"Training programs of NGOs can help low-income youth effectively adopt ICTs. There is no doubt that acquiring ICT skills in demand in the current market can help these young people find jobs. They face obstacles such as a poor education, lack of ICT skills and the necessary social capital to identif
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y the most attractive ICT positions for their professional development. They also lack support networks for finding jobs or starting businesses. Training in ICT offers socially and economically excluded groups the chance to enter the knowledge-based economy. We wanted to explore whether individuals enrolled in the selected NGO training programs had taken advantage of these opportunities. To this end, we conducted a comparative study among countries to determine whether youth (primarily) ICT training courses had an effect on beneficiaries’ labor participation, in terms of job searches, employment obtained, establishment of a business or improvements to an existing business. For this study, training beneficiaries and NGO staff members were interviewed and surveyed to learn about their perceptions regarding the usefulness of ICT training for employability. We also analyzed how the organizational tools of the NGOs have supported beneficiaries in finding jobs, setting up businesses, or increasing employment opportunities." (Introduction, page 9)
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"This guide has been written for people in the UK public sector delivering online digital services who wish to research their audiences. Although it is focused on online digital services, it will also be useful for researching audiences reached via other channels. It is primarily aimed at non-expert
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s who do not have market research skills themselves, and who do not have access to dedicated market research teams. It is therefore likely to be most useful for people in small organisations / services, or those conducting small projects in larger organisations. It may also be useful for people procuring services who want to know what guidelines to provide, and for those setting policies." (Introduction, page 6)
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"Entwicklungsländer und moderne Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT): Wie geht das zusammen? Dieses oft diskutierte, aber selten detailliert untersuchte Thema wird in diesem Buch vor allem anhand Afrikas südlich der Sahara behandelt, einer Weltregion mit erheblichen Entwicklungshemmn
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issen. Im Fokus steht dabei die besonders voraussetzungsreiche Internetnutzung. Tatsächlich sind die Hürden für einen entwicklungsförderlichen Einsatz moderner IKT und speziell des Internets dort weiterhin sehr hoch. Die Ergebnisse der materialreichen Studie, für die auch Forschungen vor Ort durchgeführt wurden, verweisen indes nicht bloß auf Potenziale der IKT für Entwicklung, sondern sie zeigen auch, dass sich die Internetnutzung in Subsahara-Afrika bereits vielfältig darstellt und derzeit dynamisch entwickelt. Nicht nur mit Blick auf die schwerpunktmäßig untersuchten Felder (Demokratisierung, Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung) bestehen erhebliche Chancen und Bedarfe für einen Ausbau der Informationsgesellschaft in dieser Weltregion. Vorschläge, wie darauf politisch reagiert und Entwicklung durch Vernetzung gefördert werden kann, bilden einen weiteren Schwerpunkt des Bandes." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Gewerkschaften und Datenschützer fürchten um die Pressefreiheit: Immer neue Gesetze erschweren die vertrauliche Kommunikation per Internet und Telefon. Besonders stark betroffen sind Berufsgruppen, die bislang nur in Sonderfällen ausgespäht werden durften: Journalisten, Juristen und Ärzte. Doc
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h es ist möglich, die Kontrollen zu umgehen - ganz legal und ohne großen technischen Aufwand! Journalisten können auch weiterhin diskret Informanten kontaktieren. Oder Anwälte ihre Mandanten. Oder Ärzte ihre Patienten. Das Buch verrät, welche Techniken es gibt. Schritt für Schritt wird der Umgang mit Programmen gezeigt, die die Kommunikation anonymisieren, von der E-Mail über den Chat bis zur Internet-Telefonie. Der Leser erfährt, wie er Spuren auf Computern oder im World Wide Web verwischt. An praktischen Alltagsbeispielen wird gezeigt, welche Methode wann angewendet werden sollte. Dabei Setzt das Buch keine besonderen Computerkenntnisse voraus: Wer Surfen, Mailen und Office-Programme benutzen kann, bringt genug Wissen mit, um sich anonym im Internet zu bewegen. Das Buch behandelt außerdem zwei Spezialthemen: Wie kann man beim Telefonieren mit dem Handy seine Identität verschleiern? Und: Wie umgeht man die Zensur in Diktaturen? Das Buch eignet sich deshalb auch besonders für Auslandskorrespondenten und für Mitarbeiter von Hilfsorganisationen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Ethnographic Action Research is a methodology that combines research with project development. It has been designed for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiatives. This handbook is designed to train EAR researchers to continually develop and deepen their understandings of communicat
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ion in local contexts. A well trained EAR researcher will share this knowledge with colleagues to develop the ICT initiative's programme accordingly. A well trained EAR researcher will ensure that there are high levels of participation in both research activities and the programmes of the ICT initiative." (https://www.ear.findingavoice.org)
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"This paper reviews roughly 200 recent studies of mobile (cellular) phone use in the developing world, and identifies major concentrations of research. It categorizes studies along two dimensions. One dimension distinguishes studies of the determinants of mobile adoption from those that assess the i
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mpacts of mobile use, and from those focused on the interrelationships between mobile technologies and users. A secondary dimension identifies a subset of studies with a strong economic development perspective. The discussion considers the implications of the resulting review and typology for future research." (Abstract)
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"This paper examines how banks can translate the potential of mobile phones into greater financial access for poor people. Although mobile phone operators have been able to use the mobile phone for mobile remittance and bill payment services in several countries, banks have had little success in usi
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ng mobile phones as part of a growth or outreach strategy. This paper focuses on smaller banks or microfinance institutions (MFIs) that face a much higher cost-of-service delivery because of the smaller transaction values they handle and the likely more remote and dispersed location of at least some of their customers. The opportunity seems particularly great for them, but implementation challenges also loom larger because of their small scale. This discussion assumes these banks and MFIs have adequate back office and transaction switching capability and sufficient internal controls, whether managed in-house or outsourced." (Page 1)
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"This paper provides a conceptual framework for the identification of indicators of information literacy (IL) and proposes a pathway for cost effective and timely development. The paper includes a definition of IL; a model that links information literacy with other adult competencies including Infor
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mation and Communication Technology (ICT) skills; and a description of IL standards in education. Issues of IL equality and the implications of cultural diversity are identified." (Executive summary)
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"This book offers a view of the cultural, family, and interpersonal consequences of mobile communication across the globe. Scholars analyze the effect of mobile communication on all parts of life, from the relationship between literacy and the textual features of mobile phones to the use of ringtone
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s as a form of social exchange, from the “aspirational consumption” of middle-class families in India to the belief in parts of Africa and Asia that mobile phones can communicate with the dead. The contributors explore the ways mobile communication profoundly affects the tempo, structure, and process of daily life around the world. The book discusses the impact of mobile communication on social networks, other communication strategies, traditional forms of social organization, and political activities. It considers how quickly miraculous technologies come to seem ordinary and even necessary; and how ordinary technology comes to seem mysterious and even miraculous. The chapters cut across social issues and geographical regions; they highlight use by the elite and the masses, utilitarian and expressive functions, and political and operational consequences. Taken together, the chapters demonstrate how mobile communication has affected the quality of life in both exotic and humdrum settings, and how it increasingly occupies center stage in people’s lives around the world." (Publisher description)
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