess information, making them vulnerable to manipulation, particularly dangerous in a conflict that is fuelled by racial tensions.

In contrast, women’s access to education in Jordan is comprehensive. There are more girls enrolled in primary school and secondary school. Yet, according to Daoud Kuttab, this disguises regional (and generational) differences in literacy and access to knowledge. And while Jordan has made vocal commitments to ensuring that it is considered a prime destination for ICT investors, particularly those looking at outsourcing operations, there was nothing that specifically addressed gender inequities in ICT access until May 2007. The new policy says “Government notes the importance of the ICT sector with respect to women’s role in Jordanian society and the Jordanian economy. Accordingly, Government will work with stakeholders to ensure the continuous promotion of women’s participation in the IT sector through the support of women’s empowerment.”

This does not mention any specific commitment to not only ensuring women have access to ICT education, but also that there are appropriate job opportunities for them once they leave tertiary education.

Infrastucture

In both Jordan and DRC, a lack of infrastructure was seen as a key impediment to the generalised lack of information dissemination. In DRC, for example, in the earlier days of the conflict, one of the key means of transmitting information was via community radio. Community radio was key in informing people of possible attacks and in providing information on rehabilitation after attacks.

In addition, the ability of people to receive radio signals has been severely eroded. Many refugees have been forced to flee their homes repeatedly. In many instances, a person with a radio may become a hub for a community anxious to learn news.

Lulu Mitshabu says that community radio was particularly important to women, as it was not only more interested in the concerns of women than stateⁱ-sponsored media, it gave women a chance to be heard on radio. This was an effective means of empowering women, and helping women leaders in the community to spread information. However, given the scarcity both of transmitters and receivers, this is no longer an effective means of transmitting information.

Even less effective is internet and computer technology – even in the comparatively developed state of Jordan. In both countries, the technology is confined to an urban elite. In DRC, single women may access the internet through cafes, mainly to communicate with relatives overseas – but even this is curtailed by their husbands once they are married. In both countries, access to the internet in remote areas, and in DRC in the conflict areas, is severely limited, both by the infrastructure and by the levels of computer and internet literacy.

It is an area of policy development that has been lacking, not just in Jordan but in the region. While Jordan both hosted the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)’s Ninth General Assembly and has approved community radio licences within university campuses, AMARC has recommended improving legislation to allow more community radio licences. Daoud Kuttab says it is the best way to help women take control of information, “A community radio station in Jordan is the perfect communication tool that will provide people of all ages and social backgrounds of vital information that they need whether it be related to daily needs or farming needs.”

Credibility of information

In DRC, the ability to disseminate vital information rapidly is also hampered by the skepticism of recipients of information. Having been victims of conflict for over a decade, people will only believe information from trusted sources, often those known to them personally such as village chiefs. Women’s subordinate position in society and their lack of education can limit their effectiveness as providers of information, reinforcing men in their position as gatekeepers of information.

This tendency for men to be gatekeepers is a situation that has been worsened in the conflict years in DRC. This in turn means that information that could save women’s lives, such as simple information on hygiene and health-care, is often not transmitted to the women who need it, as men do not see the transmission of this information to women as being important.

However, when educated women return to their villages, they can play this role – but few choose to do so. According to Lulu Mitshabu, this is partly because of the limited opportunities at the village level and partly due to migration of educated women overseas, where they are more likely to find educated marriage partners and greater opportunities.

Effective Technology

Unfortunately, the experience in DRC seems to indicate that all effective means of accessing knowledge are controlled by men. In Ms Mitshabu’s experience there are two major effective ways of communication, that can help in disaster preparedness and recovery. The first is mobile phone technology. The infrastructure for mobile phones is difficult to target, and has been largely unaffected by the conflict. SMS messages can be used to effectively disseminate information to a large audience in a short period of time. Unfortunately, mobile phones are largely the province of the men. There is no perceived need for women to own a mobile phone, and even if they did, the low literacy rates make SMS services largely useless.

The second way of effectively transmitting information is through traditional leadership roles – chiefs spreading information on how to deal with potential or existing threats. Once again, this largely excludes women from a role in either disseminating or receiving information. However, it is useful in ensuring that information transmitted is perceived as credible. This is also a network that has proved resilient in the face of conflict. It has the major downside of reinforcing existing gender roles.

