Pub Date : 2007-12-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937416
Matthew Kam, Siddharth Bhagwani, Anuj Kumar, S. Lal, Akhil Mathur, Anuj Tewari, J. Canny
Low levels of education remain a barrier to economic empowerment in the developing world. In our work on English language learning among underserved communities in India since 2004, we have observed differences between school communities in terms of their access to educational opportunities outside school, access to ICTs including cellphones and digital gaming, enthusiasm for visitors, and the relationships between students. We report on these observations and argue that they call for the greater use of a comparative approach in constructing models of the micro-cultures at various schools, so that user-centered design processes and methods can better account for the unique differences across communities.
{"title":"The social complexities of user-centered design in ICTD: Experiences from four schools in India's villages and slums","authors":"Matthew Kam, Siddharth Bhagwani, Anuj Kumar, S. Lal, Akhil Mathur, Anuj Tewari, J. Canny","doi":"10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937416","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937416","url":null,"abstract":"Low levels of education remain a barrier to economic empowerment in the developing world. In our work on English language learning among underserved communities in India since 2004, we have observed differences between school communities in terms of their access to educational opportunities outside school, access to ICTs including cellphones and digital gaming, enthusiasm for visitors, and the relationships between students. We report on these observations and argue that they call for the greater use of a comparative approach in constructing models of the micro-cultures at various schools, so that user-centered design processes and methods can better account for the unique differences across communities.","PeriodicalId":299790,"journal":{"name":"2007 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126437543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2007-12-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937404
J. Bass
Resource limitations present several challenges to diffusion of ICT skills in developing (non-OECD) countries. Trainee teachers join colleges of teacher education with little or no prior exposure to technologies such as mobile phones or computers. Distinctive models are a required to help understanding of basic ICT skills learning in this context. A developmental model of basic ICT skills acquisition is presented. The model links learner skill level acquisition with pre-requisite infra-structural requirements called resource milestones. The model is applied to six out of the 22 teacher education institutions in Ethiopia and schools in and around the zonal capital Debre Birhan. It is found that none of the surveyed primary schools, Grade 1 to 8, use ICT in teaching and learning. A higher education preparatory school and two teacher training institutions have high speed Internet access. In the teacher training institutions the Internet is used to teach skills such as Web browsing to trainee teachers. The Skill Levels and Resource Milestones model provides a detailed roadmap for funding agencies and institutions to plan their investments. The Institutions surveyed have some way to go before students can develop more advanced information
{"title":"A developmental model of basic ICT skills for pre-service trainee teachers","authors":"J. Bass","doi":"10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937404","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937404","url":null,"abstract":"Resource limitations present several challenges to diffusion of ICT skills in developing (non-OECD) countries. Trainee teachers join colleges of teacher education with little or no prior exposure to technologies such as mobile phones or computers. Distinctive models are a required to help understanding of basic ICT skills learning in this context. A developmental model of basic ICT skills acquisition is presented. The model links learner skill level acquisition with pre-requisite infra-structural requirements called resource milestones. The model is applied to six out of the 22 teacher education institutions in Ethiopia and schools in and around the zonal capital Debre Birhan. It is found that none of the surveyed primary schools, Grade 1 to 8, use ICT in teaching and learning. A higher education preparatory school and two teacher training institutions have high speed Internet access. In the teacher training institutions the Internet is used to teach skills such as Web browsing to trainee teachers. The Skill Levels and Resource Milestones model provides a detailed roadmap for funding agencies and institutions to plan their investments. The Institutions surveyed have some way to go before students can develop more advanced information","PeriodicalId":299790,"journal":{"name":"2007 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development","volume":"221 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132474152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2007-12-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937410
S. Chakraborty, Tamali Bhattacharya, Plaban Kumar Bhowmick, A. Basu, S. Sarkar
Low literacy scenario in India and other developing nation demands an alternative learning environment to deal with the problem. Lack of trained teachers, high dropout rates are some of the major problems that need to be addressed. Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) or ITS Authoring tools (ITSAT) can be thought of as a possible solution to these problems. In this paper we present Shikshak, an ITSAT developed by us and discuss its deployment in the district of Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal along with its sample effect on primary education.
