Post by Olivier Berthoud:

Some brief comments to the conference:
Here are the 3 most relevant case studies for me. Potential scaling up and mainstreaming are my major concern about these new technologies.

• Oxfam is using any new Web2.0 technology to mobilize mid-class professional and youth in wealthy countries (Myspace, Facebook, what ever) and it seams to works great for them.
• Dgroups, “Web2.0 before Web2.0”, is consistently used by development practitioners since 1996 (80’000 subscribers), but it is now an outdated technology: simple robust mailing list and discussion forum that are low band compatible, no blog nor wiki. Couldn’t we work together to improve it?
• Cell phones are all over the world in hands of billions of people: they are making a difference now. People are making money. Here is an example from Ghana.
• and the BROSDI-Uganda hype I don’t share.

I was less impressed than others by the presentation of the BROSDI project from Uganda.

“I felt like I had found a magic bean”(…) “My favourite was Cissy and her turkey farm. Ednah told us, ‘She learnt how to rear turkeys on SMS!’ “wrote Holly Ashley here in the Web2fordev blog. I am sure the enthusiasm is authentic. I just doubt that proteins deficiency and lack of incomes in developing countries will be solved by learning through SMS. It’s a pity, but development issues and learning opportunities are more complex than that. And we should stop getting exited by beautiful particular innovative projects that never scale up because they are based on very singular local circumstances and leadership that are rarely part of the project presentation.

Bottom line: Nice learning and networking, but I an not sure I will attend the 2009 conference on Web3.0 “Virtual Reality for Development”. I am convinced there is still in the coming years a great undisclosed and proved potential to reach the Millennium goals with pencils and paper, old Web1.0 low band artifacts and some Web2.0 tools for some people.

Olivier Berthoud
SDC, Berne

Interview with Christian Kreutz, GTZ, Web2forDev Conference, Rome 24^th February 2007.  

Monday was a preliminary workshop day, prior to the start of the main Web2forDev conference in Rome. Participants were introduced to various web-based applications that are part of the Web 2.0. One of the presentations was about blogging. 

Presenter Christian Kreutz, of GTZ in Germany, described blogging as a very powerful communication tool: blogging is ‘a two-way conversation…’ – a great way of creating ‘virtual meeting spaces’ and sharing ‘first hand experience of what is going on in the field’. But perhaps not everyone agrees. Andrew Keen once referred to the emerging Web 2.0 – and phenomena such as blogging – as the latest and greatest ‘seduction’.[1] He argues that it will drown out traditional media and the ‘authoritative voice’, plunging us into a ‘nightmare of over-abundance’ of information and authors. However, Christian argues that ‘many blogs are covering niche topics that traditional media might not otherwise cover. The traditional media already rely a lot on blogs to get information from places such as Iraq or Lebanon.’ 

Yet according to Christian, there is still a general misunderstanding of what blogging is – and what it is useful for. So I asked him, how do we – the users – know what information is accurate or important to us? And, given that anyone can blog – to give opinion, fact or perspectives – how can we know or even define what is useful and relevant?  

‘It takes time to write, time to read and time to digest blogs. But, Web 2.0 applications can also bring you to blogs – there are blogging hubs that gather information so that you can follow up on your own chosen theme… and interesting new technologies like RSS feeds mean that you can see how popular different blogs are. And out of these numbers we can see what people jump on.’ To put it simply, these RSS applications are capable of generating qualitative information and statistics, and so monitoring how popular different blogs are. And Christian’s argument is that the more people read or respond to different posts in blogs, the more ‘authoritative’ the information contained in those posts can be said to be. But is the majority voice synonymous with quality? 

Blogs are now increasingly being used by intermediate development organisations, which are using them as a strategic organisational tool to share information and knowledge. So how are these organisations accountable to the people that they are apparently representing on these blogs?  

Interestingly, Christian commented that in his opinion, blogging ‘is still completely underestimated by the development scene’. Whilst he agrees that there is a lot of information generated, which is not necessarily accurate or useful, he also argues that the essence of blogging is that it creates a two-way conversation, which in turn creates its own feedback loops. The theory is that these feedback loops circulate between people at the grassroots, intermediate development organisations, donor organisations, IFIs and policy makers. He believes that this will be profoundly important in the development sector, creating a monitoring and evaluation system which will in turn push for better practice. ‘If a project isn’t working, people will write about it from the field.’

 Web 2.0 protagonists passionately believe that applications like blogging will open up a whole new era of openness and accountability in development. These all-important feedback loops will ensure greater accountability, transparency and representation, from the grassroots to the policy makers. 

Is blogging open to abuse? ‘Yes,’ says Christian candidly. ‘But it’s an open, cultural conversation. I’m amazed how well it works in many different contexts.’ He agrees that blogging can be very political, and also very partisan. However, he also argues that it’s not all about blogging. Face-to-face meetings are still fundamentally important – and what use is your blog if no-one knows it exists? ‘Just to have a blog alone, that isn’t the thing. You have to do something more to be a network. You have to interact, to make your blog known, and to convince other organisations to join in – it’s an overlap – many things have to come together.’ 

But perhaps his main message is that it is a low-cost, easy to implement technology that gets results. There are still clear disadvantages to the South, for example with connectivity. And more time is needed to develop capacities within organisations wanting to use blogging in their communications strategies. But while there may still be challenges to overcome, Christian’s premise is that blogging really can be a form of democratised, accountable knowledge sharing – where the majority voice can also become the authoritative voice.  

A final thought: Who is participating in the creation of ‘the majority voice’? How truly participatory is Web 2.0? What participatory processes are the Web 2.0 community of practice using? Is Participatory Web for Development a reality – on the ground as well as in cyberspace? The answers will emerge over the rest of the conference…

I asked people about what they learnt on Day Zero Web2.0fordev conference and what they where going to take home.

Prince Deh GINKS Assistant Network Coordinator, Ghana

I am planning to host local language videos and translate the text in English because I realise that many people get my stories and information from the blog. Video blogging has enhanced my knowledge and sharing skills.As you see people are attracted by video and they want to see and hear at the same time. I have learnt how to use delicious, wikis and tagging. One thing is that if you don’t tag your work not so many people will read about it.