Ways forward

In Jordan, where the Government is behind an initiative to put a computer in every home, emphasis needs to be given to making sure relevant information is available and to improve women’s computer literacy. However, Daoud Kuttab emphasises that this is not enough. He says, “Women need to take charge of the entire informational cycle that affects them from the source of information to the platforms that are available in which women are in editorial and senior managerial positions as well as ownership in the case of community media.”

He also points out the need to undo the impact of the filtering process of the male-dominated media and policy.

In DRC, Lulu Mitshabu says the need is to focus on low-tech solutions to disseminating knowledge, such as using posters and t-shirts. These need to be highly pictoral to ensure that they are effective regardless of literacy rates. In terms of emergency information, she stresses the need to set up parallel structures to mirror the informal networks that exist among men, helping to cultivate leadership among women and to encourage educated women to return to their communities to take up a leadership role. The main problem in the DRC remains not just that aid is provided in a gender-blind fashion, but also that there is not enough aid to provide for the humanitarian disaster of the region.

October 14, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Food Security, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

The Magic of ICTs: Rural Women in Agriculture

Photo Credit: OpenIdeo

Let’s imagine the state of the global food security in the next 3-5 years, if rural women decide to back out of agriculture and food production today? Secondly, let’s visualize how access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) by rural women could reverse the negative impacts that this could make on the globe – that is the magic!

Rural women in most of the developing world play an indispensable role in improving the quality of life through agriculture, food production, processing and decisions concerning nutrition and diet. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), over two thirds of all women in Africa are employed in the agriculture sector and produce nearly 90% of food on the continent. As the world recognizes the importance of rural women on the International Day of Rural Women (2011), I would like to highlight some of the key roles that rural women play across the globe in sustaining life. The piece concludes with the ‘envisioning’ of ICTs to improve the current deplorable conditions of these rural women. While each of these cases highlights the “role” of rural women in agriculture, they also inform the public (in general) and our policy makers (in particular) about the plight of this hardworking social group within our society.

In Bangladesh, rural women are known for their traditional role in a wide range of agricultural activities including post-harvesting, cow fattening and milking, goat farming, backyard poultry rearing, horticulture, and food processing. Women, almost equal to the contribution of male family labor, carry out some 40-50% of field irrigation and non-farm water management.

Depending on the geographic location in Bhutan, rural women may dominate agricultural production. The population consists of 49% women, and 62% of them work in agriculture. Agriculture remains the primary economic activity in the rural areas of Bhutan in addition to other dominant activities as kitchen garden and livestock. Women considerably contribute to household income through farm and non-farm activities.

The situation is not different in India where the national rural female work participation rate is around 22%. While agriculture is a household enterprise, social norms demarcate the division of labor based on sex and age. Activities like transplanting and weeding are regarded as women’s jobs, whereas both men and women perform activities like harvesting and post-harvesting.

About 79% of Kenya’s population lives in rural areas and relies on agriculture for most of its income. The rural economy depends mainly on smallholder subsistence agriculture, which produces 75% of total agricultural output. The poorest communities are found in the sparsely populated arid zones, mainly in the north and made up of households headed by women, herders, and farm laborers. Subsistence farming is primary – and often the only – source of livelihood for about 70% of these women.

In Rwanda, women account for about 54% of the population, and many households are headed by women and orphans. Agriculture remains the backbone of the economy contributing an average of 36% of total GDP, and employs more than 80% of the population. Rural livelihoods are based on agricultural production system that is characterized by small family farms, practicing mixed farming that combines rain-fed grain crops, traditional livestock rearing and some vegetable production and dominated by women.

A substantial proportion of Nepalese women (40%) are economically active. Most of these women are employed in the agriculture sector, the majority working as unpaid family laborers in subsistence agriculture characterized by low technology and primitive farming practices. As men increasingly move out of farming, agriculture is becoming increasingly feminized in Nepal.

In Pakistan, women are key players in the agriculture sector, which employs almost 12 million women in the production of crops, vegetables and livestock. The cotton crop, accounting for half of national export earnings, depends heavily on female labor. Women have the exclusive responsibility for cotton picking, exposing themselves in the process to health hazards emanating from the intensive use of pesticides.

In Sri Lanka, about 80% of the population lives in rural areas in which women play an important role in the agriculture sector. About 42% of the female labor force is engaged in agricultural activities. Gender roles in slash and burn cultivation, rice paddies and home gardens vary according to the cultivation practiced in these systems of production. Women take on activities related to transplanting, post-harvesting and household level processing of home garden produce.

