Title: Avoiding the Digital Divide Hype in Using Mobile Phones for Development
Author: Lindsay Poirier
Source: ICTWorks
Publisher: Inveneo
Date (published): 27/12/2011
Date (accessed): 03/01/2012
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"To all of you digital divide warriors out there – nice work. With over 483 million mobile phone subscriptions in low-income countries - an estimated 44.9% penetration rate, few will deny the success of your efforts to expand mobile technology in the developing world.

Rapid mobile growth rates further exhibit success in dissemination, and stats such as, “There are more mobile phones than toilets in India,“ and “There are more mobile phones than light bulbs in Uganda,” make us smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

While it’s true that, in most cases, these numbers exhibit stimulation in local economies, there are some fuzzy lines when it comes to determining what these numbers mean in terms of mobile phone access and development. The data shows that mobile technology is expanding, but does this necessarily mean that access to technology is coinciding with the expansion?
..."

Title: Do Open Educational Resources Actually Increase the Digital Divide?
Author: Wayan Vota
Source: Educational Technology Debate
Date (published): 05/12/2011
Date (accessed): 06/12/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"We have often focused on Open Educational Resources (OER) in the Educational Technology Debates. We talked about the need for creating digital content and examples of existing Open Educational Resources. But this month we’re going to ask a controversial question:

Does OER actually expand the digital divide?

The proponents of Open Educational Resources are right to point out the need for digital content. There are few if any locally relevant resources for educators in the developing world – local language being a major issue. So is access – to the hardware required to view content and often the Internet access to reach it. In addition to content, and the access to reach it, teachers need the skills and training to convert good content into great lessons.

But let us say that all these prerequisites exist – content, access, training:

Does that mean teachers will actually use it?
And who will they use it with? Students already advantaged with socio-economic resources or the underprivileged learners that are the ostensible focus of many educational technology interventions?
Most importantly, regardless of the benefits for the privileged, how can we create better OER benefits for the poor?
Please join us this month for what we all expect to be a lively and informative conversation – your input can start right now in the comments below. You can also submit your extended thoughts as a longer independent Guest Post of at least 500 words. Please email Guest Posts to editors@edutechdebate.org. We will be publishing Guest Posts throughout the month to maintain the conversation."

Title: Uses, Benefits and Challenges of Public Access Points in the Face of Growth of Mobile Technology
Authors: Wallace Chigona, Ofentse Lekwane, Kim Westcott, Agnes Chigona
Pages: 14 pp.
ISSN: 1681-4835
Source: The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, (2011) 49, 5, 1-14
Publisher: City University of Hong Kong
Date (published): 02/11/2011
Date (accessed): 20/11/2011
Type of information: peer reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"For over two decades, the use of shared Information and Communication Technology (ICT) access has been promoted as a mode for promoting access to technology, especially in developing countries, hence minimising the effects of the digital divide on those on the wrong side of the divide. Recent discourse on the momentous diffusion of mobile telephony in developing countries has questioned the rationale of promoting fixed shared access, since people are bound to prefer mobile phones over shared access points. This paper seeks to empirically explore the use of shared access points in the wake of the increasing diffusion and usage of mobile technology. We explored the actual use of shared computing facilities, the benefits users accrue from using the facilities and the challenges they face in using and in gaining benefits. We used a case study of a shared facility in a disadvantaged community in Cape Town. The study noted that the demand for the shared facilities is still high. We noted that the center is used for both instrumental and hedonic purposes. It was also noted that there are economic, social and psychological benefits from using the facilities. However, it was noted that use of the facilities is beset by a number of challenges which limit use and benefits from the usage. The paper also noted the strategies users employ to overcome the challenges."