{"title":"Shikshak: An Intelligent Tutoring System Authoring tool for rural education","authors":"S. Chakraborty, Tamali Bhattacharya, Plaban Kumar Bhowmick, A. Basu, S. Sarkar","doi":"10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937410","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937410","url":null,"abstract":"Low literacy scenario in India and other developing nation demands an alternative learning environment to deal with the problem. Lack of trained teachers, high dropout rates are some of the major problems that need to be addressed. Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) or ITS Authoring tools (ITSAT) can be thought of as a possible solution to these problems. In this paper we present Shikshak, an ITSAT developed by us and discuss its deployment in the district of Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal along with its sample effect on primary education.","PeriodicalId":299790,"journal":{"name":"2007 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development","volume":"98 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133200256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2007-12-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937400
Indrani Medhi-Thies, K. Toyama
This paper presents the use of full-context video to motivate and aid non-literate, first-time users of PCs to successfully navigate a computer application with minimal assistance. Following previous work focused on non-literate users, we observed that in spite of our subjects' understanding of the UI mechanics, they experienced barriers beyond illiteracy in interacting with the computer: lack of awareness of what the PC could deliver, fear and mistrust of the technology, and lack of comprehension about how information relevant to them was embedded in the PC. In this paper, we address these challenges with full-context video, which includes dramatizations of how a user might use the application and how relevant information comes to be contained in the computer, in addition to a tutorial of the UI. In experiments conducted with 35 non-literate residents of Bangalore slums, the introduction of full-context video dramatically improved task completion for a job-search task.
{"title":"Full-context videos for first-time, non-literate PC users","authors":"Indrani Medhi-Thies, K. Toyama","doi":"10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937400","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937400","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents the use of full-context video to motivate and aid non-literate, first-time users of PCs to successfully navigate a computer application with minimal assistance. Following previous work focused on non-literate users, we observed that in spite of our subjects' understanding of the UI mechanics, they experienced barriers beyond illiteracy in interacting with the computer: lack of awareness of what the PC could deliver, fear and mistrust of the technology, and lack of comprehension about how information relevant to them was embedded in the PC. In this paper, we address these challenges with full-context video, which includes dramatizations of how a user might use the application and how relevant information comes to be contained in the computer, in addition to a tutorial of the UI. In experiments conducted with 35 non-literate residents of Bangalore slums, the introduction of full-context video dramatically improved task completion for a job-search task.","PeriodicalId":299790,"journal":{"name":"2007 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development","volume":"56 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127338468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2007-12-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937386
Nidhi Kalra, Tom Lauwers, Dan Dewey, Thomas S. Stepleton, M. Dias
Less than 3% of the 145 million blind people living in developing countries are literate. This low literacy rate is partly due to the lack of trained teachers and the challenges associated with learning to write Braille on a traditional slate and stylus. These challenges include writing from right to left, writing mirrored images of letters, and receiving significantly delayed feedback. Extensive conversations with the Mathru School for the Blind near Bangalore, India, revealed the need for a robust, low-power, low-cost Braille writing tutor. We present an iterative and participatory design process resulting in the creation and refinement of a prototype Braille writing tutor system. This system uses a novel input device to capture a student's activity on a slate using a stylus and uses a range of techniques to teach Braille writing skills to both beginner and advanced students. We report on lessons learned from the implementation of this project and from a six-week pilot study at the Mathru school, and outline future directions for improvement.
{"title":"Iterative design of a Braille writing tutor to combat illiteracy","authors":"Nidhi Kalra, Tom Lauwers, Dan Dewey, Thomas S. Stepleton, M. Dias","doi":"10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937386","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937386","url":null,"abstract":"Less than 3% of the 145 million blind people living in developing countries are literate. This low literacy rate is partly due to the lack of trained teachers and the challenges associated with learning to write Braille on a traditional slate and stylus. These challenges include writing from right to left, writing mirrored images of letters, and receiving significantly delayed feedback. Extensive conversations with the Mathru School for the Blind near Bangalore, India, revealed the need for a robust, low-power, low-cost Braille writing tutor. We present an iterative and participatory design process resulting in the creation and refinement of a prototype Braille writing tutor system. This system uses a novel input device to capture a student's activity on a slate using a stylus and uses a range of techniques to teach Braille writing skills to both beginner and advanced students. We report on lessons learned from the implementation of this project and from a six-week pilot study at the Mathru school, and outline future directions for improvement.","PeriodicalId":299790,"journal":{"name":"2007 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development","volume":"68 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116477800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2007-12-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937420
G. Anderson, S. Asare, Y. Ayalew, D. Garg, B. Gopolang, Audrey N. Masizana-Katongo, O. Mogotlhwane, Dimane Mpoeleng, H. Nyongesa
Integrated Health Information System through Mobile Telephony (IHISM) is a project carried out by Computer Science department at the University of Botswana. The main objective of the research project is to develop an integrated healthcare information service which will provide access to a variety of HIV AND AIDS related information for different users. The aim of this paper is to analyze the use of SMSs as an information access technology in a multilingual environment such as Botswana. The main focus is the analysis of the users' language in constructing SMSs to retrieve information from the IHISM information service. The results acquired in this work give a good lead towards designing the most appropriate bilingual natural language parser. The analysis, carried out on a sample of 1,600 SMS queries (800 English, 800 Setswana), would support the way parsing techniques could best hypothesize as accurately as possible the SMS question being asked.
