Title: Information and Communication Technology Geographies: Strategies for Bridging the Digital Divide
Authors: Melissa R. Gilbert and Michele Masucci
Pages: 196 pp.
e-ISBN: 978-0-9865387-6-6
Source: Critical Topographies Series
Publisher: Praxis (e)Press, University of British Columbia
Date (published): 13/07/2011
Date (accessed): 15/10/2011
Type of information: scholarly monograph
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"Reframing the Digital Divide from the Perspectives of the “Have Nots”
Our purpose in this book is to reconceptualize the digital divide from the perspective of poor women’s daily lives in inner-city neighborhoods in Philadelphia in order to suggest an alternative policy framework for addressing digital inequalities. Our focus on poor women and their daily lives stems from a deep commitment to examining the underlying power relations that shape women’s experiences in household, family, work and community contexts as a basis for understanding what matters to them as they work to improve the quality of their lives and the lives of those for whom they care. We use the term “poor women” to signify that we work with those who are living at the margins of political, economic, and social empowerment by virtue of a constellation race, class, and gender inequalities that are manifested in such areas as income, education, employment, and health care.

We work with poor women in Philadelphia because their challenges are representative of the experiences of many women in the U.S. who are struggling for survival. Drawing upon 14 years of social action research in North Philadelphia, we argue that an understanding of poor women’s frameworks for the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) necessitates rethinking the policies that seek to address the digital divide. Specifically, we contend that in order to better bridge this divide, policy concerns need to transcend a limited conceptualization based on access to computers and the Internet towards an examination of how ICTs may exacerbate and/or mitigate social, economic, and political disparities in the United States. We further believe that this shift in policy concerns necessitates new institutional arrangements that empower poor people within relevant institutions and decision-making bodies."

Title: Information and Communication Technology Geographies: Strategies for Bridging the Digital Divide
Authors: Melissa R. Gilbert, Michele Masucci
Pages: 187 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-9865387-6-6
Publisher: Praxis (e)Press
Date (published): 13/07/2011
Date (accessed): 11/08/2011
Type of information: research monograph
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"ICT Geographies draws upon 14 years of social action research with poor women in Philadelphia to argue that it is premature to declare the demise of the digital divide. What makes this book unique is that the digital divide is examined from the vantage point of some of the most marginalized people in the U.S. Most of the discussions of the potential for ICTs to catalyze societal benefits is situated within groups of technologically privileged and literate people and focused on the potential for ICTs as a pathway for achieving greater social and economic participation among the poor.

These discussions assume that the framework for ICT and empowerment is the same for mainstream and marginalized groups and therefore the problem of and solution to the digital divide is one of merely increasing access to ICTs and related information.

Drawing on case studies of women organizing for economic justice, seeking to attain employment, and trying to improve their health, the book argues that an understanding of poor women’s frameworks for the use of information and communication technologies necessitates rethinking the policies that seek to address the digital divide. Specifically, we contend that in order to better bridge this divide, policy concerns need to transcend a limited conceptualization based on access to computers and the Internet towards an examination of how ICTs may exacerbate and/or mitigate social, economic, and political disparities in the United States. We further believe that this shift in policy concerns necessitates new institutional arrangements that empower poor people within relevant institutions and decision-making bodies.

Melissa R. Gilbert and Michele Masucci are Associate Professors in the Department of Geography and Urban Studies at Temple University, USA, where they have engaged in an integrated program of social action research, critical pedagogy, and university-community partnerships to effect social change both inside and outside the academy."

via https://twitter.com/#!/eszter

Title: Technology and USAID: Three Cheers and a Thousand Cautions
Author: Charles Kenny
Pages: 14 pp.
Source: Center for Global Development
Date (published): 06/07/2011
Date (accessed): 13/07/2011
Type of information: essay
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"USAID administrator Raj Shah has promised to increase the focus on technology as a key part of his reform agenda for the agency, which is much to be applauded. But the role for aid agencies in accelerating the development and rollout of technology is complex.
This essay uses the tablet computer, one of the technologies that Shah has highlighted as a potentially transformative device, as a case study in both the promises and perils of technology in development.
The focus on technology will require humility about what any aid agency can accomplish in this area, as well as strong monitoring and evaluation. Early recipients of funding from USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures programs include strong examples of following such an approach."

Title: eMOCHA: Android Data Collection for mHealth
Author: Anne-Ryan Heatwole
Source: MobileActive.org
Date (published): 21/03/2011
Date (accessed): 22/03/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"Using mobiles for data collection is increasingly common, particularly in the area of mobile health and with a focus on community health workers. eMOCHA is a program using a smartphone Android application for storing and transmitting data easily.

Developed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Clinical Global Health Education, eMOCHA (which stands for “Electronic Mobile Open-source Comprehensive Health Application”) uses video, audio, touchscreen quizzes, GPS and SMS to collect and analyze large amounts of data. Larry William Chang, director of field evaluations for eMOCHA, explains in an interview with MobileActive.org that the inspiration for developing the tool came out of researchers’ experiences in the field and their desire to build solutions to gaps in health care data collection systems.
...
eMOCHA is an open-source Android application, and runs on all current versions of Android phones...One of the most important features that eMOCHA offers is increased security – the servers and data sent from the phones are encrypted, and data stored on the phones is password protected and stored in the phones’ internal databases. The interactive nature of eMOCHA means that community health workers and researchers can use it not only as a means of data collection, but also for educational purposes.

