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Monday, 27 November, 2023 - 17:46
Introduction The growth in the popularity of the internet around the world, as evidenced by growing user numbers, particularly in Africa, has enabled citizens to harness its power as a tool of agency, creating new global and transnational spaces for civic participation, advocacy, and social change. Digital technologies have become crucial tools for African citizens to highlight concerns, claim rights, and demand social justice. At the centre of this digital transformation are two key and interconnected concepts: (i) digital citizenship to claim rights; and (ii) digital solidarity to act collectively to secure social change. These twin concepts highlight that citizens exercise their rights and collectively support each other in the digital realm. This post reflects on how these two concepts manifest in the African context and how they are shaping the continent’s socio-political landscape. Building on our previous conceptualization of digital... |
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Decent Work in a Digital World |
The last few weeks have been super busy here in the Digital and Technology team at IDS. I'm preparing for fieldwork in the Philippines at the same time as we are juggling a raft of exciting new research proposals at various stages of development. Last week we also ran the inagural Digital Development Summit at London's South Bank Centre. |
ICT4D Conferences 2017 |
A calendar of ICT4D conferences in 2017. |
Let a Thousand ICT4D Blogs Bloom |
On his Facebook page last week Richard Heeks, from the Centre for Development Informatics at Manchester University, was lamenting the fact that many ICT4D blogs have become inactive. |
Mapping The Explosion of Tech Hubs Across Africa |
As recently as 2011, at an international conference, an expert from Africa's first and foremost Tech Hub estimated that there might be as many as 14 or 15 hubs across Africa. The truth was that no-one knew for sure how many existed. To try and get some accurate data on numbers, Lukonga Lindunda and I decided to initiate a crowdmap of Africa's Tech Hubs. |
Cheat Sheet on ICTs & SDGs |
Last month I did some research on the role of ICTs in pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals and I thought that it might be useful to share some of those links here as an open resource. Hat tip to Anand Sheombar and to Linda Raftree for their help to me along the way. |
ICT Access is NOT equal to Development |
Last week I was swotting up on ICTs in the Sustainable Development Goals for an interview. I noticed how the SDGs that mention ICTs set targets for access rather than for any development outcomes that access might contribute to. |
Information is NOT Power |
We are often told that information is power - and that by extension – access to information is empowerment. |
Critical Agency in ICT4D |
Amartya Sen argues that “critical agency is important in combating inequality of every kind” and that it is 'pivotal' to human development. |
A Buddhist Philosophy of ICT4D? |
Given his philosophy of interconnectedness, the Buddha might be reduced to smiling compassionately at the technologically deterministic claims of some ICT4D folk that their ICT is the sole cause of a particular development outcome. |
The Invisible Hand(set) & Mackerel Economics |
“Mobile Phones Promote Economic Growth” was the simple, technologically deterministic claim made by The Economist in 2007, citing as evidence Robert Jensen's now famous study of mobile phone adoption in India. In the single most cited piece of research in |
Open Source ICT4D can be Sustainable and Free |
Wayan Vota wrote a great blogpost this week on whether the goals of sustainability and using open source ICT4D are compatible within the context of international development. It is a stimulating and thoughtful piece. |
25 ICT4D Conferences in 2016 |
This is my latest attempt at sketching out a calendar of ICT4D conferences scheduled for 2016. Thanks especially to Laurent Straskraba, Edgar Nsheega and to Richard Heeks and Larry Stillman for suggesting additions. |
