"The promise of technology as a vehicle for African economic development often comes wrapped in the values and norms of the Global North. Western-designed software, pervasive across the Continent, reflects ideologies that may not align with indigenous African values. Digital colonialism is the enfor
...
cement of Silicon Valley software values and systems on African countries and indigenous communities that imposes values that can undermine local traditions and socio-political systems. A compelling solution to digital colonialism lies in the African philosophy of Ubuntu – a communitarian ethos emphasizing interconnectedness and mutual care. This philosophy is separate from the Ubuntu open-source software, which does have many tenants of the Ubuntu philosophy. The academic research paper 'Digital Coloniality' explores the concept of digital colonialism, its detrimental impact on African communities, and how applying an Ubuntu philosophic framework can lead to a more inclusive and ethical digital future." (Introduction)
more
"Ideologies play a fundamental role in the emergence, escalation and resolution of conflict by underpinning divergent narratives and worldviews. These ideologies are often developed and sustained through a combination of interrelated and deeply-held core beliefs, values and emotions which have been
...
acquired over the course of a lifetime and become reinforced through several cognitive processes and biases. Thus, it can be very difficult to alter or change ideologies once they have been formed. Yet, despite their central importance to conflict resolution, practitioners still need the proper tools to adequately visualise these complex ideologies in individuals and/or groups. Practitioners also have very few examples of ways to work with these divergent ideologies as part of a larger peacebuilding process. This policy brief presents a technique for visualising ideologies using a new software tool called Valence that enables technology-assisted Cognitive Affective Mapping (CAM). It then offers lessons from a recent online conflict resolution exercise in which multiple stakeholders used this tool in an ongoing water conflict in Canada via a series of facilitated Zoom sessions held in 2020." (Abstract)
more
"This document is written for humanitarian or public health organizations as well as national governments seeking to document rumors in a systematic and dynamic fashion. First, the document provides an overview of the role of rumors in a public health or humanitarian emergency, followed by a summary
...
of the community-based approach taken by Breakthrough ACTION during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the guide lays out an application of this approach using the District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2) open source software platform, including an overview of a pre-configured metadata package that can be installed on a new DHIS2 system or imported to an existing system. While this guide and the associated DHIS2 package were developed for COVID-19, rumors play a role in a variety of public health issues. Real-time monitoring of rumors thus provides a unique opportunity for dynamic two-way communication with communities." (Overview, page 4)
more
"IREX partnered with Lore.Ai to test whether machine learning software can automatically detect news articles that contains journalists’ own opinions. This matters because impartial, fact-based news is a powerful indicator for the quality of media and the vibrancy of an information ecosystem. A te
...
am of professional media evaluators trained machine learning software to find examples of news articles that contain opinions from a body of over 1,200 online Mozambican news articles. The software identified articles that contained opinions with 95% accuracy. This accuracy was achieved after only 16 rounds of training the software, and anecdotes from the team suggest that the software’s accuracy noticeably improved after only about 20 minutes of “training”. The results have promising implications to improve efficiency, scale, and consistency of traditionally manual and time-consuming media monitoring efforts, such as helping projects target resources more effectively to support journalists whose articles are flagged by the software. The process also surfaced valuable lessons about limitations of applying machine learning to monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) in global development contexts, such as reinforcing human bias or the need to invest in indigenous machine learning talent to apply these tools sustainably. The experiment was implemented in Mozambique, where IREX’s Media Strengthening Program (MSP, funded by the United States Agency for International Development) supports Mozambican professional and community journalists and their media platforms to provide high quality information to citizens." (Key findings, page 1)
more
"The guide includes software that contains the functionality that most nonprofits need: fundraising, email marketing, advocacy/grassroots organizing, and Peer-to-Peer fundraising. We looked for programs that could be used by organizations small to large, were scalable, and offered great training res
...
ources. Because technology investments can be a major budget item for nonprofit organizations, we also made sure to include platforms at different price points. It’s always good to mix things up a little – seven of the most feature – packed programs for nonprofits made it into this new guide. Four were included last year, and we’ve added three new platforms. Once we selected the seven participants, we got a lot of help from the software vendors themselves. We interviewed members of the software vendors’ teams and got answers to some common questions. Our team attended live software demos to see the platforms in action (and we peppered the vendor team with questions and use cases). We also talked with our own team members – who use many different engagement software systems for our clients – to get an understanding of what each one is truly like to use daily." (Page 3)
more
"Conducted in 2009 by a group of five Masters in New Media (humanities) students from the University of Amsterdam under the supervision of Geert Lovink the research examines both the role and implementation of ICTs in Uganda, covering a wide range of subcultures and projects, including internet cafe
...
usage, print media, NGOs and communities, software subcultures and civic new media. The book argues that now is the time to look beyond the technology layer and instead focus on the social implications and local consequences of digital media’s widespread use. By recognizing the impact that ICTs have on society and identifying what functions currently and what needs to be improved, we can more effectively understand and develop these technologies in the future." (Back cover)
more
"This guide is meant to introduce non-technical users to Internet censorship circumvention technologies, and help them choose which of them best suits their circumstances and needs." (Page 5)
"This unique dossier was assembled by the activist Copy South Research Group, a loosely-affiliated group of researchers based in a number of countries across the South and the North who seek to research the inner workings of the global copyright system and its effects on the Global South. The dossie
...
r contains more than 50 articles examining many dimensions of the issue of copyright across the Global South, such as access, culture, economics, libraries, education, software, the Internet, the public domain, and resistance. The dossier is addressed to readers who want to learn more about the global role of copyright and, in particular, its sometimes negative role in the Global South. The articles critically analyze and assess a wide range of copyright-related issues that impact on the daily lives, and future lives, of those who live in the countries of the South. It aims to do so in a manner which the editors hope will bring these questions ‘alive’, show the direct human stakes of the many debates, “and make the issues accessible to those who want to go beyond the platitudes, half-truths, and serious distortions that often plague discussions of this topic." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 1815)
more
"This yearbook compiles information on research findings on children and youth and media violence, as seen from the perspective of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child. The thematic focus of the yearbook is on the influence of children's exposure to media violence. Section 1
...
of the yearbook, "Children and Media on the UN and UNESCO Agendas," includes articles on the significance of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Section 2, "Children and Violence on the Screen: Research Articles," includes articles on U.S. television violence and children, the nature and context of violence on American television, and media violence in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Europe, and Argentina. Section 3, "Children's Media Situation: Research Articles," contains articles describing children's media access and use in various parts of the world, including Asia, China, Australia, South Africa, and Belgium. Section 4, "Media in the World," provides statistics on children and the media worldwide. Section 5, "Children in the World," details demographic indicators for children worldwide. Section 6, "Children's Participation in the Media: Some Examples," describes examples of positive child participation in the media production process. Section 7 contains international declarations and resolutions regarding children and the media. Section 8 discusses regulations and measures as a basis for building television policy. A bibliography containing approximately 300 references on children and media violence published after 1970 completes the yearbook." (https://eric.ed.gov)
more