Durban Green Tours - COP17

From their brochure / website link: 

"The eThekwini Municipality recognises the threat posed by climate change and has, during the past decade, implemented a number of mitigation- and adaptation-focused interventions as part of its Municipal Climate Protection Programme."

One of the projects the municipality is involved with are the Durban Green Tours which launch on Sunday!  There are two routes:  one on mitigation and another on adaptation.  And best of all the tour is free courtesy of eThekweni municipality!  

Sign up for the tour at the eThekwini Exhibition Stand at the South Africa Climate Change Response Expo.  The tours will start on the 23^nd November and will run daily until the 6^th December. All tours will leave at 10h00 from the Transport Hub, with the exception of the two tours running on Sunday Dec 3, and will return within four hours.  I'll be on the inaugural Sunday tour as someone I know will be the infamous tour guide!  

For more information:  http://www.cop17-cmp7durban.com/en/logistics/green-tours.html

 

Year of the Tiger: Meow

 

My dedication to the Year of the Tiger comes from Uganda TigerFM - a great shot of the volunteer DJs at this multi-purpose community centre just outside of Kampala.   Happy belated Chinese new year!

Other interesting works that I came upon today particularly pertaining to Access to Knowledge: 

*African Journal of Information and Communication:  Issue No 10 edited by Luci Abrahams and Eve Gray

 *Presentation by Arthur Attwell:  Quick, easy licences, and why they matter - reviewing the possibilities of alternative business models for publishing in areas like Africa.

*Report by Harley et al (Jan 2010) at the University of California called, Assessing the Future Landscape of Scholarly Communication: An Exploration of Faculty Values and Needs in Seven Disciplines

Big ICT strides in Southern Africa: News

Southern African leaders are making some public strides this week in regards to information and communication technology policy.  Today and tomorrow, the South African department of communications  (DoC) host a multi-stakeholder forum in Midrand for their Presidential National Commission initiative, the Information Society and Development (ISAD). Representatives Nyanda and Phiri utilize an approach which hopes to engage the different players in South Africa and has potential to improve planning and implementation of ICTs particularly for five areas:  ICT for Rural Development, SMME Development, Formation Ethics, e-Government Services, and e-Skills Development.  

One highlight is the e-Skills development commission which hope to create a national implementation plan for ICT skills development across the country and within its various programs and services.   In a recent Research ICT Africa study on e-skills (pdf), the research found that “In 16 out of the 17 countries, the strongest positive and significant effect on probability of higher e-skills can be attributed to having completed tertiary education”.  In order for the South African DoC to make a significant change within their country, not only does the government need to improve affordable access to the internet for all, they must also coordinate long-term education policies which strive for more university graduates. 

Another most relevant commission which the ISAD is looking for is an information ethics commission.  The whole concept of global security, human security, privacy and transparency is growing in research and importance.  With the Italian courts siding against Google for posting a video of a bullied boy with Down’s Syndrome for violating privacy law, South Africa has a responsibility to develop concrete resolutions which concern this area of information ethics.  Such a measure also falls in line with the conclusions of a recent African Union special discussion on ICTs (pdf) in which “Africa must harmonize its policies and projects at national, regional andcontinental levels taking into account the cyber security space” (particular recommendation by Senegal’s M. Cisse – page 14).

Across the border, Zimbabwe announces its 2010 – 2014 National Information Communication strategic plan.  ICT Minister Nelson Chamisa also hopes to cover cyber security and e-government just as proposed by South Africa.   The ICT Bill is on its way to Cabinet for approval.  Given Zimbabwe’s high rank in education (actually I’m not sure how it is doing these days), the group needs a solid plan for infrastructure and affordable access in order to meet a significant move towards the networked society. 

Gendered Access to Knowledge and Africa

 

Here is a photo which reminds me of my ongoing pursuit to understand gender research in the realm of information and communication technology (ICTs) for development in Africa.  This is a group shot was taken back in Johannesburg in 2008 with researcher partners and IDRC staff who are trying to interrogate the socio-economic effects of ICTs and whether there are advantages or disadvantages applied differently on men versus women.  Since then, I have been trying to write out some thoughts on the gender research being pursued around me here in Africa.  Here is what I hope is just the start: 

I recently published an article for GenderIT.org:  Reaction to the Gender Findings from Africa’s Access to Knowledge Research:

"GenderIT.org writer and a Research Officer at Canada`s International Development Research Centre, Kathleen Diga tracks the journey of the African Copyright & Access to Knowledge (ACA2K)research network to better understand the nature of African national copyright environments and their impact on equal opportunities for all citizens to access information, particularly in the realm of education. The author argues that the ultimate development goal of copyright law is to afford equal access to educational learning materials regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, disability or age. The law must be flexible in order to recognize existing or potential discrimination against vulnerable groups. For example income constraints are likely to discriminate against women more than men in efforts to access educational materials.

