The document explores the evolution and significance of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), emphasizing their role as tools for empowerment, education, and advocacy. It discusses various phases of ICT4D from the 1950s to the present, highlighting the need for participatory approaches and the integration of technology in addressing societal issues. Additionally, it presents case studies demonstrating the practical applications of ICTs in health, agriculture, and education, while pointing out existing inequalities in access and participation.

1. ICT4D
an introduction to ICT4D from a
broader perspective
©Kersti R. Wissenbach

2. more than
Ts are not seen as
T
end in themselves but
tools to
connect, share, voice out, map,
visualize, receive, …
information by
people

3. …ICTs as enabler
to
empower
reveal injustice
facilitate education
tackle crises
fight for rights
…change

4. ICTs?
electronic means of capturing, processing,
storing, and communicating information
 radio, television, cellular phones, computer
 network hardware and software, satellite
systems etc.
 associated services and applications
associated, e.g. videoconferencing and
distance learning

5. cross-disciplinary
retrospective

6. history
ICT4D 0.0 - 1950s to 1990s
initially within governments, focus administration
public sector
ICT4D 1.0- 1990s
MDGs, emergence of internet > large investments in
infrastructure (telecentre ‘fail decade’)
ICT4D 2.0- Mid/late 2000s
mobiles and web 2.0 communication, recognition of
need for integrative approaches

7. cross-cuttings
Since 50th parallel shifts in development and
communication sciences
50s, 60s – Modernization paradigm
Recognition of role of communication for
development, behavior change, one-way, top-down
focus
60s, 70s – uprise of Dependencia
Recognition of need for own information channels >
relevant, demand-driven, cultural sensitive

8. cross-cuttings
80s – 90s MacBride Report
inevitable need for development strategies to
incorporate communication policies
‘many voices one world’
90s Development Communication
priority on dev agendas
awareness on need for inclusion, giving voice to
voiceless…

9. cross-cuttings
Participatory Development Communication
changes in way media ´is used´ in development
 demand-driven, inclusion in production, ownership
 community media >> community radio
Re-orientation of development sector
→ towards impact-oriented strategies
→ from result focus to process focus
→ communication as dialogue

10. ICT4D
From e-whatever to m-whatever?!
 strong tech-centrism
 excitement about every new ICT rather than
carefully evaluating what role which ICT could play
in tackling specific problems
 pilot-centric, lack of strategic developments
enabling upscaling
increasing debate on people-centrism and
recognition of need for participatory approaches

11. state of the art
‘intersection between
social scientists & tech people
too thinly populated’
(@techsoc)

12. consider
> start with/enable TG to start with
communication strategy and see
which ICT can facilitate best
> stats such as number of mobile
registrations not enough
> mix ICTs & online/offline to enable
every segment of TG to have equal
access and chance to participate

13. ICTs & shifting
communication
spheres

14. media shifts

16. chances
 from top-down to participatory approach of (online)
communication
 User-build online public spheres, user generated
content
 rise of network technology > change of human
interaction
 disperse networked collaboration
Talking about
a revolution?

17. …reality
different
political
Infrastructural
cultural
environments
…

18. access & freedom
 30% of countries rated as not free,
36.5% only partly free (media
freedom)
 developing countries 70% of people
younger than 25 (1.9 billion people)
not online yet
…

19. inequalities
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF PUBLIC SITES PERCENTAGE OF INTERNET USERS BY LANGUAGE
Country Percentage of Language Percentage of all
public sites Internet users
United States 55% English 29.4%
Germany 6% Chinese 18.9%
Japan 5% Spanish 8.5%
United Kingdom 3% Japanese 6.4%
Canada 3% French 4.7%
Italy 2% German 4.2%
France 2% Arabic 4.1%
Netherlands 2% Portuguese 4.0%
Others 18% Korean 2.4%
Unknown 4% Italian 2.4%
Other 15.0%
Source: OCLC (2008)
…
Source: Miniwatts Marketing Group (2008)

20. repression

21. connectivity
broadband
mobile access
…

22. connectivity
…

23. connectivity

24. connectivity

25. shiny globe?
2009 number of people without access to electricity
1.3 billion > 20% of the world’s population
http://www.iea.org/weo/electricity.asp

26. global friends?

27. mobile solution?
Mobile revolution?

28. connectivity
…

30. who is talking?

31. mobile phone
Mobile Phones can play role in
 elections monitoring
 enabling emergency communication
 creating a voice > grassroots campaigning
 providing economic access (e.g. job alerts)
 enabling to run small businesses
 access to up-to-date market prices
 enabling m-banking
 connecting with disperse family members and
communities
 enabling emergency communication
 creating a voice > grassroots campaigning

32. further gaps
 remaining exclusion in regards to education &
capacity related access
 cultural communication patterns
(oral histories, strong position of traditional
media usage)
 cultural structures, e.g. collective mobile usage
 still excluding e.g. women from individual use of
new technologies

33. remember
move into the communication
sphere of all your target group/S
one communication
channel rarely stands alone
online does not come
without offline (catalyst)

34. ´alternative
tools´

35. Niche for ICT4D
ICT4D community developed some useful
‘alternative tools’
responding to prevailing inequalities in
access and participation
from the technological perspective

