I was quite excited to see the launch of President Zuma’s Operation Phakisa in Education in South Africa recently. With experts from the national and provincial levels rolling out this ICT based solution which aims to provide schools with connectivity and smart devices
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Facebook to the rescue? The Refugee Crisis & the Right to Communicat
As global leaders of government, non-profit and private sector came together in New York City to ratify the Sustainable Development Goals this past weekend, the Refugee Crisis, largely comprised of people seeking shelter from the civil war and war against ISIS in Syria, remains on the minds of many in attendance.
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Mobile learning for Syrian refugees: marshaling resources and resilience
Daily reports of refugees huddled on boats, perilously clamoring to something approaching safety. Some not getting there. Many trapped at borders, at checkpoints, in makeshift camps, behind fences. Approximately 3 million Syrians are now refugees out of a population of around 18 million as of 2014.
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Mobile money: the solution to the gender digital divide?
One thing we do like to talk about in the ICT4D community is how everyone is working in silos, particularly when it comes to mobile services for women: “no one talks to anyone else, we’re all doing the same thing in the same country, we need to work together more”.
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New Online Tool for Transparent and Accountable Government in Africa: A Review
For the past few years I have been honored to provide research support to Global Integrity in its work to "champion transparent and accountable government around the world by producing innovative research and technologies that inform, connect, and empower civic, private, and public reformers seeking more open societies."
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ICT4D as revenue generator: complications in serving the underserved
Reading through Alex Deng's recent article “To Really Help the Global Poor, Create Technology They’ll Pay For”, I was conflicted. While I support many of the basic assumptions of the article, that for many ICT4D projects to scale beyond a pilot, there needs to be some sustainability plan on how those projects will become self-sufficient in the long-term.
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The gender digital divide: are we really tackling the causes, or simply treating the symptoms?
I’ve recently been reading the excellent Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology by Kentaro Toyama – a book that some are calling a manifesto for ICT4D, and which challenges a lot of the current thinking around mobile for development and how tech can’t solve everything.
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Redefining scale
Stirring up some mixed reactions was this post on ICT Works this week urging the development community to reconsider its views on scale. It’s a thought I’ve had many times over the years and not the first time it’s been addressed, so I thank Wayan Vota for bringing it back into discussion.
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India to overtake China in 2022 - but NOT where it matters most
Because they are two of the world's largest emerging economies, it is a common occurrence to make comparisons between India and China, especially where their national development is concerned. Just a few days ago the United Nations released a report estimating that India's population would overtake China's in 2022 - a whole six years earlier than expected.
Read MoreOpen research, scholarship and learning resources
I had written about the availability of academic research and data for developing nations in my former guise as an information professional years ago; after revisiting that post, I thought it might be worthwhile to update that information here to demonstrate that while much of this research is still behind paywalls, much exists out there that many don’t know about.
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The power of free: improving access to mobile learning platforms
The recent move by the network provider Cell C (one of the largest network providers) in South Africa to provide free access (no data charges) to social media platforms such as Whatsapp and Facebook was not only a well thought marketing plan but also meant more connectivity for students across the country.
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Digital education and cultural needs: finding a balance
It’s safe to say that digital education is massive, is growing, and is definitely here to stay. Obviously, it’s huge in developed markets like the USA and Europe – but what is becoming clearer and clearer is that the real opportunity in digital education is in emerging markets and ‘start-up nations’.
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Development Spending Trends
Putting a (funny) face on evaluation with Mindanao youth: Field notes from Manila...
Note: The photos for this post were snapped with the help of the interpreter. All permissions to share the photos were obtained from youth above the age of 18. Earlier this year I had the great pleasure of journeying to Manila, Philippines on behalf of a client to conduct an evaluation of a higher education partnership between two tertiary institutions, one in the United States and one in the Philippines.
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MERS mobile surveillance in Korea as extension of social practice: some takeaways for the development community
Picking up on a post by Panoply Digital Co-Director Ronda Zelezny-Green on the South Korean government mandating monitoring apps for youth in Android-based mobile technology, I wanted to extend that discussion a bit to demonstrate how pervasive this monitoring can be and particularly how it can be justified, or conceptualized, under appeals to public safety.
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What's so scary about M&E for mobile services?
I don’t think anyone can deny that the world of ICT4D and mobile for development is growing. Development players are starting to embrace mobile technology, and the number of M4D projects (as well as donor funding for M4D and ICT4D projects) is also growing. But with this welcome embracing of mobile and of mobile products and services comes a healthy dose of skepticism – ‘does it work?
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Techy women, getting women interested in technology and reaching the top
Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple has been at the center of media in recent weeks on issues of mobile privacy as well as women in technology. In an exclusive interview with Mashable he asserted the important role of women in technology, citing the prominence of diversity in moving forward as a company.
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Development's Hidden Challenge
I watched an interesting Ted Talk by Gary Haugen recently on law enforcement in developing countries and its stifle on development and had to wonder why it was something that I had never given enough, or even a lot of thought to before. I mean, I definitely know violence is an issue in developing countries, especially for women.
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South Korea mandates monitoring apps for youth
I lived in South Korea for nearly a year spanning 2006-7. While there, I was often mystified by how Koreans could be simultaneously so technologically advanced and old school. Well, this new development from the land of kimchi takes the fish cake!
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How many women have access to mobile in Bangladesh? The case of the missing numbers
Last week, Panoply Digital were in Bangladesh, working with Praekelt Foundation and the Girl Effect to explore ways of reaching adolescent girls through mobile platforms. It was wonderful to be back in Bangladesh – I recently moved to London last year after seven happy years living and working in Dhaka working on mobile solutions for women.
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