Pub Date : 2004-12-01DOI: 10.1162/1544752044193425
Jon M. Corbett, C. Keller
Participatory Geographic Information and Multimedia Systems (PGIMSs) were developed and used by two rural communities in Indonesia. This paper reports on the empowerment impacts that resulted from this development project. Empowerment related to PGIMS is examined using a two-dimensional analytical framework that explores the phenomenon at two social scales (individual and community), and is related to four empowerment catalysts associated with the project (information, process, skills, and tools). This paper evaluates the appropriateness of the analytical framework and concludes with general observations about the relationship between empowerment and PGIMS.
{"title":"Empowerment and Participatory Geographic Information and Multimedia Systems: Observations from Two Communities in Indonesia","authors":"Jon M. Corbett, C. Keller","doi":"10.1162/1544752044193425","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/1544752044193425","url":null,"abstract":"Participatory Geographic Information and Multimedia Systems (PGIMSs) were developed and used by two rural communities in Indonesia. This paper reports on the empowerment impacts that resulted from this development project. Empowerment related to PGIMS is examined using a two-dimensional analytical framework that explores the phenomenon at two social scales (individual and community), and is related to four empowerment catalysts associated with the project (information, process, skills, and tools). This paper evaluates the appropriateness of the analytical framework and concludes with general observations about the relationship between empowerment and PGIMS.","PeriodicalId":45625,"journal":{"name":"Information Technologies & International Development","volume":"2 1","pages":"25-44"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2004-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64442542","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 : 2004-09-01DOI: 10.1162/1544752043971152
Ph. D. Alemayehu Molla, P. Licker
There is a paucity of empirical data on the level of diffusion of eCommerce technologies and business activities enabled by these technologies in businesses in developing countries. This study investigates the implementation and plans of a range of e-enabling hard and soft technologies: electronically performed business functions and the overall maturity of eCommerce usage. The authors surveyed 150 South African businesses. The findings reveal the dominance of communication aspects, but not the transaction aspects, of eCommerce. The implementation of integrated eCommerce solutions and security-enabling applications is very limited. Implementation plans of eCommerce revolve around extending communication technologies and enabling upward movement along the value chain, particularly marketing and procurement activities. By establishing benchmarks, the study contributes to our understanding of developments of eCommerce in developing countries.
{"title":"Maturation Stage of eCommerce in Developing Countries: A Survey of South African Companies","authors":"Ph. D. Alemayehu Molla, P. Licker","doi":"10.1162/1544752043971152","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/1544752043971152","url":null,"abstract":"There is a paucity of empirical data on the level of diffusion of eCommerce technologies and business activities enabled by these technologies in businesses in developing countries. This study investigates the implementation and plans of a range of e-enabling hard and soft technologies: electronically performed business functions and the overall maturity of eCommerce usage. The authors surveyed 150 South African businesses. The findings reveal the dominance of communication aspects, but not the transaction aspects, of eCommerce. The implementation of integrated eCommerce solutions and security-enabling applications is very limited. Implementation plans of eCommerce revolve around extending communication technologies and enabling upward movement along the value chain, particularly marketing and procurement activities. By establishing benchmarks, the study contributes to our understanding of developments of eCommerce in developing countries.","PeriodicalId":45625,"journal":{"name":"Information Technologies & International Development","volume":"2 1","pages":"89-98"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2004-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64442459","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 : 2004-09-01DOI: 10.1162/1544752043971161
Richa Kumar
Over the past few years, the long-term sustainability of ICT initiatives has increasingly come under question. Despite persistent doubts, governments, international agencies, NGOs, and private companies are pressing ahead to set up more such projects. This paper studies the financial sustainability of India's largest rural ICT initiative known as eChoupal. The eChoupals are distinct from other telecenter projects in that the value added is not in providing ICT infrastructure alone, but rather, in enabling efficiencies in the agricultural sector through greater information exchange and creation of an alternative market structure. An analysis of available data indicates that this project has a potential payback period of 3.9 years. Although several assumptions have been used in these calculations, a sensitivity analysis has been performed to provide a range of possible scenarios that show the profitability of the project. Through this analysis it seems that ICT projects can be financially sustainable when they are viewed not as an end in themselves but as tools to facilitate information exchange whereby, use of the technology enables higher efficiencies in another existing or new business setting, which provides the source of revenue to recover the initial investment.
