Myths of Information Technology
for International Development
Kentaro Toyama
Visiting Scholar
University of California, Berkeley
University of Pennsylvania – ICT4D Lecture Series
Philadelphia – October 13, 2011
Photos: http://indiveggie.wordpress.com/; http://VegIndiaRecipe.com
Microsoft Research India
Bangalore
- Research lab
- Observational research
- Intervention research
remaining
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Outline
Introduction
ICT for Development
Myths of ICT4D
A Theory
ICT for Development, Revisited
Recommendations
Outline
Introduction
ICT for Development
Myths of ICT4D
A Theory
ICT for Development, Revisited
Recommendations
The Problem
How can an application UI be converted into one
that is usable by non-literate users?
Text-Free User Interfaces
Design principles:
– Pen or touch interface
– Liberal use of imagery
• No text (but numbers OK)
• Semi-abstracted cartoons
– Aggressive use of mouseover functionality
– Voice feedback
– Consistent help icon
– Full-context video
Screenshot of text-free job search
Text-Free User Interfaces
Evaluation Results
Better task completion!
Non-literate users strongly
prefer text-free user interfaces
Indispensable features
– Voice annotation
– Full-context video
Faster task completion!
100% task completion versus
0% for text-based!
Indrani Medhi and a subject during
initial evaluation
Users like it!
“Technology can be a major force to advance financial
inclusion, which can help improve the lives of the poor in the
developing world.”
– Bill Gates
Photo: Safaricom; Source: http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Topics/Development/Mobile-Phones-and-Savings-A-Powerful-Pair
“Facebook-armed youth of Tunisia and Egypt rise to
demonstrate the liberating power of social media.”
– Roger Cohen [New York Times]
Photo: Khalil Hamra, Associated Press, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/world/middleeast/09egypt.html
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/opinion/28iht-edcohen28.html
“We want to be connected to one another, a desire that… our
use of social media actually engages.”
– Clay Shirky
Photo: http://jobsblog.com/blog/wumpus-outreach-project;
Source: Shirky, Clay. 2010. Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age.
“Technology can be a major force to
advance financial inclusion, which can help
improve the lives of the poor in the
developing world.”
– Bill Gates
“Facebook-armed youth of Tunisia and Egypt
rise to demonstrate the liberating power of
social media.”
– Roger Cohen [New York Times]
“We want to be connected to one another, a
desire that… our use of social media actually
engages”
– Clay Shirky
Sources: New York Times, 2011; Bill Gates, 2011; Clay Shirky, 2008.
Outline
Introduction
ICT for Development
Myths of ICT4D
A Theory
ICT for Development, Revisited
Recommendations
You and a poor rural farmer are each asked to
raise as much money for the charity of your
choice, and to do so using free, unlimited, highbandwidth access to the Internet over the period
of one week.
Who would be able to raise more money?
Myth
The Internet democratizes.
Or, “the world is flat”
because of technology.
Or, “technology levels the
playing field.”
Underlying human capacity
and social connections
matter.
Photo credit: Rikin Gandhi
Which of the following will
have the most impact on
making you more physically
fit…?
a) Buying a treadmill
b) Promising yourself you’ll
exercise every day
c) Hiring a physical trainer
Myth
Technology is the cause of positive behavior.
Technology causes many
changes:
– Greater power
– Greater convenience
– Greater desires
People are what’s important
for…
– Real education
– Political action
– Social change
Technology causes little
change in entrenched
values and capacities.
Source: http://www.squidoo.com/wtf-witness-the-fitness
Are you as rich as you’d like to be?
Are you as educated as you’d like to be?
Are you as compassionate as you’d like to be?
Sources: http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+be+rich
http://ocw.mit.edu
http://zenhabits.net/2007/06/a-guide-to-cultivating-compassion-in-your-life-with-7-practices/
Myth
Information is the bottleneck.
Information is just one of
many requirements for
positive change.
– Other requirements:
•
•
•
•
•
will
capacity
Infrastructure
money
etc.
Information ≠ education
Sources:http://ecigblogs.com/tag/electronic-cigarette/
Should members of the army have guns?
Should police officers have guns?
Should ordinary civilians have guns?
Should 5-year-old children have guns?
Should convicted serial murderers have guns?
Myth
Technology’s impact is always positive.
Widespread technologies
also have negative
impacts…
– TV: violence, envy, reality
TV
– Internet: illegal content,
yberbullying
– Mobile phone: corruption,
consumption displacement
Negative intentions are also
magnified.
Photo: http://www.poptower.com/nicole-snooki-polizzi-jersey-shore-picture-15288.htm
I believe that the X is destined to
revolutionize our educational system.
X = cinema
Thomas Edison, 1922
The time may come when X will be
as common in the classroom as is the
blackboard.
X = radio
William Levenson, 1945
What is the full power and vividness
of X teaching if it were to be used to
help the schools develop a country’s
new educational pattern?
X = television
Wilbur Schramm, 1964
The huge information-processing
capacities of X make it possible to use
them to adapt mechanical teaching
routines to the needs and the past
performance of the individual student.
X = computer
Patrick Suppe, 1966
Myth
Technology X will save the world.
Wasn’t true for X = radio,
TV, or landline phone.
Doesn’t seem true for X =
PC.
How about…
X = mobile phone, or
X = social media?
