Category Archives: ICT4D

April 21, 2010 · 4:47 pm

Unleashing the Potential: ICTs for Development

I had the privilege of being a keynote speaker at the SciFest symposium on ICT for development and learning held in association with a meeting of the Computer Science Days of the Finnish Computer Society held at the University of Joensuu on 15th April. Here is a summary of the key issues that I raised:

  • The main question I sought to address was “How can Computer Science contribute to the lives of some of  the poorest and most marginalised people in the world?”
  • Much computer science seems to be very theoretical, and practised by people who prefer to remain in their familiar institutional surroundings
  • However, for those who wish to gain new experiences, insights and intellectual challenges, working in some of the poorest countries of the world offers great opportunities
  • Unfortunately, much so-called ICT4D research and practice tends to be top-down and led by people from Europe and north America
  • All too rarely does such research really address development needs
  • As privileged academics, we ought to listen much more to the stated needs of the poorest and most marginalised in crafting our research agendas
  • The private sector is likely to enable many relatively poor people to benefit from ICTs, but the very poorest – those with disabilities and street children – need interventions by governments and civil society organisations to help them use ICTs to achieve their aspirations
  • For those computer scientists not lured by the interests of capital, there remains the wonderful challenge of working for social agendas that can make a difference – both to their own intellectual benefit, and to the benefit of the world’s poorest people

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April 11, 2010 · 11:03 am

Digital databases and political campaigning

Those addicted to the potential benefits of digital databases, identity cards and biometric passports, often berate me for my concerns about  the ethical implications of the introduction of such technologies (see for example, the comments of “James Bond” in response to my blog on the Indian census).

Today’s report in the Sunday Times that the ruling Labour party in Britain has sent personalised cards to cancer sufferers, warning them of the implications of a Conservative victory in the election on May 6th should serve as a salutary reminder.  This is how it was reported:

“LABOUR has become embroiled in a row about the use of personal data after sending cancer patients alarmist mailshots saying their lives could be at risk under a Conservative government. Cards addressed to sufferers by name warn that a Labour guarantee to see a cancer specialist within two weeks would be scrapped by the Tories. Labour claims the Conservatives would also do away with the right to be treated within 18 weeks. Cancer patients who received the personalised cards, sent with a message from a breast cancer survivor praising her treatment under Labour, said they were “disgusted and shocked”, and feared that the party may have had access to confidential health data. Labour sources deny that the party has used any confidential information. However, the sources admit that, in line with other political parties, it uses socio-demographic research that is commercially and publicly available. The postal campaign started last month before the general election was called. This is the first election in which parties have been able to use internet databases and digital printing to personalise their mailshots. Labour has sent out 250,000 “cancer” postcards, each addressed to an individual, asking: “Are the Tories a change you can afford?” Many of those receiving the cards have undergone cancer scans or treatment within the past five years.”

Of course there are real benefits of digital technologies, but we do need to reflect very carefully on who has access to personalised digital records, and on how such information is used.

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April 10, 2010 · 5:44 pm

ICT4D Students at World Economic Forum

The final year undergraduate students studying ICT4D at Royal Holloway, University of London, have to do a formal presentation on some aspect of the course as part of their assessment (along with annotated bibliographies and a website – this year on Healthy Homes).

For 2010, we had the privilege of being able to convene these presentations at the World Economic Forum‘s offices in Cologny, Geneva on Thursday 8th April, on the themes of:

  • Why have mobile phones become so popular in Africa? (Alex Hamilton)
  • Education in Post-Conflict Zones: Pathways to Peace? (Helen Blamey)
  • Internet Access and Usage in Africa (Michael Hart)
  • What is really innovative about ICT4D? (James Huntley)
  • ICTs, Climate Change and Sustainable Development (Elizabeth Coulter)
  • Freeplay Energy: education and health solutions (Rickesh Patel)

Alex Wong (Senior Director, World Economic Forum), Joanna Gordon (Associate Director responsible for the ICT sector at the World Economic Forum) and Daniel Stauffacher (Chairman ICT4Peace Foundation) also gave short presentations on their work, as well as providing feedback on the student presentations.

Being in Geneva provided an opportunity to see various UN buildings in the City, and some of the group also went on a six hour walk in the vicinity of Mont Salève (down from the Télépherique du Salève, through the villages of Mounetier and Mornex, and back to Veyrier) – a great opportunity to discuss ICT4D in the French countryside!