{"title":"eChoupals: A Study on the Financial Sustainability of Village Internet Centers in Rural Madhya Pradesh","authors":"Richa Kumar","doi":"10.1162/1544752043971161","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/1544752043971161","url":null,"abstract":"Over the past few years, the long-term sustainability of ICT initiatives has increasingly come under question. Despite persistent doubts, governments, international agencies, NGOs, and private companies are pressing ahead to set up more such projects. This paper studies the financial sustainability of India's largest rural ICT initiative known as eChoupal. The eChoupals are distinct from other telecenter projects in that the value added is not in providing ICT infrastructure alone, but rather, in enabling efficiencies in the agricultural sector through greater information exchange and creation of an alternative market structure. An analysis of available data indicates that this project has a potential payback period of 3.9 years. Although several assumptions have been used in these calculations, a sensitivity analysis has been performed to provide a range of possible scenarios that show the profitability of the project. Through this analysis it seems that ICT projects can be financially sustainable when they are viewed not as an end in themselves but as tools to facilitate information exchange whereby, use of the technology enables higher efficiencies in another existing or new business setting, which provides the source of revenue to recover the initial investment.","PeriodicalId":45625,"journal":{"name":"Information Technologies & International Development","volume":"2 1","pages":"45-73"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2004-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64442466","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 : 2004-09-01DOI: 10.1162/1544752043971189
M. Best, E. J. Wilson
{"title":"Can IT Start-Ups Slay Telecommunication Incumbents? Stories of David versus Goliath","authors":"M. Best, E. J. Wilson","doi":"10.1162/1544752043971189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/1544752043971189","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45625,"journal":{"name":"Information Technologies & International Development","volume":"2 1","pages":"3-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2004-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64442473","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 : 2004-09-01DOI: 10.1162/1544752043971198
J. Donner
Despite a worldwide boom in mobile phone ownership, studies of the social and economic implications of mobile telephone use in the developing world are rare. Approaching mobile phone usage from the individual level, the study uses Q methodology to ask 31 owners of urban micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Kigali, Rwanda to articulate what using the mobile means to them. The exercise identified four distinct perspectives on mobile use among the participants. One perspective sees it as a device for the pursuit of instrumental business goals. A second perspective uses mobiles to satisfy emotional or intrinsic needs. Two other perspectives mix instrumental and intrinsic elements, seeing mobiles as productivity enhancers, or as simply indispensable. Taken together, these distinct perspectives illustrate a range of intended uses and gratifications among MSE owners, and suggest numerous paths for future research. Q methodology is discussed in some detail so that researchers can consider its utility as a way to understand users of information and communication technologies.
{"title":"Microentrepreneurs and Mobiles: An Exploration of the Uses of Mobile Phones by Small Business Owners in Rwanda","authors":"J. Donner","doi":"10.1162/1544752043971198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/1544752043971198","url":null,"abstract":"Despite a worldwide boom in mobile phone ownership, studies of the social and economic implications of mobile telephone use in the developing world are rare. Approaching mobile phone usage from the individual level, the study uses Q methodology to ask 31 owners of urban micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Kigali, Rwanda to articulate what using the mobile means to them. The exercise identified four distinct perspectives on mobile use among the participants. One perspective sees it as a device for the pursuit of instrumental business goals. A second perspective uses mobiles to satisfy emotional or intrinsic needs. Two other perspectives mix instrumental and intrinsic elements, seeing mobiles as productivity enhancers, or as simply indispensable. Taken together, these distinct perspectives illustrate a range of intended uses and gratifications among MSE owners, and suggest numerous paths for future research. Q methodology is discussed in some detail so that researchers can consider its utility as a way to understand users of information and communication technologies.","PeriodicalId":45625,"journal":{"name":"Information Technologies & International Development","volume":"2 1","pages":"1-21"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2004-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64442478","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 : 2004-09-01DOI: 10.1162/1544752043971170
Brij Kothari, Avinash Pandey, A. Chudgar
Same Language Subtitling (SLS) is the idea of subtitling the lyrics of song-based television programs (e.g., music videos), in the same language as the audio. Situated in a literature review of subtitling, this article describes the first-ever implementation of SLS on a TV program of film songs, specifically for first-language literacy. Chitrageet, a weekly 30-minute TV program of Gujarati film songs, was telecast across Gujarat state in India, with the lyrics subtitled in Gujarati. We discuss the results of the pilot study to test the effectiveness of SLS of film songs on the reading skills of out-of-school people. With limited exposure to SLS within a telecast period of 6 months, SLS was found to make an incremental but measurable contribution to decoding skills, across the group that generally saw the subtitled TV program (as compared to those who did not). Viewer testimonies further strengthen the case for SLS beyond quantifiable improvement, as a simple and economical idea for infusing everyday television entertainment with reading and writing (or scriptacy) transactions. The potential of SLS in India and other countries is enormous. The idea is especially powerful in popular culture for scriptacy skill improvement, motivation of non-scriptates, increasing viewers' exposure and interaction with print from early childhood, and increasing media access among the deaf.