William Eziniwa Nwangwu, Nigeria
Regional Center for Information Science, Lecture
I have been wondering why Web 2.0? Isn’t it a new word for an old thing?I have discovered how it is being used and sometimes it worries me as an academician. Some Universities in the
USA have banned students giving reference to wikis as one of their sources of researched information. In wikis who is the author? Is the information peer reviewed? In my institution I limit the reference of wiki copies. 

Makelesi Gonelevu, Anju Mangal - Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Fiji
We learnt about the potential of RSS feeds, wikis, tagging, blogging and the most interesting of all was the farmer blogging where farmers shared agricultural knowledge amongst themselves and also between experts. In the Pacific, we at SPC are trying to get farmers to access online agricultural information and have expert’s answers queries from the farmers.Web 2.0 will enable us to implement the various ways of information sharing and collaboration between farmers and stakeholders. In the Pacific, we have to deal with accessibility issues and one of the main issues that we face is connectivity. Web 2.0 is an amazing tool; however, it may not work in the Pacific if we have accessibility issues. Low bandwidth is an issue and using vlogging can be a problem in terms of accessing online videos.  We have discovered a lot on day zero and we hope to fully utilise Web 2.0 www.spc.int/lrd - SPC Land Resources Division website.  

Mirjam Schaap, Wageningen International
I learnt about real relevant use of Web 2.0 tools for grassroots people (farmers, traders etc), the potential of bridging gaps between farmers / researchers. It was also interesting to have the impression that some people are concerned about a threat of use of Web 2.0 tools by ‘amateurs’ for the ‘professionals` (concerns about taxonomies, about traditional video professionals etc). I also learnt that some of the names I have come across online, actually are real people …, that they also exist outside cyberspace … Very nice to meet people in real life. I loved the ‘online presentation’ and desktop sharing from Wageningen, and I got to know some handy tools which are used by others (desktop sharing, good cheap hosts, wordpress plugins etc.)I really liked the energy during the day, and the willingness of everyone to share experiences. I am still looking for tips on how to infect my colleagues with the Web 2.0 virus, how to convince my friends to share info using Web 2.0 tools, how to convince my colleagues to not just use text to communicate but also use video and audio. So on how to mainstream Web 2.0 tools use in my organisation and among our partners.But we’ll have another 3 days of working together, and sharing and learning.

Amit Dasgupta is one of the few presenters at the Web2forDev Conference with a private sector background. Currently he is working for IBM India as General Manager in the Global Business Services division. At Tuesday, the first day of the Conference, Amit Dasgupta will do a presentation on practical examples of how knowledge sharing and collaborative efforts within key stakeholders and community members can be more effective using Web 2.0, to improve the richness of knowledge sharing applications for the agricultural sector.

Amit Dasgupta: “The thematic context of my presentation has no relation to the type work I usually do in IBM, although from a technological standpoint one could say it is linked with my work. I have chosen to talk about making existing knowledge sharing applications and collaboration attempts within rural communities much more effective by using Web 2.0 as I strongly believe Web 2.0 will be helpful to the agricultural community in India.”

“Web 2.0 offers so many compelling advantages compared to older technologies, that I foresee an extensive use of this new technology. In order to develop effective knowledge sharing applications for the agriculture sector for example, academic and research institutions, government agencies, NGOs, commercial organisations and users must collaborate since, integration of data from multiple sources is necessary to provide meaningful information and content. Moreover, dissemination of this knowledge is crucial for successful deployment of these applications. The challenges for geographically dispersed organisations working in different fields, to jointly work together to address the requirements for such solutions are real; but could be resolved by leveraging the Web 2.0 framework which facilitates collaborative development of functionally richer applications”.

“Through my presentation I hope to create a better awareness on how Web 2.0 can be harnessed to provide useful solutions for agricultural communities and emphasize the need for collaboration amongst key stakeholders. Use of technology and collaboration are both essential, to develop applications that would make a significant impact on economically underprivileged farmers. I sincerely hope this conference will encourage government agencies, NGOs, research institutions and other organisations to set up collaborative working groups and use the power of Web 2.0, to make knowledge more accessible to rural people. Such initiatives would have a tremendous economic impact on agricultural communities – worldwide”.

By Brenda Zulu

Africa Interactive, the publishers of Africa News www.africanews.com a world wide interactive multimedia platform focused on Africa are piloting a new project called “Voice of Africa” where journalists use mobile phones to send news video clips to report news.

Elles Van Gelder Editor in Chief of Africa News said at the Digital Citizen Indaba (DCI) in Grahamstown , South Africa last week that the project was launched by the Dutch who said Western media does not represent does not represent Africa and set up the project to show more balanced images of Africa.

She explained that sending video clips using the mobile phone was a new way of creating content. She said journalists who are part of the project are trained to become innovative reporters and how to use the cell phones.

Elles explained that they also looked at the technical side of doing the reporting and provided the journalists with small keyboards because the cell phone keys where too small to enable Journalists do their work fast.

She observed that the media focus was on Africa and that this was a revolution as these Journalists will be reporting live in events such as elections in Kenya.

Peter Verweij of the University of Utrecht Netherlands observed that mobile technology brings Journalists back to the streets meaning one does not need to get back to the newsroom to send a news report.With the GPS facility, editors in the newsrooms will also be in a position to supervise their reporters because they will be able to know where the reporters are and what they are doing.

Verweij said mobile phones will enhance journalists to report from anywhere for web pages and blogs. The content can range from text to Video and noted that for the first time anyone could be a reporter.

He also observed the challenges for
Africa as being the level of internet connectivity as the work of Journalists is set to improve dramatically with innovations in mobile GPS technology.

In the same vein, Ndesajo Macha a Sub Saharan Global Voices editor in delivering his key note address at the DCI said the future was mobile. He said text messaging has been delivering news.

He said SMS was also used for social networking as much of the news now is known through SMS before the mainstrem media makes the reports.

The coming of new technologies thus has led to fear of adapting to new ways of doing Journalism.

The future for Africa is Mobile as it has been embraced by more than 200 million people on the continent.Talking on convergence, Arrie Rossouw the editorial Director of Media 24 said there was need for people to stop talking about cries and insecurity and instead strive to move toward integrated newsrooms.

The discussion on convergence noted that in African news rooms remains largely unrecorded. Some newsrooms are marching forward, pod casting news items and music programmes and sending texts to cell phones, others are experimenting with video, sending sports clips and news to wireless services.

