Latest Blog Post
Friday, 21 October, 2022 - 01:31
This is the core of my contribution to a Nethope 2022 seminar at the invitation of Oxfam US. |
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Mapping The Explosion of Tech Hubs Across Africa |
As recently as 2011, at an international conference, an expert from Africa's first and foremost Tech Hub estimated that there might be as many as 14 or 15 hubs across Africa. The truth was that no-one knew for sure how many existed. To try and get some accurate data on numbers, Lukonga Lindunda and I decided to initiate a crowdmap of Africa's Tech Hubs. |
Cheat Sheet on ICTs & SDGs |
Last month I did some research on the role of ICTs in pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals and I thought that it might be useful to share some of those links here as an open resource. Hat tip to Anand Sheombar and to Linda Raftree for their help to me along the way. |
ICT Access is NOT equal to Development |
Last week I was swotting up on ICTs in the Sustainable Development Goals for an interview. I noticed how the SDGs that mention ICTs set targets for access rather than for any development outcomes that access might contribute to. |
Information is NOT Power |
We are often told that information is power - and that by extension – access to information is empowerment. |
Critical Agency in ICT4D |
Amartya Sen argues that “critical agency is important in combating inequality of every kind” and that it is 'pivotal' to human development. |
A Buddhist Philosophy of ICT4D? |
Given his philosophy of interconnectedness, the Buddha might be reduced to smiling compassionately at the technologically deterministic claims of some ICT4D folk that their ICT is the sole cause of a particular development outcome. |
The Invisible Hand(set) & Mackerel Economics |
“Mobile Phones Promote Economic Growth” was the simple, technologically deterministic claim made by The Economist in 2007, citing as evidence Robert Jensen's now famous study of mobile phone adoption in India. In the single most cited piece of research in |
Open Source ICT4D can be Sustainable and Free |
Wayan Vota wrote a great blogpost this week on whether the goals of sustainability and using open source ICT4D are compatible within the context of international development. It is a stimulating and thoughtful piece. |
25 ICT4D Conferences in 2016 |
This is my latest attempt at sketching out a calendar of ICT4D conferences scheduled for 2016. Thanks especially to Laurent Straskraba, Edgar Nsheega and to Richard Heeks and Larry Stillman for suggesting additions. |
Should all ICT4D be Commodified? |
Alex Deng from Huawei's Corporate Sustainable Development Committee has posted a stimulating article on the Harvard Business Review site. In it he argues that to really help the global poor we must create technology that they’ll pay for. |
Join the Founding Team at UNU-CS |
If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you will know that as soon as I finish the final (?) revisions on my PhD this September I am moving to Macau. |
UN University Computing and Society (UNU-CS) Research Fellowships |
The United Nations University is recruiting Research Fellows for its new Institute on Computing and Society - UNU-CS - in Macau. |
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