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April 2, 2010 · 6:55 pm

ICTs and educational reconstruction in post-earthquake Chile

How can ICTs best be used to support educational reconstruction in Chile following the devastating earthquake there on 27th February?

The Chilean Ministry of Education has established a task force to design a strategy for using ICTs to help alleviate the educational challenge of having some 500,000 children out of school for weeks, or even months, until new schools are constructed. They  need solutions that are practical, affordable and can be deployed rapidly.

A good friend of mine, Pedro Hepp from TIDE S.A, has been appointed to this task force and is eager to draw down on as much global experience as possible.  Much work has been done on ways in which ICTs can be used in the immediate aftermath of earthquake disasters, such as

However, many of these initiatives focus on the immediate aftermath of earthquake disasters.  Important as these are, the ’emergency’ aspects of Chile’s earthquake are now over, and the government is still facing the long haul of providing basic services to those who have lost so much. Now the spotlight of the international media has turned away from Chile, it is still important for people across the world to offer support and help to the victims of this devastating earthquake.

Please contact Pedro with advice and examples of good practices that have used ICTs in educational reconstruction following earthquakes elsewhere in the world.

[Photo from the BBC‘s site]

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April 1, 2010 · 2:07 pm

Indian biometric census – beware of the dangers!

India’s 15th census has just been launched (Times of India, newsy.com video), with the physical count of people due to take place from 9th-28th February 2011.  Over the next year, some 2.5 million census officials will be visiting households across the country, to begin the process of recording information about them.

What is unusual about this census, though, is that every person over the age of 15 will be photographed and will also have all of their fingers fingerprinted, so as to create a national biometric database, information from which will be used to issue identity cards.  The first 16-digit identity number will be issued starting in November 2010 by the Unique Identification Authority, a new state department.

The first person to be listed was President Pratibha Patil, who according to the BBC, “appealed to fellow Indians to follow her example ‘for the good of the nation’.  ‘Everyone must participate and make it successful’, she said in Delhi”.

The government expects this to bring real benefits.  As the Times commented in July 2009, “It is hoped that the ID scheme will close … bureaucratic black holes while also fighting corruption. It may also be put to more controversial ends, such as the identification of illegal immigrants and tackling terrorism. A computer chip in each card will contain personal data and proof of identity, such as fingerprint or iris scans. Criminal records and credit histories may also be included”.

This is deeply worrying, and as with other such schemes fundamentally changes the relationship between citizens and the state. Interestingly, the initiative is being headed up by Nandan Milekani, the co-founder and former CEO of Infosys, who according to the Times has said that “we have the opportunity to give every Indian citizen, for the first time, a unique identity. We can transform the country”. Does he not realise that every Indian citizen already has a unique, and very special identity – in themselves?

Just because it is possible to do this, does not mean it is right to do so.  Not only are there profound ethical concerns about states creating databases of the biometric data of citizens, but there are also real practical problems. The opportunities for identity theft on a massive scale are very real, and should not be underestimated.  More worryingly, though, is the point that this changes the balance of power between individuals and the state, very much in favour of the latter.  If governments change, and people lose trust in them – as often happens – imagine what such governments might do with biometric data on all their citizens.  Imagine if Hitler or Stalin had had access to the biometric identities of all of the people living in Germany and Russia?  Imagine if the USA gained access to biometric data of everyone in the world?

The real winners in the promulgation of such digital initiatives are the companies who promote, design and manage them!  It is no coincidence that it is the co-founder of Infosys who is now chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India! Mind you, another group of people who will benefit hugely from the introduction of such technology will be those who make fake fingerprints for sticking onto your fingers – or even the plastic surgeons who alter fingerprints, as in the case of the Chinese woman who entered Japan illegally after having had her fingerprints altered…

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March 26, 2010 · 12:02 pm

‘Collective’ reflections on plagiarism and the production of knowledges

ICT4D BookParticipating today in a very interesting seminar organised by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) at Woburn House in London, made me reflect on actually why plagiarism is becoming such a ‘problem’, and on ways in which we might create alternative ideas about this.

The first question I wish to raise is whether ‘scientific ideas’ or ‘individual careers’ matter most?  As a starting point, let me suggest that actually it should be the ideas that are of most importance.  Yet, we always tend to associate ideas with people – hence, we have Nobel prizewinners who are individuals. It is authors’ names that are on articles.