Matthew Buckland, the Mail and Guardian Online Manager told delegates attending the Highway Africa Conference 2007 that the Web 2.0 software was an important development for smaller role players.

Buckland noted that Media companies need to develop strategies for using the web 2.0 software for social networking and also to attract advertising.

He pointed out that the web 2.0 has played an important role in the improvement of technology and is also less expansive.

Web 2.0 is a term often applied to perceive ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of web sites to a full fledged computing platform servicing web application.

English translation

Le Réseau semencier africain (African Seed Network –ASN-) est en train de mettre en place un système d’information basé sur internet pour permettre aux paysans d’avoir une idée sur ce qui se fait dans les différentes coopératives. Ce système dénommé « cyber-semences » est basé sur les outils web 2. Le journaliste Noel Tadégnon s’entretient avec Kouassi Alphonse Kouamé, ingénieur agronome et chargé de programmes du Système Semencier Africain, en Cote d’Ivoire

Noel Tadégnon: Vous êtes entrain de mettre en place un système d’information qui doit permettre au paysan de savoir quantité et les variétés de semences, dans les , comment se présente ce système appelé « Cyber-semences »?

Kouassi Alphonse Kouamé: Un Cyber-semence est un outil de collecte, de traitement et de gestion de données relatives aux semences. Ces données peuvent être: les variétés, la quantité de semences, la qualité des semences, les prix proposés, les zones de production et de stockage, les producteurs de semences et les paysans agents de qualité. En un mot, le Cyber-semence est un outil de gestion de l’information depuis le champ paysan jusqu’à la commercialisation. Il fait la promotion des produits semenciers à travers la traçabilité.

N T : Comment va –t-il fonctionner ?

K A K : Chaque Cyber-semence est relié à l’ordinateur central (national) appelé « Observatoire » qui est logé, dans le cas de la Côte d’Ivoire, au sein du Service semencier. Il peut cependant être domicilié dans toute autre structure publique ou privée compétente, et de préférence même, au sein des interprofessions là où elles fonctionnent bien. Le Cyber-semence est un site web dynamique et interactif destiné à promouvoir une communication dynamique entre producteurs et utilisateurs de semences. Il est domicilié au sein des OPA ou Coopératives qui l’animent. Ces dernières enregistrent les données concernant les disponibilités de semences (quantité, qualité, prix proposé, etc) ainsi que leurs besoins. Ces données sont automatiquement accessibles au niveau de l’Observatoire.

Expliquez nous le mécanisme de collecte de l’information. Est-il basé sur les outils web2 (wiki par exemple) ?

K A K : Oui le système d’information est basé sur les outils web 2 avec la conception de programmes spécifiques.

N.T : Comment est-ce que l’information est collectée par les coopératives (est-ce en lien direct avec les agriculteurs) ?

K A K : L’information est collectée en relation directe avec les producteurs. Elle est effectuée par les paysans agents de qualité qui sont des paysans membres des OPA / Coopératives formés en la matière.

N.T : Qui utilisera cette information ? Dans quels objectifs et quel sera le profit potentiel pour les agriculteurs ?

K A K : Les utilisateurs de l’information : - Les Etats à travers les Services semenciers qui disposent ainsi de données fiables sur la filière semencière. Ces données serviront chaque année à l’élaboration des programmes semenciers nationaux qui déterminent les besoins par catégorie de semence et par variété;- Les agriculteurs à travers leurs organisations qui pourront trouver des clients pour écouler leurs productions mais aussi, connaître les sources potentielles de semences en cas de besoin ;- Les sociétés semencières et les firmes phytopharmaceutiques pour la commercialisation de leurs produits ;- Les commerçants (dealers, intermédiaires, grossistes) qui pourront également faire du business et créer une valeur ajoutée à la semence.

N.T : Comment se fera la participation des communautés rurales ?

K A K : Les communautés rurales prennent une part très active dans le fonctionnement du système. Les Cyber-semences sont logés dans les OPA / Coopératives et sont gérés par les agriculteurs eux-mêmes.

N.T : Le projet permettra-il un meilleur partage de l’information sur les semences et une préservation des connaissances endogènes qui jusque là disparaissaient ?

K A K : Oui, nous pensons que ce projet va faciliter la circulation de l’information entre les différents acteurs de la filière. Il favorise la remontée et la diffusion de l’information sur les semences. A ce propos, d’autres outils des mass medias seront mis à contribution, notamment : les radios rurales, les journaux, les prospectus, les posters, etc. En ce qui concerne la valorisation des connaissances endogènes, le système fait la promotion des variétés traditionnelles et des connaissances endogènes qui les accompagnent. Il travaille sur la création de niches de marchés pour certaines variétés traditionnelles qui font l’objet d’une forte demande locale ou extérieure.

The complete conference schedule is out and we are happy to offer a broad variety of topics in the realm of web2.0 and development. Here is a selected list of topics to give an overview: (Complete schedule)

• Leveraging Web 2.0 to Develop Better Applications for Rural Communities
• Portal 2.0: Using Social Software to Connect Geographically Dispersed Teams
• Linking Farmers to Markets through Modern Information and Communication Technologies in Kenya
• Drylands Resources Knowledge and Practice Network: The Use of Web-based Technologies to Facilitate Networking and Knowledge Sharing in Africa
• Use of Semantic Wiki Tool to Build a Repository of Re-usable Information objects in Agricultural Education and Extension: Results from a Preliminary Study
• Sharing Knowledge, Exchanging Solutions and Community Information Updates through Blogs and Social Networks: Case Study from India
• Promoting Information and Knowledge Sharing through Vlogging
• Oxfam’s Experience in Using Social Networking Platforms to Support its Work
• Wikis, Blogs and Online Profiles for African NGOs at Kabissa – Space for Change in Africa
• Cairo Concept: Village to Village Knowledge Sharing
• The Creative Commons Project: Sharing Knowledge in the Digital Age
• Climate Change Mashups
• Empowering Journalists with Online Tools: Making a Case for Online Training

For detail information about the conference schedule you can check out here: www.web2fordev.net/schedule_conf.html

English

Agriculture & Nouvelles Technologies : En quoi le web 2.0 peut-il devenir un facteur de développement ?
Giacomo Rambaldi : Internet donne la possibilité à des personnes qui ont accès au Net, même isolées géographiquement, d’obtenir une grande audience, d’être en contact avec des marchés lointains etc. Si on dispose de la connexion, de l’énergie et du temps à dédier à cette activité, on peut s’en servir comme « catalyseur de changement », avec très peu de ressources. Quand on parle du Sud, on évoque des intermédiaires technologiques. Il y a des ONG, des structures ayant accès à Internet et qui peuvent faire l’interface entre, par exemple, des producteurs, des organisations paysannes ou des groupements de femmes et le grand public qui est sur Internet. A l’heure actuelle, nous sommes dans une phase intermédiaire, mais dans une dizaine d’années ou moins, quand l’accès au Net sera meilleur dans pays du Sud, des habitants pourront avoir leur propre espace. Quelques-uns œuvrent d’ailleurs déjà sans intermédiaire.

