2010 11 10 (Some of the) Ten Myths of ICT for International Development - Toyama

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(Some of the) Ten Mythsof ICT for International Development

Kentaro Toyama

Visiting Scholar

University of California, Berkeley

CITRIS Research Exchange

UC Berkeley ± November 10, 2010



Where I used to workPhoto credit: Natalie Linnell





A ³writer´ keeping records in a microcredit group meetingPhoto credit: Aishwarya Ratan



Transaction record from a microcredit group meeting

Hand-written records preferred, but

(1) error-prone;

(2) difficult to digitize.

Photo credit: Aishwarya Ratan, PR AD AN



Electronic tablet ±

write on paper, digitize with real-time feedbackPhoto credit: Microsoft



Microfinance self-help group ³writer´ testing the prototypePhoto credit: Sunandan Chakraborty



Rs. 985 Rs. 946(US$21.89) (US$21.02)

Faster,

Cheaper,

More Accurate!

Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan, Sunandan

Chakraborty, Pushkar Chitnis, KentaroToyama, Keng SiangOoi, Matthew Phiong,Mike Koenig.

"Managing Microfinancewith Paper, Pen andDigital Slate.´

To be presented atInter national Conf erenceon Inf ormation Technology and Communication and Development , London,Dec. 13-16, 2010.



Kelsa+

Microfinance & Technology IT and Microentrepreneurs

Information ecology of verysmall businesses

Potential of technology tosupport microfinance

MicroenterprisePC + mobileMixed-method study

Research only

Text-Free UI

Text-free user interfaces for non-literate users

User interfacesPCDesignUser studiesGuidelines

MicrofinancePC + mobileQualitative studiesBusiness analysis

Research only

Information access

PCQualitative studyUsage analysisPilot

Featherweight Multimedia

Paper and cheap electronicsfor low-cost multimedia

General educationElectronicsHCIUser studiesOngoing research

Simultaneous Shared Access

Primary educationPCHCIUser studiesCommercialization

Warana Unwired Digital Green

Video and mediated instructionfor agriculture extensionSubstitution of mobile phonesfor rural PC kiosks

AgricultureVideoInterventionControl trialsNGO spin-off

Info systemsMobileInterventionRural kiosksPilot

Free access PCs for low-income office staff

Multi-user systems for educational

Paper-and-Digital Forms

Easily digitized paper forms

For NGOsPC + scanner HCI

Research only



Sources: Negroponte, N. 2005, Friedman, E. 2008, New York Times, 2008; Best, M. L., 2004.

³Kids in the d evelopi ng worl d need the newest

technology«´

³There is a pressi ng need to employ

i

nformati

on technology for rural healthcare insub-Saharan Africa.´

³Can the cellphone help end global poverty ?´

³The Internet shoul d be a human right in and of itself.´



The Myths



You and a poor rural farmer are each given a

single e-mail account and asked to raise as muchmoney for the charity of your choice.

Who would be able to raise more money?



ICT undoes ³rich getting richer.´

³The Internet democratizes«´

³The world is flat«´

Technology mag ni f ies capacity,

it doesn¶t substitute for it. ± Tichenor et al., 1970

± Agre, 2002

± Warschauer, 2008

Photo credit: Rikin Gandhi. References: Tichenor, P.J., Donohue, G. A., & Olien, C.N. (1970). Mass media and the differential growth

in knowledge. Public Opi nion Quarterly , 34, 158-70. Agre, P. (2002) Real-Time Politics. The Inf ormation Society , 2002. Warschauer,M., M. Knobel, L. Stone. Technology and Equity in Schooling: Deconstructing the Digital Divide. E d ucational Policy , 18(4): 562-588.

Myth 6



Are you as rich as you¶d like to be?

Are you as educated as you¶d like to be?

Are you as compassionate as you¶d like to be?

Sources: http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+be+richhttp://ocw.mit.edu

http://zenhabits.net/2007/06/a-guide-to-cultivating-compassion-in-your-life-with-7-practices/



Information is the bottleneck.

Information is just one of manydeficiencies in developing world.

± Other deficiencies: human capacity economics

infrastructure

institutional capacity

political clout

Information educationCommunication commerce

Social networks community

Technology magnifies intent.

Myth 10

Photo credit: Kentaro Toyama



If you had 20% of your annual incometo spare right now, and had to spend iton one of the following, which wouldyou spend it on«?

a) A part-time personal assistant

b) Travel and tourism

c) iPad or other gadget

(*) Or, use your expected financial status as a working adult, if you¶re a student.



Needs are more pressing than desires.

N eed s are relative.

N eed d emand

³Needs assessments´ say people need « ± Better healthcare

± Better education

± Better income opportunities

But people spend lavishly on« ± Ring tones

± Music and movies

± Weddings and funerals

± Customized photos

Technology magnifies intent,

but intent is hard to gauge.

Myth 3

Photo Credit: Udai Singh Pawar Sources: Udai Singh Pawar, Nimmi Rangaswamy, Thomas Smyth, Etc.



Should members of the army have guns?

Should police officers have guns?

Should ordinary civilians have guns?