But following my logic, if it is the ideas that are of most importance, then perhaps plagiarism actually becomes less of a ‘problem’.  Plagiarism is generally seen as the passing off of someone else’s ideas as being one’s own.  So, if we do not attribute ideas to people, but let the ideas in a sense speak for themselves, and make them available for public scrutiny through for example the Web, then the ideas that are deemed to be of most importance might, in a sense, float to the top by popular choice.

This is particularly important right now.  In the UK (as in many other countries) governments fund universities – both directly and through research councils.  Governments, very literally, pay academics to produce knowledge.  So, a case could be made for this knowledge to be ‘published’ under the government’s or research council’s ‘name’.  Imagine a world where there were no author(s)’s names on published articles.  Journal articles would just be known by their titles and the funding source.  Would not this be more open and honest?

What does the individual author’s name matter – other than for their own personal careers?  In a world where knowledge has increasingly become a commodity, where individual academic careers depend largely on publication records, where departmental and institutional reputations and thus funding rest on publications and grants, it is of course essential that authors are named.  That is why plagiarism is so important an issue. But if we want to fragment this system, if we believe in knowledge as something so much more valuable than a commodity, if we wish to make this freely available – if we want to be a little less selfish about our own careers – then perhaps, there is some value in my proposal.

After all, as one of my former PhD students regularly reminds me, where do our ideas actually come from?  We can never cite all of the influences on our writing.  I am quite sure that the inspirational lectures that I listened to as an undergraduate in one of the best universities in the world have influenced my subsequent writing.  The beggars I met on the street in Bihar have also influenced my ideas.  I am ashamed that I do not always cite them as influences on my writing – although I do indeed try to mention them in my acknowledgements.  In a sense, almost all of our written work is indeed plagiarised…

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March 18, 2010 · 9:47 pm

Apple iPhone insurance scam – with a happy outcome!

How’s this for an interesting scam?

  • My daughter’s iPhone (in fully functioning order) falls out of her pocket on the kitchen floor.  The screen cracks (despite a rubber cover and a silicone protector on the front) and the ‘phone stops working
  • I ‘phone up our insurance company, and they say “Take it in to an Apple shop and get them to write a report – if it says it is not reparable we will refund, but you will need to pay £50 excess and lose 33% of your no-claims bonus”
  • So, my wife takes it in to an Apple shop in Cambridge, and they confirm in writing that it needs replacement – but they add that there is liquid inside the ‘phone.
  • On reading our insurance policy I note that it says that ‘phones are not covered for liquid damage. However, the ‘phone had never been submerged in liquid and was working fine before the glass broke when it fell on the floor. The reason it had stopped working was nothing at all to do with liquid. But by writing that there was liquid in the iPhone, Apple invalidates our insurance!
  • The Apple shop also notes that they will replace it for £139 since it is out of guarantee – which is VERY much less than a new replacement iPhone would cost (£449).
  • So, if we pay Apple only £89 more than the £50 we would need to pay as excess charge to our insurance company, we can get a new iPhone, and not lose our no claims bonus.  Theoretically we should be happy, and Apple would get the direct benefit of our payment as well as another sale!
  • However, this is completely WRONG.  The ‘phone had never been in contact with liquid (other perhaps than sweat) – possibly some moisture had come in subsequently as a result of the crack in the glass, but any presence of liquid was nothing to do with why the ‘phone was not working!  We should be able to get a new ‘phone simply for the £50 excess on our insurance policy! But Apple invalidated our insurance claim by saying that there was liquid in it!

So, now the bright side of the story:

  • My daughter then took the iPhone into the Apple shop in Southampton – and persuaded them to look at the ‘phone again
  • Guess what?  Yes, they found that the problem was nothing to do with liquid, but as we knew all along was a result of the cracked screen!
  • So, they repaired it (for the magical £139) and we are now sending off their report to our insurance company for the claim!

Thanks Apple Southampton!!

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March 18, 2010 · 9:47 am

Further reflections on the refereeing process

Not so long ago, I wrote about some of the issues associated with peer reviewing of research grant proposals.  This morning, I received editorial comments on one of my recently submitted papers – four sets of comments were broadly supportive, usefully recommending changes that would improve the paper.  However, a fifth referee clearly had not understood the purpose of the paper, which was a largely qualitative analysis of ICTs and disability in Ghana.  This is what the referee wrote:

“The paper lacks a profound research method & data analysis techniques.
In order to improve the paper I suggest:
-You develop taxonomy of the various possible factors (drivers, benefits, barriers, pitfalls) related to:
ICT & Special Education Needs in Developing Country Settings.
-Make a thorough field study grounded by previously derived taxonomy
-Use statistical analysis to determine the correlations between the taxonomies & derive the hypothesis for the study. Or use grounded theory analysis if you are interested more in the phenomenon rather than the correlations.
For the time being the paper findings are scattered and cannot be granted as validated or evenaccurate or complete.
Therefore the paper is not ready yet for publishing”.

