This chapter presents challenges and opportunities in the protection and preservation of indigenous knowledge (IK) in Africa. Specific examples have been taken from the Maasai pastoralists and the Sambaa and Zigua traditional medicine men of North-eastern Tanzania. The chapter argues that there is a threat of IK extinction due to […]
2007 • Africa • challenges • culture | preservation • indigenous / traditional knowledge • Maasai • Sambaa • Tanzania • ZiguaDevelopment Matters 2007-2010
Development Matters, a monthly development update from the DHAN Collective that was published between 2007 and 2010, provides readers with a glimpse of the progress made through various programmes and themes of the DHAN Collective throughout India. Each issue features highlights such as voices from the grassroots level, community in […]
2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • development • India • millennium development goalsPoverty and Digital Inclusion: Preliminary Findings of Finding a Voice
NOTE: the Finding a Voice project (2006-08) was a collaboration between Queensland University of Technology, University of Adelaide, Swinburne University, UNESCO and UNDP. This paper presents preliminary findings from a multi-sited qualitative study of poverty and information and communication technologies (ICTs) in India, Indonesia Sri Lanka and Nepal. It draws […]
2007 • collaboration • Finding a Voice • ICTs • poverty reduction • research • UNDP • UNESCOWhat is Community Informatics (and Why Does It Matter)?
Community Informatics (CI) is the application of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to enable community processes and the achievement of community objectives. CI goes beyond the “Digital Divide” to making ICT access usable and useful to excluded populations and communities for local economic development, social justice, and political empowerment. CI […]
2007 • community informatics • development • ICTs • telecenterSaratoga Native American Festival Program Guide
Note from Mark: I had the opportunity to serve as the organizer for the Saratoga Native American Festival for its first two years in operation (2006 and 2007) while working as the Education Director for the Ndakinna Education Center. The Saratoga Native American Festival is a collaborative effort of the […]
2007 • festival • Native American • Ndakinna Education Center • Saratoga SpringsAn Overview of ICT Innovation for Developmental Projects in Marginalised Rural Areas
Abstract In recent years, assistance from developed countries to developing countries has intensified. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have also been widely deployed in developmental programmes, leading to the creation of a new field – ICT for development. This paper reviews a number of projects that introduce technically innovative ICTs […]
2007 • development • ICT4D • ICTs • innovation • ruralIndigenous Youth & ICT: The Jakun & their Quest to Preserve their Traditional Knowledge – Malaysia
Abstract Information and communications technology (ICT) is fast catching up with youth throughout the globe. Once confined to the affluent of urban populace, ICT is now transcending boundaries, cultures and the economy of the masses, bridging the gap between urban and rural youth. New technology is creeping into aboriginal villages […]
2007 • development • ICTs • indigenous / traditional knowledge • Jakun • knowledge tradition • Malaysia • youthPreserving Aboriginal Heritage: Technical & Traditional Approaches
Symposium 2007: Preserving Aboriginal Heritage: Technical & Traditional Approaches (originally published by the Canadian Conservation Institute) What We Heard Introduction Preserving Living Cultures Conserving Heritage Objects Reconciling the Tangible and the Intangible Working Together Benefits of Working Together Preparing for the Future Conclusion Introduction In September 2007, about 400 people […]
2007 • cultural heritage • culture | preservation • intangible • traditional cultureThe Complexities of Community Participation in ICT for Development Projects: the Case of “Our Voices”
Community participation is often suggested as a means to a relevant, contextual rural information system (such as a telecentre). Yet, the ICT for development field has much to learn from development literature on the complexities of community participation. We first review the critical literature on participation in development and then […]
2007 • community media • ICT4D • information system • participatory • radio • rural • telecenterICT for development and commerce: A case study of internet cafés in India
The paper, drawn from on-going studies of internet cafés in India, reports interesting localization of information and communication technology (ICT) offerings in shared public spaces. These are in some disjuncture with the ideology of digital inclusion striving to integrate hitherto excluded and ‘information poor’ communities. We find context specific and […]
2007 • cybercafe • ICT4D • ICTs • inclusion • India • localizationData Inclusion Projects in Developing Countries: Processes of Institutionalisation
This paper concerns digital inclusion projects in developing countries and, in particular, focuses on processes of institutionalisation of such projects. Three case studies are described and analysed. The first is the Akshaya telecentre project in the state of Kerala in India. The second is a community-based ICT project in a […]
2007 • Brazil • development • ICT4D • inclusion • India • institutionalization • South Africa • telecenterInformation Communications Technologies and Regional Integration: Africa and South America
This paper examines the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and regional integration as a pathway to socio-economic development in Africa and South America. Both regions face a colonial legacy often characterized by stronger external economic and political ties to the developed world than between the countries in the […]
2007 • Africa • colonization / colonialism • ICT4D • regional • South AmericaInformation and Communication Technologies in Development: Contextuality and Promise
Implementation of projects aimed at harnessing information and communication technologies (ICTs) for socio-economic development in Africa are inevitably affected by the state of basic infrastructure. This explains the mixed results of ICT adoption as emerging evaluative research indicates. However, through recurrent practices, users of ICTs in many places have devised […]
2007 • Africa • ICT4D • infrastructure • Nigeria • unintended consequencesRevisiting the role of ICT in Development
It is now widely accepted that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have an important role in national development. However, the nature of the link between the two remains unclear. Much of this state is due to lack of clarity on how ICT is conceptualized in this context. While some conceptual […]
2007 • development • ICT4D • ICTs • impact of | ICTsThe Challenge of “sustainability” in ICT4D – is Bricolage the Answer?
