Movers and shakers in information technology in Africa

The Global Information Technology Report 2014 is a special project within the framework of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Network and the Industry Partnership Programme for Information and Communication Technologies. It is the result of collaboration between the World Economic Forum and INSEAD.

The report presents the latest findings of the NRI, offering a comprehensive assessment of the present state of networked readiness in the world.

The top countries are countries that have recognized the potential of ICTs to embark in a new economic and social revolution, and thus have substantially invested in developing their digital potential.

In spite of some progress that is made in Africa, especially in the area of mobile telephony, the region overall continues to suffer from a relatively poor ICT infrastructure, which remains costly to access. More importantly, severe weaknesses persist in the region’s business and innovation ecosystems, which result in very low positive economic and social impacts. To address these weaknesses, a more solid ICT infrastructure needs to be developed and the conditions for innovation and entrepreneurship need to improve.

We have created an overview of the movers and shakers in information technology in Africa on the basis of the results presented in the Global Information Technology report 2014. A full interactive visualisation can be found here. 

The diagram on the right shows that overall the situation in Africa has deteriorated. The majority of the African countries have lost against their position in 2012 with Liberia as the most disastrous country. Liberia dropped 24 positions in the world ranking. On the other hand of the spectrum we observe positive developments in the Seychelles (+13), Swaziland (+10) and Sierra Leone (+9). In total the African countries lost 97 positions in the ranking.

Full report can be accessed here: http://reports.weforum.org/global-information-technology-report-2014/

Full details on the analysis of MIS4D can be found here: https://public.tableausoftware.com/views/TheGlobalInformationTechnologyReport/Dashboard1?:embed=y&:display_count=no

Interesting to see how leading tech companies take their social responsibility in global development: https://www.devex.com/en/news/on-giving-technology-companies-focus-on-in-kind/80101

Corporate philanthropy or corporate social responsibility has traditionally been defined by monetary donations targeting a specific cause. In the fast-moving technology industry, however, the world’s largest companies have found other creative ways to make an impact. While continuing to give millions of dollars in grants to some long-term development projects, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief, today top technology firms are donating more products–hardware and software–as well as their time and expertise to developing markets and the organizations that serve them.

Of the American Technology companies, Google and Microsoft are leading the league.

It really hurts to see some ICT4D/MIS4D projects fail. Not In My Country is one of these projects.

NotInMyCountry.org is a website aimed at reducing quiet corruption and hard corruption at universities in Uganda. The website was launched on 24 May 2012.

As expressed in the press release the problems with Higher Education in Uganda are mind-boggling. Lecturers “lose” exams and then “suggest” that the exam might be found if the student pays a bribe. Administrators tell students that the “price” of enrolment in a course is a “special favour” otherwise known as sex. Lecturers attend class completely unprepared, if they show up at all. Administrators process registration papers months late and ignore questions they receive from students. The site enables students to publicise corrupt acts through a safe, secure, and anonymous platform. What’s different about the approach is that NotInMyCountry put the spotlight on corrupt individuals (administrators and lecturers). It is believed that focusing primarily on individual staff members – rather than on the university as an institution – is most likely to deter corruption. When individuals recognise that they will suffer consequences for their actions, they will change. That premise underlies the website.

Students, staff and other stakeholders can rate the performance of lecturers or administrative staff members on the website through a “Rate Performance” button. For rating the user is required to log in (or set up an account if you do not yet have one) for the performance rating to count. Each user is limited to one performance rating per individual lecturer or administrative staff member. In other words, you cannot rate an individual more than once. Privacy is key. On the site it is assured that the information entered on the system cannot in any way be related to the user. See the explanation here.

NotInMyCountry is an interesting project because creates a platform for e-society initiatives. Corruption on universities is high, but in most domains of government in Africa, citizens are confronted and hindered by corrupt servants. It is therefore such a shame that the project is not taken up by the users. The main question is: Why? Are the people in Uganda not interested to fight corruption? Or is the website not aligned with the way in which people want to fight corruption? It also begs for the question how the methodology could be altered to attract more performance ratings. When the platform is able to attract large numbers of users, other application areas are ready for tackling.

One way or an other, it pains to see that so little students have taken an effort and rated their best or worst lecturers and administrators. As mind-boggling as the level of corruption is, so mind-boggling is also the lack of responsibility people take to fight corruption. On that level there is also a long road ahead.

Today we came across and article of Sarah Porter and Torsten Reimer predicting seven directions for research in information systems in 2013. In the article in the JISC the researchers (see for profiles of the authors here and here) state that “With rapidly increasing amounts of data generated, digital technology offers new and innovative ways of finding and analysing relevant information.” 

The following trends for researchers are identified: 

1. Researcher will go mobile
2. Lines between professionals, amateurs and the public will blur
3. Researchers fully embrace social media
4. Data will drive research across many disciplines
5. Automate it
6. Visualise it
7. Researchers as data managers

The predictions for future research open up the possibilities for African researchers to join. Only with the use of internet and the willingness of the researchers in the developed world we can advance knowledge development that will also include the developing world. I hope this is what Sarah Porter and Torsten Reimer had in mind. 