The agriculture sector of Ghana contributes about 33.5% of GDP and remains the country’s major engine of economic growth. Over half the country’s population lives in rural areas. About six in ten small-scale farmers are poor, and many are women. Women bear heavy workloads. In addition to their domestic chores, they are responsible for about 60% of agricultural production. More than half the women who head households in rural areas are among the poorest 20% of the population.

In Côte d’Ivoire, most of the country’s poor people are small-scale farmers. They face problems of market access, low prices for export crops and inadequate basic social services. Rural women, who lead the sector, have limited or no decision-making power over the allocation of land, and they are dependent on men for access to land. Yet gaining access to land is crucial for these women because their livelihoods depend largely on the production of food crops.

In Indonesia, women represent the mainstay of rural households, providing family as well as farm labor. Agriculture accounts for the highest share of rural employment. Since most rural households control small amounts of land or have no land at all, rural women often seek to supplement household income and food security through off-farm employment in small and medium enterprises, some of which have links to agricultural production.

The East African country of Ethiopia, has about 12.7 million smallholders who produce about 95% of agricultural GDP under extremely vulnerable conditions such as drought and other natural disasters. Households headed by women are particularly vulnerable. Women are much less likely than men to receive an education or health benefits, or to have a voice in decisions affecting their lives.

Poverty in the Sudan is deeply entrenched and is largely rural. Poverty particularly affects farmers who practice rain-fed agriculture. It is more widespread and deeper in rural areas dominated by women and children and in areas affected by conflict, drought and famine. In general, small-scale farmers and herders in the traditional rain-fed farming and livestock sectors are poorer than those in the irrigated agricultural sector.

Tanzania has about 85% of its poor people living in rural areas and relies on agriculture as their main source of income and livelihood. Within the agriculture sector, food crop producers who are mainly women, are generally poorer than cash crop farmers, but both operate under cyclical and structural constraints and are subject to frequent natural calamities.

Despite all these contributions of women to agricultural sector under the aforementioned harsh conditions, their role has tended to be seen as secondary to that of men. Unfortunately, the opportunities offered by ICTs in the digital age, are not immediately available to the poorest of the poor – who are mostly ‘rural’ women. Rural women in most developing countries face important constraints with respect to ICTs. Some of these include the limited time availability to participate in training and use of ICTs due to the nature of their role at home, low literacy level, minimal access to technology such as mobile telephones or computers, and social and cultural stigma that goes with the social group.

Notwithstanding, there is an increasing body of evidence that shows how ICT is contributing positively to women’s socio-economic empowerment. A range of ICT models have been used to support the empowerment of women all over the world and there is evidence to show that ICTs have improved women’s access to information, and provided them with new employment opportunities.

While the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that giving women the same access as men to ‘agricultural resources’ could increase their farm production by 20-30%, I would like to state that giving women same access as men to “ICTs” could increase their farm productivity by 20-30%.

October 14, 2011/by actualize

GBI Highlights, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Director of Connectivity Programs Sought

NetHope seeks an experienced development professional to serve as Director for Connectivity Programs for the USAID Global Broadband and Innovations (GBI) program. GBi is a broad-based initiative aimed at improvement of the Agency’s utilization of ICT – specifically the application of ICT across the Agency’s access and application agendas. The GBI Program’s focus is leveraging ICTs in several key areas including: enhancing access to broadband Internet, supporting telecommunications-related legal and regulatory reforms, improving universal service funds/universal access funds (USFs/UAFs) administration, leveraging public private partnerships, delivering program-focused value-added content and services, expansion and leveraging of mobile networks, and supporting ICT-related capacity building.

The Director for Connectivity Programs works under the direction of the Chief of Party (CoP) and provides oversight to all aspects of day-to-day implementation, personnel management, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, and representation to donors and government, especially with USAID representatives. S/he works closely with the CoP and other key staff to oversee and implement the program in line with donor and NetHope strategy.

For more information, please visit NetHope Director of Connectivity position page.

October 11, 2011/by actualize

Business Enabling Environment, Economic Growth & Trade, Enterprise Development, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

ICT4D meets sustainable tourism

Last Friday, QED Group, LLC hosted “Tourism as a Sustainable Development Strategy: A Systemic Value Chain Approach,” a breakfast seminar. Discussions focused on best practices in tourism management and how these tools can be implemented in projects to maximize positive impacts.

