Recently, Google put on the hyped G-Nigeria Day, which was actually a 3-day Google-fest in Lagos. Reading the impressions others had about the event was telling - most Nigerians seemed to be ambivalent about its worthiness to their efforts.

Yet Oladejo Fabolude over at Digital Crossings seems to have found the real essence of the event in his post I Went For Google’s G-Nigeria Day And All I Got Was A Lousy T-Shirt:

What Google need to take away from this experiment, get a bunch of techies into a room, provide Wi-Fi, provide them a little prodding to get them headed where you want them to go, move out of the way and watch them at work. Kind of like the Indian experiment that put a computer in a wall and just let street children do what they wanted – with amazing results.

From that event, I got to meet several Nigerian tech bloggers, exchanged a couple of phone numbers, blog addresses, followed and was followed by some more people on Twitter. I got a few answers to some tech issues from the audience and had some deficiencies about my blog pointed out. In order words, I connected with people – and that was the success of G-Nigeria Day. That was just me, I could see many other people connecting much better with the Google personnel and each other.

And that's the brilliance of Google's efforts in Africa - get ICT implementers together where they can talk about technologies and methodologies, give everyone access to them, and build relationships with people creating solutions.

Now I hope they capitalize on the Nigerian enthusiasm, before Ghana lives up to its title as the ICT hub of West Africa.

Without a doubt, social networking has changed the technology landscape in places like Europe and the United States. But what is the role of this technology in the Global South? The February #ICT4D Twitter Chat focused on this during a lively 90-minute dialogue between technologists, implementers, and others in the ICT4D world. (Take the Chat Survey)

1. Social networking is driving ICT adoption, but which tools, why, and to what extent?
2. How can social networking increase donor, implementer, recipient participation in development?
3. What are the gaps and limitations in social networking engagement - where doesn't it work?

What social networking technology is involved?

Vincenzo Cosenza recently published a map reinforcing the dominance of Facebook as a powerhouse in the social networking world. And with new features like Facebook Zero, its also changing the way people interact with the Internet.

While Facebook is the major player in social networking, more local and regional sites like Mixi and Hi5 also have a presence in the Global South. Many others are being rapidly launched, even using other platforms, such as SMS. In fact, on Twitter, 50% of tweets are not in English.

Older technology tools like email can be used to connect and communicate with existing social networks. Still, the idea of the social networking site as a stand-alone platform has undeniably taken hold in the developing world - 25% of Kenyans who are online do not have email addresses yet 80% of all Kenyan Internet users are on Facebook.

Social changes increase participation in development work

Not surprisingly, this month's roundtable seemed to reach a consensus around the value of social networking for international development work. Social networking has tremendous potential to give voice to the people on the "receiving" end of international assistance.

It's also helping implementers in the actual work of development. Organizations are using different social networks for different purposes - Facebook is seen as a great for public outreach and youth engagement, while Twitter is better for peer exchange and identifying new partnerships.

This is one reason that ICTworks has a Facebook empowerment strategy.

Limitations on social networking

The largest constraint on social networking's influence and reach is the limited Internet infrastructure of the Global South. Communities that are not online do not feel the impact. In addition, socio-economic barriers like literacy and education can limit adoption and growth in connected societies.

Also be warned that big numbers of Facebook or Twitter followers doesn't directly translate into meaningful interactions. In fact, during the #ICT4D Twitter Chat, we came across one group that's steadfastly held its own against the social media tide: the "big men" of Africa - ministers and other government decision makers.

Reaching government decision makers with social networks

There is a still a strong culture among government leaders that "big men" don't use computers. The feeling that typing is for clerks or students. However, even if government officials are not using Facebook or Twitter professionally, they may be online in their personal life.

Regardless of personal status, they are listening to what their employees, direct reports, and family hear though online social networks. After all, they're "big men" because of their skill in reading offline social networks.

Here are a few early adopters:

• President of Togo - 4,997 fans
• President of Rwanda - 6,365 fans
• President of Côte d'Ivoire - 1,576 fans

Social networking future impact on development

Social networking technology is disruptive - no longer are donors and "big men" in government the only voices that communities have; those parties can be bypassed directly to launch grassroots movements. Indeed, many government and NGO leaders are reluctant, unable, or unwilling to use technology and are in fact being "leapfrogged" by the people they serve.

As today's youth who are growing up aware of social networking technology (even in the developing world) become the leaders and decision-makers of tomorrow, the role of global communication in "mainstream" international development will grow even more rapidly. The fast-paced spread and dropping costs of mobile technology will only feed the fire.

Michael Downey is a graduate student in human-computer interaction and ICT4D at Indiana University School of Informatics, and leads the Community Infrastructure Team for OpenMRS.