Photo: Tom Pirelli
Google
ARPANET
Cellphone
Microsoft
iPhone
WWW
PC
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Wikipedia
Outline
Introduction
ICT for Development
Myths of ICT4D
A Theory
ICT for Development, Revisited
Recommendations
Technology
only
magnifies
human intent and capacity.
As a Theory
Falsifiability
– E.g., if ICT has positive impact
without positive intent or
capacity
Causal explanation
– E.g., ICTs have positive
impacts + ICTs have negative
impacts
Corollary
– E.g., ICT “solutions” limited by
existing substrate of human
intent and capacity.
Photo credit: Rajesh Veeraraghavan
Prediction
– E.g., ICTs alone will never turn
around an underperforming
school system.
Related Work (Press & Knowledge)
Phillip J. Tichenor, Donohue, G.A., & Olien, C.N. (1970).
Mass media and the differential growth in knowledge. The
Public Opinion Quarterly. 34(2):159-170.
“Knowledge gap hypothesis”: Everyone learns, but higher
socio-economic strata learn better and faster.
Four factors:
–
–
–
–
Comprehension skills
Existing knowledge
Relevant social contact
Openness to new or correct knowledge
Related Work (Education)
Mark Warschauer, M. Knobel, L. Stone. Technology and
Equity in Schooling: Deconstructing the Digital Divide.
Educational Policy, 18(4): 562-588
Technology helps good schools; technology hurts bad
schools. Technology amplifies inequalities between
schools.
Reasons:
– Technology requires resources and coordination to
integrate.
– “Bad” schools lack one or both.
Related Work (Internet & Politics)
Philip E. Agre. (2002) Real-Time Politics. The Information
Society, 2002.
The Internet amplifies existing institutional forces. It doesn’t
create new ones. End outcomes are difficult to predict.
Consequences:
–
–
–
–
Social networks cause spread of good and bad information.
Background knowledge pooling becomes more consistent.
Communities reinforce “spacing” between members.
Tension between democratization and hierarchy is case by case.
Related Theories
Overlaps with…
– Absorptive capacity
– Social capital
– Social construction of
technology
More precise than…
– Socio-technical theory
– “Context matters”
Alternative to…
– Technology
determinism
– Actor-network theory
– Structuration
Outline
Introduction
ICT for Development
Myths of ICT4D
A Theory
ICT for Development, Revisited
Recommendations
“We want to be connected to one another, a
desire that… our use of social media actually
engages”
– Clay Shirky
“Facebook-armed youth of Tunisia and Egypt
rise to demonstrate the liberating power of
social media.”
– Roger Cohen [New York Times]
“Technology can be a major force to
advance financial inclusion, which can help
improve the lives of the poor in the
developing world.”
– Bill Gates
Sources: New York Times, 2011; Bill Gates, 2011; Clay Shirky, 2008.
“We want to be connected to one another, a desire that… our
use of social media actually engages.”
– Clay Shirky
Photo: http://blog.beliefnet.com/markdroberts/2011/01/in-the-news-does-facebook-make-us-more-or-less-social.html;
http://newsone.com/nation/newsonestaff2/glenn-becks-civil-rights-rally-ripped-by-jon-stewart/;
http://whsbulldogs.wikispaces.com/+Cyberbullying
“Facebook-armed youth of Tunisia and Egypt rise to
demonstrate the liberating power of social media.”
– Roger Cohen [New York Times]
Photos: Sergey Ponomarev, Associated Press, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/8719801/Pictures-of-the-day-24August-2011.html?image=36; http://the-explorer.com/human-chains-tanks-crisis-in-syria-worsens-2/2011/3422172.html/;
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-01/24/content_790804.htm
“Technology can be a major force to advance financial
inclusion, which can help improve the lives of the poor in the
developing world.”
– Bill Gates
Photo: Vishwa Kiran; http://www.electronicstakeback.com/global-e-waste-dumping/;
http://in.reuters.com/article/2010/10/14/idINIndia-52199820101014; cameroonechoes.org;
Text-Free User Interfaces
Practical Impact
Job-search database for lowincome work
Non-technology requirements:
–
–
–
–
Door-to-door registration
Training
Process discipline
Legal framework
Started with paper-based trial…
ended with paper-based trial.
More success when used by an
existing service that focuses on
non-technology requirements.
Outline
Introduction
ICT for Development
Myths of ICT4D
A Theory
ICT for Development, Revisited
Recommendations
Technology
only magnifies
human intent and capacity.
For technology to have positive impact,
the right intent and capacity
have to be there first.
Recommendations
If constrained to use ICT…
– Identify institution already having positive impact and
use technology to amplify.
If excited about ICT, but not constrained to use it…
– Support aspiring technology producers.
If not constrained to ICT at all…
– Focus on human intent and capacity.
Summary
Examples of ICT4D:
– Good for development, democracy, community, etc.
Myths of Information Technology
•
•
•
•
•
The Internet democratizes.
Technology is the cause of positive behavior.
Information is the bottleneck.
Technology’s impact is always positive.
Technology X will save the world.
Theory: Technology magnifies human intent and capacity.
Beware claims of interventionist ICT4D.
Recommendation: People first, technology second.
Thanks!
kentaro_toyama@hotmail.com
http://www.kentarotoyama.org
Photo: Kentaro Toyama