{"title":"Towards a bilingual SMS parser for HIV and AIDS information retrieval in Botswana","authors":"G. Anderson, S. Asare, Y. Ayalew, D. Garg, B. Gopolang, Audrey N. Masizana-Katongo, O. Mogotlhwane, Dimane Mpoeleng, H. Nyongesa","doi":"10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937420","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937420","url":null,"abstract":"Integrated Health Information System through Mobile Telephony (IHISM) is a project carried out by Computer Science department at the University of Botswana. The main objective of the research project is to develop an integrated healthcare information service which will provide access to a variety of HIV AND AIDS related information for different users. The aim of this paper is to analyze the use of SMSs as an information access technology in a multilingual environment such as Botswana. The main focus is the analysis of the users' language in constructing SMSs to retrieve information from the IHISM information service. The results acquired in this work give a good lead towards designing the most appropriate bilingual natural language parser. The analysis, carried out on a sample of 1,600 SMS queries (800 English, 800 Setswana), would support the way parsing techniques could best hypothesize as accurately as possible the SMS question being asked.","PeriodicalId":299790,"journal":{"name":"2007 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129429337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2007-12-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937389
Janani Vasudev, B. Parthasarathy
One consequence of the increased ubiquity and shortening product cycles of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is the proliferation of hazardous electronic waste (e-waste). Despite governance mechanisms to control the management and disposal of e-waste, significant quantities are exported from developed to developing countries, where they are processed in unsafe conditions in the informal sector. To understand this phenomenon, this paper examines e-waste management and disposal in India. It shows that so long as benefits from transnational e-waste flows exceed the benefits of compliance with regulations, such flows will continue. It argues that tightening regulations alone will not improve e-waste management and disposal; instead, the regulations must acknowledge and facilitate an international division of labor in the e-waste recycling industry. By doing so, they will not only address the need for employment in the informal sector; but also promote a cleaner environment.
{"title":"The post consumptive residues of information and communication technologies - transnational e-waste flows and developmental dilemmas","authors":"Janani Vasudev, B. Parthasarathy","doi":"10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937389","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937389","url":null,"abstract":"One consequence of the increased ubiquity and shortening product cycles of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is the proliferation of hazardous electronic waste (e-waste). Despite governance mechanisms to control the management and disposal of e-waste, significant quantities are exported from developed to developing countries, where they are processed in unsafe conditions in the informal sector. To understand this phenomenon, this paper examines e-waste management and disposal in India. It shows that so long as benefits from transnational e-waste flows exceed the benefits of compliance with regulations, such flows will continue. It argues that tightening regulations alone will not improve e-waste management and disposal; instead, the regulations must acknowledge and facilitate an international division of labor in the e-waste recycling industry. By doing so, they will not only address the need for employment in the informal sector; but also promote a cleaner environment.","PeriodicalId":299790,"journal":{"name":"2007 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development","volume":"74 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134560603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2007-12-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937422
Janaki Srinivasan
This paper uses the study of an information kiosk project in southern India to argue that the provision of information using information and communication technologies (ICTs) does not reduce information asymmetries or bring about economic development in and of itself. The quality of information determines when information services are used and, further, what the consequences of such usage are. The paper examines trustworthiness as one aspect of the quality of information. Using a study of information kiosks in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India, the paper concludes that perceptions of trustworthiness are based not just on the facts and analyses that are said to constitute information, but more on the context within which information is accessed. Especially in the absence of repeated interactions that can establish trust in new forms of information provision, older perceptions of trustworthiness, shaped by existing practices and power structures, determine what constitute dasiatrustworthypsila sources, media and dispensers of information for different sections of a community.
