One of the vivid examples of transformative role of ICTs has been the internet enabled social media starting to be boosted by mobile phones. Rather than supporting the existing I&C flows it has created a real paradigm shift from “one to many” to “many to many”. The fact that in increasing numbers people on this planet are able to become content producers fora global audience bears tremendous potential for development and human rights. We’ve seen glimpses of that e.g. during the Arab spring. All of this transformative potential is also increasingly available in communities with whom Plan works. One of the good examples is the Youth Empowerment Through Arts and Media project where youth have been able to voice out issues important for them and publish them in Youtube  (and Virtual Villages site) in addition to using the material in local level advocacy. Although similar communities don’t yet have the technical capacity and skills to unleash this potential independently (e.g. without financial, technical and programmatic support of Plan), it might not take too many years before they do.

Ok, one could say that this is still doing the same things just quicker and easier. Earlier you could have sent paper letters around, recorded VHS video cassettes and distributed them to your contacts. But in reality that was just way too expensive and difficult to be compared to the spread of information though digital networks. I think here is one of those points where “more effective” becomes “transformative” or “paradigm shift”.  At least potentially, since social change ultimately  depends on people, not on technology.

ICT4D. Probably best to start from the left in the acronym and move to the right (no politics involved here, though). ICT is a term that often does not outright get an average “development worker” thrilled. He or she is an expert on human rights, education, health or, say, child participation. But rarely on gadgets, cables, operating systems and hacks. “Ah, it’s that complicated geek stuff, not for me” they think and continue working. But let’s look a bit closer. ICT is actually made of Information, Communication and Technology. So, 66% of the concept is  something else than Tech. Information and Communication is something that all the development workers, not to mention the “people in the communities”, are very much involved with. I and C are in the core of human life and social change we’d like to see happening. When planning a feasible, sustainable and relevant use of ICTs, the most important part is to get to understand the I and C needs, practises and bottlenecks. Thus, completely without technological knowledge all the people involved (so-called stakeholders) are able to contribute and analyse the flow of I and C in their lives, such as in school governance, e.g. how pupils, parents, teachers, headmaster, education officers etc. (should) communicate and share information. Only after this analysis there comes the question of T. Which kind of technology would suit these I and C needs? Or do we even need the T? Maybe it’s a lack of awareness or trust or equality that’s missing, and not necessarily T?

Ok, let’s assume we have found clear areas where technology could help people with their I and C needs. Now the people who know “what’s out there” with technology, what are solutions available and how to the it work can actually help. Whether it’s FrontlineSMS, Ushahidi, PoiMapper, QuestionBox, mPedigree or something completely different , the T part could be incorporated. And we are much more confident that technology is actually addressing some real needs rather than trying to stick a gadget somewhere it’s really no use – just for the sake of having the T. Obviously it’s even better if the stakeholders themselves have become aware of possible solutions and are actively participating in choosing them.

ICT for D. What’s the “for” and the “D” part then? “For” seems to suggest that ICTs should be serving the development. D for ICT would not sound right – altough this also happens too often. In other words, ICTs should be supporting the goals of development (or certain development project) rather than having a value of its own. It’s an enabler. If, by utilizing ICTs,  e.g. the quality of education becomes better, children are more protected from abuse and violence or people get employed, the tool serves the purpose. Otherwise not.

Lastly we come to the D part. Instead of trying to start defining the D by myself (which would be a dubious task…) I’ll just quickly quote a much smarter person:

“”Human development, as an approach, is concerned with what I take to be the basic development idea: namely, advancing the richness of human life, rather than the richness of the economy in which human beings live, which is only a part of it.”

Prof. Amartya Sen, Professor of Economics, Harvard University, Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1998

Would ICT4D be then “this simple”. No, I don’t think so. In each of the letters in the acronym, there are series of points to be considered, some good practices available, lots of caveats and room of innovation. Some of those have been described in the “ICT for Development” guidebook, among many other good sources.

However, ICT is in this post strictly seen as an enabler, a tool for development. But could ICTs be also transformative; even a valid goal of itself? More about that in a later post.

http://medic.frontlinesms.com/

http://www.writingriffs.com/2009/02/10/the-end-of-marketing-and-pr/

This is the first in a series of summaries of what was covered in the Social Media for Social Change workshop in Kenya, Dec 8-12.

Day 1

We started off with all the normal workshop-y things like getting to know each other, logistics, etc.  Then we gave a summary of the pre-workshop survey. 

Some of the more interesting points from the survey were that:

• Participants:  52% from country offices, 30% national offices, 13% regional offices, 4% from international HQ (IH)
• 62% of the participants consider themselves as having a very comfortable relationship with ICT
• The top 4 tools that participants use are:  text messaging, google search, skype and social network sites
• Tools that participants least often use are:  microblogging, mobile data gathering, frontline SMS, mobile banking
• 80% felt that Plan’s work could be enhanced by mobile phone technology or better use of ICT

(A post workshop survey will be going out in the next month to SM4SC participants, so watch for it!)

Erik Hersman from the blog White African (www.whiteafrican.com) was our first speaker, tasked with giving us an overview of social media, what it is and what are some of the different tools. Following that, we had a hands-on session to practice with different tools such as blogging, uploading digital photos, Flip cameras, mobile banking, etc.

