Enhanced Accessibility for People with Disabilities Living in Urban Areas

[Excerpt] People with disabilities constitute a significant proportion of the poor in developing countries. If internationally agreed targets on reducing poverty are to be reached, it is critical that specific measures be taken to reduce the societal discrimination and isolation that people with disabilities continue to face. Transport is an important enabler of strategies to fight poverty through enhancing access to education, employment, and social services. This project aims to further the understanding of the mobility and access issues experienced by people with disabilities in developing countries, and to identify specific steps that can be taken to start addressing problems. A major objective of the project is to compile a compendium of guidelines that can be used by government authorities, advocacy groups, and donor/loan agencies to improve the access of people with disabilities to transport and other services in urban areas

Platform Advocacy and the Threat to Deliberative Democracy

Businesses have long tried to influence political outcomes, but today, there is a new and potent form of corporate political power—Platform Advocacy. Internet-based platforms, such as Facebook, Google, and Uber, mobilize their user bases through direct solicitation of support and the more troubling exploitation of irrational behavior. Platform Advocacy helps platforms push policy agendas that create favorable legal environments for themselves, thereby strengthening their own dominance in the marketplace. This new form of advocacy will have radical effects on deliberative democracy. In the age of constant digital noise and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to detect and analyze new forms of political power. This Article will contribute to our understanding of one such new form and provide a way forward to ensure the exceptional power of platforms do not improperly influence consumers and, by extension, lawmakers

Holding Space for Voices that Do Not Speak: Design Reform of Rating Systems for Platforms in GREAT Economies

Researchers can examine ethical implications of online rating systems to understand how they function as ‘knowledge instruments’ and affect social relations and networks connected with them. Research should address the fact that the underlying economic structures that design and deploy knowledge producing ‘technical objects’ on online platforms are not egalitarian and may create new circles of exclusion. Exploring implications of this for a starkly unequal country like India, we illustrate our ideas by integrating induction and abduction to study rating systems on a pan-India food discovery and delivery platform. Rating systems are borrowed from WEIRD contexts and our findings imply that the instrument studied here is designed to hear only some of many voices. Consequently, they might be ‘institutionalizing’ knowledge that is problematic for GREAT domains in which they are imposed. We highlight the need for decolonization of research approaches for GREAT domains and critical research of technical knowledge objects

Platforms, network effects and small business dynamics in China : case study of the Shanzhai cell phone industry

This paper seeks to argue the significance of platforms on emerging markets through a case study of the Shanzhai cell phone industry in Shenzhen, China. In this industry, value chains are being driven by both the technology platforms and the market platforms. The former include MTK baseband chipset, and so-called Shared PCBA and Shared Mould. The latter include the North Huaqiang Market and the Purchasing and Money Platform. Technology platforms greatly reduced the technological barriers to entry for independent design houses and system integrators, while market platforms markedly improved their poor marketing and purchasing abilities. Due to factors such as social networks, supporting industries, informality and platform governance, strong network effects have been exhibited in the two types of platforms, which have not only fostered numerous start-ups, but have also led to effective exploitation of emerging markets.China, Electronic industries, Telephone, Network, Platform, Network effect, Shanzhai Cell Phone, Emerging markets

Scholarly communications revisited : journal publishing, open access, and digital-age Journals

The development of digital technology has drastically changed scholarly communication. T he advent of electronic journals has changed the industrial structure of academic publish-i ng. As the market concentration of journal publishing continues to increase, the pricing of j ournals has been dominated and controlled by large publishers. The never-ending rise of s ubscription prices is approaching a tipping point that libraries/institutions—even in hi gh-income countries—can no longer bear. In these circumstances, the open access (OA) m ovement has been promoted over the past 15 years, and new types of publications have ap peared. This paper discusses the definition and history of OA, the position of each stake- holder in the OA landscape, and new digital-age journals, which include OA mega-journals and research funders’ OA platforms

Polarization in the future journal publishing ecosystem : Selective subscription journals and open access mega-journals

The development of information technology has drastically changed scholarly communication. The advent of electronic journals has changed the industrial structure of academic publishing. As the market concentration of journal publishing continues to increase, the pricing of journals has been dominated and controlled by large publishers. The never-ending rise of subscription prices is approaching a tipping point that libraries/institutions – even in high-income countries – can no longer bear. In these circumstances, the open access (OA) movement has been promoted over the past 15 years, and new types of publications have appeared. This paper discusses the position of each stakeholder in the OA landscape, and foresees a new ecosystem of future journal publishing – the polarization of selective subscription journals and OA mega-journals

Making Waves: Media's Potential for Girls in the Global South

There are around 600 million adolescent girls living in developing countries. Doubly marginalised because oftheir gender and age, many live a bleak existence -- excluded from access to basic public services, unable to shape the decisions that affect their lives and vulnerable to violence at home and on the street. Their voices often go unheard.Slowly, this is beginning to change. Over the past two decades girls have become a growing priority for the international development community. Investing in their health education and employment prospects is nowwidely considered to have an important ripple effect on other development outcomes such as economic growth and social equality. As a result, development assistance programmes that support girls' empowerment are now seen by many as not just the "right" thing to do, but a necessity Less well understood is where media fits into this equation The interplay between media and gender norms has long been recognised and a substantial literature explores how media affects girls in the Global North But against a backdrop of rapidly changing media landscapes -- characterised by increasing competition for audiences sensationalism and expanding access to new technologies -- the role that media plays in girls' lives in the Global South demands further examination.Drawing on expert interviews as well as insights from the media and development literature, this policy briefing seeks to fill this gap. It argues that media -- whether traditional or online -- matters a great deal in the lives of girls in the developing world. It matters because it has the ability to be harmful to girls' interests and self-esteem, and it matters because it can also be so effective in playing a positive role in girls' lives. Specifically, media can influence girls' aspirations and behaviours around their health and livelihoods open the door to greater participation in society and ensure that girls' issues move higher up the public agenda. If challenges around media access and control and the extent to which media organisations value girls as part of their audience, are addressed head on, media can play a vital role in helping to advance the wellbeing of adolescent girls in regions of the world where their interests have traditionally been most neglected

Shaping Inclusive Markets: How Funders and Intermediaries can Help Markets Move toward Greater Economic Inclusion

Positive progress toward worldwide economic inclusion is not only possible, but can also be made more possible. In Shaping Inclusive Markets, we draw lessons from history on how more inclusive markets have been achieved and highlight ways in which funders and intermediaries can strengthen the conditions for change