1 – get people to offer examples: Mobile phone, computer, internet, video, GPS, radio, Possible exercise (5 mins): ask people to turn to their neighbour and list types of ICTs they use. 2. Technologies are used to help people to access and share information and to communicate. Possible exercise (10 mins): ask people in pairs to think of examples from their personal and work lives when they need to: collect information/ data access information share information communicate with others What means and media do you use? digital? Paper? Face to face? 3. Q – what is the difference between a mobile phone and a computer? The difference in use can be because of size, price, transportability, quality etc not just function. Convergence means using more than one type of technology in a chain or network to increase the use and complexity. For example, a radio station which uses the internet to get access to information for programme content, broadcasts the shows on the radio frequencies (and the internet) and uses the phone to get listener participation – phone-ins, text-ins, listener clubs etc.
Ask people to think of some of the activities involved in each of these elements: Connection – infrastructure, investment, policy Use it – location, gender, age, literacy, price, lanugage, skills – Useful – content, language, support, culture, relevant What next – how to make use of information and communication – link it to personal or community development goals? Influence? Learning? Application to livelihoods?
ACCESS – in urban areas the private sector are quick to provide, but in areas where investment is higher and returns lower the government and NGOs have to step in. However, sustainability is an issue – equipment is expensive and difficult to maintain, conditions are hard and income potential is low.
These are all connected – most of the time you inform and learn and communicate at the same time... But ICT can be used more one-way or two-way – top-down, bottom-up, sharing and exchange. Examples from the mobiles report: Village Diary!
Group discussion - Are any of these examples inspiring? Why?
Face to face or via technology such as video, telephone etc. Choose the means for communication/ information depending on many reasons... Is it reliable? Do you trust it? Is it available in your language? Do you have the right skills? (literacy, IT skills) Can you afford it? Is it culturally appropriate? Gender is an important consideration in ICT for Development, along with age, literacy, poverty etc, because these are issues which affect the ability of people to use ICT. For example, in Uganda there were many radio programmes on women’s issues and rights, because surveys had shown that radio was available in almost every household in rural Uganda. However, a participatory ICT project looked at the types of media women in particular could access, and found that the radios in the households belonged to the men, who controlled what could be listened to and took it, or the batteries, with them when they travelled. So the women were not able to listen to the programmes designed for them unless it interested men and played at a time the men were home.