{"title":"Reading Out of the Idiot Box: Same-Language Subtitling on Television in India","authors":"Brij Kothari, Avinash Pandey, A. Chudgar","doi":"10.1162/1544752043971170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/1544752043971170","url":null,"abstract":"Same Language Subtitling (SLS) is the idea of subtitling the lyrics of song-based television programs (e.g., music videos), in the same language as the audio. Situated in a literature review of subtitling, this article describes the first-ever implementation of SLS on a TV program of film songs, specifically for first-language literacy. Chitrageet, a weekly 30-minute TV program of Gujarati film songs, was telecast across Gujarat state in India, with the lyrics subtitled in Gujarati. We discuss the results of the pilot study to test the effectiveness of SLS of film songs on the reading skills of out-of-school people. With limited exposure to SLS within a telecast period of 6 months, SLS was found to make an incremental but measurable contribution to decoding skills, across the group that generally saw the subtitled TV program (as compared to those who did not). Viewer testimonies further strengthen the case for SLS beyond quantifiable improvement, as a simple and economical idea for infusing everyday television entertainment with reading and writing (or scriptacy) transactions. The potential of SLS in India and other countries is enormous. The idea is especially powerful in popular culture for scriptacy skill improvement, motivation of non-scriptates, increasing viewers' exposure and interaction with print from early childhood, and increasing media access among the deaf.","PeriodicalId":45625,"journal":{"name":"Information Technologies & International Development","volume":"2 1","pages":"23-44"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2004-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64442470","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 : 2004-09-01DOI: 10.1162/1544752043971206
Heejin Lee, J. Hwang
Conditions of ICT development in North Korea are among the least known in the world. This paper relies on interviews, documentary material, and other sources to analyze the potentials of and constraints on North Korea's ICT development. We find substantial interest in ICT diffusion at high levels in the government, which has consistently promoted economically focused ICT programs and projects, while severely constraining political uses of ICT. While North Korea can gain substantial benefits from its proximity to South Korea, nonetheless the future of ICT development in North Korea depends on geopolitical circumstances surrounding the Korean Peninsula.
{"title":"ICT Development in North Korea: Changes and Challenges","authors":"Heejin Lee, J. Hwang","doi":"10.1162/1544752043971206","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/1544752043971206","url":null,"abstract":"Conditions of ICT development in North Korea are among the least known in the world. This paper relies on interviews, documentary material, and other sources to analyze the potentials of and constraints on North Korea's ICT development. We find substantial interest in ICT diffusion at high levels in the government, which has consistently promoted economically focused ICT programs and projects, while severely constraining political uses of ICT. While North Korea can gain substantial benefits from its proximity to South Korea, nonetheless the future of ICT development in North Korea depends on geopolitical circumstances surrounding the Korean Peninsula.","PeriodicalId":45625,"journal":{"name":"Information Technologies & International Development","volume":"2 1","pages":"75-87"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2004-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64442525","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 : 2004-04-01DOI: 10.1162/1544752043557558
S. Hicks
{"title":"Time To Discuss Core Values of the Information Society","authors":"S. Hicks","doi":"10.1162/1544752043557558","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/1544752043557558","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45625,"journal":{"name":"Information Technologies & International Development","volume":"1 1","pages":"88-89"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2004-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64442258","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 : 2003-12-01DOI: 10.1162/154475203771799676
E. J. Wilson, M. Best
{"title":"A Growing Community of Interest","authors":"E. J. Wilson, M. Best","doi":"10.1162/154475203771799676","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/154475203771799676","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45625,"journal":{"name":"Information Technologies & International Development","volume":"1 1","pages":"3-4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64441671","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 : 2003-04-01DOI: 10.1162/1544752043557369
Seán Ó Siochrú
{"title":"A Tale of Paragraph 4: Stating the Obvious at the WSIS","authors":"Seán Ó Siochrú","doi":"10.1162/1544752043557369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/1544752043557369","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45625,"journal":{"name":"Information Technologies & International Development","volume":"1 1","pages":"49-50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64441438","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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