It is a follow up to a previous GenderIT.org article, University women struggle for knowledge access in Africa:

"The future female leaders of Africa are up against major barriers to knowledge access, which could mean lost opportunities in university learning and teaching the state-of-the-art research most necessary for academic success. Online academic journals, and university textbooks are a few of the important resources that are part of this access to knowledge, which is pertinent particularly at the university level. Not only do students need to pass their courses, they are also encouraged to develop innovative and novel ideas informed and possibly inspired by past research work. Kathleen Diga questions whether such access of learning materials to all students and teachers at universities in Africa are fair to both women and men."

The creativity that I call South Africa

It’s taken a few years, but I am now starting to inch to the edges of the creativity explosion that I call South Africa. Since arriving here a few years ago, I’ve always been stoked on the conventional handicrafts of wired animals, patterned cloth and beaded jewelry of Africa. I’ve seen even fewer concerts and wandered into a few gallery and fashion shows in my day.  But recently, I’ve started to learn more about the ingenious film, music, blogs, art and writing collective that rates high for me in terms of South African originality and quirk. And why wouldn’t it be here? The country is immersed in an environment of inspiration whether it be the breathtaking landscape and ocean, or the intense history of the people coupled with the diversity of endemic species of animal, plants and race. So given this new found creative space and revelation of awesomeness, I hope to reveal on this blog some great places, adventures and living artifacts that come my way in South Africa. Some of great stuff that I’ve seen lately include: White Wedding, Bunny Chow, Jerusalema, (all these films can be seen on long haul flights with South African airlines) Die AntwoordSouth African Vice writers, Mahala, go Magazine, Visi Mag, skinny laminx and Bruce MacKay (I love his Dee Tee).

All kinds of great stuff coming up like Design Indaba in Cape Town (26-28 Feb 2010) and 2010 Afrika Burns (22-27 April 2010) in the Tankwa Karoo.

Look forward to a year of creative vibrations.

Free Nelson Mandela - 20 years later

Today is a great day to be in South Africa. February 11, 2010 marks the 20 year anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. For 27 years Nelson Mandela was in prison. There are some great article pieces coming from the South African news. The one supplement piece in the Star newspaper brings in many perspectives which reflect on the dawning of the new democracy in South Africa. The audioslide show by BBC is fantastic – brought a tear to my eye. Read more here...

This day also makes me reflect on my recent visits to the Apartheid Museum, Soweto, Nelson Mandela’s house and the Hector Pieterson Memorial. I had the chance to move around to these historical places of South Africa with a seasoned activist from Canada. She was part of the Canadian network which rallied for the freedom of Nelson Mandela and pressured the Canadian government to lay international pressure on the apartheid government for a non-racial, non-sexist democratic state. It was eye opening to be more aware of the reach that this political prisoner had around the world.

I recently had to look through some of IDRC’s past accomplishments in South Africa and one of the most outstanding pieces which I speak with pride is the organization’s help in building research and recommendations in economics, urban and environmental policy which would be implemented in a new South Africa which is inclusive to all citizens of the country. Many of the researchers funded continue to be part of South Africa’s political network.

They were worthy contributions in South Africa and in Canada and I respect those who have dedicated their lives to a more fair society in this African state. Unfortunately, I live here in South Africa now and I see how the struggle continues for its people. Activism remains strong as citizens still fight for the right a more equal education system, and improved services for all (housing, electricity, water). My final reflection is if this was still an apartheid state, what would I be doing today – do I remain aware of the struggles of the people yet be complacent as the rate of poverty rises, or do I rally forward with the movement as would have been done by the Canadian activist more than 20-30 years ago? Could history repeat itself but in another form if we don’t stay active in the new struggle?

The photo of the coloured glass Mandela is found at the Regina Mundi Cathedral in Soweto.  

ACA2K Dissemination Seminar - Recap

I recently had the chance to attend the ACA2K Dissemination Seminar held this month at the University of Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Hosted by the Link Centre, the half-day event was funded through the ACA2K’s supporters, IDRC and Shuttleworth Foundation and was an opportunity to share their recent research findings within the realm of copyright law and its influence on access to educational materials in Africa.

Reflection on IDRC's Acacia Research and Learning Forum (ARLF)

(photos courtesy of Acacia Learning Forum '09 on flickr)

In the beginning of October (yes, I know... almost two months later!), I had a chance to participate in an extraordinary event in Dakar called the Acacia Research and Learning Forum. After nearly a year + of planning, this meeting brought together just over 150 researchers, bloggers, and other brilliant African minds. The meeting was to take stock of the incredible African research in information and communication technologies that has been produced in at least the last decade and have a look forward to the future of ICT4D research in Africa.

