Web 2.0 tools for development

While the media sings the praises of Facebook and YouTube for social networking online, APC is concerned with what web2.0 tools can do for people who don’t have good internet access and equipment. In mid 2007, APC joined a partnership of like-minded organisations with which it organised a large conference around this preoccupation. At the same time, APC started working on several initiatives related to application of web2.0 tools for development work.

Web2forDev conference and the new partnership

For the first time, a large group of people involved in one way or another with development work met to discuss the potentials and drawbacks of sophisticated web-based applications in situations of low bandwidth and limited access to powerful hardware. Many of them had the chance to experiment with the tools in a workshop APC co-organised at a conference called Web2forDev. The interest of this community, gradually expanding under the ‘Web2forDev’ label, focuses on how cutting-edge technology can help to close the gap in access to ICTs, as opposed to widening it further.

The APC Strategic Use programme (SUP) has published videos filmed during the conference in two accessible formats. These are accessible through the conference wiki http://wiki.web2fordev.net , a space which has grown into a one stop resource centre for people interested in web2fordev-related issues.

Web2.0 and training initiatives

Web2.0 workshop for Ugandan itrainers, December 2007

Together with the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), the Strategic Use team took the issue from conference halls and online spaces to the field, in East Africa. They prepared a skills sharing workshop for ICT trainers who live and work in an environment where bandwidth is relatively limited. As a measure of this, downloading an email with a pdf attachment can grind your computer to a halt for several minutes. In the three-day-long event, local trainers learned how their peers use web2.0 applications, they were introduced to some new tools and tried them out during hands-on sessions.

More information on the workshop is available on the web2fordev wiki.

Web 2.0 with Ugandan connectivity – feedback from workshop participants

“After the Kampala workshop, I created a wiki platform for the Busoga Rural Open Source Initiative (BROSDI). This helped the team to put documents in one central place where everyone can contribute. I also managed to figure out how to go about RSS [feeds] and how to use Google reader. Before, there were these many websites that I kept checking for news in terms of calls for proposals and events related to ICT policy. This was so time-consuming and given the bad connectivity, I could end up opening a number of pages. Some of them didn’t even ever open. But right now, I get feeds in one central place and “dismiss” those that are not very useful. I use less bandwidth, since I get to read the feeds first, before going to the actual pages that may actually take a lot of time to open.” – Lillian Nalwoga, CIPESA, Itrainer

“I introduced blogs to some members in a community back in Tororo [Eastern Uganda]. They were really excited to start using blogs, although the slow internet connectivity and power cuts frustrated both me and them… I also trained some staff of the Centenary Rural Development Bank on wikis and I plan to do a follow-up to find out how far they have gone.” – Onyuthi John, Itrainer

“I have tried to use web 2.0 tools for my classes. Connectivity issues continue to be a major challenge. Otherwise they thrill everyone.” – Gerald Kavum, Itrainer

IMARK training module on using social networking tools

In the first half of 2008, APC has been working on the development of a social networking training unit for the next release of IMARK, the self-instructional training materials package. Once finalised, this training unit along with others, will be available on CDs and on the project’s website: http://imarkgroup.org

Planned future initiatives

The APC sees the critical role that social networking is starting to play in civil society participation as a particular challenge. The patterns emerging in the spread of these opportunities are not surprisingly mapping onto the traditional lines of good connectivity, reliable power supplies, high bandwidth connections, good access to computer literacy and high specification hardware.

We can thereby see that apart from making exciting openings for participation, the new social networking tools can also serve to emphasise the marginalised position of the less well connected. And added to this mix, is a hype common to the rise of any new technology. It so often alienates people who feel challenged by constantly having to engage with ‘new’ and different ways of working.

Our concern is with how people can interact with technology. We see the Web 2.0 technology of social networking as part of the same continuum that has informed our work since the early 1990s – namely how people can be empowered by, and also shape technology.

In the near future, we are planning to develop a project that would include the following activities:

• Organisation of a social networking skills-sharing workshop for African ICT advocates and development workers. This workshop would build the capacity of participants and contribute to APC’s proposed ‘Guides to social networking’ for people working in the development sector.
• Development of a training methodology on ‘Using social networking tools for development’. This would then be used in number of APC training events as well as made available to all development practitioners.
• Development of a series of ‘Guides to social networking’ building on APC’s previous experience with social networking trainings, as well as the planned African skills-sharing workshop.