Amanda MacArthur, Director of Operations at CDC Development Solutions (CDS) and speaker at the seminar, offered an overview of the Tourism Employment and Opportunity (TEMPO), a USAID funded program implemented in Nigeria’s Cross River State.

Tourism e-Marketing and promotion strategy

MacArthur highlighted the Ambassador Promotion Program as a successful tourism e-marketing and promotion strategy.

Essentially, CDS staff work with local stakeholders to develop a program over a specific period of time where they provide resources, deep discounts, activities, packaged promotions to people who are willing to be first adopters of the location.

“Facebook integration wristbands”

Ushuaia Beach Hotel in Ibiza launched in July their Facebook sharing initiative—a first in the hotel industry. Hotel guests are given the option of wearing a slim wristband synchronized to their Facebook profile.

Guests can swipe their wristbands across a sensor at designated kiosk, checking in to various places in the resort, updating their status and tagging themselves in as many pictures as they like to post online.

Last year, Coca-Cola pioneered a similar technology in Israel. In the summer, the Coca-Cola Village invites 600 to 800 teenagers for a three-day stay in a multimedia village to enjoy fun activities such as sports, swimming and horse-riding.

Through the Like Machine, conceptualized by Enon Landenberg, joint-CEO of Publicis E-dologic, the inhabitants of the village were able to use their wristbands to register that they “liked” a certain activity, and a Facebook message would automatically appear on his or her wall stating that he or she “liked” the pool at the village, for instance.

The event was so popular that according to E-dologic joint-CEO Doron Tal, 250, 000 people claimed to have been there—even though only 8,000 had the opportunity to experience it in real life.

“They felt that they had been there because they could enjoy it through their friends by following their fun on Facebook,” Mr. Tal Said.

Background on TEMPO

TEMPO’s ultimate goal is to build a destination tourism sector—leading to jobs creation and economic growth for local and regional communities. To accomplish this goal, CDS established (or provided) capacity building to private sector led public-private Destination Management Organizations (DMOs).

In particular, CDS built DMO’s ability to use technology to promote and sell tourism in the destination by creating a web-portal that provides information about Cross River State tourist spots, training in content development and collection to enable tourism operators to market their services based on customer needs, and making booking and payments available online.

Why Tourism for Development?

Presenter Kristin Lamoureux, Director of International Institute of Tourism Studies at George Washington University representing the Save Travel Alliance a member of the Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) at the seminar, stressed the importance of the tourism sector in developing countries.

Tourism is the top five export category for 83% of developing countries—and for 38% of those it is the most relevant economic activity, said Lamoureux.

Also, the benefit of tourism is that resources—cultural and natural—are already available in developing counties. Most importantly, many tourists’ activities are found in rural areas and this creates opportunities for sustainable economic growth in remote locations.

Though sustainable tourism requires various conditions to thrive, the visitor’s experience should be the center-piece of a tourism promotion strategy with an emphasis on connecting travelers to destinations.

These innovative approaches—Facebook integration wristbands and Ambassador Promotion Program—connects travelers to destination and tie online and offline worlds neatly and painlessly together.

It is a great bit of user-generated marketing for the resort or destination, and has the added benefit of letting guests share their experiences with their friends, colleagues and family members through social media. This will in turn bring more visitors to the location.

October 5, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Apps4Africa 2011: Climate Challenge

The US Department of State-funded Apps4Africa competition that began in 2009 has announced its theme for this year: Climate Challenge. Nine winners in sub-Saharan Africa will receive prize money for the applications with the most innovative solutions for solving climate problems.

Photo credit: Apps4Africa

The 2011 competition that brings NGOs, civil society, universities, and the private sector together with African technology gurus began on October 1st in West/Central Africa; it will later head to Eastern Africa and end in Southern Africa on March 30, 2012. It builds on the successes of last year’s Civic Challenge, which produced innovative apps such as the iCow that helps farmers manage livestock breeding. The Climate Challenge is meant to “center around several strategic themes that coincide with policy decisions that will be debated…by world leaders” during the COP17 conference in Durban, South Africa.

The COP17 conference, or the 17^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will take place from November 28- December 9. It is designed to assess progress in dealing with climate change and work toward the UNFCCC’s objective to “stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.”

