Digital Colonization and Virtual Indigeneity: Indigenous Knowledge and Algorithm Bias

A growing body of research examining the role of technology in indigenous knowledge production and distribution has helped define the new ways that communities are connecting to each other and organizing around the world. At the same time, social justice activist focus in the United States has turned to the […]

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Exploring Social Media as Channels for Sustaining African Culture

Social media are becoming significant channels for information dissemination and communication around the world today. Internet and social media users run into hundred thousands daily; with young people constituting a large percentage. With the internet technology, social media, which consists of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, MySpace, have made the communication […]

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ZubaBox – Solar Internet Hub

In 2010 Computer Aid launched its first solar powered internet cafe called the ZubaBox. Zuba is the word for Sun in Nyanja – a language spoken in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Southern Zambia – the area where our first ZubaBox was deployed to harness power from the sun and provide internet […]

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From the Árran to the Internet: Sami Storytelling in Digital Environments

This essay investigates the use of storytelling in the process of cultural and linguistic revitalization through specific contemporary examples drawn from the Internet. By examining instances of adaptation of Sami tales and legends to digital environments, I discuss new premises and challenges for the emergence of such narratives. In particular, […]

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Managing Identities and Diversities in the Age of Internet and Virtual Networks

A Case Study of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin In the current age of the internet and knowledge networking it has become possible for communities to consolidate themselves through virtual networks cutting across geographical borders and reaching out seamlessly to their diasporic identities spread out globally. While […]

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Information Technologies & International Development

Information Technologies & International Development is an interdisciplinary open-access journal that focuses on the intersection of information and communication technologies (ICTs) with the “other four billion” – the share of the world population whose countries are not yet widely connected to the Internet nor widely considered in the design of […]

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Challenges Faced in Overcoming Indigenous Digital Divide in Brazil

This paper’s objective is to identify the level of digital inclusion made possible by Brazilian digital divide program Electronic Government – Citizen Attention Service (Governo Eletrônico – Serviço de Atendimento ao Cidadão – Gesac) on indigenous lands. We are guided by Brazilian sociologist Bernardo Sorj’s five level digital inclusion system: […]

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Keeping Country: a web-based approach to Indigenous outreach in cultural heritage management

Cultural heritage management (CHM) of Indigenous places is the dominant area of professional practice in Australian archaeology, yet relatively few Indigenous Australians take up a career in the sector. The internet is providing new and effective avenues for Indigenous outreach programmes. This paper describes a self-contained, web-enabled, free-to-user cultural heritage […]

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Traveling Through Layers: reflections on the “ikiaqqivik” tweet

I thought this was interesting… on average, an @ethnosproject tweet gets 4-5 retweets and a few favorites. That is the norm for tweets about resources, calls for papers, projects of interest, etc. Yesterday, I posted this tweet about the Inuit word for Internet: Inuktitut term for the word Internet is […]

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From Oral Tradition to Digital Collectives: Information Access and Technology in Contemporary Native American Culture

For people who may live both physically and culturally distant from the majority culture in their immediate environment, information technology can provide a boost toward accessing and documenting their own heritage. As early adopters of the Web, Native Americans began using the Internet for e-commerce and cultural outreach in the […]

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New Media and Self-Determination: Publicly Made and Accessible Video and Remote and Rural First Nation Communities

Abstract This working paper explores the potential for New Media to provide a means for members of remote and rural First Nations communities to challenge problematic mainstream representations of First Nations identity. Video on public access sites such as YouTube and Google Video, as well as on websites that act […]

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Designing a More Equitable Internet

My research is concerned with the design of appropriate and accessible information systems serving the needs of poor, indigenous, remote and otherwise marginalized communities in the developing and developed world. I am also broadly interested in the impact that new kinds of data and communications tools can have for improving […]

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Inveneo

Inveneo is a 501c3 nonprofit social enterprise, which means that we operate like a business with a social mission. We aim to get the tools of information communications technology (ICT), such as computers, telephony, and Internet access to those who need it most — people and organizations in rural and […]

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Mobile Web for Social Development (MW4D)

The MW4D Interest Group explores how to use the potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on Mobile phones as a solution to bridge the Digital Divide and provide minimal services (health, education, governance, business, …) to rural communities and under-privileged populations of Developing Countries.

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Association for Progressive Communications

APC’s strength lies in the fact that we don’t get excited about the internet for the internet’s sake. We are committed activists who want to use it to make the world a better place. We help people get access to the internet where there is none or it is unaffordable, […]

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Mozilla 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 […]

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TowerDB: Network Management Software

Setting up a network generally means configuring a router, a UPS, maybe a NAS appliance and a few access points… Just a few pieces of equipment to serve hundreds of users’ devices. And for the most part network administrators can keep track of inventory and IP addresses with simple spreadsheets. […]

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ICTs and the spread of indigenous knowledge

At first glance, the relationship between indigenous knowledge and the Internet seems fraught. Indigenous knowledge provides a distinct set of beliefs, practices and representations avidly tied to place; the internet lauds itself for erasing boundaries and borders. On one hand, the traditions encapsulated in indigenous knowledge are culturally unique, using […]

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Information and Communications Technologies for Development at Georgia Tech

Research and Projects This program explores information and communication technologies (ICTs) – in particular the internet and mobile networks – in low-income and low-infrastructure countries and contexts. This field is sometimes referred to as ICT4D (information and communication technologies for development). We are always on the look-out for new and […]

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Web2forDev Gateway

Participatory Web 2.0 for development in short Web2forDev is a way of employing web services, in order to improve information sharing and collaborative production of content in the context of development work. In this context actors in development can easily relate to other stakeholders, have selective access to information, produce […]

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Juliana Rotich: Meet BRCK, Internet access built for Africa

From ted.com: Tech communities are booming all over Africa, says Nairobi-based Juliana Rotich, cofounder of the open-source software Ushahidi. But it remains challenging to get and stay connected in a region with frequent blackouts and spotty Internet hookups. So Rotich and friends developed BRCK, offering resilient connectivity for the developing […]

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Rural Internet Kiosk (RIK)

This short documentary features ICT development in Africa with emphasis on how the Rural Internet Kiosk (RIK) is changing the way rural Africa communicates. The Rural Internet Kiosk is 100% solar powered and is connected to the Internet via Satellite using Astra2Connect VSAT technology.

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First Nations First Mile Project

Canadian First Nations communities outside of major centers remain underserved by Internet providers, receiving minimum service at a maximum price. Due to their isolation and small populations, many First Nations rely on Internet to deliver critical services from health to education and administration to their community. But distant decision-makers removed from […]

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First Nations First Mile Project: putting the “last mile first”

Canadian First Nations communities outside of major centers remain underserved by Internet providers, receiving minimum service at a maximum price. Due to their isolation and small populations, many First Nations rely on Internet to deliver critical services from health to education and administration to their community. But distant decision-makers removed from […]

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