A Case Study: the Development of Information Society on the Continent of Africa
The purpose of this study was to get information of how a virtual portal, which is developed in the industrialized world will work in the case of Africa. The aim of this study was to get experiences of the specialities, which are characteristic to the African countries in developing Information Society. By getting this information the ICT devices will be better developed to the needs of African countries. The study gives from its behalf the information for a building balance between industrialized and developing countries in the development of the global Information Society.
The main hypothesis of a study is that there are different demands for ICT devices depending on weather them are used in industrialized or developing countries. The barriers for usage might be social, cultural, economical, educational and etc.
There were five goals for this study: First goal is to test virtual SIS -portal in two or more African cities and get information of these pilot projects. Second goal is to give some African countries an opportunity to give their inputs to ICT development through the pilot project. The third goal is to get better understanding of a specialities of African continent` s Information Society development. The fourth goal is to get some African cities take an active role in a development of Information Society through these pilots by giving them motivation, access and skills. The fifth goal is to open new question for studies and development projects, which are needed in the cases of developing countries.
The case study is part of a project
Global Challenges of eDevelopment - from Digital Divides towards Empowerment and Sustainable Global Information Society
The project tries for its part to bring the issue of ICT and global development into the agenda of Finland's future development cooperation. The research aims to study the significance of cultural and social aspects in the development of democratic and sustainable uses of ICT in developing countries. Its main objective is to identify such joint practices and interactions over the existing digital divides that make user-rooted ICT empowerment feasible. The research is closely connected to pilot projects in which the researchers and their networks are going to be involved and in which the concepts and models analysed are being implemented. One purpose is also to systematically monitor the social, cultural and economic consequences of the ongoing ICT revolution in today's developing countries.
Our basic research hypothesis is that sustainable and democratic ICT development is crucially dependent upon the cultural and social models that make it possible to integrate the new information and communication technologies into the users' everyday practices. The core task of our research project is to analyse and to develop models and concepts that can be expected to support the democratic potential of information technology.
Further information:
Olli Hietanen
Head of Development
Tel. +358 2 481 4616
olli.hietanen@tse.fi
> Finland Futures Research Centre