36. Freedom Fone
Zimbabwean Innovation
Voice-based dial up services
 voice reporting
 voice recognition
 voice menus
 SMS polls
 no online access needed
 open source
 bridging literature and
language barriers

37. Ushahidi
Kenyan Innovation
multiple-channel
crowdsourcing information
to map (visualize)
information
> emergency response,
election monitoring,
peace building…
open source

38. Frontline SMS
Bulk messaging tool
send, receive, and organize
text messages through a
mobile device and a laptop
offline support
open source

39. Frontline family

40. Speak2Tweet
Google & Twitter launch
in reaction to Egyptian
government internet
shut-down
Creating tweet by
calling a phone
Automatic country
hashtag

41. GeoChat
 enabling self-organizing
 group communication based
on SMS, email, and Twitter
 Simplifying team
communications, logistics
and data reporting
 open source

42. out-of-the-box
Khmer alphabet and mobile phones in election
campaigning
InStedd case

43. out-of-the-box
…

44. context
© panoseastafrica © Swiatoslaw Wojtkowiak

45. ICT4D
in practice

46. health
 facilitation of health communication
 medical supply coordination
 distance diagnosis
 pre and post natal health
 public health education
 awareness creation / social change
 advocacy

47. My Question
allows young people to send in questions about sexual
reproductive health and/or HIV/AIDS anonymously to
trained counselors via SMS, voice, or through email.
Within 24 hours,
an answer is sent
directly to the
phone from which
the question was
sent.

48. Stock-out campaign
Pill check week
revealing shortages of
essential medicines in Kenya,
Malawi, Uganda, and Zambia
 SMS text messages were sent when data collectors
discovered stock-outs of essential medicines
 Computers running FrontlineSMS processed and
validated data before sending to Ushahidi interface
to be visualized on the web

50. pilots

51. agriculture
 market price information
 market supply and demand
information
 information on production
techniques

52. Mfarm Kenya
Transparency tool
for farmers
 local farmers receive crop
prices and market information
by sending SMS shortcode
 digital marketplace in which
subscribing farmers can sell
their crops & by farm inputs
 Online platform to connect
and sell collectively

53. agriculture

54. agriculture
Icow success due to
 extensive collaboration on ground
 training farmers on how system works etc.
 being there to respond to queries and questions
6,000+ small-scale dairy farmers

55. education
 Mobile learning
 Distance learning
 Literacy teaching
 formal / informal education
 life skills etc.

56. GraphoGAME
Grapho Learning Initiative
digital-based learning
game to teach basic
literacy and supply further
access to reading
materials in local
languages via mobile

57. LAL Nigeria
based on the Nigerian
Family Life and
HIV/AIDS Education
(FLHE) curriculum
 online, CD & print
version
 local partner, TOT

58. rights & democracy
access to information and free (UDHR Art. 19)
 call for action, mobilization
 coordination of action
 visualizing injustice
 voter education & voter registration
 election monitoring
 violation reporting
 e-governance / e-government

59. witness.org
using power of video and
storytelling to open the
eyes of the world to
human rights abuses
Training human rights defenders to use video to fight
injustice, and to transform personal stories of abuse
into powerful tools that can pressure those in power or
with power to act

60. alavateli
Freedom of information
request platform
 supporting citizens
requesting government
information
 all replies made public
 platform
 Transparency /
accountability
 open source

61. new chances
With new ICTs
mobiles (mobile cameras) and social media platforms
people can more than read, listen and watch
NOW
people can make other people read, listen and watch
what concerns them, what happens to them, what
moves them, what threatens them, …

62. revolution?
relevance to clarify role of new ICTs in socio-political
movements
online- offline spin, not online vs. offline public sphere
or counter-hegemonic dynamics
relevance of societal histories
(ex. Egypt vs. Cambodia)

63. control
Hegemonies and control vs. counter-hegemonic
movements
Growing triangulation
Autocratic regimes don’t stay in power through
strategic censorship, isolation and repression of
dissent > control over information flows and public
sphere as key element
3 days into protest Libya went offline…
one day prior to elections, mobile networks turn off…

65. avoiding failure
Demand-driven listen and co-create, local
realities
Relevant & Accessible customize > know infrastructure,
freedom, capacity, local
languages, respond to illiteracy…
Maintainable / scalable support do-it-yourself, build
capacities
Projects and technological developments have to be
people focused, needs based and structurally integrated
in order to be sustainable.

66. demand-assessment
1st step > route should derive from there!
 less emphasis on what might be used (Internet,
PCs); more emphasis on what is actually used
(mobiles, radio, television)
 less emphasis on fundamental technical innovation;
more emphasis on application and business model
innovation
 less emphasis on piloting and sustaining new
applications; more emphasis on assessing and
scaling existing applications

67. remember
move into the communication sphere of your TG
 get to know TG well (number of mobile subscriptions is
not enough)
recognize diversity
 need for combination of ICTs (communication channels)
to enable everyone to receive information and to
actively participate
online & offline public spheres are connected
 change is to happen offline
 motivations are rooted offline

68. Info-activism

69. questions?
@kerstiru
krwissenbach@gmail.com
strategy advice, development &
implementation, M&E; trainings & workshops,
lectures
ICT4C, C4SC, citizen advocacy, human rights
campaigning, information & society