This post is adapted from Global Native Networks. It’s no secret that a handful of languages dominate the online space. A paper published last October in the journal PLOSOne (aptly titled “Digital Language Death”) found that less than five percent of the current world languages are in use online. Offline, around 7,776 […]
coding • conference • digital • language • linguisticsIndigenous New Media Symposium 2014
The Indigenous New Media Symposium aims to bring together Native American and First Nation media makers and creative activists to discuss how new media platforms are being used in the indigenous community to educate, organize, entertain, and advocate. In the past few years blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other tools […]
conference • digital media • indigenous media • Native American • social mediaAfter the Return: Digital Repatriation and the Circulation of Indigenous Knowledge
Museum Anthropology Review, Vol 7, No 1-2 (2013) This double issue of Museum Anthropology Review collects papers originally presented at a January 2012 workshop titled “After the Return: Digital Repatriation and the Circulation of Indigenous Knowledge.” Hosted by the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution and funded by the (U.S.) […]
culture | preservation • data • digital • indigenous • innovation • intellectual property • museumIndigiLINK Network
IndigiLINK is for professional social networking and collaboration for those working in the field of Indigenous research and policy. We welcome people working on Indigenous issues in a variety of capacities, including professionals, scholars, researchers, policy makers, Indigenous community leaders, Elders, Indigenous community members, advocates, service providers, and students. What […]
collaboration • indigenous issues • indigenous scholars • indigenous studies • network • policy • researchAboriginal Policy Research Consortium Launches IndigiLINK Network
The Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium (International) (APRCi) at Western University in London, Ontario is launching IndigiLINK network. This network will link the international indigenous community with noted experts in Indigenous research and policy development. See the FAQ below for more information. What is IndigiLINK? IndigiLINK is for professional social networking and […]
indigenous • network • portal • websiteExtreme Citizen Science, University College London
University College London interdisciplinary Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS) research group ExCiteS brings together scholars from diverse fields to develop and contribute to the guiding theories, tools and methodologies that will enable any community to start a Citizen Science project to deal with issues that concern them. With an interdisciplinary research […]
citizen science • ICT4D • interdisciplinaryTechnological Leap-frogging in the Congo Basin, Pygmies and Global Positioning Systems in Central Africa
Abstract It is surprising that many Pygmy hunter-gatherers in the Congo Basin, though unable to read the numbers on banknotes or write their own names, have begun to use handheld computers attached to global positioning systems (GPS). In describing this remarkable case of technological leap-frogging I will summarise the historical context that led to this […]
conservation • GPS • mapping • technologyThe State of Broadband 2012: Universalizing Broadband
Executive Summary Affordable broadband connectivity, services and applications are essential to modern society, offering widely recognized social and economic benefits. The Broadband Commission for Digital Development promotes the adoption of broadband-friendly practices and policies for all, so everyone can take advantage of the benefits offered by broadband. With this Report, the […]
Indigenous communities deploy high-tech mapmaking to staunch global land grab
With governments, loggers, miners and palm oil producers poaching their lands with impunity, indigenous leaders from 17 countries gathered on a remote island in Sumatra this week to launch a global fight for their rights that will take advantage of powerful mapping tools combined with indigenous knowledge to mark traditional […]
GIS • GPS • indigenous • land rights • mappingCommunity Maps Can Empower Indigenous Peoples to Assert Land Rights
An Australian-Filipino mining company during a September 2011 public consultation mobilized its “experts.” Their goal: to persuade local officials and indigenous and local communities about the “safety, merits and sustainability” of the company’s US$5.8-billion project in southern Philippines. The “experts” were armed with figures, graphs and pictures all showing the […]
community mapping • indigenous communities • land rights • mappingICT4D Research Ethics: Is it about Right?