Women, Africa and Business

"The glass ceiling will go away when women help other women break through that ceiling." – PepsiCo. CEO Indra Nooyi

Going through my usual business of emails, tweets and news browsing, I noticed several leads on African Women and Business:

- Wharton Africa Business Forum hosts a panel on Women in Business

- Munyua writes a chapter in Book, African Women and ICTs, titled, "Women entrepreneurs in Nairobi: examining and contextualizing women’s choices"

Just a quick weekend note. I am always looking for more great stories and examples of women and business particularly in social entrepreneurship initiatives.

Re-cap: IDIA 2009 conference

Purpose:




I think conferences are in much need for visual stimulation like the beautiful animals (hyena above) of Kruger in order to develop creative and innovative ideas of research. This was the setting of the International Development informatics Association 3rd conference in South Africa.

The purpose of participating in this conference was to present my conference paper based on the research that I had conducted under my 2008/09 IDRC Professional Development Award to an international academic audience. My paper is co-authored with Kenyan, Jason Musyoka, and titled, “Re-thinking Acute Emergencies Response through Communication Technology in African Rural Communities.” The paper can be found here.

Conference Paper: Mobiles and Perceptions of Mobile / Emergency Response in Peri-rural Ghana

This presentation was prepared for the 3rd International Development Informatics Association (IDIA) Conference. 28-30th October 2009 Johannesburg; South Africa. The draft paper and report on the conference will be posted on this space very soon.

Special thanks to Wireless Africa research partner, One Village Foundation, and Mr. Kafui Prebble, for the organization's logistical support back in November 2008 for this field research.

Conference Paper Abstract:

Local rural communities frequently receive little assistance in resolving acute emergencies. In rural areas, emergencies are thus resolved using alternative local mechanisms and adapted practices mediated through available technologies. However, local mechanisms may lead to various barriers such as potentially asymmetrical emergency information to a certain population and can remain on a “who-you-know” basis. Individuals who are new to an area or those disadvantaged with poor social networks are limited to time-consuming and costly options for assistance during emergencies.

RE-THINKING ACUTE EMERGENCIES RESPONSE THROUGH COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN AFRICAN RURAL COMMUNITIES

View more presentations from kdiga.

Reactions and Portfolios

(photo from http://www.bevoda.ca/photos.htm)


The Canadian International Development Agency react to Minister Bev Oda's statements to the Ottawa's newspaper, the Embassy (article here). These comments include the lack of health experts in their programs as well as their focus on spending money and not on measurable results. Wow.

In the same edition, the Embassy reports on seven African diplomats in Ottawa speak out to the Senate Foreign Affairs committee on the drop of African countries from the priorities of the upcoming aid spending (article here).

Other new publications:

Portfolios of the Poor:
How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day
Daryl Collins, Jonathan Morduch, Stuart Rutherford & Orlanda Ruthven

How the poor are able to find solutions on $2 a day. I love this type of research as it is very very difficult to build systematic research that records what low income individuals spend everyday. At one point in my research, I tried to record six households and ask them to record their last ten phone calls and SMS. First of all, the tool must be super easy to understand and second, you need to have a contingency plan when an individual is illiterate. The first chapter of the book is free of the website, but can't wait to get my hands on a copy of this book.

Here is the link to the website: Portfolios of the Poor and Financial Access Initiative.

IDRC - MENA Workshop & ICTD Conference

– Doha Qatar April 16-21, 2009

I had drafted up this trip report a while ago but have been so busy with another conference paper, that I pushed it aside. I also found that several comments had already chatted a bit about the ICTD conference, however, I didn't see much written on the Young Researchers Workshop nor a pre-conference event hosted by IDRC for Middle East and North African researchers. So here it goes!

Recap on Business Plans from the Slums

“The role of business skill development in catalyzing dynamic economies and alleviating African urban poverty”
Green College, University of British Columbia

Yesterday, I returned to the old stomping ground of my university and business school, Sauder School of Business, to engage in a workshop discussing issues of social entrepreneurship and development in Africa. The workshop was a fundraiser for the Sauder Africa project Social Entrepreneurship 101. I have been following SE101 since 2007 when I first mentioned to Nancy Langton about the wonderful work of the Kimathi Information Centre and their full-spirited leader, Jose Ngunjiri. They continue to be partners in helping to train young entrepreneurs through a business planning course to this day.

I was quite unsure what to expect from the workshop besides listening to some experiences of work in Africa. My uncertainty then turned to a feeling of inspiration – I sat in this room and started to hear the thoughts of Canadians genuinely committed in the issues of development and business both at home and in Africa and beyond. The discussion was extremely engaging between the audience and speakers in trying to capture what makes a successful entrepreneur in the most dire of circumstances. Here is a little bit about the speaker’s discussions and how I related to their work.

