Social Media as a Tool to Eliminate Corruption

During last Thursday’s presentation we discussed the potential that online social media can have as an international development tool. Finding alterative uses for social networks that address problems within communities can be of great use to solve problems that are specific to the development world. One such instance is the case of corruption, a problem that’s common in the developing world. Through the use of the social network ipaidabribe  users can anonymously mention instances where they paid a bribe creating a registry of corrupt officials and officers in the country. Although the site was previously mentioned in this blog I would like to expand on the way it works and its potential for the developing world.

 

Currently, the main site is focused on corruption instances in India with alternate webpages for Greece, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Additionally, it is currently developing web pages to report corruption in Azerbaijan, South Africa, Ukraine and Tunisia. To address corruption, the webpage is divided into 3 main sites: I paid a bribe, I am a bribe fighter, and I met an honest officer.  Through these sections of the webpage individuals can provide reports of instances where they were forced to pay a bribe, where they asked for one but refused to pay it and where they received help from an especially helpful government-employed person without him asking for a bribe. In these reports the individuals can detail as much as they want the situation pinpoint exactly information that may lead to the identification of those that asked for bribes or refused them.

 

Through this method awareness is brought to the problem of corruption and by identifying individuals that demand bribes their supervisors or law enforcement agencies can investigate the issue and give the appropriate sanctions. With almost 2,000,000 reports in India alone the system seems to be working and helping reduce corruption in the country.

Government initiated Digital Volunteering Program in India

In February of this year, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of India introduced a digital volunteer program. Officially titled “My India Initiative-A Digital Volunteer Programme“, the project will make use of citizens “personal social presence of different social media platforms to talk about Government schemes and programmes.” Qualifications for volunteers include proficiency in Facebook and Twitter, regular e-mail use, access to the internet, and willingness to aid the government in spreading information about its policies. Volunteers are encouraged to retweet messages from the twitter handle @MIB_India, and share via facebook and blog posts news from government sites.  The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting aims to connect with, engage and inform the younger generation through this program.

The program was announced on the Ministry’s Blog on February 8th, 2013. Many readers commented on the program. Most had positive feedback, stated that they believed the program would be influential in increasing good governance. Many were excited to participate.

There may be challenges to monitor posts and ensure the credibility of the volunteer. Not necessarily in this case, but I wonder about the ethics of enlisting civilians in a virtual publicity team. This sort of program could be a tool for government propaganda or cover-up, just as it offers the possibility of increased transparency. I anticipate the greatest benefit of such a program would be a politically engaged youth, eager to participate in online debate.

Natural ICT Introduction: Mobile Phones and the Indian Fishing Industry

In his case study, “Mobile Phones and Economic Development: Evidence from the Fishing Industry in India,” Reuben Abraham highlights how mobile phones have affected the fishing industry in India. In sum, the case study finds that there are substantial benefits to the industry, from the fishermen all the way to the consumers.

For the fishermen, these phones can greatly enhance working conditions as they are able to stay in touch with other fishermen, which provides a feeling of safety and  information on where to find large schools of fish. Other tangible benefits for the fishermen include being able to know current market prices, to reduce time and fuel inefficiency, and to fish according to the market demand, thereby cutting unnecessary extra effort. In addition, the boat owners are able to have better information as to the whereabouts and condition of their expensive investments, so they stand less risk than without having any information about their boats.

Some others in the fishing supply chain benefit even more than the fishermen – the middlemen. The  commission agents and merchants had less to lose than others in the supply chain before the presence of mobile telephones; however, these individuals are more certain as to the timing of when supply can meet demand and can essentially control market prices more than ever before. That being said, even the consumers benefit because they are able to know where to find what products they need and pay less with more market efficiency.

Overall, there are few negative consequences with the arrival of mobile telephones in the fishing industry. Mobile phones may increase vulnerability to corruption, harassment, and unethical practices from any of the supply chain participants to other supply chain participants. These incidents, however, are somewhat rare, and do not greatly reduce the benefits of mobile telephone availability in the fishing industry.

One of the most interesting parts of this case study is realizing that no development project or initiative introduced the fishing industry to mobile telephones. It was a natural occurrence and showed to be very successful mainly because the “beneficiaries” adopted the technology they themselves needed – they found something to meet their own needs. The case study was just a tool to help determine whether such an occurrence could be artificially recreated in another location to produce the same benefits.

Using radio to promote safe motherhood: the Taru initiative

In our readings for this week, we learned about the power of a seemingly simple device: the radio. The Mary Myers article; “Why Radio Matters” made a case for the potential that the radio has to save lives and improve health outcomes by broadcasting health messages in form of radio soap operas. This may seem like a weird concept to us, but it has been proven successful in many developing countries around the world. I will share a case study from Bihar, India where a radio soap opera show was used to lower fertility rates, therefore decreasing maternal mortality.

Bihar is the poorest state in India and has the highest fertility rates. The average fertility rate in India is 2.6, yet the rate in Bihar remains above four. Only 34% of single females in Bihar reported using contraception of any kind, according to the 2001 Census in India. High fertility rates contribute greatly to maternal. A local NGO, Janani (which provides reproductive health care), a non-profit “Population Communication International,” and researchers from Ohio University paired up to address the dismal maternal health situation in Bihar. They produced and entertainment-education campaign targeting about 190 million men and women living in rural Bihar and three neighboring states. They reached their target audience through a radio program soap opera that aired once a week for a year. This 52- episode series was about the life of a fictional woman named Taru. As Vijaykumar (2008) states, the campaign sought to, “motivate listeners to take charge of their own health, seek health services, and better their living” (p. 182).

The campaign was a great success. Baseline vs. follow-up surveys of 1,500 households in Bihar showed that there was an increase in awareness family planning and an overall greater approval from people’s social networks about the use of family planning after the radio series. Utilization of family planning services also increased which portrays a great success; not only was this campaign able to educate and inform its audience, it actually caused behavior change which is not always an immediate outcome of mass media campaigns. In addition, condoms and other forms of contraception and pregnancy test sales increased “exponentially,” in several villages according to Vijaykumar (2008, p. 184). The study even found that there was an overall increase in gender equality beliefs among the respondents, which is a huge step in the right direction for maternal health because maternal mortality stems from the general lack of value placed on women’s lives in many developing countries. The fact that there were changes not only at the individual level, but also at the community and service-demand level highlights the extent of the success of this campaign. It was also able to influence social norms and behaviors, which is a huge barrier to public health movements and is especially important in a destitute area like Bihar where traditional cultural beliefs often persist and present themselves as barriers to modern public health campaigns. The only obvious downfall of this campaign in my opinion is that it only used one channel to attempt to reach a population of 190 million, but clearly, it still worked.

Radios can do more than you thought, huh?

Reference: Vijaykumar, S. (2008). Communicating safe motherhood: Strategic messaging in a globalized world. Marriage & Family Review, 44(2-3), 173-199. doi:10.1080/01494920802177378

The Digital StudyHall Project: mediated virtual education

This week our class read a efficacy study of The Digital Study Hall (DSH), a program of facilitated video instruction for government primary schools in North India (“Facilitated Video Instruction in Low Resource Schools”, Anderson et al). The project is an interesting conglomeration of video ICT technology, teacher training, administrative support and foreign aid.

The Digital StudyHall website describes the project like this:

“We digitally record live classes by the best grassroots teachers, transmit them on the “Postmanet” (effected by DVDs sent in the postal system), collect them in a large distributed database, and distribute them on DVDs to poor rural and slum schools.“

The program emphasizes teacher training to improve quality of education. The videos are meant provide teachers with inspiration for teachers. The other purpose of the videos is for “mediation-based pedagogy” in which a mediator facilitates in-class student interaction with the videos (role-playing activities, working on the board, etc.)

Digital StudyHall utilizes “light-tech” equipment such as TV’s, DVD players, camcorders, the postal system and cell phones as well as “higher-tech” operations like databases and DVD burning robots.

The Digital StudyHall is funded by a mix of individuals, NGO organizations, foreign and domestic government bodies and for-profit companies including: Intel Labs, Ashoka, Microsoft, National Science Foundation, University of Washington, Google, and others.

In Anderson et al.’s analysis of the Digital StudyHall program, administrative and teacher support as well as theft of equipment proved to impede successful continuation of the  program. In all, I think this program is a great model for the incorporation of easily available and easy-to-use ICT equipment to address educational development.

India’s National ICT Resources

(government):
India’s New Telecom Policy 1999
Last Updated: 11 Nov, 2003
Published By: Ministry of Communications & Information Technology
Language: English & Hindi

http://www.dot.gov.in/ntp/ntp1999.htm

National Telecom Policy – 2012
Published By: Ministry of Communications & Information Technology
Language: English & Hindi
Last Updated: 2004

http://www.dot.gov.in/ntp/NTP-06.06.2012-final.pdf

Broadband Policy 2004
Last Updated: 13 December 2004
Language: English & Hindi
Published By: Ministry of Communications & Information Technology

http://www.dot.gov.in/ntp/broadbandpolicy2004.htm

ICT For Disaster Risk Reduction

Published By: Ministry of Home Affairs, National Disaster Management Division Government of India

