Inverting the Relationship between Development and Public Access Computing (PAC): A Comparative Study of PAC Ecosystems

A robust body of research has examined how public access computing (PAC) may support or lead to development in international contexts. This study explores an inverse relationship: how the policy and activity of development shapes PAC. It utilizes the metaphor of the ecosystem to study the ensemble of organizations, resources, venues, and infrastructures that construct and comprise PAC. This study examines PAC ecosystems in two large South American cities, utilizing a case study strategy. Comparison of the PAC ecosystems yields sharp contrasts. The findings indicate that convergences with and divergences from development policy and activity influence the PAC ecosystem, and that studying PAC ecosystems offers a sociotechnical approach to illuminate ICT4D phenomena

Addressing data collection challenges in ICT for development projects

This paper equips researchers for addressing a wide range of data collection challenges experienced when interacting with marginalized communities as part of ICT4D projects in developing countries. This secondary research categorizes data collection challenges reported in multiple disciplines, and summarizes the guidance from the past literature to deal with the challenges. The open, axial, and selective coding of data collection challenges reported by the past literature suggests that it is necessary to manage scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, and risks for addressing the data collection challenges. This paper illustrates the ways to manage these seven dimensions using (a) the success stories of data collection in the past, (b) the lessons learned by researchers during data collection as documented by the past literature, and (c) the advice they offer for collection data from marginalized communities in developing countries

Identificación de factores de éxito en centros de acceso público a TIC en Bogotá

El presente documento presenta la síntesis de la identificación de factores de éxito en Centros de Acceso Público (CAP) a TIC (Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones) en la ciudad de Bogotá. Se parte de la importancia que representa el acceso y uso de las TIC en las personas para diversas dimensiones de su vida, soportado en documentos académicos de investigación e informes de organizaciones gubernamentales y no gubernamentales. Se hizo uso de la multimetodología para llevar a cabo la investigación, usando como soporte conceptual el Marco ACE (Acceso, Capacidades y Entorno). Se realizó una encuesta a más de 1.700 estudiantes de un programa de fortalecimiento académico para graduados de educación media de colegios públicos distritales para caracterizar las condiciones de acceso y uso de las TIC en los individuos y sus percepciones sobre los Centros de Acceso Público. Se realizó una entrevista a una persona experta en telecentros a nivel nacional. Adicionalmente se realizaron visitas a bibliotecas y cibercafés con el fin de observar las condiciones de uso de las TIC y poder obtener información de operarios y usuarios. Como resultados, se ha hecho una caracterización de las condiciones de acceso y uso de TIC en estudiantes, agrupando así diversas categorías. Se han encontrado elementos que diferencian el desarrollo de los CAP dependiendo de sus categorías, resaltando la ventaja coyuntural que presentan las bibliotecas públicas, pese a la presencia mayoritaria y constante de los cibercafés. Finalmente, se han identificado cuatro factores de éxito; sostenibilidad, inclusión a usuarios y a la comunidad, oferta amplia de servicios y trabajo en red.Abstract. This document presents the synthesis of the identification of success factors of ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) Public Access Venues (CAP) in Bogotá. It is part of the importance that access and use of ICT represent to people for various aspects of life, supported in academic research papers and reports from government and NGOs. We used multimethodology to conduct research, using ACE Framework (Access, Capacity and Environment) as conceptual support. We surveyed more than 1,700 students from an academic strengthening program for high school graduates of district public schools to characterize the conditions of access and use of ICT in individuals and their perceptions of Public Access Centers. We interviewed an expert in telecentres nationwide. Additionally we made visits to libraries and cybercafes to verify the use conditions of ICT and some operators and users information. As a result, we made a characterization of the conditions of access and use of ICT by students, grouping various categories. We found elements that differentiate the CAPMaestrí