Last week some Plan USA staff got together at Plan’s Washington, DC office as part of our ongoing discussions on how Plan globally could better use ICTs and social media as enablers in our work and to improve program outcomes. We had the honor of some amazing minds to support us, including Josh Nesbit (@joshnesbit) from FrontlineSMS: Medic, Dave Isaak from SixBlue Data (@sixblue_data), Michael Downey from Indiana University (@downeym), and Wayan Vota from Inveneo (@wayan_vota).
Photo: Mwendar and Ali using mobiles during a meeting on modernizing the birth registration process in Kwale, Kenya, in June 2009.
We started with an overview of ICT4D, emphasizing the importance of not starting with the tools and devices, but rather a mapping of information and communications needs.
The presentation was based on Plan’s “Mobiles for Development Guide” by Hannah Beardon. (See the presentation here). For me, a key aspect was the 3 ways that organizations can incorporate ICTs in their work:
1) Directly: Addressing the digital divide through improved connectivity, capacity, access
2) Strategically: Applying ICTs to enhance the impact of development projects and programs
3) Indirectly: improving their efficiency and effectiveness
The Mobiles for Development Guide also proposes a three-step process for arriving at decisions on how ICTs can be incorporated:
Stage 1: Assess the need/potential for ICTs/mobile technology
Stage 2: Analyze the socio-technological context
Stage 3: Choose the technology and content
For me, this is kind of obvious but we seem to often forget it. Most sound organizations wouldn’t decide that building a clinic or a school is the solution without looking at the broader situation together with community members, and analyzing together what the desired outcomes actually are, what the local resources are, what the barriers are, how sustainability will be achieved, issues of upkeep, local ownership, power and control, usability, etc. In the same way, we clearly shouldn’t slap on 100 mobile phones and some computers and call it an ICT4D or m-Something initiative.
But sometimes technology seems like such an obvious solution that organizations start with the technology tools rather than looking at the desired outcomes: let’s do a radio project, a video project, an m-Health project – when rather we should be stepping back and seeing what the larger goals are, how we plan to reach them, what kind of information and communication needs to happen to reach project goals, how is information and communication currently happening in the local situation and who has control over it, and lastly what types of tools might work best for relaying that information and communicating.
As an action item from the workshop, we will begin work on a more concrete methodological guide for Plan staff to use at the local level. The concept is in place, but how to actually do this concretely when we are developing programs with communities is perhaps not so clear. The idea is to develop a detailed and participatory methodology that could be used locally (by staff, community members, district officials, etc.) to identify information and map out communication needs in existing (or developing) initiatives, to better understand the local ‘socio-technological’ context, and to have some sort of ‘decision tree’ that could help suggest the most appropriate ICT enablers for the local context. We hope to gather input from others who have done similar work (in and outside of Plan) and to field test it in Cameroon in a Child Survival project early next year.
Related Posts:
11 concerns about ICTs and ‘social media for social good’
It’s all part of the ICT jigsaw: Plan Mozambique ICT4D workshops
ICT4D Kenya: ICT and community development is real
Modernizing birth registration with mobile technology
Linda: It was great meeting with you and the Plan team last week. I'm happy to see that we're on the same page with respect to the need to put people first when designing technology-based (or any, actually) aid projects.My colleagues and I stand ready to support you and yours however we can, and we're looking forward to it!
Michael – same for me! I'm really excited to take our ideas forward.
Hi Micheal! how can i contribute to this wonderful project? I was born and raised in Kwale then moved to Nairobi. I am doing a project to support people in Kwale town, and i would love to share this with you.Mark Mwadama
Hi Mark and thanks for your comment! Can you send me your contact information? I can put you in touch with our staff in Kwale and/or Nairobi.Linda
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