On his blog blogpost Ajay Kumar proposes 6 basic questions that can serve as startup tips for new ICT4D projects:

1. Invest some time to understand the problem & hear it directly from the concerned parties or communities.
2. Ask yourself: Is technology really needed here? Or is there a solution lying elsewhere?
3. Study what technologies are already lying around or have been used by “concerned parties” or communities and how they are currently using it.
4. Can your solution be build using existing technology that the people (“concerned parties” or community) already use? If not, try to spend a decent amount of time to find the answer to this question again. Chances are, it’s possible.
5. Keep in mind that your solution should require minimal (or no training) i.e. The focus should be on a lower barrier to entry & a decreased learning curve. [If answer to 4 is still no]
6. Build your solution in a way that you wouldn’t be needed at all after the implementation.

We think these are useful guidelines, but Ajay Kumar’s ICT4D solutions would benefit from an open source and open content perspective. This gives the users and the organisations implementing ICT the power to the reigns in their own hands.

Development organizations and International Non-Governmental Organizations have been emphasizing the high potential of Free and Open Source Software for the Less Developed Countries. Cost reduction, less vendor dependency and increased potential for local capacity development have been their main arguments. In spite of its advantages, Free and Open Source Software is not widely adopted at the African continent.

In the book Free and Open Source Software for Development_ebook, the authors Victor van Reijswoud and Arjan de Jager explore the grounds on with these expectations are based. Where do they come from and is there evidence to support these expectations?

Over the past years several projects have been initiated and some good results have been achieved, but at the same time many challenges were encountered. What lessons can be drawn from these experiences and do these experiences contain enough evidence to support the high expectations Several projects and their achievements will be considered.

In the final part of the book the future of Free and Open Source Software for Development will be explored. Special attention is given to the African continent since here challenges are highest. What is the role of Free and open Source Software for Development and how do we need to position and explore the potential What are the threats?

The book addresses at professionals that are engaged in the design and implementation of ICT for Development (ICT4D) projects and want to improve their understanding of the role Free and Open Source Software can play

It sounds pretty normal: When you plan a mountain hike, you ensure to wear firm boots and a pullover against the cold at higher altitudes; in case you go to the tropics you choose a light, well ventilating tropical outfit and a hat or cap against the merciless sun. You have been taught that you need to adapt to the local circumstances. In disciplines such as architecture, civil engineering, and industrial design, the discipline of identifying suitable and Appropriate Technology (AT) is an important component. However, in the field of information and communication technology (ICT), which is a young discipline, this concept is still in its infancy.

Computer hardware and software, and also methods and techniques for design and implementation of information technology, are almost without exception invented and developed in the West (Europe and North America). Environmental requirements and conditions become an integral part of the design and limit the transferability of the technology to other, different environments. Designers are often not aware of the contextual elements that become part of the design. Embedded assumptions become clear in cases of breakdown of operation (Winograd & Flores, 1986) and will initiate problem-solving discussion or discourse. In the field of ICT for Development (ICT4D), a discussion on the limitations of commercial off-the-shelf ICT tools, software, and methodologies in the context of less-developed countries has been initiated.

The field of ICT4D has grown dramatically in size and importance over the past decade (Levey & Young 2002; McNamara, 2003). ICT4D is based on the premise that ICT is able to bridge the digital divide between the West and the less-developed countries and, therewith, able to contribute to equal distribution of wealth. ICT is considered to be vital for the improvement of governance and production resources. The importance of ICT for poverty alleviation was recognized at the highest international levels when the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) dedicated their Annual Human Development Report to the role of information and communication technologies. At present, most large development organizations have substantial ICT programs and a large number of smaller development initiatives have started projects in the field of ICT.

Many who are not familiar with ICT4D wonder if ICT is relevant to the poor. They argue that poor people in the South not only have less access to ICT, but they also do not have access to sources of stable income, education and healthcare and at a first glance these issues may seem more relevant than access to ICT. However: ICT is increasingly important in the creation of economic opportunities and for the delivery of services such as health and education. When focussing on healthcare: it is not a matter of choosing between ICT or health, but it is a matterof choosing the most effective way to improve healthcare delivery. ICT is one of the tools to improve healthcare delivery.

In spite of all the efforts, the digital divide has not been bridged, and well documented success stories of the application of ICT for poverty alleviation are hard to find. Evaluation of ICT projects often reveal underutilization of resources, because the newly introduced ICT has not been well integrated within the local context. The worst cases result from “dump-and-run” approaches and lack of local ownership in the receiving communities. Also, technical (hardware and software) problems resulting from the “hostile” conditions (dust, heat, and humidity) in which the ICT was introduced put a strain on the actual impact. High rates of breakdown combined with low technical problem-solving skills has lead to underutilized and even abandoned projects. Finally, recurring high maintenance costs for hardware, software, and Internet connectivity put a financial burden on projects, making them financially unsustainable.

There are many reasons why ICT projects in less-developed countries fail, and these problems have been reported from the start. In this article by Victor van Reijswoud and Arjan de Jager, explores the premise that many ICT projects in less-developed countries fail because the technology and the change management process do not take into account the local conditions and requirements. They will develop a theory for the design and implementation of ICT projects in less-developed countries along the lines of existing theories in AT in other fields of science. Like in other disciplines, the design and implementation of ICT solutions must be carried out in relation to culture, environment, organization, available resources, economic and political circumstances, and desired impact. They propagate an integration of the AT discipline, which aims at devising suitable technological solutions. The theory identifies principles to do so at three levels: hardware, software, and ICT change management. They first describe the theory and then the guiding principles of Appropriate ICT are illustrated by means of real-life cases in Africa in context of ICT4D.

Appropriate ICT Reijswoud and Jager