OK – at one level, I accept that there are indeed different approaches to intellectual enquiry, but it seems quite clear that this referee fails to see the value of qualitative approaches, and is seeking to impose one particular view of the research process.

At least the other referees found something that they liked in the paper:

  • “This article addresses a particularly important issue very well. The authors understand the problem deeply and support their case with relevant evidence and clear writing.”
  • “This manuscript addresses an important and inadequately addressed topic. Data presented is valuable in informing programs and policy needs related to ICT for people with disabilities in educational settings in Ghana and other low-resource communities.”

I am tempted entirely to give up sending papers to academic journals – let’s face it, few people read them anyway – and instead simply put out material on the Internet and see what readers themselves make of them!

At the very least, I will try in future to submit papers to journals where I have greater faith in the quality of the refereeing process!

———————————————

Following correspondence with the journal’s Editor in Chief, I am delighted to say that my co-author and I are resubmitting our paper, and will include with this a commentary of exactly what we think of the referee’s comments above. Let’s see what happens!

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March 12, 2010 · 3:54 am

ICTs and Development: workshop at IIT Delhi (Day 2)

Welcome back to the second day of the ICTs and development workshop at IIT Delhi.

We got underway with Jonathan Donner’s (Microsoft Research India) invited lead talk on The changing roles of mobile phones in development: some examples from Africa

  • Emphasised amazing growth of mobile ‘phones – but rightly noted that this is neither universal not homogenous
  • We need to focus on the people rather than the technology – M4D is the tip of an iceberg of uses that people make of mobile ‘phones
  • Uses of mobiles for agriculture: use of mobiles for ‘traditional’ extension; creating platform mobile services including new market systems such as Manobi, or lean market places such as Google Trader
  • Homegrown services: M-PESA and MXIT – low barriers to adoption, affordable and compelling relative to existing alternatives, woven into everyday life, network effects.  They do well because they are so simple.
  • Both of these offer real possibilities for scale – albeit not yet for the poorest of the poor – and do things that traditional voice cannot do
  • Importance of unintended consequences
  • We need more evidence; we need to distinguish between mobility and connectivity; and we need to take the long view
  • We should also resist the use of “M4D” as a research term so as to de-fetishise it – moving the emphasis to the people not the technology; if we keep the term, we need to focus on the “4”

MOBILES AND MICRO-ENTREPRENEURS

Parveen Pannu (University of Delhi, India) Mobiles and socio-economic life of press workers in Delhi

  • Focus on urban growth in India and the rapid adoption of mobiles, especially among informal sector workers
  • Having clothes ironed is a central part of urban middle class India – the ironing business depends a lot on personal contact and good will (but there is also a press workers union)
  • Survey of households who did ironing work: c.65% had a family mobile ‘phone; cost of ‘phones was major factor influencing price (some received them from their customers); users of mobile ‘phones earned more than non-users, but cause/effect not known; usage – 38% social, 29% work related; most calls were received from the lady of the house who arranged collection/delivery of clothes and finding new companies; 50% were not into texting SMS messages (not comfortable because of English language texting)

Ishita Shruti (IIT Delhi) Remittance behaviour and doing business among Indian rural salesmen in Cambodia

  • New ICTs have played an important role in remittances (both economic and social) – focus of this ethnographic research is on rural salesmen mostly from UP
  • Internet based ‘phone calls are the cheapest means of communicating – so people use internet cafés/’booths’
  • ‘Agents’ are used to deliver remittances – informal network enabled through ‘phone calls (social capital plays an important role in delivering remittances)
  • Mobile ‘phones have also facilitated business, enabling salesmen to interact with family but also to make decisions about their businesses

ICTs, CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE STATE

Jean-Yves Hamel (UNDP) Public interests, private costs: civil society and the use of ICTs in Timor Leste