{"title":"The role of trustworthiness in information service usage: The case of Parry information kiosks, Tamil Nadu, India","authors":"Janaki Srinivasan","doi":"10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937422","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937422","url":null,"abstract":"This paper uses the study of an information kiosk project in southern India to argue that the provision of information using information and communication technologies (ICTs) does not reduce information asymmetries or bring about economic development in and of itself. The quality of information determines when information services are used and, further, what the consequences of such usage are. The paper examines trustworthiness as one aspect of the quality of information. Using a study of information kiosks in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India, the paper concludes that perceptions of trustworthiness are based not just on the facts and analyses that are said to constitute information, but more on the context within which information is accessed. Especially in the absence of repeated interactions that can establish trust in new forms of information provision, older perceptions of trustworthiness, shaped by existing practices and power structures, determine what constitute dasiatrustworthypsila sources, media and dispensers of information for different sections of a community.","PeriodicalId":299790,"journal":{"name":"2007 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"120945737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2007-12-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937407
Plaban Kumar Bhowmick, S. Sarkar, S. Chakraborty, A. Basu
Internet is a huge repository of quality learning materials and continues to grow in a faster rate. The school students may be benefited immensely as these learning materials may well supplement their curricular requirements. But Access to the Internet is costly, because it is very expensive to maintain a persistent Internet connection. For some schools in the developing countries like India, this cost may not be affordable specifically in rural schools. This makes way to a digital divide between the rural and urban schools which is unwanted. For these rural schools, limiting the amount of bandwidth consumed is of paramount importance. It is necessary that the schools be connected to the Internet for the least time, in order to minimize the access cost. In this paper, we present a system Samvidha that allows the rural school students to access the Internet contents in an offline fashion.
{"title":"Samvidha: A ICT system for personalized offline Internet Access for rural schools","authors":"Plaban Kumar Bhowmick, S. Sarkar, S. Chakraborty, A. Basu","doi":"10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937407","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937407","url":null,"abstract":"Internet is a huge repository of quality learning materials and continues to grow in a faster rate. The school students may be benefited immensely as these learning materials may well supplement their curricular requirements. But Access to the Internet is costly, because it is very expensive to maintain a persistent Internet connection. For some schools in the developing countries like India, this cost may not be affordable specifically in rural schools. This makes way to a digital divide between the rural and urban schools which is unwanted. For these rural schools, limiting the amount of bandwidth consumed is of paramount importance. It is necessary that the schools be connected to the Internet for the least time, in order to minimize the access cost. In this paper, we present a system Samvidha that allows the rural school students to access the Internet contents in an offline fashion.","PeriodicalId":299790,"journal":{"name":"2007 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127426842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2007-12-01DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937408
S. Biswas, Soumya Roy
The micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is one of the fastest growing industrial sectors all over the world. Clusters of small and medium enterprises have been very successful worldwide in promoting their growth. The contributions of MSME clusters to Indian economy in terms of increasing manufacturing capacities, increasing exports, employment generation etc. have been widely studied. The success of these clusters is largely due to the individual small firms of the cluster closely collaborating and sharing resources. Sharing is the theme of our paper, where we focus on understanding how productivity and efficiency of an SME cluster in developing region can be improved by furthering collaboration among its units. The hypotheses of our study were that (a) there exists limited sharing and collaboration through informal networks among SME cluster units in India, (b) these clusters could be more productive by improving the collaboration among cluster actors, and (c) the sharing and cooperation within the cluster can be improved with formal networks among the cluster entities. To validate our hypotheses, we undertook a field study of the SME jeans cluster in Bellary, Karnataka. In this paper, we have put forth our findings from the study, followed by a proposal of an affordable ICT infrastructure solution to increase collaboration and hence productivity of the enterprises in Indian SME clusters.
{"title":"A shared ICT infrastructure for Indian SME clusters","authors":"S. Biswas, Soumya Roy","doi":"10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937408","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTD.2007.4937408","url":null,"abstract":"The micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is one of the fastest growing industrial sectors all over the world. Clusters of small and medium enterprises have been very successful worldwide in promoting their growth. The contributions of MSME clusters to Indian economy in terms of increasing manufacturing capacities, increasing exports, employment generation etc. have been widely studied. The success of these clusters is largely due to the individual small firms of the cluster closely collaborating and sharing resources. Sharing is the theme of our paper, where we focus on understanding how productivity and efficiency of an SME cluster in developing region can be improved by furthering collaboration among its units. The hypotheses of our study were that (a) there exists limited sharing and collaboration through informal networks among SME cluster units in India, (b) these clusters could be more productive by improving the collaboration among cluster actors, and (c) the sharing and cooperation within the cluster can be improved with formal networks among the cluster entities. To validate our hypotheses, we undertook a field study of the SME jeans cluster in Bellary, Karnataka. In this paper, we have put forth our findings from the study, followed by a proposal of an affordable ICT infrastructure solution to increase collaboration and hence productivity of the enterprises in Indian SME clusters.","PeriodicalId":299790,"journal":{"name":"2007 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development","volume":"62 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132640136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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