Another key feature of eMOCHA is its integration with SMS. Chang explains that although the usual method of using eMOCHA in the field is for a community health worker to use the provided smartphone as a demonstration tool, the team realized they also needed to be able to communicate with larger, non-smartphone owning populations. The eMOCHA team added the ability for the application to receive SMSs from patients and to send out SMSs in order to directly target large numbers of users. "

Title: Children with home computers likely to have lower test scores, study finds
Source: ScienceDaily
Date (published): 18/06/2010
Date (accessed): 19/06/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Around the country and throughout the world, politicians and education activists have sought to eliminate the "digital divide" by guaranteeing universal access to home computers, and in some cases to high-speed Internet service.

However, according to a new study by scholars at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy, these efforts would actually widen the achievement gap in math and reading scores. Students in grades five through eight, particularly those from disadvantaged families, tend to post lower scores once these technologies arrive in their home.

...The sample size was large -- numbering more than 150,000 individual students. The data allowed researchers to compare the same children's reading and math scores before and after they acquired a home computer, and to compare those scores to those of peers who had a home computer by fifth grade and to test scores of students who never acquire a home computer. The negative effects on reading and math scores were "modest but significant," they found.

Download the report: Scaling the Digital Divide: Home Computer Technology and Student Achievement
Jacob L. Vigdor, Helen F. Ladd
NBER Working Paper No. 16078
Issued in June 2010
pdf file

Title: Data.gov: Selling the Government and Democratization of Information
Author: Alix Vance
Source: Scholarly Kitchen
Publisher: Society for Scholarly Publishing
Date (published): 25/05/2010
Date (accessed): 02/06/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Last Friday marked the one-year anniversary of the Obama Administration’s Open Government Initiative (OGI). The occasion was honored with a cupcake and candle on the landing page of the newly re-designed Data.gov site and a widely disseminated announcement from the White House... Data.gov includes more than 250,000 datasets, up from 47 made available at launch. The impact of the OGI is not confined to the United States. At present, six nations outside the U.S. are also developing open repositories of government data...
The message from the Obama Administration is that the OGI signals a sea change for government information that will:
- Spawn a global movement to democratize access
- Enable global linking of data
- Foster innovation and transparency via the creation of “community developed” applications
...
Professionals will find or create the means to build utilities from these emerging global repositories of government data that will:
- Enable comparisons of data that has historically been unavailable, siloed, and non-standardized
- Deliver tools that surface previously hidden relationships between data points and suggest relational meanings
- Aid users develop new hypotheses and research entry points
Whether this translates to empowerment of the general public — or strictly adds to the use of charts and graphs in presentations and articles by researchers and in the media, which pass by the general citizenry — is an open question.
...
Pending questions:

Will the technology community remain fiercely committed to using open data to serve the public good?
Will commercial interests predominate?
Will the level of commitment and interest in the objectives of a global data program continue without institutional incentives?
Does the Administration have its own plans for making this type of information digestible for the general public?

Title: Broadband Adoption in Low-Income Communities
Authors: Dharma Dailey, Amelia Bryne, Alison Powell, Joe Karaganis and Jaewon Chung
Pages: 103 pp.
Publisher: Social Science Research Council
Date (published): 01/03/2010
Date (accessed): 23/03/2010
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
The social function of the Internet has changed dramatically in recent years. What was, until recently, a supplement to other channels of information and communication has become increasingly a basic requirement of social and economic inclusion. Educational systems, employers, and government agencies at all levels have shifted services online—and are pushing rapidly to do more. Price remains only one factor shaping the fragile equilibrium of home broadband adoption, and library and community organizations fill the gap by providing critical training and support services while under severe economic pressures. Commissioned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to analyze the factors shaping low rates of adoption of home broadband services in low-income and other marginalized communities, this SSRC study is one of the only large-scale qualitative investigations of barriers to adoption in the US and complements FCC survey research on adoption designed to inform the 2010 National Broadband Plan. The study draws on some 170 interviews of non-adopters, community access providers, and other intermediaries conducted across the US in late 2009 and early 2010 and identifies a range of factors that make broadband services hard to acquire and even harder to maintain in such communities.

Title: The Revolution Will Be Mapped
Author: Bob Burtman
Source: Miller-McCune.com
Publisher: Miller–McCune Inc.
Date (published): 28/12/2009
Date (accessed): 03/01/2009
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
GIS mapping technology is helping underprivileged communities get better services — from education and transportation to health care and law enforcement — by showing exactly what discrimination looks like.

Title: E-Gov Versus Open Gov: The Evolution of E-Democracy
Author: Jenn Gustetic
Pages: 10 pp.
Publisher: Phase One Consulting Group
Date (published): 11/12/2009
Date (accessed): 12/12/2009
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
How is the Obama Administration’s Open Government (Open Gov) initiative different from the Bush Administration’s E-government (E-gov) initiative? There are many people who use the two terms interchangeably but this paper argues that although they are distinct initiatives in the United States, they are also part of the same E-democracy maturity continuum. Thus while they should not be handled totally separately, they should not be combined either. This paper provides a short history and terminology discussion and then compares and contrasts the two initiatives.

(via http://twitter.com/jspeigel1 )

Title: Local Governments Offer Data to Software Tinkerers
Author Editor: Claire Cain Miller
Source: NYTimes.com
Publisher: The New York Times Company
Date (published): 06/12/2009 (07/12/2008 in the print edition)
Date (accessed): 09/12/2009
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Many local governments are figuring out how to use the Internet to make government data more accessible. The goal is to spawn useful Web sites and mobile applications — and perhaps even have people think differently about their city and its government.

“It will change the way citizens and government interact, but perhaps most important, it’s going to change the way elected officials and civil servants deliver programs, services and promises,” said Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, which is one of the cities leading the way in releasing government data to Web developers.

(via http://lirneasia.net/ )