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After Access 2018: A Demand-Side View of Mobile Internet from 10 African Countries

Cape Town: Research ICT Africa;International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (2019), vii, 38 pp.

"Of all 10 African countries surveyed, only in South Africa is more than half the population online. The Internet penetration rate in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria and Senegal is above the 20% threshold – but even this requires further investigation in a developing country context, where the unaf ... more

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Measuring Digital Development: Facts and Figures 2019

Geneva: ITU (2019), ii, 11 pp.

"Welcome to the first of ITU’s Measuring Digital Development series of statistical and analytical publications that replace the annual Measuring the Information Society Report. Facts and figures 2019 offers a snapshot of the most important ICT indicators, including estimates for the current year. ... more

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Who is Connected? Social Media and the Digital Divide

Bangkok: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) (2019), 49 pp.

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Taking Stock: Data and Evidence on Gender Equality in Digital Access, Skills and Leadership
Top Insights

Araba Sey, Nancy Hafkin (eds.)

United Nations University (UNU);Equals Global Partnership (2019), 338 pp.

"1. While gender gaps are observable in most aspects of ICT access, skills and leadership, the picture is complex. There are large regional variations: some countries are close to parity or have even reversed the gender gap on some indicators, while others still have persistent gaps. Individual coun ... tries can have both large and small gaps, depending on the indicator being measured. Interpreting the gaps requires careful and contextualised analysis. 2. Barriers to gender digital equality are generally related to one or more of the following: 1) availability of infrastructure; 2) financial constraints; 3) ICT ability and aptitude; 4) interest and perceived relevance of ICTs; 5) safety and security; and 6) socio-cultural and institutional contexts. Most of these barriers cut across issues of access, skills, and leadership, although they may manifest in slightly different ways. While research has documented these barriers, the evidence from different sources is sometimes contradictory, even within the same country contexts. 3. There is no one conclusive strategy for eliminating gender digital inequalities. Recommendations generally call either for targeting specific contributing factors of gender digital inequality (such as affordability or recruiting practices), or for reshaping deeply ingrained social norms and practices (such as gender stereotypes) that are at the root of gender inequalities. As with the evidence on barriers, research results are sometimes contradictory or nuanced. 4. The dominant approaches to gender equality in ICT access, skills, and leadership mostly frame issues in binary (male/female) terms, thereby masking the relevance of other pertinent identities. Insufficient research has been done on the implications of ICTs for intersectional identities. Data collection should move from binary sexdisaggregation towards finer degrees of status disaggregation in order to recognise multiple and interacting identities (such as sexuality, poverty, class, education, age, disability, and occupation). 5. To ensure privacy and safety as well as full participation in the digital economy, women should have equal opportunities to develop adequate basic and advanced digital skills. Cyberstalking, online harassment, image manipulation, privacy violations, geotracking, and surveillance can compromise women’s and girls’ safety both online and offline. In addition, some evidence suggests the digital transformation of labour may be widening gender wage gaps. These outcomes can be averted with the right types of training combined with social and institutional change. 6. Developments in digital technologies open new pathways to gender diversity and inclusion; however, lack of attention to gender dynamics and differences hampers the potential for true progress. For example, evidence suggests that most women’s work in the digital economy, particularly in the Global South, reinforces existing social divisions. Moreover, artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, designed largely by men, tend to ignore the negative gender implications of their designs. Research, government policy and design principles should include gender awareness and analysis, for example by building in data and privacy protections and avoiding gender stereotypes." (Key findings, page 19-20) more

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The State of ICT in Mozambique 2018

Alison Gillwald, Onkokame Mothobi, Broc Rademan

Research ICT Africa (2019), iv, 15 pp.

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The State of ICT in In Kenya

Margaret Ndung'u Nyambura, Charley Lewis, Onkokame Mothobi

Cape Town: Research ICT Africa (2019), v, 41 pp.