  • Placed emphasis on the notion of freedoms and the capability approach
  • Highlighted role of FDI from Telstra – supported by UN – and subsequent problems associated with its monopoly position. Monopolies are associated with high costs of ICT provision; regulators are unable to challenge these.
  • Noted the early use of ICTs from 1994 to enable communication of civil society ‘opposition’ with the rest of world
  • Key role of deep women’s networks – links to health organisations, scholarships, women’s rights groups
  • ICTs provide an important window on the world

ICTs AND ECONOMY

Nimmi Rangaswamy (Microsoft Research India) The PC aided enterprise and recycling ICT

  • Role of ICTs in expanding small and micro-enterprises in Mumbai slums
  • ICTs can help promote skill building; business are organic and self-sustaining
  • Nice business ecology coming into play – capital, space, skills, hardware
  • Not simply assimilating technology for business, but also creating new systems and processes
  • “There is no ‘for D’ in it, because they are doing it themselves” – not sure I agree with this, surely this is itself a form of development

Jack Linchuan Qiu (Chinese University, Hong Kong) Working-class information society? Open questions about China and ICTs

  • Focused on the “information have-less”
  • Some statistics from China: internet users 2 m in 1998, but 298 m in 2008; 49% of internet users are now not college-educated – so Internet is being used much more widely across different sectors of the population
  • Private sector now accounts for more than half of urban population employment – so people have to find jobs, and this has been associated with a rapid increase in ICTs: does macro-empowermnet lead to (seemingly) micro-empowerment
  • Measuring information needs is complex; fundamental differences between information needs and wants.
  • Bottom of pyramid innovations are firstly social and only secondarily technological
  • Developing a new class analysis based on horizontal networking among workers
  • Chindia as a new path to development – a re-evaluation of labour-centred production

INTERNET AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Otgonjargal Okhidoi (Educational Channel Television, Mongolia) Can technology level the inequality in education delivery? Blended technology based education program in Mongolia

  • Mongolian democritisation and economic liberalisation created freedom for flourishing media companies, mostly for profit commercial broadcasting – mostly focus on imported programmes (soaps, sumo…)
  • Educational Channel TV began only three years ago for public sector broadcasting (4-6 hours airtime a day on academic subjects; not for profit and one of only 2 nationwide broadcasters).  Then Internet service and cellphone messaging added on to make it more interactive and provide feedback (focus of project on English language and IT)
  • 93% of total population of Mongolia names TV as the key source of information
  • Inequality of access to education and quality of content – 66% of children live outside Ulaanbatar, and are poorly served by education
  • Almost all schools have computer labs set up by donor funding, and all are connected to the Internet – but there is not much good content available.  So, they used 20 minute TV programmes and followed up with work in class on Internet. Reported that impact on knowledge acquisition was positive, and it enhanced self-learning

S. Subash (National Academy of Agricultural Research Management) Knowledge empowerment of farmers through interactive web-module on dairy innovations

  • Use of ICTs for technology transfer agricultural extension in the field of dairying focusing particularly on web-module (Haryana and Tamil Nadu case study)
  • Training in ICT centres given to farmers; needs of farmers identified and web-based learning module given to them
  • Reported that farmers in Haryana has a 16% knowledge gain as a result of the intervention, and 28% gain in Tamil Nadu – although some concerns were expressed in questions about the impact of experimental design
  • Benefits also gained by extension workers
  • Users requested more interactivity and provision of real-time information; it is important to ensure that content is regularly updated; mobile alerts for farmers should also be introduced

Murali Shanmugavelan (Panos, London) Telecentres and public spaces

  • Substantial amount of recent support for telecentres in India – but “what information is reaching what communities?”
  • How do telecentres interact with village communities – are they reinforcing or changing social structures? Study of 12 telecentres of different kind.
  • ICTs can constrain or expand public spaces (four layers of public: physical, management, human as public, and services) – communication practices can create a chaos in traditional systems
  • Key factors: location influences accessibility; telecentres specifically designed for particular underprivileged groups such as dalits are exclusionary rather than ‘public’; management layer is very influential (recruiting women increases inclusivity); type of service delivery influences usage (and real needs of excluded users are not necessarily delivered); social and cultural factors constrain usage (discrimination against women and dalits; low participation of elderly and disabled communities)
  • There is a real need to map non-users and understand more about why they do not use ICTs – traditional hierarchies

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March 11, 2010 · 4:50 am

ICTs and Development: workshop at IIT Delhi (Day 1)

It is good to be back in Delhi – and to have an opportunity to reflect on the use of ICTs in development practice with colleagues from across the world.  Thanks to Vigneswara Ilavarasan and Mark Levy for bringing us all together at IIT Delhi.