Sustainability is a central concern in a wide variety of “ICT for development” projects – from telecentres to ICT education in schools and universities and health informatics. But what is sustainability and how can it be achieved? In contrast tothe ICT fordevelopment literature, much IS literature does not emphasize sustainability, […]
2007 • bricolage • ICT4D • improvisation • sustainability • telecenter • unintended consequencesBridging the Digital Divide in Uganda
For more information visit the IDRC website.
2007 • digital divide • ICTs • IDRC • telecenter • UgandaIndigenous Knowledge and Resource Management in Northern Australia: Non-coherence as a Virtue
This paper is a story of an Australian Research Council funded project involving Aboriginal knowledge communities, resource management, and digital technologies. We argue that in this work promoting non-coherence, both epistemic and ontic, is a virtue. In our presentation we will use our project website http://www.cdu.edu.au/centres/ik/ to show how non-coherence […]
2007 • aboriginal • asset management • Australia • digital tools • indigenous / traditional knowledge • non-coherenceDesigning Digital Knowledge Management Tools with Aboriginal Australians
The paper describes an approach to digital design grounded in processes of Indigenous collective memory making. We claim the research should be understood as performative knowledge making, and accounting it should also be performative. Accordingly we present four texts generated in the course of our research as an exhibit. They […]
2007 • collaboration • community memory • design • indigenous / traditional knowledge • TAMIUsing/Designing Digital technologies of Representation in Aboriginal Australian Knowledge practices
Indigenous Australians are often keen to use digital technologies in their struggle to develop sustainable livelihoods on their own lands. This paper tells of gradually coming to recognize how an Aboriginal Australian elder struggled against the grain of digital technologies designed to represent, in using them in Aboriginal Australian knowledge […]
2007 • Australia • digital tools • indigenous / traditional knowledge • representation • YolnguDigital Technologies and Aboriginal Knowledge Practices
Indigenous Australians are often keen to use digital technologies in their local knowledge practices as part of a struggle to develop sustainable livelihoods on-country. They want to use digital technologies to ensure that ‘history stays in-place’, seeing their knowledge practices as expressing the remaking of an Ancestral reality. This paper […]
2007 • ancestors • Australia • development • indigenous / traditional knowledge • knowledge tradition • representation • YolnguDigitisation of Community Indigenous Knowledge in Developing Countries: A Strategy for Uganda
Abstract Ugandans aspire for positive cultural values for the promotion of socio-economic development and equal opportunities for all – a heritage that is free of negative cultural values, practices and traditions. However, the major constraint of developing countries has been the absence of community-based information systems to enable local people […]
2007 • cultural heritage • culture | preservation • development • digitization • indigenous / traditional knowledge • knowledge systems • UgandaIICD project profile: ICT for Strengthening the Capacities of Female Indigenous Leaders – Bolivia
In July of last year I highlighted an organization called IICD (worth a visit if you haven’t see it). IICD has quite a few projects in their database, but this one is of particular interest to me and so I thought I’d share it here. Summary From the project page […]
2007 • Bolivia • gender • ICTs • IICD • indigenous communities • Internet use • womenICTs, KM and Indigenous Knowledge: Implications to Livelihood of Communities in Ethiopia
Full Title: Information and Communication Technologies, Knowledge Management and Indigenous Knowledge: Implications to Livelihood of Communities in Ethiopia Introduction This brief paper discusses the role of information and communication technologies in gathering, storing and disseminating indigenous knowledge, the various community-based structures to be used in order to safeguard and transfer […]
2007 • culture | preservation • development • Ethiopia • ICTs • indigenous / traditional knowledge • knowledge management • knowledge systemsIndigenous Language Usage in a Digital Library: He Hautoa Kia Ora Tonu Ai
Abstract The research described in this thesis examines indigenous language usage in a digital library environment that has been accessed via the Internet. By examining discretionary use of the Māori Niupepa and Hawaiian Nūpepa digital libraries this research investigates how indigenous languages were used in these electronic environments in 2005. […]
2007 • design • Hawaiian • indigenous language • Māori • revitalization • virtual libraryIndigenous Digital Collections
An article by Nicholas Nakata (2007) Abstract The intersection of public institutions managing large amounts of information and knowledge and new information and communication technologies has brought forward exciting and innovative changes to the ways information and knowledge have been traditionally managed. This paper provides a brief snapshot of some […]
2007 • Australia • digital collections • ICTs • indigenous / traditional knowledge • knowledge