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Disconnected: A Human Rights-Based Approach to Network Disruptions

Jan Rydzak

Global Network Initiative (2019), 33 pp.

"The statistical study determines that network interferences are more likely to happen at higher rates of expansion of Internet connectivity until a tipping point, suggesting that efforts to extend Internet access in low- and middle-income countries may lead to less overt restrictions. This threshol ... more

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Evaluando el desarrollo de Internet en Argentina: Utilizando los indicadores ROAM-X de Universalidad de Internet de la UNESCO

Carolina Caeiro, Delfina Ferracutti, Maria Fernanda Martínez, Ivan Kirschbaum, Juan Ortiz

Paris; Montevideo: UNESCO (2019), 275 pp.

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Mapping the Digital Divide in Africa: A Mediated Analysis

Bruce Mutsvairo, Massimo Ragnedda (eds.)

Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press (2019), 278 pp.

"This is a timely and much-needed collection that fills an important gap in the literature. It offers excellent conceptual tools and a selection of case studies that provide a useful map of the digital divide across the African continent and between Africa and the rest of the world. I especially app ... more

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Connecting People. Transforming Nations

USAID (2019), 7 pp.

"Nearly 250 million people live in Indonesia. More than 80 percent of them have no access to the Internet. Access to broadband has the potential to transform individual lives, local communities, and entire nations. The last decade has seen exponential growth in Internet connectivity. Information and ... more

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"Free Internet" and the Costs to Media Pluralism: The Hazards of Zero-Rating the News

Daniel O'Maley, Amba Kak

Washington, DC: Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) (2018), 20 pp.

"In many countries, mobile operators have teamed up with social media platforms to offer free access to specific websites or internet services—including news websites. The most well-known of these offerings, Facebook’s Free Basics, has been explicitly pitched as a way to give citizens in develop ... more

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Connected Women: The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2018
Top Insights

Oliver Rowntree

London: GSMA (2018), 28 pp.

"In low- and middle-income countries women are 10% less likely than men to own a mobile phone. Over 1.2 billion women do not use mobile internet. There is a significant gender gap in mobile usage - particularly for more transformational services. Women in South Asia are 26% less likely to own a mobi ... more

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Global Information Society Watch 2018: Community Networks

Association for Progressive Communications (APC);International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (2018), 259 pp.

"The 43 country reports included in this year’s Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) capture the different experiences and approaches in setting up community networks across the globe. They show that key ideas, such as participatory governance systems, community ownership and skills transfe ... more

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The Little Data Book on Information and Communication Technology 2018

Washington, DC; Geneva: World Bank;ITU (2018), vi, 240 pp.

"In 2016, there were more than 7.3 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions worldwide. Globally, 3.5 billion people were using the Internet, of which 2.5 billion were from developing countries. Mobile-broadband subscriptions have risen constantly to reach 3.6 billion, while the number of fixed-broadban ... more

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Universal Service and Access Funds: An Untapped Resource to Close the Gender Digital Divide

Dhanaraj Thakur, Lauran Potter

Washington, DC: World Wide Web Foundation (2018), 19 pp.

"Over 68% of countries in Africa have a Universal Service and Access Fund (USAF) in place; 62% of these funds are active. Just 3 of the 37 countries with USAFs have universal access policies that explicitly aim to connect women and girls through the fund. Just 23 African countries openly publish det ... more

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Madagascar 2018: Mass media, communication et internet

Institut National de la Statistique (INSTAT) (2018), 6 pp.

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Kenyan Women’s Rural Realities, Mobile Internet Access, and “Africa Rising”

Susan Wyche, Jennifer Olson

Information Technologies & International Development, volume 14, issue Special edition (2018), pp. 33-47

"The term “Africa Rising” is used in popular and academic discourse to describe economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Increased mobile phone ownership and access to the Internet figure prominently in this optimistic narrative. However, aspects of this story are being questioned, in particular w ... more