Don't forget that we're having a Twitter Chat today. We want to explore the impact of social networking technologies on businesses and communities in the developing world with our guides: ICTworks, Michael Downey, and Chloe Feinberg.

1. Social networking is driving ICT adoption, but which tools, why, and to what extent?
2. How can social networking increase donor, implementer, recipient participation in development?
3. What are the gaps and limitations in social networking engagement - where doesn't it work?

We'll start at 12-noon Eastern Time ( noon worldwide ) with introductions, then move into the discussion, using the #ICT4D hashtag in Twitter.

For those not on Twitter, you can watch the action via the handy embed below or this separate webpage:

For those new to Twitter Chats, its a freewheeling conversation around our central questions on the Twitter platform. Our hope is to learn from each other and find ways we can increase our impact using social media.

We'll archive the Chat too, in case you miss out.

Be sure to follow ICTworks on Twitter and RSVP today!

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Last Friday, the third monthly #ICT4D Twitter Chat brought together 30 of the field's thought leaders (follow them all) to focus on and discuss ways that ICT4D can and does work with local governments, especially in situations like the recent disaster in Haiti.

Four questions guided the conversation (full transcript) which once again was a fast, free-flowing exchange of ideas:

• Do you work with local governments or bypass them? Why?
• What are the keys to project success with local governments?
• How can you work with compromised governments, like Haiti?
• What lessons for ICT have been learned so far in the Haiti relief effort?

Keys to success with local governments

One of the critical success factors identified collectively by the group was the importance of having a strategic personal relationship with a "project champion" in either a local government or other community leadership role. Because ICT4D projects by their very nature are long-term investments in the future, this local connection brings a strategic perspective and focus, as well as providing an opportunity to ensure the work is based on real, expressed needs of people in the area being served -- not just those of donors and interest groups "back home".

An interesting discussion during the event turned on the question of assigning credit for successful ICT4D implementations. While the group believed in the importance to position the local government or community champion as the driving force behind such projects, it's also important not to lose your own individual or organizational identity. Making sure people remember who helped make a solution possible will prevent costly searches for expertise in the future.

ICT networks, flattened

Learning from ICT deployments in Haiti

Working in a time-critical disaster relief context, like has been happening in Haiti in the past few weeks, brings some unique issues. Participants generally believed that when peoples' lives are on the line, it's important to "do" first, and inform others later. Waiting to get approvals from a local government in shambles is often not the best course of action.

However, major functions of ICT4D-focused relief groups should be focused on quickly identifying local "hubs" of knowledge and communication in the community, and helping rebuild communication infrastructure for these governments as well as major NGO's. Without these critical links in place, a coordinated relief effort just is not possible, resulting in wasted resources and delays in response.

In a situation like Haiti, with at least 150,000 known dead at the time of writing this article, lack of interoperability and cooperation between groups has undoubtedly cost an untold number of lives. The ICT4D community can learn from this, however, and take steps to proactively coordinate resources (e.g., local disaster contingency plans by organizations based in the community, and open standards for ICT response systems). This coordination in advance will help make the response more timely and effective in the critical hours after a disaster strikes. It's our responsibility as ICT4D professionals to work toward that end today to save lives tomorrow.

Recommended NGO's in Haiti

Finally, we asked participants to suggest some of their favorite relief organizations using ICT in Haiti. Here's a list of those shared:

• Partners In Health
• SOIL
• Sahana Foundation
• Ushahidi
• Plan International
• Hands and Feet Project
• Doctors Without Borders

Michael Downey is a graduate student in human-computer interaction and ICT4D at Indiana University School of Informatics, and is a contributor to the University's Indiana Development Informatics Group (IDIG) and OpenMRS programs.

Join #ICT4D Twitter Chats - subscribe to ICTworks via RSS, Email, Twitter, or Facebook

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Don't forget - today we're having the January ICT4D Twitter Chat - Working with Local Governments

Local governments - from regional to village level - can be both a help and a hindrance to information and communication technology deployments in the developing world. Yet projects usually cannot succeed without their buy-in.

In the January Twitter Chat, we'll explore four vital questions any ICT practitioner faces when designing and deploying technology-based projects at the local level:

1. Do you work with local governments or bypass them?
2. What are the keys to project success with local government?
3. How can you work with compromised governments, like Haiti?
4. Where are examples of positive local government buy-in?

We'll start at 12-noon Eastern Time ( noon worldwide ) with introductions, then move into the discussion, using the #ICT4D hashtag in Twitter.

Be sure to follow ICT_works, Michael Downey, and Chloe Feinberg to keep up with all the Twitter Chat action, and for those not on Twitter, you can watch the action via the handy embed below or this separate webpage:

Our hope is to learn from each other to change the failure factors that we can individually control, and recognize the ones we need collective action to remedy.

