Tag Archives: ICT4D

ICT4D

Nigeria declares Victory over Ebola Virus due to ICT Tools

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Nigeria declared its victory of the Ebola virus last week. Dr. Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communications Technology, has revealed that a number of Information and Communication Technology tools assisted in containing the deadly virus.

Thebola_map_sep5_fpe current Ebola epidemic in western Africa is the worst outbreak of the virus since its discovery, with Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea being the worst-affected countries. So far the virus has killed over 4,500 people. Thomas Eric Duncan recently made headlines in the U.S. when he was diagnosed with Ebola at a Texas hospital after returning from a trip to West Africa. He was the first person in the U.S. to have died of Ebola.  Continue reading Nigeria declares Victory over Ebola Virus due to ICT Tools →

Activism, ICT4D, Participatory Media

India: The World’s Oldest Profession Meets New Media

It is not a secret that prostitution is the world’s oldest profession. In fact, prostitutes are the people everybody loves to hate. They are diabolized, criminalized, and assaulted in many communities. So, what does the “network society” have to offer those who are marginalized in their own society in countries like India? I would say a lot!  Continue reading India: The World’s Oldest Profession Meets New Media →

ICT4D

Connecting the Unconnected

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Nepal

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have improved immensely over the past centuries and are providing huge advantages to its users. The internet has infused many aspects of modern life since its beginning in the 1980s and has spread faster than any other technology. ICT is providing in-depth information and the capability for social and economic chance. By bridging distances, it distributes knowledge and expertise to remote areas. The term ‘digital divide’ is frequently used to describe the gap between those who already have access to communication technology and the necessary skills to use it and those who still lack access or skills to use these same technologies within society or a geographic region (Cisler, 2005).  Continue reading Connecting the Unconnected →

Activism

FireChat – Revolutionizing Activism?

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Hong Kong’s 2014 Democracy Protests (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

When pro-democracy activists took to the streets in Hong Kong in September, the sheer number of protestors disrupted phone networks in the protest area enough to make mobile communication impossible. Enter: FireChat, a relatively new messaging app that relies on Bluetooth instead of wifi or 3/4G internet used by popular messaging services like Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger.  Continue reading FireChat – Revolutionizing Activism? →