1. of ICT for International Development
(Some of the) Ten Myths
of ICT for International Development
Kentaro Toyama
Visiting Scholar
University of California, Berkeley
CITRIS Research Exchange
UC Berkeley – November 10, 2010

2. Where I used to work
Photo credit: Natalie Linnell

3. A Project

4. A “writer” keeping records in a microcredit group meeting
Photo credit: Aishwarya Ratan

5. Hand-written records preferred, but (2) difficult to digitize.
error-prone;
(2) difficult to digitize.
Transaction record from a microcredit group meeting
Photo credit: Aishwarya Ratan, PRADAN

6. write on paper, digitize with real-time feedback
Electronic tablet –
write on paper, digitize with real-time feedback
Photo credit: Microsoft

7. Microfinance self-help group “writer” testing the prototype
Photo credit: Sunandan Chakraborty

8. Faster, Cheaper, More Accurate!
Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan, Sunandan Chakraborty, Pushkar Chitnis, Kentaro Toyama, Keng Siang Ooi, Matthew Phiong, Mike Koenig.
"Managing Microfinance with Paper, Pen and Digital Slate.”
To be presented at International Conference on Information Technology and Communication and Development, London, Dec , 2010.
Faster,
Rs. 985  Rs. 946
(US$21.89) (US$21.02)
Cheaper,
More
Accurate!

9. Paper-and-Digital Forms Microfinance & Technology
IT and Microentrepreneurs
Microfinance
PC + mobile
Qualitative studies
Business analysis
Research only
For NGOs
PC + scanner
HCI
Research only
Microenterprise
PC + mobile
Mixed-method study
Research only
Potential of technology to support microfinance
Information ecology of very small businesses
Easily digitized paper forms
Kelsa+
Simultaneous Shared Access
Featherweight Multimedia
Information access PC
Qualitative study
Usage analysis
Pilot
Primary education PC
HCI
User studies
Commercialization
General education
Electronics
HCI
User studies
Ongoing research
Free access PCs for low-income office staff
Multi-user systems for educational
Paper and cheap electronics
for low-cost multimedia
Text-Free UI
Warana Unwired
Digital Green
User interfaces PC
Design
User studies
Guidelines
Info systems
Mobile
Intervention
Rural kiosks
Pilot
Agriculture Video
Intervention
Control trials
NGO spin-off
Text-free user interfaces for
non-literate users
Substitution of mobile phones
for rural PC kiosks
Video and mediated instruction
for agriculture extension

10. “Kids in the developing world need the newest technology…”
“There is a pressing need to employ information technology for rural healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa.”
“Can the cellphone help end global poverty?”
“The Internet should be a human right in and of itself.”
Sources: Negroponte, N. 2005, Friedman, E. 2008, New York Times, 2008; Best, M. L., 2004.

11. The Myths

12. Who would be able to raise more money?
You and a poor rural farmer are each given a single account and asked to raise as much money for the charity of your choice.
Who would be able to raise more money?

13. ICT undoes “rich getting richer.”
Myth 6
“The Internet democratizes…”
“The world is flat…”
Technology magnifies capacity,
it doesn’t substitute for it.
Tichenor et al., 1970
Agre, 2002
Warschauer, 2008
Photo credit: Rikin Gandhi. References: Tichenor, P.J., Donohue, G.A., & Olien, C.N. (1970). Mass media and the differential growth in knowledge. Public Opinion Quarterly, 34, Agre, P. (2002) Real-Time Politics. The Information Society, Warschauer, M., M. Knobel, L. Stone. Technology and Equity in Schooling: Deconstructing the Digital Divide. Educational Policy, 18(4):

14. Are you as rich as you’d like to be?
Are you as educated as you’d like to be?
Are you as compassionate as you’d like to be?
Sources:

15. Information is the bottleneck.
Myth 10
Information is just one of many deficiencies in developing world.
Other deficiencies:
human capacity
economics
infrastructure
institutional capacity
political clout
Information ≠ education
Communication ≠ commerce
Social networks ≠ community
Technology magnifies intent.
Photo credit: Kentaro Toyama

16. If you had 20% of your annual income to spare right now, and had to spend it on one of the following, which would you spend it on…?
A part-time personal assistant
Travel and tourism
iPad or other gadget
(*) Or, use your expected financial status as a working adult, if you’re a student.

17. Needs are more pressing than desires.
Myth 3
Needs are relative.
Need ≠ demand
“Needs assessments” say people need …
Better healthcare
Better education
Better income opportunities
But people spend lavishly on…
Ring tones
Music and movies
Weddings and funerals
Customized photos
Technology magnifies intent,
but intent is hard to gauge.
Photo Credit: Udai Singh Pawar
Sources: Udai Singh Pawar, Nimmi Rangaswamy, Thomas Smyth, Etc.

18. Should members of the army have guns?
Should police officers have guns?
Should ordinary civilians have guns?
Should 5-year-old children have guns?
Should convicted serial murderers have guns?