Back in the day, the Digital Divide Network was a great listserv resource for ICT knowledge sharing. But since its demise, I've been lost without a good mailing list around information and communication technologies for development - especially one that's focused on African issues.

The best I've found (and that's not saying much) is Naija IT Professionals, which focuses on Nigerian issues. But there should be similar listserv's for Kenya, Ghana, and pretty much any country in Africa.

Where are they? I've looked through Google Groups and Yahoo Groups and not really found a quality mailing list.

Do you know of any good ones?

Local governments - from regional to village level - can be both a help and a hindrance to information and communication technology deployments in the developing world. Yet they usually cannot be avoided.

In the January Twitter Chat, we'll explore three vital questions any ICT practitioner faces when designing and deploying technology-based projects at the local level:

1. Do you work with local governments or bypass them? Why?
2. What are the keys to project success with local government?
3. Where are examples of positive local government buy-in?

We'll start at 12-noon Eastern Time ( noon worldwide ) with introductions, then move into the discussion, using the #ICT4D hashtag in Twitter. Be sure to RSVP here.

• Handy Re-Tweet
  January #ICT4D Twitter Chat:
  Working with Local Government -
  Jan 22 @ 12:00/noon Eastern -
  RSVP: http://ow.ly/WgjE

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For those new to Twitter Chats, its a freewheeling conversation around our central questions on the Twitter platform. Our hope is to learn from each other and find ways we can increase our impact and reduce failure in ICT4D implementations.

We'll archive the Chat too, in case you miss out.

Say in the ICT4D loop - subscribe to ICTworks updates via RSS, Email, Twitter, or Facebook

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Don't forget - today we're having the December ICT4D Twitter Chat - What Have We Learned From Failure?

Starting at 12-noon Eastern Time (noon Eastern around the world) and using the #FailDay hashtag on Twitter, we'll be asking ourselves these three questions:

1. What do you see as common ICT4D mistakes, and why do you think they happen?
2. Building on #1, what common underlying causes plague the ICT4D space?
3. Of the issues in #2, which ones can we do something about, and what might that action be?

Be sure to follow both ICT_works and Michael Downey to keep up with all the Twitter Chat action, and for those not on Twitter, you can watch the action via the handy embed below or this separate webpage:

Our hope is to learn from each other to change the failure factors that we can individually control, and recognize the ones we need collective action to remedy.

During last week's engaging #SocEntChat around mHealth, organized by Ashoka, I started to wonder what other Twitter chats might be out there.

Thanks to chloevdc, I learned of this Twitter Chat Schedule. While pretty comprehensive, I was struck by a glaring omission. Even though there are Twitter chats for everything from JapanTravel to DaddyTalk there isn't a scheduled chat on Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D).

But its not for a lack of those talking about ICT4D. Just one quick look at the ICTworks ICT4D Africa Twitters List, there are at least 40 people who focus on the topic daily. Looking at the #ICT4D hashtag and even more people think about it on a regular basis. So its about time we organized a...

ICTworks' #ICT4D Twitter Chat

On Friday, November 13, join your fellow experts and interested parties in a ICT4D Twitter Chat starting at 17:00 GMT (1700 GMT in your timezone). The likes of John Gosier, Michael Downey, Wayan Vota and others will be discussing engaging in these topics on 15 minute intervals:

Using Eastern Time:
• 12:00pm: Introductions - Please tell us your name, org, key interest area
• 12:05pm: Which ICT4D initiatives do you admire the most? Please name them & explain why.
• 12:20pm: What lessons have you learned from ICT4D failures? Bravery Bonus: talk about your own program failures.
• 12:35pm: Is Cloud4D (Cloud Computing) possible in ICT4D? Or is it still 5 years+ in future? And should we plan for it now anyway?

If you're wondering what a Twitter Chat is, see the great recap of the Ashoka Chat. It was essentially a freewheeling conversation around the key questions asked by Ashoka, with refreshing voices from outside the usual small world we live in.

Expect thi ICT4D Twitter Chat will be even more so, creating greater awareness and excitement about technology's role in social and economic development across the developing world. So join us at 12:00 noon Eastern Time.

Update

Wow! that was an amazing hour of serious conversation. I hope you enjoyed it. And here's a few recaps for you:

• ICT4D Twitter Chat Members
• ICT4DTwitter Chat Transcript

Say in the ICT4D loop - subscribe to ICTworks updates via RSS, Email, or Twitter

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AED has published a short paper on some of the new technologies available for International Development. Its geared towards those that are not familiar with technology and gives a good overview of selected devices and solutions.

Their "Small Technology - Big Impact" report covers:
- PDA's
- Flash drives
- Cell phones
- Wireless Internet
- VoIP
- Radio
- VSAT
- Netbooks
- GPS
- Wikis
- Solar Power

Read More Small Technology - Big Impact (PDF)
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