Canada dead set on improving their development aid bucks

I’m back home in Vancouver and it has been a real treat to have time to myself. I get to finish up some reports long overdue, catch up with friends and family and catch up with Canadian news in international development. It looks like I came at the right time as the Minister of International Cooperation, Honourable Beverley J. Oda just announced the new Canadian strategy to international development – greater efficiency and greater focus.

Her speech was super straight forward and you know exactly what they want to do: 80% of resources towards 20 countries to increase food security, stimulate sustainable economic growth and secure the future of children and youth. Bam.

Other sidenotes include sending 15% of their Ottawa-based staff into the field and no more ‘tied aid’ – as in buying food aid in the local countries as opposed to using Canadian food and suppliers which costs up to 30% more! The Ministry is also adding a Democratic Promotion Agency – self-explanatory.

My thoughts – do it. The Ministry has only $2.1 billion to play with this year in aid, they are obviously responding to that terrible Senate report that on CIDA, Overcoming 40 Years of Failure, and we hope this criticism will shape them into a more effective agency.

While some of the criticism has already come through that this new strategy does not direct state its efforts towards poverty alleviation, the idea of increasing food security is absolutely directed at the poor. The workers at farms who are a majority women can help improve their livelihoods with improved inputs and technology for farming and hopefully see better healthy crops in the future.

I’m just stoked that Mozambique has remained as one of the priority countries!

Music in April

A few of my passions have been cropping up lately, much to my delight. 1) Good booty-shaking music. The Cape Town International Jazz Festival is coming up fast on April 3-4 and they have an insane line-up for the Saturday. A few of my favourites: Zaki Ibrahim (Canada), Napalma (Brazil), 340ml (Mozambique), Maceo Parker, Hugh Masekela and last but not least, MOS DEF! The decision to through down cash for a flight for this one day might be worth it!

When I get a chance, I like to flip over to CBC Radio 3, and Exclaim magazine websites to see what is going on back in the Canadian music scene. Lo and behold, a group that has grabbed my heart: Thunderheist! The Nigerian born, Canadian singing in this crew and the DJ have unleashed my inner soul of good dance, bass crunk, I can’t wait to get home and buy their album to be released March 31! It’s also ashame that they will be touring with Exclaim and they will be at the Biltmore on April 25… but at the same time as the Ski and Board Festival in Whistler… oh, how can I be in two places at the same time??? Oh and up on the hill, there is Metric (new album released April 14) and DJ Z-Trip on the 24 and 25 April. Too much good stuff at one time!

ICTs in Burkina and my Research

ICT Art in Burkina Faso

Still on the artist theme, shift to check out the mural work coming from Burkina Faso. I posted this one which has a computer user asking about finding a husband online. Yup. Penpals or mail order brides go online. I find it as a real reflection of how computers are starting to influence a few lives in West Africa.



As for ICTs on my front, I’ll be heading to the shindig, ICTD2009 conference in Doha mid April. There is this Young Researchers Workshop which should be fun, if you are hopefully looking for innovation gong show. I hope there is beer. Here’s my paper on my current work and the struggles of young African scholars in finding opportunities in collaboration.


ICTD Submission Final(2)

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Press Releases Other research africa

I also just submitted this short article about access to knowledge and gender to the genderIT.org website, will post if it ends up making the cut!

Besides the conference, I’m busy trying to sum up my research work on emergencies and ICTs in Ghana and Uganda. I’ve got my TAMs Analyzer qualitative tool working by my side. It just gets so tiring trying to get through the scripts and make sense out of it all. And especially when there is so much excitement coming up in April!

Happy International Womyns Day

I have never really celebrated it before but glad to acknowledge all the amazing women making it happen, in small ways or big ways. I am talking about the ladies who can break social norms and do what they want to do because it makes them happy and because they are creative passionate people.

Those are all my girls back in Vancouver, and those I have known throughout my stints to Europe (especially Belgium), Mozambique, Kenya, South Africa and beyond. And my mom, my grandma and girl cousins and nieces.

There is still a strong fight to give women the capabilities and chance to strive for their ideal job or ideal life. If things remain as it is, then we'll never see a world of non-violence and equality for all people. So even if you don't feel the pressure of inequality from where you are, know that it is still strong in other parts of the world, and we can always use your strength or words of support to know that you believe in a better world than what exists today.

fighting words for International Womyns Day (weekend).

Check out women and technology history:

wyatt, sally. 2008. Feminism, Technology and the Information Society: Learning from the past, imagining the future. Information, Communication and Sociey 11(1) - 111-130.

Within the article, it mentions Donna Haraway's 1985 "Manifesto for Cyborgs," -
"Taking responsibility for the social relations of science and technology means refusing an anti-science metaphysics, a demonology of technology, and so means embracing the skillful task of reconstructing the boundaries of daily life, in partial connection with others, in communication with all of our part" (1985, page 100) - Summary: Women's lives are intimately entwined with technologies.