Encountering Development Ethnographically

HCI for Development (HCI4D) lies at the intersection of Information Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) and Human-computer Interaction (HCI). The mainstream HCI community creates user experiences for the developed-world consumer, while ICT4D is concerned about creating relevant technologies for developing nations. Their fusion—HCI4D—evolved and re-aligned goals to design user experiences […]

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Ubicomp4D: Infrastructure and interaction for international development – the case of urban Indian slums

This paper attempts to re-imagine ubiquitous computing for populations in low-income and information-challenged environments. We examine information infrastructures in mid-sized urban slums of Mumbai and Bangalore in three ways—1) highlighting technologies supporting social networks, 2) examining underlying notions of trust and privacy in building information networks, and 3) discussing protocols […]

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The Fate of a Digital Slate: Unexpected Issues with Deployment in Rural India

As many UX professionals know, an initial rosy impression about the usability of a system may be trumped by unexpected issues seen in the context of actual deployment. These kinds of surprises can be especially dramatic when working in the area of ICT4D (Information and Communication Technology for Socio-Economic Development). […]

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Digital leisure for development: Reframing new media practice in the global south

Photoshopping of newlyweds, downloading the latest movies, teens flirting on social network sites and virtual gaming may seem like typical behavior in the West; yet in the context of a village in Mali or a slum in Mumbai, it is seen as unusual and perhaps an anomaly in their new […]

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Journal of Rural and Community Development

The JRCD is published by the Rural Development Institute (RDI) at Brandon University. RDI was established in 1989 as an academic research centre and a leading source of information on issues affecting rural communities in western Canada and elsewhere. The JRCD benefitted with intitial funding from the Manitoba Department of […]

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Why it is Hard to Identify Technical Research Problems in ICT4D and How to Make it Easier

My position is that a shortage of detailed and compelling problem statements is the primary bottleneck that prevents most computer scientists from conducting research in ICT4D. While interesting problems exist, they are usually discovered via months of fieldwork, and there is little incentive to formalize and disseminate problems for the […]

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UNDP Resource Kit on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues

This kit focuses on development and indigenous peoples, with emphasis on their full and effective participation in all development processes and the need for a genuine partnership in—and ownership with them—of these processes. It is designed to provide United Nations Country Teams with guidance as to how to engage indigenous […]

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