A. & N. T. : En quoi va consister votre conférence baptisée Web2fordev ?
G. R. : Nous travaillons depuis un an et demi sur la mise en place de cet événement. Chaque année, nous organisions un observatoire TIC centré sur l’agriculture et le développement rural. Des spécialistes viennent pour discuter des innovations récentes. L’an passé, dans le cadre de notre nouvelle stratégie 2007-2010, nous avons décidé d’investir beaucoup plus dans cet événement et de le transformer en une conférence d’ampleur internationale. Après avoir échangé sur le sujet avec des partenaires dans les secteur du développement, nous avons commencé à organiser cet événement. L’objectif était de réaliser une conférence dont les grandes lignes n’étaient pas élaborées par nos soins : nous avons demandé leurs priorités aux différents publics concernés. 500 opérateurs dans le secteur du développement ont répondu à une enquête en ligne et les grandes thématiques ont été définies : l’espace virtuel partagé, les technologies appropriées pour la publication en ligne, la recherche et l’accès aux informations en ligne.

A. & N. T. : Existe-t-il aujourd’hui des freins au développement espéré ?
G. R. : Bien sûr et le premier d’entre eux est l’accès au Net. C’est une limitation importante. Mais les choses évoluent.
Quand j’étais au Kenya il y a quinze ans, il était très difficile d’obtenir une ligne de téléphone fixe. Maintenant, il y a un marché de la téléphonie mobile qui est bouillonnant et qui se développe plus vite qu’en Europe. L’accès au Web avance
relativement vite dans les pays africains. Il y a également d’autres freins comme les monopoles dans la téléphonie… Mais petit à petit, les choses vont dans le bon sens.

English

I was amazed to discover that while African people are still locked in series of discussions about Web 2.0 there is little awareness about positive development about the web2.0 tools. Just when I was busy with my assignment on web.20, a young bright man from Soweto South Africa —who probably escaped the of Bantu Education (poor education system during South Africa ’s apartheid) told me that when engaging on web.20 tools we turn to isolate the role of youth in promoting some tools. For instance some of these youth are well ahead in using some of the web.2.0 techniques such as podcast despite lack of internet access at their homes. With their schools not only a place to access the internet, their participation in web 2.0 tools is something that one should appreciate and start investing at this level to avoid another group people who seem to always cry about things not getting off the ground. Without undermining efforts by fellow Africans, I think some of us should be careful when shouting at government particularly when lobbying certain policies including ICTs.

We should also look at our schools as a foundation to mainstream some of the needs including access to the internet. I do not know in other countries but in most of African schools there seem to be progress because some of us went to the same schools that has prepared until we can today create blogs. So if we need to get things right, for us to have sustainable long term solutions on issues of ICTs we need to identify key structures in our communities that some how forces governments to invest in such policies. As I have said, I think schools are classical examples to achieve this. If I remember very well it was the power of students that brought apartheid government in South Africa to its knees not Nelson Mandela only as it has been wrongly painted by the commercial world. Remember the 1976 Soweto Uprising ! That has brought changes in todays life style in South Africa and the same spirit embraced by todays students is still making waves in Web 2.0 with some them selling livestock from semi -urban areas of South Africa using mobile phone SMS linked with web data. This are the positive moves that demonstrate that while we engage in issues of Web.20fordev we should not undermine the positive energy of our youth. I think another classical examples is www.studentvillage.co.za –this is one of the first African web.20 initiatives that came in before the term it self. Again another project by African youth.

VIVA Web.20fordev! VIVA!

Charles Dhewla made a comment which raised a great discussion on dgroups.  It expands how web2.0 might even widen the gap of ICT for development. It also highlights how challenges such as connectivity, electricity or education limit very much the use of web2.0. Here are some interesting quotes from the discussion. The full contributions can be accessed here: web2fordev dgroup.

Charles Dhewla:
Web2.0 is a welcome development particularly for African countries where website developers are charging a fortune if one wants a simple website. This new technology has opened up new channels for sharing information. I have discovered that in most cases, a blog is more useful and user-friendly than most websites which are not even interactive.

However, before we are lost in the hype of Web2.0, let us not forget that in some parts of Africa, there are millions of people who are still to know what an e-mail is or visit a website. Let’s not promote new technology as if the earlier one is no longer useful. There are people still learning their ropes on conventional websites who need to be given time to absorb this knowledge. The pace at which ICTs are being developed and promoted does not take into account the rate at which people are able to absorb and use acquired knowledge and skills. If it takes years for educated people to learn and absorb internet use, how long do you think it will take illiterate communities, who are supposed to benefit? The workshop should make an effort to address this issue. Information and knowledge overload is a grim reality in most developing countries especially in Africa.

Ken Kubuga:
In parts of the world like Africa, Web2 is not exactly the problem. The problem is Internet availability and accessibility. I am sure a good number of us will feel charged about exploiting the opportunities associated with web2 tools during and after the conference and perhaps get back home to having to deal with Internet accessibility.

Steve Ciscler:
I’d like to remind people of the solution in the mid-90’s to low bandwidth and the desire to use the web: accessing it via email. There were whole manuals to do this, and I met a researcher from Guyana who did literally everything via email at 9600 bps. You can see some of the instructional texts at the bottom of this page: http://www.expita.com/ While most of us would not do this, there may be a resurgence in using these techniques from mobile phones: access the web using SMS.

Makelesi Kora-Gonelevu:
Lets not forget the Pacific where the islands are spread over vast amounts of water. The problem here too would be internet connectivity.

