IT needs people & action

"IT on its own does not do anything useful; in order to do anything, it must become part of an information system; information systems do not necessarily involve computers and telecommunication equipment; even when they do, information systems are much more than just IT because they involve people and their actions".

- Richard Heeks (1998) - found in article "information age reform of the public sector: the potential and problesm of IT for India"

Video Participation Workshop at WSF

Video Participation Workshop,
originally uploaded by make_change.

Here is one youth activist from Kenya interviewing a documentary filmer from India. This workshop hosted on Sunday was to introduce participants to the power of video and how to use video for documenting the history of lives in their communities. The purpose shows partipants exactly how easy it is for them to develop their own film and script.

World Social Forum ICT Registration

The World Social Forum has implemented a payment-via-mobile phone system. You basicallly purchase airtime credit for your phone (they give you a free SIM card) and then you type in the WSF number and bam! you have paid your registration fees through your phone instantly. I'm not even sure this kind of technology is available in North America but it exists all over Eastern Africa!

Time reveals the online community as democracy

Another one on the magazine racks was the Time “Person of the Year” edition (Dec.25,06-Jan.1,07). You would remember the front cover of a shiny computer screen which is supposedly reflecting your image back as “You control the Information Age”. The magazine geared the articles to state that it is today’s everyday society who are now building our knowledge and our history as people reflect their thoughts online through blogs, profile pages, videos and photos. Time sees it as some great community coming together to share information and perhaps develop some form of global understanding. The paper further writes anecdotes of how people use it in their lives from Marines blogging the Iraq war, to wanna-be chefs. The unreal phenomenon of video sharing on the web was a great evolution in 2006. It is a great article to know that we could possibly have control of the information age but unforunately, this is not applicable to a large majority of citizens in the world,… yet. Many people are limited from being part of this global sharing due to illiteracy and non-access to the internet. Those who are able to share are still the limited few with the resources to afford such services. So although the doors have opened to some of news around the world, the potential could be so much greater if the poor were given access and able to express their needs and successes.

"The Africa Report" - looks at ICTs

During my 4-hour delay in the Johannesburg airport, I picked up this magazine called The Africa Report, a publication based out of Paris. The main reason for buying the mag was because of its large bold ‘2007’ encrusting half of the cover, and “how the continent measures up: 53 country profiles”. This is the first time I had learned that there are 53 countries in Africa. Amazing that it took two years of being in and out of sub-Saharan Africa to know this fact. Besides catching up on the political climates predictions on Kenya, South Africa and Mozambique, they also had an article on ICTs in Africa titled, “Welcome to the permanent revolution”. The article seemed to give a very positive spin on telecommunications with its predictions of a 50% share of a “mature market” by 2009 and how telecom operators will have to adapt to the competitive arena through better quality service and moving towards information provided through cellphone internet access. It also summarizes the major employment impacts in North Africa like Morocco as they rapidly take advantage of its technology advancements by creating ICT-related jobs. Tunisia is attempting to follow suit. In terms of reach, it would be positive to see operators investigate further on potential of service in much-needed rural areas. Due to high costs of expansion to geographically dispersed areas, government and policy-makers will need to also look further into infrastructure potential particularly where it is most needed. Looks like much is expected from ICTs this coming year and look forward to following it during my time here in Nairobi.