The categories for the Climate Challenge applicants are as follows:

Entry Categories
Agriculture (Distribution)
Early Warning and/or Disaster Preparedness
Resource Management
Forestry/Deforestation
Transportation/Traffic/Emissions
Food Security
Livestock
Health and Sanitation

Innovators in Africa developing apps for Apps4Africa competition

Photo credit: Apps4Afric

Application Types
Mobile
Mobile (smart phones)
Web
Desktop

Data
Open Data Source
Crowdsourcing/Public Participation
News Aggregation
Proprietary
Other

Interested in being involved with Apps4Africa but don’t live in Africa? Consider becoming a mentor and lending your expertise to applicants.

The winners of Climate Challenge will also receive a special congratulatory message from US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

October 5, 2011/by actualize

Anti-corruption, Democracy & Governance, Elections, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Social media buzz about Cameroon’s elections reveals widespread concerns

Cameroon’s October 9^th presidential election is fast approaching, and social media is being used to create a dialogue, raise concerns and share information about the event.

Paul Baya billboard, running for Cameroonians elections

Photo credit: CNN

The country’s incumbent, Paul Biya of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, has been in power for 30 years despite general dissatisfaction and outcries for the president to step down. There are currently 23 candidates in the race with John Fru Ndi of the Social Democratic Front running a distant second to Biya.

The blogging community, Global Voices, is running special coverage entitled Cameroon Elections 2011 that features blog posts from citizens around the world about the elections. The bloggers have discussed various issues surrounding the election, many accusing Biya of election corruption such as paying off politicians to falsely run against him.

CNN has reported on Biya’s “complacent attitude” since he has not been campaigning in the field. His behavior implies that Biya “plans to win through election rigging and fraud.” Youth are allegedly being paid by Biya to support the leader in the streets, and nearly all government campaigning money has been distributed to his party alone.

The Twitter community is also closely following the election, sharing articles, information, and social media tools with one another. A site that has been Tweeted frequently is one that keeps track of the election search trends. Through the tool, anyone can see which party leader or election issues are being searched the most on Google.

Cameroon election search trends on Google

Cameroon Election Search Trends, from http://www.google.cm/intl/en/landing/elections/2011/

Social media has allowed those interested in Cameroon’s elections to share information in ways that were never possible before. But the country lags far behind others in the region in terms of Internet penetration rates. With only 5% of the country having Internet access, most citizens will not be able to follow the social media that is providing critical perspectives on the election. Were the majority of the country’s citizens able to follow the elections online, there might be more potential for a nation-wide movement against Biya and his alleged election rigging.

October 5, 2011/by actualize

Anti-corruption, Civil Society, Democracy & Governance, Elections, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Recipe for Democratic Entrenchment: Expert discusses the role of ICTS in advancing democratization

On September 15^th, George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs presented a guest lecture by Dr. Philip N. Howard about the role of ICTs in advancing democratization, especially in Muslim countries.

Howard, an expert scholar on the role of ICTs in political systems, based his lecture on research conducted in 75 countries in transition. The findings can be found in full in his book, The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. An aspect of the lecture that was particularly fascinating was Howard’s “recipe” for democratic entrenchment – one that involves state capacity and a vibrant, tech-savvy wired civil society. He highlighted the ability of social media to monitor government elections.

The lecture, which emphasized the use of ICTs as a successful tool in promoting democratic societies, can be found in the video below.

So who’s next on the agenda for a revolution using Howard’s recipe? He says to think of countries that have a wired civil society + active online journalists + good state capacity; then watch those countries during the next major elections. If the heads of the countries try to rig the elections, there is a good possibility that their citizens will protest, creating chaos, uprisings, and possible transition to a new state in the same vein as Egypt. Howard lists several countries to look out for, such as Algeria, Iran and Kuwait.

Howard’s research focused primarily on Muslim countries, but one wonders if other countries might fit the recipe for civil society protests and/or revolution. Several African countries have elections coming up. Kenya, which has one of the most vibrant and open technology sectors, but a history of allegedly rigged elections, could be one to watch during the 2012 elections.

October 5, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

South Sudan joins ITU, dialing code goes live!

The International Telecommunication Union is proud to announce that the world’s newest country, South Sudan, has joined ITU to become the Union’s 193rd Member State, effective from 3 October 2011.

The country, which gained its independence on 9 July, 2011 has already been allocated the international dialling code +211 by ITU, following the country’s recognition by the UN General Assembly. The dialling code became active on 28 September 2011.