Title: Evaluating ICT Adoption in Rural Brazil: A Quantitative Analysis of Telecenters as Agents of Social Change
Authors: Paola Prado, Mauro A Câmara, Marco A. Figueiredo
Pages: 25 pp.
ISSN: 1712-4441
Source: Vol. 7 Nos. 1 & 2 (2010/2011) Special Double Issue: The Internet and Community Informatics in Brazil
Publisher: Journal of Community Informatics
Date (published): 26/08/2011
Date (accessed): 19/11/2011
Type of information: peer reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"This quantitative study surveyed 538 adults in isolated rural settings in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, to examine whether telecenters operated by the non-profit organization Gems of the Earth improve digital literacy and promote social change. Using multivariate logistic regression, the study examined how individuals use information and communication technologies (ICTs) at the telecenter, and tested for predictors of their use. The findings confirm that these rural communities use ICTs for entertainment, to engage in civic participation, and to practice professional skills. The findings suggest that digital inclusion impacts these isolated communities by creating opportunities that may foster human development."

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: From Digital Divide to Digital Provide: Spillover Benefits to ICT4D Non-Users
Author: Richard Heeks
Source: ICTs for development
Date (published): 31/08/2011
Date (accessed): 07/09/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"ICT4D research on spillovers to non-users specifically has been rare, with the main interests in non-users being to understand why they are non-users; and most spillover work being done between sectors or enterprises and/or focusing on the spillover of encouraging ICT adoption rather than more immediate benefits.

This does seem to be changing, perhaps because of the growth of mobile and related to earlier work on the externalities to non-users of arrival of rural telecommunications.
...
I look forward to what appears to be forthcoming work by the Global Impact Study on non-user spillovers. However, this remains a poorly-understood and little-researched issue; one that needs a greater focus since it is central to understanding the digital divide and digital inequalities. It also has implications for practice; suggesting ICT4D projects should promote non-user spillovers as much as they promote ICT usage."

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."

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Title: Sri Lanka builds telecentres for farm people
Author: Pia Rufino
Source: FutureGov
Date (published): 05/08/2011
Date (accessed): 09/08/2011
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"The Sri Lankan government will be establishing 35 new e-Kiosk Centres with internet and satellite communication facilities this year to boost IT proficiency of the estate people in the country...The move is part of a bigger digital inclusion programme by the Saumyamoorth Thondaman Memorial Foundation under an Act of Parliament aimed at establishing 450 Prajashakthi (Community strengthening) centres...A similar project is being rolled out in the country called Rural Telecentre Network, known as Nenasala, and a network of PC labs in schools, aimed at narrowing the digital divide in rural areas.

To date, 615 nenasala are already established in the country."

Title: Agricultural Information, the Global Food Crisis, and Effective Use
Author: Michael Gurstein
Source: Gurstein's Community Informatics
Date (published): 25/07/2011
Date (accessed): 25/07/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"Community Informatics colleague Ajit Maru, in a posting on the Community Informatics Research elist suggests some disturbing questions concerning the relationship between “Information Access” and “effective use” and its possible links to the rising food crisis globally.
He comments on the increasing shift of governments to making agricultural information available primarily in electronic form via the web or through mobile access. This is inevitably linked to declining support for the provision of agricultural information through the more traditional face to face connections of agricultural extension...
...
To add to these very important comments… There is currently an overwhelming pre-occupation of donors and those concerned with ICTs and development with “mobiles for development” that is with additional means for the infrastructure for “accessing” information. However, there would appear to be little or no related concern (or resources) for ensuring that the pre-conditions for ensuring the effective use of this information particularly by rural small-holders—that the information to overwhelmingly non- or only marginally literate end users is in the multiple languages of the end users, is accessible on devices available to end users a, provides sufficient information context to be usable by end user, is structured in such a way as to enable necessary collaborative action by small-holders and so on."

Title: Closing the digital divide for Zambia's farmers
Author: Georgina Smith
Source: New Agriculturist
Date (published): June 2011
Date (accessed): 24/07/2011
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"Rows of mobile telephones sit recharging in the Chinyunya community telecentre, an hour's drive east of Zambia's capital Lusaka. Powered by 67 1 x 0.5m solar panels and offering a photocopier, projector and three internet-connected computers as well as phone services, the centre is changing the way that farmers in the area receive agricultural information.
Whether it's investigating drought-resistant plants, choosing the best crop rotation, or learning how to retain water in the soil, the internet offers ideas and solutions which can be refined or adapted in discussion with extension officers. The telecentre acts as a point for sharing and accessing previously unavailable information on market prices, machinery and fertiliser availability, and is a networking hub for local agricultural training centres offering advice on organic farming and other practices."