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Global Voices Online » Harvard Forum: Are we satisfied with what we've got? - 0 views

globalvoicesonline.org/...e-satisfied-with-what-weve-got

shared by Arabica Robusta on 19 Feb 10 - Cached

Berkman Center's Yochai Benkler wants us to clearly identify our goals as concerns ICT and development. Are we seeking income growth in relation to relative poverty? Use of ICT that enables a sense of self, of well-being in the world, knowledge creation?
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He sees an intriguing tension between systems that favor openness and freedom through a decentralized systems versus the relatively rapid diffusion of devices that enable communications through more centralized networks. We can think of this as mobile versus internet systems, or carriers versus open wireless networks.
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Alison Gillwald
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...3 more annotations...
worries that, in developing ICT4D policies, we tend to assume a functional state capable of managing processes of innovation - what's missing in the literature is discussion of large-scale institutional failure providing massive bottlenecks and constraints. In South Africa, she worries about the rise of the state in terms of provisioning and operating communication services.
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That's what we learned with the explosion of mobile telephony. We claim that mobile phone companies opened this market - that's totally false. The mobile networks were the innovation of poor people when they were enabled to use it the way they wanted to. Poor people spent much more income than we ever thought they would.
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While he agrees that this consideration is “not crazy”, he suggests we not overfocus on this. “There are institutional failures all over the place - they're the main cause of stalled growth… If you're in a state that shuts down communication channels, there's something larger wrong.” (He admits that this sets up an intersting paradox, as China is growing incredibly quickly, but shows extremely high willingness to control these communication channels.)
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Arabica Robusta on 19 Feb 10

Excellent brief overview of discussion about where mobile and internet ICT are going and what the implications are for development.

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Excellent brief overview of discussion about where mobile and internet ICT are going and what the implications are for development.</div>

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Illegal telco operators in Cameroon: The most reasonable option | Association for Progr... - 0 views

www.apc.org/9692

shared by Arabica Robusta on 24 Jan 10 - Cached

high communication costs and low quality services have paved the way for illegal operators to emerge, who charge half the price of official networks. Illegal they may be, but these pirate providers are making a major contribution towards bringing down the price of internet access to a level that matches the pocket of the average Cameroonian. In a country where 48% of the population lives on less than one US dollar a day, communication is a luxury that many cannot afford.
- Arabica Robusta on 24 Jan 10
  
  This phenomena should be related to informal economy as well as oligopoly. Why are these operators illegal and what would be required to make them legal?
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">This phenomena should be related to informal economy as well as oligopoly. Why are these operators illegal and what would be required to make them legal?</div>
  
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