Last Updated: 31 December 2004

Language: English

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/india/docs/ict_for_disaster_risk_reduction_indian_experience.pdf

Non gov:
ICT Policy 2011: The Big Indian IT Dream
Published By: e-Gov magazine
Language: English
Last Updated: Nov 2011

http://issuu.com/egov_magazine/docs/egov_nov_2011

** Note: This article provides in depth information about the new proposed and accepted ICT draft plan for India.

New Telecom Policy, 1999
Last Updated: Aug 17, 2012
Published By: The Centre for Internet & Society
Language(s); English & Hindi

http://cis-india.org/telecom/telecom-knowledge-repository/new-telecom-policy-1999

It was rather difficult to find an ICT policy for India, especially a recent one because India’s cabinet has recently approved a national ICT policy draft. There are numerous ICT plans that address specific elements, therefore I have included both old ICT resources and the proposed new ICT draft.

Positive Case Study of ICT Women’s Empowerment in India

Recently for class we were asked to read an article called “Gender Assessment of ICT Access and Usage in Africa” written by Alison Gillwald, Anne Milek & Christoph Stork. It was very interesting and had a large scale of data that states among many thing that because of unequal access (due to differences in income and education) women usually have less access to ICT’s. Coupled with the constant expansion and innovation with technology more and more income as well as education is required to access and operate technologies, two things that women are disproportionate to in comparison to men, women have less of a chance and the needed skills to use ICTs effectively and efficiently. There have been many efforts from different organizations to educate females in ICT usage, some successful but also many not. A UNESCO project called “Networking Rural Women and Knowledge” in Nabanna India is a great case study of a successful project. According to their write up they “explored innovative uses of databases, intranet portals and web‐based partnerships in the local language for the benefit of poor women”.  Here is a break down of the purpose, members, and results:

Purpose: Build women’s local information networks by providing facilities and training at five ICT centers in Baduria, Rudrapur, Taragunia, Arbelia and Punda.

Members: 60 women aged 20‐40

Results: 

• More respect in their local communities as a result of ICT skills
acquired at the center

• Younger women felt more comfortable in the job market and achieved higher incomes

 

• Women became more creative after learning from programs like Paintbrush in Windows
XP

• Women have achieved an increase in income as well as enhancement of solidarity
among women in the community

These results were not only limited to positive female empowerment economically  they also created a sense of unity between the community members who participated and developed leadership qualities. Although these results were very positive the project could not include the greatest number or the largest marginalized women (illiterate or indigenous) who have the greatest difficulty accessing ICTs.

Using ICT’s to preserve traditional knowledge: TKDL and Indian Medicine

When discussing the introduction and strengthening of new forms of communication enabled by technological advancements, it is necessary to understand (or at least be aware) of previous forms of knowledge dissemination. Traditional knowledge refers to wisdom, practices, and teachings of the indigenous or local population of a region. This form of knowledge was historically communicated orally, passed from one generation to the next. As the world urbanizes and this form of dissemination is disrupted, we will definitely want to preserve this traditional knowledge.

One of the trends in development discussed in class was that of “Post-Developmentalism”. This theory emphasizes utilizing  local, indigenous and traditional values and knowledge systems as alternatives to development  (Ports, Presentation 1.5):

Given this trend, how can ICT’s further the preservation and acknowledgment of traditional knowledge systems?

In the late 1990′s, the government of India embarked on a project to preserve traditional knowledge existing in the country, by assembling literature relating to Ayurevda, Unani, Siddha and Yoga. The project, Traditional Knowledge Digital Library is a collaboration between the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research and the Department of Ayuveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. It digitized texts on traditional medicine and organizes  information into an “innovative structured classification system” with subgroups relating to medicinal plants, minerals, animal resources, effects and diseases, methods of preparations, modes of administration. To date, the project has transcribed 150 volumes into 34 million pages of information. The data has also been translated into five languages: English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese.

Here is the description from the TKDL website:

“Since time immemorial, India has possessed a rich traditional knowledge of ways and means practiced to treat diseases afflicting people. This knowledge has generally been passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. A part of this knowledge has been described in ancient classical and other literature, often inaccessible to the common man and even when accessible rarely understood. Documentation of this existing knowledge, available in public domain, on various traditional systems of medicine has become imperative to safeguard the sovereignty of this traditional knowledge and to protect it from being misappropriated in the form of patents on non-original innovations, and which has been a matter of national concern.”