Should 5-year-old children have guns?

Should convicted serial murderers have guns?



Widespread technologies alsohave negative impacts«

± TV: violence, political

propaganda, material envy,Jersey Shore

± Internet: illegal content, piracy,terrorism, political oppression,cat videos

± Mobile phone: corruption,

(ship) piracy, gender politics,consumption displacement

Technology magnifies positiveand negative intent.

Technology¶s impact is only positive.Myth 12

Photo credit: Thomas Smyth



³« X has never been used to its full

capacity in support of economic

development. It may be financially

impossible to use it in this way. But

still the possibility is tantalizing: What

is the full power and vividness of X

teaching were to be used to help the

schools develop a country¶s new

educational pattern? What if the full persuasive and instructional power of

X were to be used in support of

community development and the

modernization of farming? Where

would the break-even point come?

Where would the saving in rate of

change catch up with the increased

cost?´

X = ³television´

Source: Schramm, Wilbur. (1964)

M ass

M edia and National Development:The Role of Information in the Developing Countries.Pp. 231



Technology X will save the world.

Wasn¶t true for X = radio, TV, or landline phone, despite initialexpectations and significantpenetration.

Doesn¶t seem true for X = PC.

How about X = mobile phone?

Technology magnifies intent andcapacity.

Photo credit: Tom Pirelli

Myth 1



Obvious, right?




³Kids in the developing world need the newest

technology«´

³There is a pressing need to employ informationtechnology for rural healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa.´

³Can the cellphone help end global poverty?´

³The Internet should be a human right in and of itself.´



Agricultural Systems?

Low literacyin local lang

No bank accountExpensivecredit

No unique ID

Poor roads

Credit card

Device and connectivity not enough!

farmer expert

VolumebuyersPoor quality

control

Market



E-commerce?



No unique ID

Poor roads

Ill health

HH

consumptionpressures

Small scaleproduction/quality diff

ongoingbusiness

opportunity

Credit card

Parcel service

seller buyer




Rural Telemedicine?



No unique ID

Poor roads

Poor

access todrugs

Credit card

patient

Medicine

Trust absentwithout healthworker


doctor



Rural Telemedicine with new device?



No unique ID

Poor roads

Poor

access todrugs

Credit card

patient doctor

Medicine

Trust absentwithout healthworker

Device and connectivity not enough?



Successes ExistPCs for NGO / MFI back ends

± Unsung success

Grameen Village Phone

± Mobile killer app: voice!

M-PES A

± Money transfer ($160M in first year)

Same-language subtitling for literacy ± Better literacy for 200M+ people

Long-distanceWiFi for eye care

± Enabled 50,000+ consultations

Photo credit: Indrani Medhi



Financial

operational costs,maintenance,training

Digital

hardware,software,connectivity,

content

Physical

building,goods,transport,

roads

Human

education,computer literacy,motivation,awareness

Social

institutions,norms,political support

Technology is Just One Part



Financial

operational costs,maintenance,training

Human

education,computer literacy,motivation,awareness

Social

institutions,norms,political support

Digital


content

Physical

building,goods,transport,

roads

In the Developed World«(includes wealthier segments of developing countries)



In the Developing World«

Digital


content



What to do?



Technology magnif ies human i ntent and capacity.

Technology itsel f requires support f rom well-i ntentioned , capable people or i nstitutions.

For best results, use technology to augment

i nstitutions alread y havi ng positive impact.



Photo credit: Aishwarya Ratan

A competent non-profit (PR AD AN) and a self-help group

make the technology work.



Why the Myths Persist



Why do these myths persist?

Desire for an easy solution

Desire for a one-time, catalyticinvestment

Desire to see ingenuity triumph

Seductive power of technology in thedeveloped world

Not enough insight into actual poor communities

Misleading explanations of successfulICT4D projects ± a variation of AI¶s

³frame problem´




³Kids in the developing world need the newest

technology«´

³There is a pressing need to employ informationtechnology for rural healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa.´

³Can the cellphone help end global poverty?´

³The Internet should be a human right in and of itself.´



³Twitter ischanging the way

we live.´

Sources: Time Magazine, Nonprofit Technology Conference, The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, Cybermedia.

³Each of us issimultaneously an

individual person and

a global publisher.´

³Social networkingwill transform

learning´

³The Internetchanges

everything.´

³The Internetdemocratizes access to

information.´



Sources: U.S. Census Bureau,Wikipedia

ARPANET

Microsoft

PC

Cellphone

WWW

Google

iPhone



Summary

Myths of ICT4D

± ICT undoes ³rich getting richer.´

± Information is the bottleneck.

± Needs are more pressing than desires.

± Technology¶s impact is only positive.

± Technology X will save the world.

Conclusion

± Technology is a magnifier of human/institutional intent and capacity.

Recommendation for ICT4D interventions:

± Augment institutions already having positive development impact.



[email protected]://www.kentarotoyama.org

Boston Review article: http://www.bostonreview.net

Photo credit: http://visionhelp.wordpress.com

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2010 11 10 (Some of the) Ten Myths of ICT for International Development - Toyama

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