In the main, my previous posts have focussed on technological innovations and initiatives that have helped to promote greater communication and access to technology in the developing world, through the use of video, mobile devices and donated computer hardware and increased access to the web. I have also touched on some of the organisations who have worked tirelessly to teach, support and encourage the communities involved to embrace new technologies, whether it be internet-based or otherwise, in order to improve their lives, increase their opportunities and gain greater access to the world beyond their immediate environment.
What is clear is that whilst these themes – of providing those communities with the ‘kit’ and the ‘connections’ – in other words, the means of access – continue to be a major priority in improving the lives of many people, what is just as important is the content those initiatives are able to deliver, not just in terms of enriching, highly-relevant online experiences but above all, in providing access to essential, sometimes live-saving, information.
At last year’s B20 summit in Los Cabos, a platform with various social and commercial aims and objectives, the ‘ICT and Innovation Task Force’ came to some interesting conclusions and recommendations, going beyond the ‘Internet access for all’ mantra which has been heard with increased volume in relation to international development in recent times.
Under the banner of their second concluding recommendation – ‘Develop content and applications for the public good: social inclusion through ICT’ – they went on to elaborate with great precision on the importance of focussing on content as much as the means of access:
‘…Having access to government services, education, banking, and real-time information…improves and enables society as a whole. For the benefits to be fully realized it is important to provide access to the technologies and information necessary to develop local content and applications; provide access to traditional services for previously underserved population segments through ICT content and applications; and leverage ICT to create new economic opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs…’
Carlos Slim Domit, Chairman Grupo Carso SA de CV, Mexico / Dan Reed. Corporate Vice President of Technology Police, Microsoft USA
What is interesting here is the focus not just on the content itself, but on enabling those in the communities concerned to develop the content themselves, through education and the provision of the required technology, thereby creating a potential win-win situation of local content ownership, greater content relevancy and ultimately greater opportunities for all those involved.
Digital content in Africa: From government information to mobile banking
Various agencies in South Africa, from NGOs to media news groups and the SA government themselves, have clearly seen the importance for some time of embracing the internet as a means of providing greater access to relevant content and information that serves to help the community. Channel Africa, part of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (who, in the spirit of appearing to focus on enriching the lives of people in SA, work under the slogan ‘Broadcasting for Total Citizen Empowerment’) are a radio station/provider with a broad selection of content ranging from information programmes to entertainment. It’s mission statement views it as the ‘voice of Africa’s Renaissance’ and that it ‘will endeavour in its programming ‘to reinforce Africa’s dignity, pride and sense of self-worth’. From a practical perspective, Channel Africa is available via shortwave radio, satellite broadcast and over the internet, thus embracing every means of current and new technology to ensure the widest access and availability possible.
Looking at the perhaps more mundane but essential side of content provision and from a governmental and social perspective, developers and content authors for the South Africa Government Services website have gone to great lengths to ensure that they provide the population with as much useful and relevant content as possible, through a well-organised, clearly defined web portal from which information on a huge range of subjects can be quickly obtained or downloaded. It is a good example of a well thought out website that has been planned with the user in mind.
Online banking services, the like of which are taken for granted in many parts of the world, are an emerging concept in many African countries, but are an important area in terms of online services provision, and ensuring that African communities are able to benefit from e-commerce facilities, not just in terms of online purchasing but also by providing a more secure means of transferring funds than some traditional methods. As has been discussed on this blog and elsewhere, many African nations lack a wired infrastructure capable of maintaining fast and efficient broadband services, depending instead on mobile connectivity in order to gain access to limited internet services. To get around this in the provision of ‘e-banking’, some of those countries affected have turned to SIM-based technology provided by mobile telecommunications suppliers, who have in turn created partnerships with banking service providers to provide and end-to-end service to consumers.
A good example of this has been supplied with the help Gemalto, the global digital security provider, to MTN Mobile in Uganda. The article on the Gemalto website provides more detailed information on their solution, but in essence they assisted the MTN in offering users a nationwide mobile payment facility that makes mobile payment ‘…accessible to the great majority of people, even if they do not have a banking relationship…’.
The article goes on to describe the kinds of services that the facility can assist with:
‘…The Gemalto-supplied solution provides a secure, convenient and affordable means for MTN Uganda subscribers to carry out peer-to-peer fund transfer using their mobile phone. An easy-to-navigate menu enables consumers to send and receive money, buy airtime, withdraw cash from a local retailer, with the security provided by the SIM card. Since the SIM card is the only application platform working with 100% of handsets, subscribers can perform m-payment transactions using any type of mobile phone, which means the service is immediately available to all….’
Like many other aspects of the emergence of digital technology in the developing world, and not just in Africa, content clearly is key. Whilst it is easy to get excited by the various online shopping sites – some have suggested mere clones of Amazon – Kalahari in SA, Jumia in Nigeria, to name but two) that are becoming more widespread, it is important that there remains a focus on providing more of the basic but essential services – whether its banking, access to local and governmental information, news media, communication – that are part of everyday ‘digital’ life in other parts of the world, but in some cases are far more important and essential to those in the more disparate and marginalised communities of the developing world.
Looking back on a previous post, The service provided by FrontlineSMS, in providing the means to communities to deliver vital, life-saving content by way of public health information messages – simple SMS messages, but content none the less – is an example to us all who are fortunate enough to work in digital technology that it is how connectivity is applied – in other words, what it is that is actually being communicated or provided – that is what makes that connectivity, whether its mobile, internet, or broadcast – have real value to it’s audience.
Related articles
- Mobile tech making a difference: learning to read and public health awareness (benjaminsmithuk.wordpress.com)
Benjamin Smith 