Re: <nettime> Are Mobiles a Capitalist Plot to Keep the Poor Poor?

[Eugenio Tisselli <cubo23@yahoo.com>]

Michael,

Your question is not only provocative, but also quite interesting. And
I am not sure if it can be answered with a firm "no", as you do in
your blog post.There are many different types of development projects
that integrate mobile technologies into their core practices, and not
all of them are very thoughtfully designed. I am seriously researching
this field, with a special focus on projects applied to agriculture. I
am collecting some case studies in my blog:

http://sautiyawakulima.net/research

I believe that a well-designed ICT project for development must
consider multiple factors, some of which are:

- What kind of positive impact will the project have? How can it be
evaluated?

- Does it involve multiple stakeholders? (for example: farmers,
extension officers, IT people, researchers... )

- Is it goal driven or open ended?

- Which are the filters for access and participation?

- Is it cost-effective?

- Does it allow for a multi-directional mode of communication? (as
opposed to a unidirectional, expert-driven system)

- Is it sustainable? Financially, environmentally, culturally...

I invite you to add more. We can't deny the great possibilities
that mobile technologies open for development, but I believe that
establishing a set of "good practices" so that new projects can be
designed in responsible, sustainable and culturally sensible ways is
becoming an urgent issue.


Best wishes,
Eugenio.



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