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Innovation is the buzzword of the moment. Countries large and small, rich and poor, international agencies, private companies even individuals are pre-occupied with finding the key to "innovation". What precisely is meant by "innovation" of course, varies from context to context and even within contexts it is difficult to find a hard and fast definition that goes beyond simply referring to "change" of some sort and hopefully change for the better or change that builds on what has gone on before.
March 21, 2013
I believe in multistakeholder processes. I think along with my community informatics colleagues, that decisions should be made as close to those impacted as possible. I think that those impacted by decisions should be involved in those decisions. I think that multistakeholder processes potentially provide a means for the otherwise voiceless to have a voice in broader policy and programme decisions.
February 3, 2013
But why shouldn't we think of "open data" as a "service" where the open data rather than being characterized by its "thingness" or its unchangeable quality as a "product", can be understood as an on-going interactive and iterative process of co-creation between the data supplier and the end-user; where the outcome is as much determined by the needs and interests of the user as by the resources and pre-existing expectations of the data provider.
December 15, 2012
Well the WCIT seems to be over and not surprisingly there are many many losers...
June 3, 2012
Is there a conspiracy to “kettle” the poor, the marginalized, the socially excluded in digital dead zones and use this to deny them access to social benefits?
April 18, 2012
I am currently in Brasilia at a truly remarkable event--the inaugural meeting of the Open Government Partnership.
March 6, 2012
As is well known, there is a looming demographic crisis in Developed Countries with a rapidly aging population (people are living longer) and a rapidly declining birth rate. The effect of this is to put significant strains on overall economic activity and particularly on health care and support systems, as the aging population results in an increasing need for health care and medical interventions and for support and care services.
January 16, 2012
There is a very widespread belief that the increasingly ubiquitous availability of mobile communication and through this, access to wireless Internet, is somehow the resolution of the “digital (and other) divide(s)”. Thus, a current news story from China: To ease people’s woes, the central government this year launched a new online “ticketing system to curb […]
November 7, 2011
...in one study in rural Africa it was being found that the costs of mobile communications were absorbing up to 54% of the total net income of certain farmers
September 21, 2011
I am delighted and honoured as editor of the Journal of Community Informatics to publish a special double issue on The Internet and Community Informatics in Brazil. The issue itself is a very strong one and I think it both represents and solidifies the very strong Community Informatics range of activities and traditions in Brazil while pointing to certain characteristics of Community Informatics in Brazil that are potentially of interest and importance for the rest of the world.
April 6, 2013
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