"The world is changing and you have to change with it or you will become irrelevant."

Erik’s Presentation:

Erik said that the cool thing about social media is that you as an individual user can share things.  So he shared some ‘dirty secrets’ about social media.

Dirty Little Secret 1

It’s what you do everyday, just add a digital element

Dirty Little Secret 2

If you’re from Africa, you’ve been doing it for centuries

Dirty Little Secret 3

It’s communicating with the tools that your community already uses

(so you need to look at what is relevant and available in your own community or locale and use it)

Dirty Little Secret 4

Youth in the west also have a ‘leg-up’ on those in ‘power’ because they ‘get it’

So…. 

What exactly is Social Media?

It’s basically using Digital Tools to extend your current communications and connect with more people.

How is it different?

• There are low barriers for entry…. Anyone can do it – it’s only about having access to the ‘device’ or technology.
• More accessible
• Everyone has the opportunity to have a voice.
• It’s cheaper (sms vs phone, face book vs advertising)
• Not one to many, but everyone to everyone
• No one controls it

Social media is about community.

In Africa it’s augmenting what we have…. and in the West it creates what is non-existent.

Erik spoke also of the 3 D’s of social media:

• Disruptive technologies
• Displace Mass media
• Decentralize

He advised that the first thing is to know what are you trying to achieve.  Then choose the social media tool.

Several short videos exist about social media tools.  We will be making a Social Media toolbox DVD which will be available shortly.  In the meantime, here are 3 recommended videos from the Common Craft series on Social Media 1) Social Media in Plain English; 2) Social Networking in Plain English; and 3) Blogging in Plain English.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI&feature=channel

Participants!  What was the most interesting thing about the first day for you?  Please comment!

Whether we are talking about blogs, wikis, SMS or youtube, they are all powerfull tools for telling everyone that you like your pets. But also that there are human rights violations happening in your country. Thus, as Hannah Beardon writes in the soon-to-be-published Mobile for Development: how mobile technologies can enhance Plan’s work in Africa:  …it is the information and communication, not the technology, which is at the heart of social change”.

Still, it’s ok to get excited about all the potential and possibilities of new technology. At their best, they can radically amplify the messages, information and communication between the “North” and the “South”, between rights-holders and duty-bearers, the state and the citizens, the communities and individuals – just to name a few.

Because I’m impressed by the incredible documentary called “Burma VJ – Reporting from a close country”, I’m quoting here what hand-held cameras and internet connections can do even in the most totalitarian country:

The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) consists of a group of about 30 Burmese reporters who secretly film the abuses in their country. The footage is then smuggled across the border and broadcast via satellite from the headquarters in Oslo. These are the images that could be seen across the globe when a revolution was about to erupt in the late summer of 2007. Led by Buddhist monks, more than 100,000 people took to the streets to march peacefully against the military dictatorship that has held the country in an iron grip for 40 years now. Burma VJ is almost exclusively compiled from footage shot by DVB reporters. One of them from his hiding place in Thailand,  uses the telephone or Internet to stay in touch with colleagues who report on the uprising: shaky hand-held images of emergency deliberations by protesters, of the dispersion of the crowd, of monks and civilians getting knocked down. Their cameras hidden in bags or clenched under their armpits, the DVB reporters risk their lives and take the viewer right into the heat of the turmoil.
(quote from here)

This probably an extreme case of using lastest technology for human rights and development, but therefore also shows the potential of ICT (whether in the form of social media, mobile technology or any other service/equipment) in in the most difficult circumstances.

Do you agree or disagree? What do you think?  Please feel welcome to comment this post!

Hello all! This is a blog called “global pICTure” and it is dedicated for sharing ideas, examples, thoughts and comments on social media, mobile technology and ICT for Development from Plan’s perspective. As you can see, there are already some posts from the MobileActive08  (esp. from Matthias Wevelsiep, the founder of this blog) and now we’ll continue with sharing the most interesting highlights of the Social Media for Social Change Workshop that took place in Nairobi, Kenya 8-12 December. 

The idea is that every week by Monday there will be a new post of one the main themes that were presented and discussed during the workshop (e.g. landscape/overview; mobiles, mapping, advocacy; citizen media and blogging/twitter/etc.; how young people use social media; modernizing plan/modernizing sponsorship.)

You are very welcome to comment any of the posts, discuss and fill in your views. So, instead of posting one big report to the participants, let’s do this in a participatory and interactive way. The comments you post will then influence the next blog report we (Linda Raftree and Mika Välitalo) write.

In addition to Mobile Researcher there are actually a wide variety of data gathering software show cased in the conference. RapidSMS, FrontlineSMS, OpenROSA, Nokia Data Gathering Software to name of few. Check out also SMS Reception Center. Freeware, open source, propietary, SMS based, 3G, for all devices, for high end devices… Just pick your choice depending on your needs, capacity and resources.   

During several workshops there has been interesting discussions on how to actually use the acquired data/information/results in development and research projects. One the topics has been advocacy where e.g. visualisation of data (see e.g. Ushahidi or Hans Rosling in TED.com) can be very useful.