Digitizing traditional knowledge presents an interesting set of advantages and disadvantages. Dr. R.A. Mashelkar of the CSIR stated that “‘eventually, the creation of TKDL will serve a bigger purpose in enhancing the country’s innovation capability’… It could act as a bridge between the traditional and modern knowledge systems and provide an impetus to modern research.” (Business Line Article)

So this project protects traditional knowledge from patents and transfers traditional knowledge into a usable format for scientific and technological advances. But what about sacredness of this knowledge, the ancient process of learning and mentorship? Does altering the dissemination process of this knowledge alter the value of this knowledge? How can this project model be used to connect ICT expansion and local knowledge? In all, this project uses ICT’s in an interesting manner to share traditional knowledge to a new population. Petty neat.

ICT Usage, Economic growth, and Gender Equality in India.

In “Connecting the first mile:  a framework for best practice in ICT projects for knowledge sharing in development”  we see a framework set up for the best practices in ICT projects for knowledge sharing in development, centered around debates related to: Top down versus participatory solutions to development problems, global versus local solutions, technological versus social solutions, and optimism versus pessimism about the role of ICTs in development. Based upon this article there are essentially three success factors that determine the efficiency of ICT development: the environment, the project level, and the first mile. I am going to focus on a country in which we success in all three of these areas; India. As noted in the infographic below, India is the winner for the most growth “in terms of mobile users in the past 20 years”. Instead of looking at only where this success was driven from, I am going to look at what this success in growth and technological innovation has done for women in India in the ast few decades.

Mobile Usage Worldwide infographic

A study published in partnership by the International Center for Research on Women and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women entitled: “Connectivity, How mobile phones, computers, and the internet can catalyze women’s entrepreneurship; Case Study: India”, part 2.2 takes time the analyze the information and communications sector in India, finding major success including:

1. New policies and business opportunities, especially in wireless communications and products, inspiring growth of the new government ministries, regulatory agencies, state-owned corporations, and private sector companies.

2. The expansion of sought out market space in the mobile and internet services industry from companies such as state-owned BSNL and MTNL, Bharti-Airtel, Reliance Communications, as well as Nokia and Motorola.

3. The growth of the ICT sectors contribution to GDP from 3.4% in 2000-2001 to 5.9% in 2007-2008.

With the staggering economic and political success of ICTs in India, I am asking how this success has worked to improve the lives of women in India, and the answer is, it has, and in a big way.

The graphic from the ICRW report notes the rise in economic social and educational success for women. This success is due the residual effects of ICT development including GDP growth, job creation, and social change. Barriers to women’s business success in India that remain include: social norms, time, capital and financing, skills and training, access to markets, and business networks. While these barriers exist, they are similar to issues we would find in a fully developed country such as the United States.

These challenges will continue to exist around the world, but what all developing nations can learn from the success of India is the wide range of positive benefits the expansions and successful implementation of mobile phone strategy can have. The more connected the population, the more likely we are to see success and growth spread.

Telecentres: what are they and why doesn’t Heeks like them?

As we discussed in class, Richard Heeks is not a fan of ‘telecentres’.  Heeks makes it clear in his work “ICTs and the MDGs: On the Wrong Track?” that the focus of ICT4D should be on ICT production, not consumption. From this point he draws his motto “the data centre, not the telecentre,” meaning that back office applications of ICTs (ICTs for business management, planning etc) are more effective and have a greater impact than putting a few computers kiosks in rural India. Which brings us back to telecenters…but what exactly are they and what doesn’t he like about them?

According to “telecentre.org“, a telecentre is “a public place where people can find information, create, learn, and communicate with others while developing digital skills through access to information and communication technology.” In short, telecentres strive to give under-served populations access to ICTs. On a larger scale, telecentres are designed to: promote community development, reduce isolation for rural livelihoods, bridge the digital divide, promote health education, empower youth, and create economic opportunities for all.

This all sounds good and well, but without any computer training, or skills training in business management etc, small businesses aren’t just going to pop up, and money is not just going to flow into communities as a result of these technology hubs. Think about it; if you were given a computer, but had no instruction about how to use it, or any understanding of the potential gains that could come from using it, you would probably give up pretty quickly. Heeks mentions the abandoned computer kiosks in India in his article as an example of a failed ICT consumption development project. I think that a lack of digital literacy, motivation, and access to the telecentres contribute to failures like this one.

Plus, it’s not like most citizens of developing countries have a lot of free time to go experiment with the ICTs at the telecentre; most of them work hard jobs and long hours in order to survive. In addition, it is unlikely that many adults in the developing world have the resources and economic freedom to go be entrepreneurs, start small businesses etc, so the telecentres provided might not be very useful to them.

I think telecenters can work, if they provide formal training and certification, like this initiative.  But I understand Heeks’ distaste; telecentres come off as very top-down development, and we know that throwing technology at the developing world is not the answer.