“We are delighted to be able to welcome South Sudan as an ITU member state so soon after attaining full nationhood. The government of South Sudan clearly recognizes the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) as an engine of social and economic development. We will work alongside the national authorities to leverage the power of technology, to help lift the country to new levels and fulfill the national motto of ‘Justice, Liberty, Prosperity’,” said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré.

The accession of South Sudan as an ITU Member State implies its adhesion to the Radio Regulations, the international treaty which governs the use of radiocommunications among the world’s nations, giving it full access rights to the frequency spectrum and satellite orbit resources managed by ITU.

A high-level ITU delegation led by Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, recently met with government ministers in South Sudan with the aim of acquiring first-hand information on the country’s needs and challenges in the area of ICT development. The first such visit by ITU, the mission paves the way for the delivery of focused assistance to the country as it embarks on its development path.

October 5, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Education, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Are Robots the School Teachers of the Future?

Have you seen the 1990-film “Class of 1999?” In it, a Seattle school system is so ridden with gang violence and drug abuse that not even the police will dare to intervene. The Department of Defense is brought on to implement a program where robot teachers, referred to as Cyborgs, are employed to educate students and provide discipline when students misbehave.

With programmed tactics for corporal punishment, they have no problem maintaining control of a classroom, but as they develop into more intelligent entities, their decisions trend towards opting to kill off delinquent students.

As a disclaimer, I will point out that I, in no way, recommend this movie for quality or even for entertainment. It does, however, instill appropriate fear of what can happen if we begin to rely on machines for educating students, particularly in developing areas or areas with unstable education practices.

Realistic educational technology

1999 was a bit of an opportunistic estimate for when robots would appear in classrooms. In the past decade, however, advancements in technology have made instruction simulation so effective that the necessity of a well-educated, high quality teacher in a classroom has been brought into question. Several benefits can even be drawn from allowing technology to dictate student education in developing countries.

Relying on technology for classroom instruction creates an even playing field where all students are learning everything that needs to be covered according to curriculum standards. They are all also receiving the same high quality information. This cuts out concern for poor, unreliable, or novice teachers, a problem that unfortunately is prevalent in many developing countries.
Making use of technology ensures proper assessment of students so that unbiased decisions can be made about student progression. This cuts out the worry of teachers “passing students along” rather than ensuring that they really know the material.
Taking advantage of technology for student instruction can greatly cut down on teacher salary costs. By placing the burden of teaching lessons on programmed instruction, paying extra for a well-educated teacher with lots of experience becomes superfluous.

There are currently plenty examples of schools in developed nations embracing this technology. Just last week I was in a classroom that made use of SMART Board technology and associated “virtual teacher” apps. The 4th grade teacher in charge of the room told me that she believed the technology would soon replace her job.

For those not acquainted with the technology, SMART Boards are interactive white boards that can project computer displays and allow students to interact with them through touch. SMART pens allow students to write on the screen, and the board is able to translate the student’s handwriting into computer text and then save it as a Document file on a connected computer. Resources and applications supplied with the board feature “virtual teachers” that provide a lesson, ask students for feedback, and then advance when students give correct responses.

Implementing this technology in a classroom requires existing infrastructure for electricity and Internet, an instructor device (desktop/laptop/iPad) to connect to, and software to enable the use of all aspects of the hardware.

Sound a bit sophisticated for use in the developing world? SMART Technologies doesn’t think so. In December of 2010, they launched the 400 Series SMART Boards, providing the technology at lower cost exclusively to schools in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Asia Pacific, Latin America and Mexico. These schools could now purchase an interactive whiteboard and short-throw projector for $2,599. This figure does not include software, maintenance, or professional development costs.

Even more outlandish, in 2009 the human-like robot teacher, Saya, was introduced to a classroom in Japan. By manipulating the rubber molding of her face, this robot was programmed to express six different emotions – surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happiness, and sadness.

It could tell students to be quiet and was even reported to make children cry after reprimanding them. While not currently able to deliver classroom instruction, there is hope that by integrating this sort of “emotional” robot teacher with existing “virtual teacher” tools, this technology will change the way today’s classrooms are instructed. The cost of a made-to-order robot teacher from Japan: $51,000.

Let’s take a moment to not even consider these higher cost technologies. More prevalent in the developing world, software is employed on low-cost laptops, desktops, or tablets to simulate teacher instruction. In these classrooms, an entire curriculum can be imparted to students through a computer program, making a quality human teacher unnecessary.

So can technology replace teachers?

