Postcolonial Computing: A Tactical Survey

The authors suggest that postcolonial science studies can do more than expand answers to questions already posed; it can generate different questions and different ways of looking at the world. To illustrate, the authors draw on existing histories and anthropologies and critical theories of colonial and postcolonial technoscience. To move […]

 •   •   •   •   •   • 

Creating Digital Heritage content: bridging communities and mediating perspectives

In this paper we focus our attention on an often overlooked aspect of digital heritage content, namely by whom how, and with what purpose such content is created. We evaluate digital materials that are anthropological and archaeological in nature, both digitized archives and newly created materials. In our work and […]

 •   •   •   •   •   • 

Determining Requirements within an Indigenous Knowledge System of African Rural Communities

Eliciting and analyzing requirements within knowledge systems, which fundamentally differ so far from technology supported systems represent particular challenges. African rural communities’ life is deeply rooted in an African Indigenous knowledge system manifested in their practices such as Traditional Medicine. We describe our endeavors to elicit requirements to design a system to support the accumulation and sharing […]

 •   •   •   •   •   •   •   • 

Development 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 […]

 •   •   •   •   •   • 

e-Strategies for Technological Diffusion and Adoption

Information and communication technology (ICT) innovations provide significant implications for business and socioeconomic development due to the role it plays in the diffusion of knowledge sharing, community development, and equality. E-Strategies for Technological Diffusion and Adoption: National ICT Approaches for Socioeconomic Development provides comprehensive coverage and definitions of the most […]

 •   •   • 

Traditional knowledge and the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library: Digital quandaries and other concerns

This article explores issues related to the digitization of traditional knowledge. Using the example of the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) in India, it (1) explores the interfaces between the TKDL and the digital, (2) problematizes the relationship between the TKDL, power and digital knowledge, (3) raises issues around traditional […]

 •   •   •   •   • 

M4D Overview: an Introduction to Mobile Phones for Development

M4D Overview 1.0 – the 2009 introduction to mobile for development describes and discusses how mobile devices are used in the developing world to enable economic and technological growth in developing countries. The report presents a broad overview of various reports and studies, ranging from United Nations organisations to reports […]

 •   •   •   • 

Urgent EVOKE, the game

EVOKE was a ten-week crash course in changing the world. It was free to play and open to anyone, anywhere. The goal of the social network game is to help empower people all over the world to come up with creative solutions to our most urgent social problems. The game’s first season began on March 3, […]

 •   •   •   • 

Project Evaluation: EVOKE

Summary Background and findings EVOKE is a multiuser online game, created under the auspices of the World Bank Institute (WBI), which was intended to engage players in social-innovation activities that addressed global challenges. The game ran from March to May 2010, and was open to players of any age around the world (although it […]

 •   •   •   •   •   • 

Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world

Note: The comments that follow this video on its Youtube page number over 3,000 and clearly show that Ms. McGonigal’s ideas spur passionate (and often ridiculously vitriolic) debate. I include this item here because it offers a compelling starting point for discussing serious games and social change. Transcript I’m Jane […]

 •   •   •   •   •   •   • 

Design for the Contact Zone: Knowledge management software and the structures of indigenous knowledges

This article examines the design of digital indigenous knowledge archives. In a discussion of the distinction between indigenous knowledge and western science, a decentred perspective is developed, in which the relationship between different local knowledges is explored. The particular characteristics of indigenous knowledges raise questions about if and how these […]

 •   •   •   •   • 

ICT World Today

ICT World Today is a journal on Information and Communication Technology for Development developed by the Korea Information Society Development Institute with support from APCICT. Note: seems to have been in production for only two years (2009-2010). Aims & Scope To contribute to developing the overall economies, enhancing the quality […]

 •   •   •   •   •   • 

Communication for Empowerment in Lao PDR: An assessment of communication and media needs among ethnic peoples

Indigenous and ethnic peoples are highly marginalized and vulnerable. Largely excluded from mainstream development processes in many countries, their participation in decision-making and governance is limited. Many ethnic communities have neither the voice nor the means to influence and shape policies and outcomes affecting their lives. On 13 September 2007, the […]

 •   •   •   •   • 

BingBee @ RaglanRoad – a Field Trial with Unattended Educational Kiosks

Abstract A pod of ten unattended “behind-the-glass” computer kiosks has been running at the Raglan Road Multipurpose Centre in Grahamstown for more than three years. The goal is to enhance computational thinking skills, and to provide logic, mathematical, reading and computer literacy skills via edutainment and fun. The technology is […]