Following introductions from Prof Amrit Srinivasan (Head of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi), Prof. Balakrishnan (Deputy Director, IIT Delhi) and Phet Sayo (Senior Program Officer, IIT Delhi), we got underway with the real business.  Below are some of my reflections on some of the presentations:

Rohan Samarajiva (Chair and CEI Lirneasia, Sri Lanka) Invited Lead Talk 1

  • Highlighted the key importance of bringing mobile prices down which led to expanded usage
  • Competition played an important part in this – he argues that this will actually lead to greater use by the poor
  • Implications for broadband and internet connectivity – will this follow the same path as with mobiles?
  • Policy implications: role of regulation (must deregulate); need to bring prices down; need for ‘fat pipes’ (international broadband connectivity); problems associated with rent seeking; need to go gentle on quality of service regulation (he commented that “I am a lapdog of the capitalists, but I prefer to work for the bottom of the pyramid”); in the end, customers pay taxes that governments impose on companies, so we need to phase out universal-service levies (companies show they do not need to be persuaded to work in rural areas).
  • Competition will find its level – he is a strong believer that the market will provide the right solutions.  My experience does not confirm this – I do not accept that the market will indeed serve the interests of the poorest and most marginalised.
ICTs AND SMEs
Vigneswara Ilavarasan (IIT Delhi) and Mark Levy (Michigan State University) ICTs and micro-enterprises
  • Used a probability sampling strategy of small/micro enterprises in Mumbai
  • Fundamental conclusion was that there is a mis-match between the rhetoric and reality of ICT-use for business purposes
  • Mobile phones are used for contacting employees and some business contacts, but they are used much more for social purposes with family and friends
  • Fewer enterprises have computers than mobile ‘phones, but those who have computers do use them more extensively for business purposes (using them for stock inventories, employee records, and tracking business processes)
Khalid Rabayah (Arab American University, Palestine) ICT use among Palestinian enterprises
  • Survey of just under 3000 Palestinian enterprises
  • Most business owners do not see much use for computers or Internet for their enterprises
  • Those who do use the Internet primarily use it for e-mail and searching for information; main reason for using Internet is to save time
  • They primarily use the communicating aspect of ICTs, and therefore especially use mobile telephony
  • Internet is not used much for business – mainly for cultural reasons; 50% prefer doing business face-to-face
Godfred Kwasi Frempong (Science and Technology Policy Research institute, Ghana) Mobile ‘phones and micro/small enterprises in Ghana

  • Reported the high usage of mobile ‘phones by businesses in Ghana.  Most used voice and only 21% used SMS as a business tool. Key issue why SMS is not used more is because people have to be literate to read a SMS message
  • Missed calls (flashing) are very important – some 65% of enterprises use them as an important business tool
  • Only 1% of the sample  used mobile ‘phone banking (although 13% knew about this)

ICTs AND WOMEN
Shikoh Gitau (University of Cape Town) Job-seekers in Khayelitsha

  • Highlighted the growing importance of mobile Internet
  • Reported on training scheme for a small group of young women in Khayelitsha – main use was to explore ways of accessing the Internet for gaining jobs
  • Other reasons why people were using mobile Internet included gospel music, news and information, Facebook and MXit
  • Knowledge among other people that they knew how to use the Internet raised their social capital

S. Nandini (Working Women’s Forum, India) ICT and women in the informal sector

  • Survey of usage by group of women in the Working Women’s Forum
  • Emphasised that women had an unfilled real need for communication, and mobile ‘phones can indeed now provide this.  Women in the informal sector has facilitated them in juggling multiple roles (social, business, etc.)

ICTs AND AGRICULTURE
Mokbul Morshed Ahmad (Asian Institute of Technology) Mobiles in Kampong Thom, Cambodia

  • Mobile ‘phones are mainly used for social purposes, but farmers can save some costs in terms of time spent travelling; that having been said, they need to find the means to pay for them
  • Traders generally use ‘phones more than the farmers

Surabhi Mittal (Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations) Mobile ‘phones as a catalyst for agricultural growth in India

  • Mobile ‘phones can help linkage between agricultural extension services and farmers, and this can improve farm profitability
  • Farmers subscribe to customised services – mainly seeking information on weather, market prices, inputs, government services…
  • Knowledge of better input prices and information do indeed enable higher productivity and thus enhanced farm profitability going up between 5 and 25%

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