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The authors explore the use of Web 2.0 tools for development and introduce readers to the concept of Web2forDev. Web 2.0 tools are radically changing the ways we create, share, collaborate and publish digital information through the Internet. Participatory Web 2.0 for development (Web2forDev for short) is a way of employing web services to intentionally improve information-sharing and on-line collaboration for development. It presents us with new opportunities for change - as well as challenges - that we need to better understand and grasp. The authors consider learning and reflections from practice and consider ways forward.
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The author describes how the concept of Web2forDev can be visualised as an image of two hands. The left hand represents the main Web 2.0 tools. The right hand represents the issues we need to address when using them, considering people, access, participation, content and impact. Based on the reflections of the Web2forDev conference participants, the author discusses issues such as access and connectivity, the ôscale of changeö as new tools are developed û and how approaches to using Web 2.0 need to be interdisciplinary.
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The author explores the potential of blogging for development. A blog enables users to engage in two way conversations and link to one another to form new information-sharing networks. Blogging represents a shift from a more traditional, top-down mode of communication to a more publicly open and transparent one. While the use of blogging for development is beginning to gain popularity, these blogs are still in limited use û and issues of access and literacy remain a fundamental challenge in many parts of the world.
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The author describes the development of an on-line social networking website. Members of the international Forest Connect Alliance had expressed a strong demand for greater information-sharing. The website provided a platform for members to quickly and easily access and share information about state-of-the-art practice in small and medium-sized forest enterprises. Since its creation, the online social network has attracted an increasing number of genuinely active members. Although donors still need persuasion to fund further website development, early indications are that the initiative is having a positive impact.
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The author describes the use of video blogging by the Ghana Information Network for Knowledge Sharing (GINKS). Similar to a blog, a video blog û or vlog for short û contains short segments of video content. Usually in the form of interviews, these vlogs help members to share information about work and experiences. The author also considers the potentials of vlogging for advocacy puposes, as well as the challenges inherent in using Web 2.0 tools in countries such as Ghana, where Internet access in still mostly limited to urban areas.
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This author reflects on the rising popularity of mobile telephony for development purposes. Across the world, the mobile phone is becoming a more accessible, affordable and convenient means of communication than the Internet and computers. Particularly in Africa, as the cost of services and handsets continue to reduce, mobile phones are increasingly becoming the preferred tool for accessing and sharing information. As the impacts of this new ôrevolutionö are starting to be assessed, the author argues that mobile phones have the potential to become the first universally accessible information communications technology.
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The authors discuss the importance of intellectual property rights when using Web 2.0 tools for development. They describe a project working with Canadian communities to revitalise their language. Using a range of tools and approaches including participatory video, the project also developed a series of short language-learning videos which were uploaded to video-sharing websites. However, not all the material generated was made available online. The participants strictly limited how much of their valuable cultural knowledge was made public, retaining much of it within their own communities.
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The authors describe the work of the Busoga Rural Open Source and Development Initiative (BROSDI) in Uganda. BROSDI works with a network of farmer organisations to generate, collect and share local information about effective agricultural practice. BROSDI integrates a range of Web 2.0 tools and more traditional approaches û from digital radio, mobile phones, and blogs to regular Knowledge Sharing Forums and working with Village Knowledge Brokers
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The author explores the potentials for citizen journalism or æcrowdsourcingÆ, and how in Kenya during the 2007 election crisis the innovative Ushahidi website was developed for sharing information. This website enabled citizens to send in and receive news reports either via the internet or by mobile phones. The Ushahidi platform has now been redeveloped to improve its potential in humanitarian crisis situations û integrating a series of Web 2.0 applications.
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The authors describe how a joint project with the Aboriginal Walkatjurra Cultural Centre in Australia, Curtin University of Technology and University of British Columbia Okanagan have been exploring the use of Web 2.0 tools to help revitalise culture and enhance community development. This article explores how the use of Web 2.0 and other digital tools has contributed towards this aim û and how using the tools helped to positively engage youth in such activities.
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The author explores the lessons learnt from the information communication technologies for development (ICT4D) paradigm shift to Web2forDev. ICT4D helped to mainstream ICTs in to development thinking and highlight issues of access and connectivity in the developing world. Whilst ICT4D was mostly driven by technology hype and a narrow approach to how we use the tools, Web 2.00 has a stronger focus on social and decentralised networking. However, key issues remain: access, connectivity, capacity-building, literacy and language. The author argues the need to holistically appropriate, adapt and integrate these technologies in our work.
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The author examines how we appropriate simple tools for development purposes and also how æusing the right tools for the right job at the right time, is something that we all have to understandÆ. He describes how grassroots activists have been leading innovators in the use and appropriation of Web 2.0 tools and explores how the mobile phone revolution is helping to overcome issues of access and connectivity. Lastly, he discusses the importance of filtering online content for relevance, meaning and context, and the emergence of trusted, expert online editors and aggregators.