Abstract: This article grew out of work with early career researchers working in ICTD and in mobile learning, specifically those at the intersection of those two emergent disciplines, the field sometimes called mobile learning for development. It originally provided an overview of issues that are important but not core to their […]
best practice • ethics • ICT4DUNIMAS team experiments with community mapping
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) is no stranger to rural ICT4D projects in Malaysia. Known best for their award-winning eBario project, a remote telecenter that brought internet to the indigenous highlands of Borneo in the late 90s, UNIMAS has a long, successful track-record of participatory community development projects. An article in […]
Borneo • eBario • ICT4D • mapping • Sarawak • UNIMASRhizomatica
Rhizomatica promotes “Mobile Communications for All” by aiming to provide cellular service to underserved and overlooked communities. It helped launch the first autonomous cellphone network in a small, Zapoteca community in Oaxaca, Mexico. According the the Rhizomatica “About Page,” According to the ITU, 2-3 billion people around the world lack […]
cellular networks • ICT4D • infrastructure • telecommunicationsMexican village launches autonomous cellular network
A small indigenous village in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico launched what could be a new paradigm in local telecommunications services: a community-run carrier-grade autonomous cellular network. With the support of US-based international non-profit Rhizomatica, the Zapoteco village Villa Talea de Castro now offers cell phone service for its residents […]
cellular service • ICT • indigenous • network • Oaxaca | Mexico • Telcom • telecommunicationsMozilla Firefox in Indigenous Languages
The Mozilla in Mexico community supports efforts to translate and localize the internet browser Mozilla Firefox into indigenous languages of Latin America. Their website currently features modules for 26 indigenous languages across Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador, including kichwa, tz’utujil, yaqui, and others. If you would like to install Mozilla Firefox […]
browser • firefox • indigenous • indigenous language • internet • localization • mozilla • software • translationRethinking the Indigenous Communications Program: developed by Broadband for the Bush Alliance
From the Executive Summary… Indigenous Communications Over the years, governments have put in place a range of initiatives aimed at improving communications in remote Indigenous communities. However, high levels of digital inequality still exist in many communities around Australia. Indigenous Remote Media Association (IRCA) highlights this point, saying ‘most remote […]
Australia • broadband • communication • digital divide • ICTs • indigenous communities • IRCA • ruralThe Power of Play: An interview with Pinnguaq founder Ryan Oliver
This interview originally appeared on Rachael Petersen’s blog, Global Native Networks. Pinnguaq is a software localization initiative based in beautiful Pangnirtung, Nunavut in Canada’s high Eastern Arctic. In June 2013, they released an Inuktitut-language version of the best-selling iPad game, Osmos. To do this, they engaged Inuit across the territory to complete […]
Canada • crowd-sourcing • gaming • indigenous technology • Internet use • Inuit • localization • translationSummit Addresses Indigenous Digital Divide in Australia
This post, written by Ethnos Curator Rachael Petersen, originally appeared on the Rising Voices website. Online heritage databases, an indigenous app to connect peoples worldwide, a network of recycled digital devices, and an Aboriginal digital social enterprise are just some of the responses to the focus of a recent summit […]
aboriginal • Australia • conference • design • ICT4D • indigenous • Torres Strait IslanderStone Chips to Silicon Chips: A Grounded Theory of ICT adoption in Australian Indigenous Households
Abstract Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become an everyday part of life. Communication networks within Australia link financial, educational, government and non-government services to Australian households. Both the 2001 and 2006 Australian Census data demonstrate that Indigenous Australians are 69% less likely to access the Internet at home than […]
aboriginal • Australia • ICTs • theoryWorld Bank 2012 Maximizing Mobile Report
Executive Summary This report analyzes the growth and evolution of applications for mobile phones, focusing on their use in agriculture, health and financial services, as well as their impact on employment and government. It also explores the consequences for development of the emerging “app economy”, summarizing current thinking and seeking […]
development • ICT4D • mobile • report • World BankTowards a Policy for Remote Indigenous Media and Communications
Daniel Featherstone, General Manager of Indigenous Remote Communications Association (IRCA) of Australia, presents “Why One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Towards a Policy for Remote Indigenous Media and Communications.” The presentation describes the issues of top-down policy and one-size-fits-all programs that often do not have the desired outcomes for remote communities. […]
aboriginal • Australia • policy • telecommunicationsiDecolonize: a review of indigenous-language learning apps
Last week, I published a review of indigenous language mobile applications on my personal blog, Global Native Networks. In it, I review over ten mobile apps developed to help teach endangered and marginalized languages. Rising Voices picked up the piece and republished a version on their site. I raised several […]
application • ICT4D • indigenous / traditional knowledge • indigenous language • mobile technology • new mediaIndigiTUBE: the voice of remote indigenous Australia
Accoring to their website, IndigiTUBE is an online community for sharing and accessing media made by and for Indigenous people in remote Australia. For many years Indigenous Australians have used media to keep language and culture strong. This has included video, radio, music and more recently a wide range of […]
aboriginal • Australia • digital collections • videoMethodology of Collaborative Cultural Mapping
Or download in Portuguese >> Description: The Amazon conservation Team believes that the most effective way to protect the environement is to strengthen the indigenous peoples’ cultures working in three fundamental bases: map, manage and protecting. This book shows how ACT develops the Collaborative Cultural Mapping by providing capacity-building and […]
2008 • Amazon • community mapping • indigenous / traditional knowledge • indigenous communities • representationIndigenous Tech and Media News Roundup: June
Every month Ethnos Project team member Rachael Petersen publishes a roundup of indigenous technology and media articles in the news at her blog Global Native Networks. Below are the June highlights NORTH/SOUTH/CENTRAL AMERICA The BBC profiles virtual activism for the indigenous tribes of Brazil, particularly powerful in light of injustices such as the […]
community media • impact of | ICTs • indigenous communities • indigenous technology