"This book is about the many ways in which mobile phones are being appropriated by Africans and how they are transforming and are being transformed by society in Africa. A case study from Karthoum (Sudan) shows, how mobile phones are reshaping relationships in a Muslim society, where they enable wom
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en to organize their lives more independently. In Cameroon, the mobile allows traditional healers to assist sick people who are originally from their area but are now far away, sometimes even in Europe or the USA. Another study from Burkina Faso highlights the growing importance of text messaging - as contrary to the overstated orality both of African societies and of the mobile phone. The nine chapters in this volume all show aspects of an emerging mobile culture, be it the linkage between the rural and the urban in Burkina Faso, the youth in Ghana or traders in Tanzania. In all of these, the authors observe a reshaping of social and economic hierarchies in society. Based on the illustrative case studies and its multi-dimensional approach this book is highly recommended reading." (CAMECO Update 3-2009)
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"This book examines how the media in different parts of Africa plays an important role in the continent's political and social processes of change. The perspective of the book is comparative. It contains overviews of the role of communication, as well as case studies, of the situation in individual
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countries and societies: Ethiopia, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The book analyzes the printed press and broadcasting, as well as the function of new digital media, such as the Internet and cell phone technology. The chapters discuss both the more political and democratic implications of the media, as well as issues around communication for development." (Publisher description)
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"Ängste und Hoffnungen verbinden sich mit den jungen Menschen, die in der arabischen Welt zwei Drittel der Bevölkerung ausmachen. Wie reagieren die Jugendlichen auf die Herausforderungen einer globalisierten Welt? Anhand der Internetnutzung marokkanischer Jugendlicher und den damit verbundenen Ane
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ignungspraktiken lässt diese Studie die Ambivalenz von Globalisierungsprozessen in der arabischen Welt sichtbar werden. In der kommunikativen Entgrenzung wird die eigene strukturelle Begrenzung deutlich: Geographische, soziale und kulturelle Grenzen werden hinterfragt, verschoben und überwunden – aber auch fixiert." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"This Framework is organised in the sequence of a logical approach to the design of information systems that are intended to deliver socio-economic benefits via Telecentres for the purpose of community level development and poverty reduction. Telecentres are promoted as an answer to the problems of
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the digital divide, whereby large sections of society do not enjoy access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and are seen to be excluded from the socio-economic benefits that such access brings. By providing shared, community-based access to ICTs, Telecentres help to overcome this disparity. However, this framework for designing Telecentres is based on the understanding that whilst access to ICTs is important, of itself, it is insufficient. Telecentres should be capable of making use of ICTs in a way that delivers tangible benefits to their communities, and are therefore tools for development rather than an end in themselves. The Framework therefore provides a guide for implementing local development with the use of ICTs, in the form of a Telecentre. The audience for this Framework is the institutions or individuals involved in, or contemplating, the setting up of Telecentres. In such a process, the technology is not the objective, the development outcomes are. Accordingly, these are identified at the outset, and then expressed in terms of improved information flows, partnership relationships and choices of technology, which are finally realised through the implementation, operation and ultimately evaluation of the Telecentre." (Introduction, page 4)
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"Este número refleja la diversidad de iniciativas que están llevando a cabo tanto en el terreno, con implementaciones de informática comunitaria que van de telecentros a apoyo a migrantes, a sistemas de soporte al desarrollo rural. Con casos y ejemplos de unos diez países de la region, también
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se cuenta con exposiciones de parte de los dilemas que la investigación, la práctica y la política plantean, incluyendo la discusión de programas innovadores, de mucho interés, que se están implementando en Brasil en la actualidad. América Latina está en un proceso de redescubrimiento de su rol como un actor independiente en la escena global; hay en esta región una larga tradición de iniciativas comunitarias y de autodesarrollo comunitario. Hasta cierto punto las iniciativas comunitarias con TIC discutidas en estos artículos se enlazan con estas tradiciones, pero a mi criterio, la informática comunitaria, en conjunto, todavía espera el desarrollo de lo que podría ser una fuerza ponderosa que emergería de una relación directa entre las TIC con los potentes movimientos de base que están justo ahora tomando un sitio central en en la vida de la región." (Editorial)
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"Contains 11 studies, mainly on information projects, each with between four and eight stories told by people involved in those studies. Each set of stories is prefaced by a summary of the study." (commbox)
"As part of its initiatives to make Information and Communication Technology (ICT) work for the poor, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with four countries in east Africa initiated and carried out a joint project on Pro-Poor ICT. The said countries are Kenya, Rwanda, T
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anzania and Uganda. Primarily, the project aims at designing a community-owned network that will empower the poor people especially in rural areas by providing them with reliable and adequate access to ICT resources and facilities. Furthermore, such resources and facilities will be shared among the people in the area to bring down the operational costs hence ensure affordability to the majority without compromising the quality. In the process consultants from each of the four countries were engaged. Each of the consultants were given nearly the same terms of reference (ToR) to see to it that they all deliver uniform research outcomes that are, of course, tailored to the specificities of a given country. In Tanzania, consultants were from the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) and the Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH). A case study for Tanzania was completed in Bugabo Division of Bukoba District in Kagera Region. The area is in the lake zone along Lake Victoria. The population in Bugabo is about 40,000 people (2002 Census). It is proposed to implement a non-line of sight wireless technology network such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) to cover the division. The major proposed services to be offered by such a local wireless network are Voice and Data. Since the area does not have adequate coverage of GSM Network services, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) facility was proposed. Initial investment cost for the entire project was estimated to US$ 84,040 details of which can be viewed in the report. The annual current cost for the first year was estimated to US$ 93,008 and the annual income for the first year of operation was estimated to US$ 258,000. Section four of the report clearly outlines details of the estimates for initial investment cost, current annual cost, income and expenditure." (Executive summary)
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"This publication aims at understanding the nature and importance of various configurations of social and technological networks in community settings that combine to form a Local Information Networks (LIN). In this study LINs are conceptualised as comprising of two very different elements: one soci
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al, the other technological. Disaggregating the social and technological dimensions of local information networks helps us to understand how they work in practice and how they might be strengthened to bring greater social and economic benefits to the poor communities in which they are located. Hence, in both a practical and theoretical sense, a local information network can be thought of as a larger living field of social connections and communicative that determines the nature of information flow. On the technological side, the ICTs respond to specific local information needs expressed by recipient communities. On the social side, the combination of technological and human capacities embodied in a given intervention is superimposed upon a pre-existing field of social relationships. The three initiatives have been selected for the ways in which they demonstrate the use of social and technological elements within the local environment. Namma Dhwani and Nabanna were established through UNESCO’s Information and Communication Technologies for Poverty Reduction project, developed under UNESCO’s crosscutting theme on the eradication of poverty, especially extreme poverty. Akshaya on the other hand, is a State Government of Kerala initiative aimed at ICT literacy. The study concludes with the understanding that the technical dimensions of communication can never be fully divorced from the social if ICTs are to genuinely reach the poor with the information they need. Investment in social networks is critical since traditional forms of communication like word-of-mouth remains the most powerful, intimate and effective form of communication available to the very poor. The study also highlights the importance of local content production and the need to involve communities in the content creation process as key to achieving success is the quality, reliability and relevance of the information communicated." (Foreword)
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