John Tim Denny:
On the one had we need the dreamers to come up with what it will be in the future, yet at the same time we also need some sort of bridge between what we must do now to directly assist in the most basic steps to set the stage… the step from not having electricity to Web 2.0 is like sending a man to the moon.. what is in between?

Rachael Kadama:
I would like to include another dimension to this discussion, if tomorrow we all got reasonable internet access and availability, what kind of impact to development are these tools likely to bring to us?

The availability of relevant content is what worries me and where I think the web2 tools have the opportunity to lend us a hand in developing it. whether we have no access , little access or abundance of bandwidth, people in both rural and urban areas only need this access to get some kind of content / information. We need to look into how these tools can deliver some of the lacking content or strengthen content development, communication, collaboration etc.

Tobias Eigen:
For me the most important part is that Web 2.0 helps to make the case for justifying the Internet for busy and cash strapped organizations. With a little knowhow and an hour or so of Internet connectivity, it is possible to get a professional looking blog up and running. With minimal care and feeding, that blog can be filled with compelling stories and photographs, as exemplified by some of the blogsdescribed in the comments to my blog already. Blogs are really just one example - a wide range of new “Web 2.0 hype enabled” software and services really have made it easier for African organizations to make use of the Internet once you get online.

Koin Etuati:
I think the Web 2 is ideal for us that work on gathering and sharing information on new technologies/concept - either with energy, agriculture, health etc. Because we want to use this technology to share and gather new ideas/concept with our counterparts, in the respective islands in the case of the pacific region. We put the information together, get innovative financing schemes to put this information on the ground.

Edward Addo-Dankwa:
If we are going to wait for all people to learn and be familiar with conventional things before new technologies are introduced, then we will never develop. New technologies are mostly built on the conventional ones. In fact Web 2.0 according to many people, is not new. They are the old conventional things that have been improved. They are supposed to have made it easier for people to appreciate and use those technologies better. Technology does not take into consideration individual people’s rate of learning. In fact our people don’t need to start learning from the begining.

Anke Weisheit:
Connectivity is a major challenge for economically poorer countries to access, participate in the electronic media, especially internet, and e-mail communication.
Some internet connectivity information in Uganda
1-hour internet in a cafe in
Kampala 1500UGX = 0.85USD
Mbarara 3000UGX = 1,72USD
Village 6000UGX = 3,42USD

Jonathan C Onyekwelu:
Bandwidth cost is probably the same for Africans and Europeans or Americans but the earning power is about 500 times higher in both continents than in Africa. Providing the right bandwidth that will guarantee the right internet speed will cost Africans a fortune!
It might be interesting for us to know that a lot of Universities and research institutes in Africa cannot afford the luxury of fast internet connection. In fact most have epilectic services, which is often times frustrating. You will have to wait for hours to connect and when you are finally connected, downloading data is another nightmare. If this is the case with the elites, then what will the story for rural communities for whom we are trying to evaluate the efficacy of web2fordev?

African Journalists need to embrace the new revolution of Web 2.0 tools if they are to catch up in this globalised World. Below find an interview on Web 2.0 with Matongo Maumbi a journalist from Zambia whose blog matongo.blogspot.com

Maumbi recently attended an online training focusing on Web2.0 tools organized by PenPlusBytes, the International Institute for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Journalism. In 2006, PenPlusBytes launched an online course on ICT Journalism in Africa and it attracted about forty three participants from nine countries spread across Africa, Europe and Asia. You were one of these fortunate students.

Why did you want to engage in such a course? What were your needs?

Matongo: I engaged in the course because I have an interest in exploiting ICTs at personal level and also professionally. I have been working as a broadcast journalist since 2002 and I was lucky to have been exposed to the computer and internet right from the early days of my career. My ICT knowledge is driven by personal interest and enthusiasm. I needed some professional guidance on using ICTs in my career as well as how I would fully utilize them. I needed to know the pros and cons of using ICTs . The limits, the potential benefits the fun of using the internet and how to explore it better.

What did you learn? What did you prefer (e.g.,. learning about new tools, engaging with other journalists, sharing your ideas and knowledge with others, working together on a common article, networking and interacting…)?

Matongo: I leant quite a number of things. I initially only took blogging as an adventure. Writing whatever came to my mind without any real set objective or target. I guess this was because I did it just out of interest and curiosity. I learnt how to conduct better online research for background information. How to source documents, how to set good parameters for searching. My knowledge on Web 2.0 was improved. Blogging is a good place to express oneself freely without the censorship of your editor or superiors on your work.

How does, what your learnt, influence your current journalism practice? How did it modify your way of working? How did it nurture your work (if so)? How do you apply what you learnt?

Matongo: I preferred learning new tools and also interacting with other journalists from across the continent and globe. As curiosity satisfaction was among my needs, I was really looking forward to learning new tools on ICTs. My mind was more set on learning new tools from what I already taught myself. I guess from the many things I learnt, I now spend less time on the internet. I spend less time because I know better how to conduct my online research with in the shortest possible time but with maximum information. As I am now working better with internet, it has encouraged me to continue getting a local touch to what I read on the internet. During the course I found my self working on fewer but better researched programmes that are of great relevance to our catchments community.

You created your own blog. How do you use this blog? What is the main purpose (PR, information sharing, interacting….?). Did you reach your goal? What are the strength and the weakness of such an exercise?

Matongo: Initially had a website aimed at doing radical campaigns online on things that affect Zambia. Time and resources could not allow me to continue and my site died out. Then I though of creating blog with a similar aim. I basically transferred what my site to the blog. I use the blog to make and achieve my thoughts online. As my blog is more of expressing my self, I have not yet set a good objective. In a small way I have reached my goal of transferring my thoughts online. The greatest strength is that you are your own editor and can write anything you fell is morally right at your own pace and space. You get unlimited freedom besides that fact that you have sensitive stories. Weakness comes in as most of the time I only write about my thoughts without backup professional thoughts. This creates a sense of non credibility from readers. Updates are seldom coming on the blog as I use company equipment and internet to do the updates.

What are the main challenges for African journalists to use Web2.0 tools? Do you think that most journalists have already a “mindset” for Web2 tools? What would the African Media community gain by using Web2.0?

Matongo: The main challenges of African journalists using web 2.0 tools is that we do not have our own working space. We have to rely on computers and internet from our offices. How on earth could one fully use web 2.0 tools when one does not have their own resources? The mindset for most journalists is there but a mindset with out resources is meaningless. Internet connection and access is very expensive for most journalists and even when it is affordable it is very slow. There is plenty to gain such as information sharing, unlimited power to express oneself (group) without the trouble of going through the censoring editors and managers.