19. Technology’s impact is only positive.
Myth 12
Widespread technologies also have negative impacts…
TV: violence, political propaganda, material envy, Jersey Shore
Internet: illegal content, piracy, terrorism, political oppression, cat videos
Mobile phone: corruption, (ship) piracy, gender politics, consumption displacement
Technology magnifies positive and negative intent.
Photo credit: Thomas Smyth

20. “… X has never been used to its full capacity in support of economic development. It may be financially impossible to use it in this way. But still the possibility is tantalizing: What is the full power and vividness of X teaching were to be used to help the schools develop a country’s new educational pattern? What if the full persuasive and instructional power of X were to be used in support of community development and the modernization of farming? Where would the break-even point come? Where would the saving in rate of change catch up with the increased cost?”
X = “television”
Source: Schramm, Wilbur. (1964) Mass Media and National Development:
The Role of Information in the Developing Countries. Pp. 231

21. Technology X will save the world.
Myth 1
Wasn’t true for X = radio, TV, or landline phone, despite initial expectations and significant penetration.
Doesn’t seem true for X = PC.
How about X = mobile phone?
Technology magnifies intent and capacity.
Photo credit: Tom Pirelli

22. Obvious, right?

23. “Kids in the developing world need the newest technology…”
“There is a pressing need to employ information technology for rural healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa.”
“Can the cellphone help end global poverty?”
“The Internet should be a human right in and of itself.”
Sources: Negroponte, N. 2005, Friedman, E. 2008, New York Times, 2008; Best, M. L., 2004.

24. Agricultural Systems? farmer expert
Low literacy in local lang
No bank account
Expensive credit
No unique ID
Credit card
Poor roads
Market
Volume
buyers
Poor quality
control
Device and connectivity not enough! 24

25. E-commerce? seller buyer Device and connectivity not enough! ongoing
Low literacy in local lang
No bank account
Expensive credit
No unique ID
Credit card
Parcel service
Poor roads
Small scale production/ quality diff
ongoing
business
opportunity
HH consumption pressures
Ill health
Device and connectivity not enough! 25

26. Rural Telemedicine? doctor patient Device and connectivity not enough!
Low literacy in local lang
No bank account
Expensive credit
No unique ID
Credit card
Poor roads
Poor access to drugs
Trust absent
without healthworker
Medicine
Device and connectivity not enough! 26

27. Rural Telemedicine with new device?
doctor
patient
Low literacy in local lang
No bank account
Expensive credit
No unique ID
Credit card
Poor roads
Poor access to drugs
Trust absent
without healthworker
Medicine
Device and connectivity not enough? 27

28. Successes Exist PCs for NGO / MFI back ends Grameen Village Phone
Unsung success
Grameen Village Phone
Mobile killer app: voice!
M-PESA
Money transfer ($160M in first year)
Same-language subtitling for literacy
Better literacy for 200M+ people
Long-distance WiFi for eye care
Enabled 50,000+ consultations
Photo credit: Indrani Medhi

29. Technology is Just One Part
Physical
building,
goods,
transport,
roads
Human
education,
computer literacy,
motivation,
awareness
Social
institutions,
norms,
political support
Financial
operational costs,
maintenance,
training
Digital
hardware,
software,
connectivity,
content

30. In the Developed World…
(includes wealthier segments of developing countries)
Physical
building,
goods,
transport,
roads
Digital
hardware,
software,
connectivity,
content
Human
education,
computer literacy,
motivation,
awareness
Social
institutions,
norms,
political support
Financial
operational costs,
maintenance,
training

31. In the Developing World…
Digital
hardware,
software,
connectivity,
content

32. What to do?

33. Technology magnifies human intent and capacity
Technology magnifies human intent and capacity. Technology itself requires support from well-intentioned, capable people or institutions. For best results, use technology to augment institutions already having positive impact.

34. A competent non-profit (PRADAN) and a self-help group
make the technology work.
Photo credit: Aishwarya Ratan

35. Why the Myths Persist

36. Why do these myths persist?
Desire for an easy solution Desire for a one-time, catalytic investment Desire to see ingenuity triumph Seductive power of technology in the developed world Not enough insight into actual poor communities Misleading explanations of successful ICT4D projects – a variation of AI’s “frame problem”

37. “Kids in the developing world need the newest technology…”
“There is a pressing need to employ information technology for rural healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa.”
“Can the cellphone help end global poverty?”
“The Internet should be a human right in and of itself.”
Sources: Negroponte, N. 2005, Friedman, E. 2008, New York Times, 2008; Best, M. L., 2004.

38. “Twitter is changing the way we live.”
“The Internet democratizes access to information.”
“Social networking will transform learning”
“Each of us is simultaneously an individual person and a global publisher.”
“The Internet changes everything.”
Sources: Time Magazine, Nonprofit Technology Conference, The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, Cybermedia.

39. ARPANET Google Cellphone Microsoft iPhone WWW PC
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Wikipedia

40. Summary Myths of ICT4D Conclusion
ICT undoes “rich getting richer.”
Information is the bottleneck.
Needs are more pressing than desires.
Technology’s impact is only positive.
Technology X will save the world.
Conclusion
Technology is a magnifier of human/institutional intent and capacity.
Recommendation for ICT4D interventions:
Augment institutions already having positive development impact.

41. Thanks! kentaro_toyama@hotmail.com http://www.kentarotoyama.org
Photo credit:
Thanks!
Boston Review article: