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ICT4D - ICTs for Development

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Artificial Intelligence and International Cultural Relations: Challenges and Opportunities for Cross-Sector Collaboration

Octavio Kulesz

Stuttgart: Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) (2024), 120 pp.

"The integration of AI systems has profoundly transformed multiple dimensions of international cultural relations (ICR). Notably, changes in recent years have accentuated imbalances among languages, affected the situation of cultural sectors, and impacted the integrity of information while also prov ... more

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Laptops in the Long-Run: Evidence from the One Laptop per Child Program in Rural Peru

Santiago Cueto, Diether W. Beuermann, Julian Cristia, Ofer Malamud, Francisco Pardo

Inter-American Development Bank (2024), 38 pp.

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Digital Development Guidebook

Christopher Neu, Nora Lindström, Ziad Al Achkar, Yohan Perera

NetHope; Catholic Relief Services (CRS) (2024), 56 pp.

"The three themes selected for exploration in this guidebook are: digital public goods, digital localization, and digital skills and rights. While none of these are new themes in technology and international development programming, they each represent increasingly important considerations for optim ... izing digital investments and rethinking the way. and rethinking the way digital development actors operate and create change through leveraging technology. DIGITAL LOCALIZATION. In response to growing development challenges with scarce resources, digital development practitioners are increasingly recognizing the benefits of greater access for local actors to resources, partnerships, decision making, and capacity strengthening. Exploring best practices for digital adaptation to specific contexts, reviewing lessons learned in fostering local ownership and local tech leadership, and understanding donor perspectives and consensus agreements such as the Grand Bargain will all be key steps in planning technology strategies effectively. It is important to note that the sector lacks a common definition of localization and its intended outcomes. DIGITAL PUBLIC GOODS. As digital development organizations have come to integrate technology into their strategy and approach, the reliance on proprietary solutions has brought challenges for sustainability and working with local partners from smaller NGOs to government entities. Building on developments in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Digital Public Goods (DPGs) offer implementers new opportunities to reimagine approaches to better serve communities in need. DIGITAL SKILL AND RIGHTS. Digital transformation and local ownership must be built on a foundation of digital rights and digital skills to help create a more informed, equitable, and connected society. This past decade highlighted the need to apply international human rights to the digital arena and the interconnectedness of digital rights with physical protection. Donors and implementers must both align on issues such as access to information, privacy and security, and freedom of expression if digital investments are to yield sustainable societal outcomes and development impact. Local governments have an essential role to play in enabling the environment that allows a digital ecosystem to flourish and be free. Broad regulations such as GDPR, as well as organizational strategies by Oxfam and others to prioritize these insights will be key." (Introduction to key themes, pages 17-18) more

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ICT and Rural Development in the Global South
Deep Insights

Willem van Eekelen

London; New York: Routledge (2024), xiii, 211 pp.

"Drawing on years of experience across 45 countries, as well as extensive original academic research, Willem van Eekelen situates the evolving role of ICT in wider development patterns in the Global South. He discusses the effects of ICT on agriculture, trade, financial flows, resource management an ... more

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Imaging and Assessing Mobile Technology for Development

Richard Musabe, John Sören Pettersson (eds.)

Newcastle upon Tyne (UK): Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2024), xvi, 186 pp.

"Several studies have already depicted the development of M4D and of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D), and that will not be repeated here. However, as this collection of chapters have sprung out from one of the M4D conferences – the M4D 2022 in Kigali – some notes ... on what have been salient at different conferences can be made. If we start with the M4D in Senegal 2014, we can see that from that conference stems a book where the chapters “initiate evocative conversations on how mobile technologies can contribute to expanding mobile participation practices” (Wamala-Larsson, Hellström, and Scharff 2015, 12). In Mozambique, in 2016, there were some contributions connecting to radio and TV technology; the M4D 2018 conference in Uganda included some papers on how utilities can be backed by subscription schemes via mobile services, as well as by apps where citizens can report dysfunctions and illicit use. The M4D 2020 did not take place, as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the possibility of running a conference on site and it was postponed to 2022, when Rwanda saw the first blended M4D conference. The Zoom presence for several dozen participants over three days went very well and, via two cameras and two large screens at the venue site, they blended in well at the conference. The IT maturing effect caused by the pandemic was thus noticeable. Among the presentations it was noticeable that the Internet of Things and drones, often blended with machine learning, are now imaginable as “mobile technology”. Of course, drones are always mobile, and IoT sensors often travel with cargo, but it was the realisation of the affordability of these technologies for food chain, livestock, and crop management, combined with their reliance on mobile phone networks to make use of farmers’ photos and senor data, that made such presentations appropriate at a conference that focuses on affordable communication technology. While technology is a prerequisite, in this volume, based on selected contributions to that conference, we will balance some imaginations with some assessments. The focus will not be on the “new” M4D, even though we acknowledge that it is time to set up demonstration farms with IoT and machine learning, as pointed out by Ronald Katamba from Uganda in an interview (Pettersson and Rehema 2022, 145), and books are now published on Applying Drone Technologies and Robotics for Agricultural Sustainability (Raj, Saini, and Pacheco 2023, with examples from India and Zimbabwe; see also FAO and ITU 2022). Instead, the chapters selected for this book adhere to the theme of knowledge dissemination and knowledge development, as mentioned already. One chapter was invited to report from the African Center of Excellence in Internet of Things, hosted by the University of Rwanda in Kigali, to illustrate the efforts to build native technological competence on an advanced level. That chapter simultaneously demonstrates the growing pan-African collaboration in the academic infrastructuring project." (Foreword, pages x-xi) more

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AI in Global Development Playbook

USAID (2024), 46 pp.

"When used effectively and responsibly, artificial intelligence (AI) holds the potential to accelerate progress on sustainable development and close digital divides, but it also poses risks that could further impede progress toward these goals. With the right enabling environment and ecosystem of ac ... more

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5 Lessons Learned Running a Chatbot Service for Social Good
Deep Insights

Isabelle Amazon-Brown, David Cole

ICTworks (2024)

"ONE is a campaigning and advocacy organization focused on fighting extreme poverty and preventable diseases, particularly in Africa. ONE had been using mobile technologies to reach new audiences since 2012, leveraging SMS, USSD, IVR and mobile-optimized websites to provide a simple and easy for cit ... more

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) Adoption by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Zambia. A Survey Report

Internews; FHI 360; USAID (2024), 16 pp.

"The findings reveal that 44% of CSOs are currently utilizing AI tools, with generative AI being the most popular, while 96% of non-users are considering future integration. However, 54% have not yet adopted AI. Perceptions of AI’s impact on job security vary, with 48% seeing no threat, 13% percei ... more

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China and the Internet: Using New Media for development and Social change

Song Shi

New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (2024), 368 pp.

"Two oversimplified narratives have long dominated news reports and academic studies of China's Internet: one lauding its potentials to boost commerce, the other bemoaning state control and measures against the forces of political transformations. This bifurcation obscures the complexity of the dyna ... more

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Guide on digital agricultural extension and advisory services: Use of smartphone applications by smallholder farmers

Rome: FAO (2024), IX, 57 pp.

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Future directions for context in ICT4D: A systematic literature review

Sonel Pyram

Information Development (2024), 21 pp.

"The digital divide between the Global South and North has been a major concern for researchers from various fields in the past two decades. This divide has led to an increased focus on research related to information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) and other relevant discipline ... more

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Impact Assessment: Rural Household Devices Project Program of the Uganda Communications Universal Service Access Fund (UCUSAF)

Evelyn Namara, Ingrid Brudvig

Alexandria, VA; Kampala: Global Digital Inclusion Partnership; Uganda Communications Commission (2024), 46 pp.

"The impact assessment underscores the commendable achievements of the Rural Household Devices project. By December 2023, the initiative had successfully reached 54 districts and impacted 10,706 households. The outcomes are multifaceted and transformative, with a substantial number of beneficiaries ... more

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AI for social good and the corporate capture of global development

Gianluca Lazzolino, Nicole Stremlau

Information Technology for Development, volume 30, issue 4 (2024), pp. 626-643

"This article focuses on the AI for Social Good (AI4SG) movement, which aims to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). It argues that, through AI4SG, Big Tech is attempting to advance AIdriven technosolut ... more

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The promises and pitfalls of cryptocurrencies and blockchain for marginalized communities

Densua Mumford, Michael Sampson, James Shires

Information, Communication & Society, volume 28, issue 11 (2024), pp. 1979-1996

"Cryptocurrencies, and the blockchain technology that underlies them, have attracted much attention over the last decade from scholars, tech communities, financial institutions, states and more. The extreme volatility of the cryptocurrency market has made some people very rich and cost others almost ... more

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Using social media for agricultural information dissemination: The role of informant-recipient homogeneity

Ryo Takahashi, Yasuyuki Todo, Yu Ri Kim, Yuzuka Kashiwagi, Denu Lemma Tsegaye

Journal of Developpment Effectiveness (2024), 28 pp.