Do you think that web2.0 applications - if well used by African journalists - can make the Internet more “relevant”? How so?

Matongo: I think Web 2.0 tools if properly used can make it more relevant. There is a lot of information that African Journalists have but because they have to go through editors, such info is suppressed. Mostly it is as a result of editors, managers not appreciating the role of ICTS tools.

Have you advertised your blog. If yes to whom and how?

Matongo: I think my blog is an isolated one. I have not advertised it. The only people that know about are my friends. I never thought of advertising it mainly because I think I do not update it regularly.

Are you making money from your blog?

Matongo: I am not in any way making money from my blog . I still do not fully know how I can tap into that potential. I do not really see how I can make money. I guess this is something I have to learn next. I know I have what it takes; I just do not have the right guidance.

Have you taught other about blogging?

Matongo: I have not taught any of my close friends’ blogging and taking full advantage of the internet besides e-mail messaging. Training for African Journalists in necessary on new web tools because these are new things which are not taught in Journalism. It is also important to note that a blog helps to store content online for African Journalists which has been for a long time been stored in paper form. The content put on a blog is shared and people learn from that kind of content.

It is quite obvious that wiki software is changing communication, since the success of wikipedia and since many organizations use wikis to collaborate and share knowledge openly. It is interesting to see how organizations in the field of internal cooperation are starting to use these new tools as well. Some examples are the United Nations experimenting with the wisdom of wikis, and the World Bank with its blogs: Poverty and Growth and Private Sector Development. I wonder whether web2.0’s enable communication will lead to a change of the interaction of these organizations with external actors. Might it be that these organizations become, themselves, part of an open network for knowledge sharing in the future?
What fascinates me is that the web develops, pressures for own concepts of knowledge sharing, and affects more and more “real life”. Take a look at events or concepts like “JAM” or “unconference“. From what I know, both approaches are web rooted and rely on the web’s open and transparent culture. Both concepts are open for everyone interested. They are mainly organized online, but some unconferences such as barcamps take place worldwide to discuss web2.0, wine, local development or e-government. By the way, a book about how to do an unconference is currently collaboratively being written.
UN Habitat organized a JAM prior to a conference, which allowed people to participate and articulate their opinion.

During a three-day digital discussion, hundreds of thousands of people from 191 countries engaged in issues ranging from safety and security to improving the lives of slum dwellers. In India, women participated through moderators who went into communities to seek their views, while in Kenya, people waited hours for computer access so they could have a say. The results of the discussion were included in the forum’s agenda. (Newsweek)

It enthralls me that web2.0–its communication, community, participation behind it, etc.–gives rise to new models of collaboration, which questions the traditional ones. At unconferences, everybody is a listener and a presenter at the same time, and they are organized over a wiki. As mentioned in my last post, at our conference, we also want to experiment with this kind of approach in our open sessions.

Not more than six weeks away from the conference, we are excited to hear interesting presentations from all around the world and discuss web2.0 in the context of development. Here is some background information about the process so far.

By the end, 130 proposals were submitted, of which 40 were accepted to be presented. This number shows the level of interest by development actors involved with the usage of Web2.0 technologies. From the proposals, around 50% were submitted by Southern representatives – though almost all the proposals have a strong Southern focus. There are a number of very exciting presentations proposed. They range from talking about the innovative use of blogs and social video sites, mashups for climate change, to empowering journalists with online tools. All together, it is a diverse spectrum of interesting talks being presented. These presentations will be also described in this blog prior to the conference.

The Day 0 sessions (pre-conference seminars) will be a great opportunity for the conference participants to gain some hands-on experiences with the technologies and interact with expert users. The open spaces and incubator sessions, which allow speakers and participants to build their own agenda and meet to discuss the topics and issues, are also highly innovative. They encapsulate the overall aim of the conference - to provide a forum to allow experts, users, interested people and development practitioners from both Southern and Northern countries to interact in an informal, though structural, and lively way on issues and technologies which suit their own needs, interests and experiences.

The schedule for the conference will be published shortly. We also encourage presenters to tell in this blog a bit about their presentation prior to the conference.

Nous avons récemment eu une discussion sur ce thème. Internet - et ce n’est pas une nouveauté dans un monde globalisé - est avant tout un outil unilingue. L’anglais s’impose partout sans partage. Peut-on croire que les outils Web2 vont promouvoir de nouvelles voix?
J’aimerais beaucoup entendre sur la question des outils web2 et de leur impact potentiel les voix de nos amis hispanophones, francophones, lusophones, hindi… Pourquoi ne pas imaginer un blog Babel où chacun pourrait rapporter ou commenter dans sa langue ce que les autres ont écrit dans un autre idiome?
Une autre de mes questions en suspens est la dimension humaine et sociale des outils web2. J’aimerais vraiment trouver des illustrations qui nous expliquent comment ces outils révolutionnent notre manière de considérer le “développement” et comment concrètement ils sont porteurs de changements sociaux sur le terrain.

Les nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la communication allument et animent la télévision au Burkina Faso. TV Wagues veut faire éclore l’aube de l’Afrique battante, souriante, innovante sur le Net…
«Bienvenue sur TV Wagues. Regardez nos vidéos et nos photos et proposez nous les vôtres, Bonne visite». C’est l’annonce qui accueille «l’interneto-télé-spectateurs» sur www.wagues.org.
TV wagues est une initiative consistant à publier des vidéos et des images sur l’Afrique qui bouge, qui innove, qui travaille. C’est une TV virtuelle qui se veut citoyenne et porte parole des actions africaines dans le monde entier assure Sylvestre Ouédraogo initiateur de cette télévision. Wagues existe depuis 2006. Les difficultés liées à la conception de cette télé ont été liées à la réalisation de films très courts et intéressants car le début au Burkina Faso est très faible. Nombre de personnes ont pensé que du fait de ce faible débit, il n’était pas possible de faire une télévision sur le Net.
Dans les prochaines années, à l’instar du Web 2.0 participatif, la TV 2.0 va émerger avec des programmes à la demande, s’adressant à une audience individuelle et interactive dans un environnement d’hyper choix.
Au Burkina Faso, avec TV Wagues les producteurs de contenus peuvent proposer directement leurs programmes aux consommateurs en vidéo à la demande sur des sites Internet.
A l’heure où le numérique commence à entrer dans les habitudes des populations urbaines burkinabè, proposer des informations multimédias sur le web paraît une réelle utopie avec les connexions extrêmement lentes. Malgré cette situation Sylvestre Ouédraogo veut essayer de mettre à la disposition des internautes burkinabè et du monde entier une télévision virtuelle.
Toutefois, il faudra encore des années pour que toutes les populations aient accès au Web. «S’il a fallu une décennie pour faire de la téléphonie mobile un outil banalisé sur le continent africain; il se pourrait que demain, ce soit l’Internet. Il est donc impérieux que l’on commence à s’y mettre en proposant des contenus locaux », tel est le défi que se fixe l’initiative TV Wagues.
A travers TV Wagues, Sylvestre veut montrer un visage joyeux de l’Afrique. Il veut faire voir l’Afrique qui lutte, qui innove et qui travaille.

