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Low levels of education remain a barrier to economic empowerment in the developing world. In our work on English language learning among underserved communities in India since 2004, we have observed differences between school communities in terms of their access to educational opportunities outside school, access to ICTs including cellphones and digital gaming, enthusiasm for visitors, and the relationships...
This paper uses the study of an information kiosk project in southern India to argue that the provision of information using information and communication technologies (ICTs) does not reduce information asymmetries or bring about economic development in and of itself. The quality of information determines when information services are used and, further, what the consequences of such usage are. The...
This paper evaluates the ability of a low cost wireless mesh network to provide Internet access to a rural area in South Africa with limited broadband connectivity. The network was installed in a mountainous area with a wide range of distances between nodes ranging from long range 5.5 km links to short hops between buildings of only 30 to 50 m. Due to this combination of distances, a mix of unplanned...
Smallholder farmers face many challenges competing in the global marketplace. One major constraint is the lack of access to information and communications, which could be used to make decisions and reach new markets. In this paper, drawing from our experiences designing agricultural information systems in India and Central America, we provide a framework for understanding inter-stakeholder communications...
Pro-poor decision-making demands that the communication channels between development actors and the poor are strengthened. However, effective decision-making also requires that the complexities and inter-relationships between household livelihood, demographic, and economic factors are understood. Therefore, the following paper describes the design and implementation of the Poverty Assessor, a software...
The micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is one of the fastest growing industrial sectors all over the world. Clusters of small and medium enterprises have been very successful worldwide in promoting their growth. The contributions of MSME clusters to Indian economy in terms of increasing manufacturing capacities, increasing exports, employment generation etc. have been widely studied...
Evidence of impact of software exports segment in the new software exporting nations is minimal. Based on an empirical study, the present paper examines the direct employment in the Indian software industry. It observes that Indian software workforce is homogeneous and excludes the disadvantaged groups. Need for policy initiatives to realize the national well being through ICT employment is highlighted...
Community radio (CR) is a participatory medium and a subset of radio broadcasting. It is an inexpensive and popular way for disseminating content (information, news, entertainment, etc.) CR is designed to increase availability of localized information, media access and empowerment, and even market based growth and societal resource distribution for the community. We examine the sustainability of CR...
Low literacy scenario in India and other developing nation demands an alternative learning environment to deal with the problem. Lack of trained teachers, high dropout rates are some of the major problems that need to be addressed. Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) or ITS Authoring tools (ITSAT) can be thought of as a possible solution to these problems. In this paper we present Shikshak, an ITSAT...
This paper presents the use of full-context video to motivate and aid non-literate, first-time users of PCs to successfully navigate a computer application with minimal assistance. Following previous work focused on non-literate users, we observed that in spite of our subjects' understanding of the UI mechanics, they experienced barriers beyond illiteracy in interacting with the computer: lack of...
Does IT help generate economic growth? Studies in developed economies say that the answer is yes. Yet, when we also consider emerging markets, the answer is less clear. Some studies find value from IT, while others fail to find any value. One possible reason for the discrepancy is the model used. We may need a new model when trying to compare the value of IT investments between both developed and...
Rural Internet kiosks in developing countries can cost-effectively provide communication and e-governance services to the poorest sections of society. Unfortunately, a variety of technical and non-technical issues have caused most kiosk deployments to be unsustainable. KioskNet addresses the key technical problems underlying kiosk failure by using robust dasiamechanical backhaulpsila for connectivity,...
Digital green is a research project that seeks to disseminate targeted agricultural information to small and marginal farmers in India using digital video. The unique components of digital green are (1) a participatory process for content production, (2) a locally generated digital video database, (3) human-mediated instruction for dissemination and training, and (4) regimented sequencing to initiate...
Integrated Health Information System through Mobile Telephony (IHISM) is a project carried out by Computer Science department at the University of Botswana. The main objective of the research project is to develop an integrated healthcare information service which will provide access to a variety of HIV AND AIDS related information for different users. The aim of this paper is to analyze the use of...
This paper describes the rationale, design and implementation of a system for increasing the status and involvement of women in developing communities. AIR (Advancement through Interactive Radio) adds interactivity to community radio, giving community radio listeners, especially women, a voice with which to respond to programming, and to participate in the creation of programming content. We first...
The high tech and world class IT Corporations in the rapidly growing city of Pune, India and its low-tech Government organizations serving the public form a striking contrast. The gap in work cultures between the two makes joint projects a challenge, even though much needed and apparently feasible. In this paper we present an approach where an intermediary role was adopted to bridge the gap in work...
This paper examines low-cost computing projects for education in developing regions, and presents some of the common entrepreneurial and technical problems faced by past and current initiatives. In particular, we look at various models of computer usage, and evaluate their appropriateness according to their effectiveness in education, their socio-cultural suitability, and economic feasibility. Based...
Drought affects hundreds of millions of people in the developing world and causes serious disruption of social and economic activities. Preparedness is better than relief and information is the backbone of drought preparedness. In this paper we report the results from a study in the use of GIS-derived products to assess micro-level drought vulnerability, taking a cluster of 17 villages in the South...
This paper critically examines the theory and practice of public-private partnerships (PPPs) through the example of information and communication technologies and development (ICT4D) in India. The paper compares the roles of, and relationships between, the state and small scale entrepreneurs in ICT4D efforts in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Through this comparison it shows how the political economy within...
User-centred design (UCD) is a well-accepted and useful design methodology for designing interactive systems. In recent years, developing world researchers have attempted to utilise UCD but with mixed results. The results from two developing world, UCD projects, MuTI Mobile and CyberTracker, have shown that the analysis tools and techniques provided by UCD are useful but difficulties arise when interpreting...
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