New internet tools will help to enhance development

03 Oct 07

 

Although a lot still needs to be explored, one thing is certain: there is a strong will to identify ways in which the latest participatory web-based tools, Web 2.0, can be used to improve collaboration and share experiences for the benefit of rural development. More than 300 participants from all over the world shared their experiences with Web 2.0 tools at the first Web 2.0 conference for the development sector which was held in Rome, Italy from 24-26 October 2007. They have now joined hands to further integrate these new tools in development programmes.

The Web2forDev Conference was initiated by CTA and supported by FAO, IICD, GTZ and CGIAR and others. The idea behind the conference was to explore what these new participatory tools for the web could do to further improve networking, information exchange and collaboration for rural and agricultural development and natural resource management. People with a variety of different backgrounds – from ‘geeks’ and researchers to development professionals working in the field - gathered in Rome to spend three days exchanging information and sharing their experiences on the use of these tools and how to adapt them to enhance development activities.

Although the use of Web 2.0 tools within the development sector is still in its infancy some exciting examples were presented at the conference. The BROSDI project in Uganda for example, where a group of farmers started experimenting with modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve farming. Using a wide variety of communication tools such as websites, SMS, blogs, RSS feeds, Google Maps, Flickr, Picasa and Skype has helped them to strengthen organisation, planning and information sharing within the community which improved their livelihoods considerably.

In his keynote speech, Ethan Zuckerman, Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society from the Harvard School of Law and co-founder of Global Voices, talked about how these new web tools have changed traditional patterns of communication and knowledge sharing. However, he warned his audience not to focus on Web 2.0 tools only. Web 2.0 tools are valuable for bringing people together, but it is also important to think further than the web. ‘When we think about participatory web, it’s not about laptops and high bandwidth… it’s about mobile phones. There are 3 billion handsets worldwide, and it is estimated that 80-90% of people in the developing world can access a mobile phone if they need to. This is a level of penetration of technology that changes the rules of the game. We need to broaden our thinking beyond the Web.’

At the end of the 3-day conference it was concluded that more time was needed to further explore the use of Web 2.0 tools. As Chris Addison, Euforic, summarised it at the end of the day: ‘On the one hand Web 2.0 offers us five key tools - blogs, wikis, tags, feeds and mash-ups – but on the other hand, in order to make the application of the tools meaningful for development, we also have to overcome five key challenges: we need to think about how we involve the right people; if the people we are trying to reach have access in terms of connectivity, infrastructure and language; if people actually will participate; how we structure and organise content; and finally, how we will measure the changes we have made. It is only when we use the afore-mentioned new tools with an approach to overcome the five challenges listed above that we will be able to further enhance development activities.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auteur : Hilde Eugelink