In May, CTA launched a call for candidates to African journalists who were interested in participating in the conference Web2forDev 2007. The idea was to finance the participation of three journalists from ACP countries who would ensure the media coverage of the conference. The following three journalists have been selected: Ramata Soré (Burkina Faso), Brenda Zulu (Zambia) and Gnona Afangbedji (Benin). They will play a pivotal role in daily media coverage by writing background articles on Web2.0, interviews especially of participants who bring innovative projects, technical articles on applications and their impact on the rural communities. All this information, numerous photos and interviews by FAO’s Lilian Kambirigi, and probably video sessions of the main presentations from the plenary sessions will allow interested people who cannot attend in person to receive direct coverage of the discussions. All this material will be published on the conference blog and web site. This, we hope, will allow the “virtual” participants to contribute to the discussions through the Web2.0 facilities (wiki and blog).

Durant le mois de Mai, le CTA a lancé un appel à candidature destiné aux journalistes africains désirant participer à la conférence Web2forDev 2007. L’idée de cet appel était de financer 3 journalistes venant d’un pays ACP pour assurer la couverture médiatique de la conférence. A l’issue de la sélection, 3 journalistes ont été retenus : Ramata Soré (Burkina Faso), Brenda Zulu (Zambie) et Gnona Afangbedji (Bénin). Ces trois journalistes vont être les pivots de la couverture médiatique quotidienne de la conférence en réalisant des articles de fond sur le Web2.0, des interviews des participants et notamment des porteurs de projets innovants, des encadrés plus techniques sur les applications et leur impact au sein des communautés rurales. Toutes ces informations complétées par de nombreuses photos, des interviews audio réalisées par Lilian Kambirigi de la FAO et sans doute des sessions vidéos retraçant les grandes présentations en plénière permettront à tous ceux qui ne pourront pas assister physiquement à la conférence de suivre en direct les débats. Tout ce matériel sera posté sur le blog de la conférence et sur son site web. Nous espérons aussi que les participants « virtuels » contribuent aux discussions par les facilités web2.0 (wiki et blog). Découvrez dès maintenant le profil de notre équipe de journalistes!

Thanks to Michael, Peter and Lawrence for giving interesting answers to my questions some while ago. Let’s face it, web2.0 is just a concept, but there is a lot more behind it and even more perspectives on it. I am still curious, so here are some more questions:

1. Can web2.0 really work on grassroot level or does it need intermediate organizations such as NGOs?
2. Is “user generated content” of high value for development?
3. If so, what kind of user generated content could or already does have impact on social change?
4. What are the challenges to motivate people to engage in networking and creating social media?
5. Is web2.0, in the context of development, so far only a thing for and between organizations?
6. Will web2.0 promote transparency and feedback (evaluation) to development projects?
7. Will the collaborative web be trully multilangual, or will English be again the lingua franca?
8. Is this networking and aggregation of information giving us more knowledge when needed?
9. What are and will be the tools of the web2.0 buzz which could really help the people get involved in development?

Please contribute also some questions. Everybody’s questions are welcome.

Qu’est ce qu’un podscaste
Le “podcasting” une terminologie trés à la mode avec l’avenement du web.2 existait déja bien avant sa médiatisation même s’il faut attendre 2005 pour mesurer toute la puissance de la technologie.

Le podcasting est un moyen de diffusion de fichiers sonores sur Internet. Il permet aux utilisateurs de s’inscrire à un flux (feed en anglais) et ainsi de récupérer de nouveaux fichiers audio automatiquement. Le podcasting se distingue des autres moyens de diffusion d’informations par son utilisation du format RSS.
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

Contraction de “iPod” et de “broadcasting”. Terme générique désignant la possibilité de publier via un blog et ses fils RSS du contenu audio ou vidéo, à destination d’un baladeur numérique.
www.pointblog.com/abc/lexique_du_blogging.htm

Un veritable outil au service des communautes
Simple ou sophistiqué, à vous de choisir la forme que vous voulez donner à votre podcast. L’équipement de base dont vous avez besoin est simplement un ordinateur doté d’une fonction d’enregistrement audio (un micro interne ou externe) et un logiciel d’enregistrement.

Quelque liens de projets mettant le podcasting au service de leur cause
Les membres de la TTCS (Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society) qui ne peuvent pas toujours assister aux réunions de cette organisation peuvent tout de même suivre les débats en cours en écoutant les podcasts préparés à cet effet par ce réseau caribéen.
http://www.ttcsweb.org/podcasts/index.htm

Il n’est pas toujours facile pour les grandes organisations d’atteindre un public spécifique car leur champ d’action couvre des domaines d’une très grande diversité. Un des moyens d’y remédier est de faire en sorte que ces informations soient extrêmement faciles à trouver.
http://www.unicef.org/videoaudio/video_podcast.html

Vous voulez podcaster?
Allez sur www.globalgateway.org.uk/default.aspx?page=2533

Crossposting: totalweb2.blogspot.com

While reading a general dossier about Web 2.0 in Spore the CTA’s information bulletin I came over the short, but very interesting article “Field report from Cameroon”.

Very briefly the platform www.riddac.org is presented (which won the RFI Net Afrique price in 2006 for the best African Website). François Ossama launched RIDDAC, a network for information on sustainable development in Central Africa in 1999. He set up the website to circulate and exchange information on environmental issues.

