News: Syndicated

June 18, 2012

The Global Impact Study is mainly looking at six development domains: communications & leisure, culture & language, education, employment & income, government, and health. Communications & leisure is the number one used domain, followed closely by education. Employment & income use is high as well, with over 40% of all public access users surveyed using public access for activities in this domain. More episodic uses and perhaps less available in some countries, such as culture & language, health, and government, see less use.

June 15, 2012

My colleague Maria Garrido and her team finished a long investigation into the role that ICT hubs played in the wake of the Chilean earthquake. The earthquake was massive. Communities were cut off from each other and as people tried to secure assistance and contact loved ones, ICTs played an important role. While cybercafés, telecenters, […]

In civil society spaces, particularly for NGOs and funders who feel pressure to tout/justify their own impact, incentives to share content are often mixed. Organizations and individuals are often torn. Post to someone else’s site increases exposure to a particular post, but also imposes opportunity costs — eyeballs are not drawn to their site. Facebook […]

June 11, 2012

On May 11, 2012, the Ministry of Justice of Georgia launched the “Computer Knowledge Society Initiative” to promote digital literacy and e-skills, with a focus on economic development. Will they build on learning from other countries? How can the global library and telecentre communities help them succeed?

April 25, 2012

The last few posts based on the User Profiles working paper considered the “access” dimensions of public access venues – where people access computers and the Internet and why they go to public access venues. The next few posts, including this one, will uncover who comprises the “public” component of public access venues, that is, who are the users of public access venues? This post will focus on two primary demographics of public access venue users: age and gender. Does the stereotypical public access venue user, young and male, hold up? Let’s find out.

April 10, 2012

The last two posts on findings from the User Profile paper described that many people only have access to computers and particularly the Internet at public access ICT venues. Public access ICT venues also provide many with their first opportunity to gain experience with computers and the Internet. However, as displayed in the last post, there are public access ICT venue users that do indeed have access to computers and the Internet at their homes. In three countries, Chile, Ghana, and the Philippines, around a quarter to a third of users surveyed have Internet access at home. Even in the lowest household penetration rate, almost 15% of users in Bangladesh have Internet access at home. While we know that for many users, it is their only option for access, but what drives users that have access at home to use computers and ICT at public access venues? For many it is because public access venues offer better equipment than at home, which could also mean a faster Internet connection. Another significant reason is to see friends or be with other people in the venue. In Brazil, where users enjoy the highest percentage of Internet access at home, these are the two main reasons users visit public access venues.

April 3, 2012

The Global Impact Study held a session during ICTD 2012 in Atlanta to discuss open data and open research. After providing an overview of the Global Impact Study, survey instruments, and open research and open data, we divided the participants into three groups (the public/users, researchers, and sponsors/funders) to hear perspectives from different types of stakeholders. Each group discussed five questions regarding open data and open research. Even though it is challenging to talk about the multitude of issues surrounding open data in a short session, we received a considerable amount of relevant and useful feedback. Varying audiences, such as the public, researchers, and sponsors/funders, all have different considerations, priorities, and ideals of an open data approach. There are many factors, from a variety of viewpoints, that go into an open research approach and opening up data to the public.

March 28, 2012

Maria Garrido presented an outstanding TASCHA Talk on Monday on the role of ICT in the revolution in Egypt. It’s easy to get hooked on the news narrative that made events in Iran and Egypt “Twitter Revolutions,” however Maria and her team were emphatic that such a narrative overemphasizes the role of technology. The technology […]

March 27, 2012

The previous post on findings from the Global Impact Study’s User Profiles working paper discussed that public access ICT venues provide many people with the opportunity to first use computers and particularly the Internet. This finding leads to the question of why people first experience using computers and the Internet at public access venues. One potential, and logical, reason is that they do not have access to a computer and the Internet at home. Findings from our public access user survey reveal that while many people have computers in their homes, especially in Brazil, Chile, and Ghana, Internet access at home is lacking. Even in Chile, where overall connectivity is high, only 33% of the users surveyed have access to the Internet at home. Brazil users enjoy the highest percentage of Internet access at home, but at 40%, it is less than half of the users we surveyed. Only a quarter of users in Ghana and the Philippines have Internet, and not even 15% of users in Bangladesh have access at home.

March 6, 2012

Do you remember where you first used a computer? Where you first used the Internet? School, work, maybe even at home? Findings from our user survey indicate that, with the exception of Brazil, around half of public access ICT users first used a computer at a public access venue, such as a cybercafe, telecenter, or library. More impressive is that between 55%-75% of users first used the Internet in a public access venue, even in Chile, where connectivity is high. In Brazil, with the lowest percentages, over a third of users first used a computer and the Internet at a public access venue. This data illustrates that public access venues provide many people with their first opportunity to enter the digital age and gain experience with computers and the Internet.