Employing Participatory Action Research to Augment Software Development for Rural Communities

The paper proposes a software development methodology which also employs the participatory action research (PAR) method given that PAR has been successfully employed in projects in rural communities. Arguments for this approach are provided, discussed in the context of software development for rural communities

Understanding the factors that influence trust in e-services: a case study of a wireless mesh network implementation in Mankosi, South Africa

>Magister Scientiae - MScThis thesis deals with the design of a business model for rural telephony based on a wireless mesh network for a rural community, the Mankosi community, located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Its aim is to understand the social, economic and technical issues that are involved in the adoption of information and communication technologies for development and how they relates to trust in e-services. Externally funded projects tend to be expensive and are often unsustainable once the external funding ceases. The cost of a mesh network (once implemented) is almost negligible, apart from its maintenance. The pillars of the project are sustainability and community ownership, and the aim was to design the wireless mesh network, provide telephony service to the community and use solar power to charge mobile phones. The community leaders of Mankosi indicated that they do not want the service to be completely free, but would charge a small fee for each call in order to generate the funds needed for the maintenance of the system. In order to do so, a prototype billing system was configured and adapted to the needs and expectations of the community. The principles and steps of soft systems methodology were used to manage the research process of this case study. This methodology was a powerful tool to carry out the research and address the research problem in a participative way with the stakeholders. The participatory design process used in the design phase of the project had the added advantage that the community understood the purpose of the network, and since they contributed to its design, they felt that they owned it and could trust its billing system. A further benefit was that a core group of participants were committed to the project and felt that the overall quality of community members' lives would be improved by it and similar projects. The process contributed to the personal development of the participants by giving the community a voice and sense of power – the ability to change things – and it vastly expanded community members’ vision of what they are capable of. It was found that the current means of communication, i.e. using mobile phones, is expensive for local users in relation to their average income. The proposed billing system – designed with the help of the community – will be trusted by the community and provide Mankosi with a low-cost communication system by making use of the existing experimental mesh network. The community will be able to sustain their network with the income generated. The network will in future provide access to the Internet and will be able to handle breakout calls to external networks

Co-designing in the real world: managing a multiple stakeholder design process with an NGO

Many ICT4D research projects work in collaboration with NGOs in order to meet their development objectives and to increase their interventions’ effectiveness. Herein, aspects of co-design are often applied, where the intention is to include all stakeholders as equal participants in the design process. However, collaborating with NGOs and with users who have reduced access to technology can be challenging. As a result, the ideals of co-design are not easily achieved, due to the vastly differing backgrounds of stakeholders in ICT4D projects. In this thesis, an explicit approach for managing the varying interactions between stakeholders is proposed and described through a case study. The approach was derived from ethnographic action research and participatory design methodologies, led by practical consideration from real-world constraints. The approach is structured around an interactive design process that includes the stakeholder groups in unique ways at each phase of the design process, in order to maximise the contributions in a way that respects their backgrounds and areas of expertise. The proposed approach was evaluated through its implementation in the design of a mobile recordkeeping application, in collaboration with an NGO in Cape Town, South Africa. The NGO comprises of two stakeholder groups: the staff and the micro-entrepreneurs who they empower. The NGO’s focus is to provide training and support over a two-year process to women from low-income communities, by teaching them how to manage their own businesses to become socially and financially independent. The objective of this case study was to design a mobile application that aligned with the recordkeeping curriculum of the NGO and meet the specific requirements and constraints of the target users. Through the implementation of the design approach, the students and staff were able to provide useful and complementary contributions towards the design of the system. A one-month field study of the application with a group of 21 student participants revealed that the system was a suitable solution and appropriately met the needs of the NGO and the end-users. The final evaluation of the stakeholders’ reflections on the design process revealed that it was an appropriate design process to have followed. The results further identified that care must be taken to clarify expectations at each stage of the design process, especially when external factors change, and to frequently communicate with all stakeholders involved. The design approach proposed and employed during this research project, and the unique way that it allowed the stakeholders to contribute, will benefit future ICT4D research projects that are faced with stakeholder groups that vary significantly, where traditional equal participation is not possible