But as he points out:

“…as time went on, we realised that a static website would not last long, since visitors who came to download a text would have no reason to come back to the site.”

The next logical step for him was to establish a blog on the website http://www.riddac.org/blogs/ . If you are going now there you will find some interesting posts about what is going on in Central Africa in the field of ICTs, development and environmental issues, legal framework discussions and much more. See for instance “Crimes contre l’environnement : La loi est dure mais il faut l’appliquer”

François also supports interested people to create their own blog and open in this way the discussion and information exchange. Unfortunately comments on the blog are very rare until now. People reading articles can vote if they found them interesting or not. Taking this as one possible indicator you can see that the site it quite frequented and also considered as informative. Just have a look and see for yourself!

I found this chart via the sun light foundation. It is also available in Spanish (sorry could not find any French version). The large version has 8MB and can be printed out as a poster. It visualizes very good the different dimensions of web2.0.

ICT Update (http://ictupdate.cta.int) magazine is producing a special issue to coincide with the Web2forDev conference. We would like to hear from established projects already using web 2.0, particularly when applied to agricultural and rural development in African, Caribbean or Pacific countries. We are especially interested in initiatives using:

• wiki technology
• social bookmarking
• podcasting, RSS or web feeds.

We want to hear why you decided to use web 2.0, about the challenges you met, how you overcame them, what are the benefits of this technology and how you have succeeded.

ICT Update explores innovative uses of ICTs in developing countries. There’s no policy-speak or techno-dreams, the focus is on field reports from projects actually using ICTs. For more information send an email to Jim Dempsey (jim@contactivity.com) including brief details of your project and the relevant web addresses.

The new web does not only offer a great potential for development in different domains, it also has its implications for traditional development aid, said Giulio Quaggiotto and Pierre Wielezynski in their recent article, “Development 2.0: A New Paradigm for the Non-Profit Sector?” The authors highlight different facets of web2.0 (e.g. free development data, the long tail and collective intelligence) and how it has already changed the nonprofit sector.

In my opinion, particular NGOs and new webbased actors redefine development and challenge traditional development agencies, such is the example of Kiva with its microfinance approach. “Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world.” Starting from $25 everybody can contribute to a small microcredit loan. A lender give funding without interest rates and with a minimum of administration costs. The benifitor invests the money in its own little business, pays back over a certain period of time and informs the lender directly about the progresses via email. Run by a small team in San Francico, Kiva cooperates with local NGOs. Interview and podcast with the founder of kiva.org.

Another example is Globalgiving, which lets potential recipients post ideas on the website to seek funders. This plattform founded by former Worldbank staff brings together “givers” and “project leaders” to realize projects worldwide. Globalgiving is basically a marketplace for development aid which builds a network between social entrepreneurs, development organizations and donors, and leads to “community driven social change”. Every project can be followed over its different stages and enables direct feedback.

These are only two examples of new websites which still have to prove their results. Kiva for instance is criticized for giving loans without interest rates. From my point of view, there will be other more inspiring networks that users can build up themeselves to cooperate with projects on a peer2per basis, which are driven through the open source philosophy. “These new collaborations will not only serve commercial interests, they will help people do public-spirited things like cure genetic diseases, predict global climate change”, argue Dan Tapscott and Anthony Williams in their book wikinomics.

What is your opinion? Do the platforms above present a better approach for development aid? Can the collaborative web create new modes for development?

I heard about this project from a blogger - White African and have been wondering why the view point seems to be rural and not developmental. Am just asking, or maybe I am getting it all wrong. There is the need for such (Web 2.0) projects in Africa and it is both nice and encouraging to know that there are Africans initiating such projects.

However, it is obvious that there are grave limitations that are hindering the progress of such projects. Personally, I think South Africa seems to be the leader when it comes to African Web 2.0 because of the rising implementation of Web 2.0 projects by South Africans, with the likes of Afrigator, Muti, Zoopy, Iblog and the like. As I said, it is encouraging that these projects are being implemented. They have one of the best internet infrastructures in Africa although they are definitely lagging behind the West and the US. I am Nigerian and currently run a web 2.0 project Meshedlinks. The greatest challenges from my little experience remains the availability of a solid Internet backbone in the country. To consider rural Internet coverage while the urban (developing community) areas remain poorly connected might not necessarily be the best step to take by the government (or whoever - investors or otherwise) to connect the developing communities.

The poor exist in both the urban and rural areas. And from this part of the world, if it comes to connectivity to the world (via the Internet) then the so-called “rural” communities have to constitute the urban and rural areas in my locale.

Hello Christian,

Many of your questions seem to be based on the premise that “web2.0″ is a single, identifiable phenomenon. In fact, it is many different things, though they all share some common features e.g. user-generated content.

With that caution in mind, please find below some brief answers to your questions:

Christian Kreutz (CK): What are the key challenges to be tackled for web2.0 for rural development?
Lawrence Agbemabiese (LA): In the short-term, poor rural connectivity and connectivity costs relative to average rural incomes. However, the technological and economic issue aside, I think the biggest potential challenge/threats will be legal in nature–things like copyright infringement battles with Microsoft, royalty rate increases (which for example recently caused the shut-down of last.fm, government control over content (like what YouTube seems to suffer constantly nowadays) etc..

CK: Is free and open source software the main driver for web2.0 technology?
LA: Yes, especially from the perspective of low-income developing country users.

CK: Does web2.0 is all about connecting people or does it really involve knowledge sharing?
LA: It is a lot more than connecting people. I think the most important potential value of web2.0 is “collective intelligence” although for this to be realized, a lot more work is needed on means to “filter” useful/relevant data from the junk.

CK: Is connectivity one of the main issues around web2fordev or only a shortterm challenge?
LA: Definitely short-term, I predict that 10 years from now the connectivity challenge–even at the most remote sites on earth–will be
history.

CK: How can developing countries realize their own web2.0 applications?
LA: Is this absolutely necessary?! One thing about web2.0 and the internet in general is that it offers at last the real opportunity for
collective intelligence to transcend national boundaries (and hopefully, one day language barriers as well…!). But anyway, there is already a lot of promising ‘developing country’ web2.0 applications starting to appear out there. Muti, for example is one, and there is also Afrigadget and a few others.

CK: Does the increase of social networks enhance potential for learning?
LA: Definitely.

Well those are my thoughts.

Cheers,
Lawrence