Through evidence pointed out above, I am inclined to say yes, or eventually yes. Should technology replace teachers in the developing world? My firm and whole-hearted stance is that it should not.

Think back to primary school. I bet that just about everyone reading this post can point out one teacher that was particularly inspiring. In developing countries where truancy policies are enforced to a much lesser extent, inspiring teachers are vital in encouraging kids to stay in school, rather than opting to stay at home to work and provide for the family. Expectations for students to continue education and earn a promising career are also lower in developing countries, a tendency that can only be transformed with motivational human role models within the classroom.

Unfortunately, there are no inspiring robot teachers. They are all programmed to spit knowledge out at students and expect students to spit it back at them. A computer cannot develop personal distinctions between students. It cannot develop creative or innovative ideas for teaching material in a new way. It cannot comment on papers, providing students with extremely valuable positive feedback or critiques. It cannot pull a struggling student aside and determine if there are personal issues related to his/her performance. It cannot encourage students with a particular strength and interest in a subject to consider certain career paths.

Many will make the claim that technology excites students in developing countries, and this makes them want to be in school and learn. While I agree that interactive technology can add a level of student interest over teacher lectures, once the novelty of technology and computer instruction wears off, students will not maintain this excitement level.

Furthermore, in developing regions where a baseline for education standards and expectations has not been refined, employing technology as an alternative to human instruction makes it much more difficult to gauge design specifications for effective instructional software. Creating instructional software requires having a firm grasp on student expectations and an understanding of what motivates students of a particular background to learn. This is more intuitive in developed countries where methods for effective student instruction have been extensively researched and practiced.

In developing nations, education should be viewed as more than just imparting knowledge. It is responsible for adequately preparing a student for a role in the world. While technology can be a great tool for promoting interactive learning and providing information beyond the scope of a teacher’s knowledge base, it cannot replace the intrinsic value of having a human devoted to a child’s educational development present in a classroom.

October 5, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Health, Health, Maternal & Child Health, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Marketing “Mobile Midwife” in Ghana

Can information delivered on a mobile phone affect the outcome of a pregnancy in a developing country? Can communities and healthcare workers use mobile phones to save the lives of newborns? These are some of the questions that the Mobile Technology for Community Health (MOTECH) program in Ghana is trying to address. Grameen Foundation is working with Ghana Health Service and Columbia University in one of the poorest rural districts of Ghana to try to improve the health outcomes for mothers and their newborns using mobile phones. But once a service has been created, how do you generate awareness for it and ensure there is adequate participation?

In July 2010, we launched a service called “Mobile Midwife,” which enablespregnant women and their families to receive SMS or pre-recorded voice messages on personal mobile phones. The messages are tied to the estimated due-date for the woman so the information is time-specific and delivered weekly in their own language. Nurses also use mobile phones to record when a pregnant woman has received prenatal care. If critical care is missed, both the mother and the nurse receive a reminder message on their mobile phones. To date, over 7,000 pregnant women and children under five have been registered in the system. More detail about the program can be found online in our “Lessons Learned in Ghana” report.

One of the challenges we faced in the development of this system was how to generate awareness for the “Mobile Midwife” service in the first place. Unless people register for the service, they cannot receive the important information we are able to provide about pregnancy. As we talked to people in the rural villages where “Mobile Midwife” would be available, it quickly became clear that communities in Ghana, and particularly the Upper East Region, had been inundated with cartoon-like health message campaigns from myriad NGOs and government agencies. People told us that if campaigns were seen as “too slick,” people would not think the messages were relevant to them. The MOTECH team decided to pursue an approach that sought to provide “aspirational” images that were differentiated from the typical “NGO cartoon” campaign, but still were relevant to the UER population. This included using real photographs instead of drawings, and ensuring that the people in the photographs were wearing clothes in the style of those worn in the rural areas where we worked. Part of the aspirational message was dressing the models in new, clean clothing, which proved to be effective. When field testing the marketing styles, many people said they “liked the lady in the pictures and it made them feel good as one day they would like to be dressed well too.” The team also decided to create some messaging that was targeted specifically to men, in an effort to respect their roles as decision makers in the family, get them to listen to the messages with their partners, and be a part of making positive health choices throughout pregnancy, birth and early childhood. As the program evolves, we expect to experiment with broader reach marketing vehicles such as radio and community mobilization.

Initiative:

Maternal Newborn mHealth

Order:

October 5, 2011/by actualize

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