"This study uses a randomised experiment targeting wheat producers in Ethiopia to examine the impact of providing market price information through Facebook on farmers’ sales behaviour. To identify the effect of informant homogeneity, we distinguished the informants’ nationality as either Ethiopi ... more

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Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA): Ghana

Reyn Anderson, Yaroslav Eferin, Kate Gromova, Vlad Manoil, Victor Teppeh

USAID, Digital Frontiers Project, external version (2024), 149 pp.

"Ghana is among Sub-Saharan Africa’s leaders in digital transformation. Over the past decade, the government has put the key institutions, legislative frameworks, strategies, and policies in place that are necessary to drive change. The Ministry of Communications and Digitalization leads and coord ... inates development and implementation of a core set of policies and strategies that are digitally transforming the government, economy, and society. The ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) Policy has guided this journey for more than a decade. A new Digital Economy Policy is drafted and under review to drive the next stage of Ghana’s digital development. The National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy and the National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy have also been key. Ghana adopted an inclusive approach to developing its cybersecurity strategy, which contributed to improved cybersecurity capacity and considered citizens’ online safety and freedoms. However, a clear strategy for protecting critical national infrastructure is missing. Ghana has been a pioneer and champion of digital government transformation in West Africa over the past decade, with funding and support from the World Bank. Important whole-of-government platforms and services have been put in place, including the Government Wide Area Network (GWAN), which provides internet connection to more than 1,000 district assemblies, hospitals, police stations, and post offices across the country; a National Data Center; the Smart workplace suite, which includes email and productivity tools for government employees; and Ghana.gov portal, a one-stop-shop for citizen services. Still, digital government transformation is incomplete. Easy, efficient, online government services are in demand, but the Ghana.gov portal options are limited, and most major government service providers have their own separate online services portals. The national identity Ghana Card could enhance digital service delivery by providing a universally recognized, secure, and easy-to-use means of digital identification and authentication for citizens when accessing both public and private digital services, but the current identification system is not integrated with other government-operated databases, significantly reducing its many potential applications. The Regional Coordinating Councils, and metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs) are just now embarking on the digital transformation journey. The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development coordinates their efforts. Challenges for Ghana’s remaining efforts at digital government transformation include adequate funding to manage and maintain its connectivity and data center infrastructure, affordable internet for regional governments, inadequate digital literacy and skills among mid-level and regional staff, or related national training programs. A big skill gap exists in cybersecurity; Ghana faces a deficit of skilled cybersecurity professionals. The government also needs to improve efforts at stakeholder engagement and awareness-raising when developing new policy proposals." (Executive summary, pages 11-12) more

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Transforming rural Africa: Trends and experiences in rural communication services

Rome: FAO (2024), vii, 54 pp.

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The perils of ‘tech for good’ lie in its politics of helping

Lisa Ann Richey, Adam Moe Fejerskov

Big Data & Society, issue October–December (2024), 5 pp.

"Vexing political questions of power, inequality and coloniality permeate the tech sector and its growing use of global ‘virtual’ assembly lines that see them penetrate even refugee camps in efforts to extract value. As a response, tech companies have been expanding non-commercial activities wit ... more

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Error 404, farmer not found: Why agricultural information services must consider how smallholders use their phones

Jonathan Steinke et al.

Alliance of Bioversity International; International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT); CGIAR (2024), 7 pp.

"Numerous barriers hinder mobile information services in delivering information effectively to smallholder farmers. Many of these barriers can be explained by farmers’ habits in using their phones. Therefore, carefully considering how exactly farmers use their phones in specific local context is c ... more

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Digitalization & Gender Norms: Learnings from CARE's Digital Pilot for VSLA Members in Rwanda & Uganda

Eric Kaduru, Julia Arnold

Care (2024), 10 pp.

ICT and Rural Development in the Global South Deep Insights

5 Lessons Learned Running a Chatbot Service for Social Good Deep Insights

ICT and Rural Development in the Global South
Deep Insights

5 Lessons Learned Running a Chatbot Service for Social Good
Deep Insights