 •   •   •   •   •   • 

Push-button Activism: the use of technology by Townsville Aboriginal activists

Abstract In an increasingly technological age, the internet is becoming a primary source of networking. From common interest groups to business meetings, many members of western society have at least a minor presence on ‘Web 2.0’. Social movements, like every other aspect of life, have become increasingly reliant on the […]

 •   •   •   •   •   • 

Multimedia technology & Indigenous language revitalization: Practical educational tools and applications

Abstract This dissertation reports findings from a study documenting the use of multimedia technology among Indigenous language communities to assist language learners, speakers, instructors, and institutions learn about multimedia technologies that have contributed to Indigenous language revitalization, education, documentation, preservation, and maintenance. The overall study used an adapted technacy framework […]

 •   •   •   •   • 

Videoconferencing and Remote and Rural First Nations

Abstract This article explores why visual communication is important for First Nations, the prevalence and purposes of videoconferencing in non-institutional settings, and the challenges the communities experience using this technology. The central theme is that videoconferencing is a vital tool for remote and rural First Nations and in order for […]

 •   •   •   •   • 

Indigenous / Traditional Knowledge & Intellectual Property

The paper is available as a PDF download or an indexed HTML version. The relationship between indigenous/traditional knowledge and intellectual property law is a complicated contemporary legal problem. Questions around indigenous knowledge protection present issues unlike any other that intellectual property law has had to consider. Indigenous peoples’ concerns include […]

 •   •   •   • 

Hello Africa (documentary)

Hello Africa from UZI FILM on Vimeo. Documentary about mobile phone culture in Africa. All material is published under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY-NC-SA). More info at www.uzi.se and www.ict4d.at/helloafrica. Hello Africa is the title of a documentary that illustrates cellphone culture in Africa. It shows images of contemporary Africa […]

 •   •   • 

Indigenous Perspectives on Globalization: Self-Determination Through Autonomous Media Creation

Why is it important to look at issues which surround Indigenous peoples, globalization, and autonomy? What is an Indigenous perspective on globalization? Can Indigenous communities create local and mass media which promotes their autonomy and self-determination? And if so, what are the implications that this media creation holds in a […]

 •   •   •   •   •   • 

Cry Rock: a short documentary about stories, memory and Nuxalk tradition

Synopsis [from the Cry Rock website] Less than fifteen Nuxalk language speakers and storytellers remain in Bella Coola, British Columbia. One of these elders is the director Banchi Hanuse’s 80-year-old grandmother. In a technologically obsessed century, it would seem easier to record Nuxalk stories for future generations, but Hanuse resists. […]

 •   •   •   •   • 

Information Technology and Indigenous Communities: symposium presentations

Donwload the symposium program (PDF) This 2010 AIATSIS Research Symposium was co-hosted with the Australian National University and the National Film and Sound Archive and in conjunction with the National Recording Project’s 9th Symposium on Indigenous Music and Dance. About the Symposium Information Technology and Indigenous Communities (ITIC) explored the […]

 •   •   •   •   •   •   • 

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage YouTube playlists 2008-2012

Note: 2012 playlist added on December 8, 2012 Below are five playlists from UNESCO’s YouTube account. Each playlist includes a selection of Intangible Cultural Heritage videos from around the world. Grab a cup of tea, play hooky, and enjoy! Intangible Cultural Heritage 2012 Intangible Cultural Heritage 2011 Intangible Cultural Heritage […]

 •   •   •   •   •   •   •   • 

Return: The Photographic Archive and Technologies of Indigenous Memory

Abstract This paper considers the intersection of Aboriginal traditions surrounding photography and the use of new technologies as both a research tool and a community resource. Over recent decades Australian cultural institutions have radically altered their management of photographic archives in response to changing political and intellectual circumstances – especially […]

 •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   • 

Some challenges for Information and Communication Technologies in Indigenous Knowledge preservation

Abstract Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are the basis for social appropriation in local communities. ICTs hold significant potential for positive benefits for local communities to deal with ‘digital’ connectivity and global knowledge contexts. With the digitalisation of knowledge, including indigenous knowledge (IK), ICTs are offering alternative perspectives of knowledge […]

 •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •