Mobile phones and digital divide in East African countries

Mimbi, Lucas; Bankole, Felix Olu; Kyobe, Michael

doi:10.1145/2072221.2072267

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Like findings from previous studies [1,8,9,12,13,19,33], our participants reported that the most important reason for communication with technology was for economic support. This occurred frequently where people living in rural areas would communicate with their suburban and urban family members.…”

Section: Economic Supportsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Challenges with the use of Facebook included the costs of using a 'free' service (e.g., paying for connectivity), mobile phone battery power, and low bandwidth [36]. We also see the value of mobile phones for promoting trade, regional cooperation and development within East Africa based on education levels, poverty, and fears of technology [19]. Similar to our study, Wyche et al [33] conducted a study with Kenyan migrants living in the United States and found they had difficulties connecting with their family members in Kenya because of the technological and infrastructure limitations [33].…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How technology supports family communication in rural, suburban, and urban kenya

Oduor

Neustaedter

Judge

et al. 2014

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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Much ICTD research for sub-Saharan Africa has focused on how technology related interventions have aimed to incorporate marginalized communities towards global economic growth. Our work builds on this. We present results from an exploratory qualitative study on the family communication practices of family members who communicate both within and between rural, suburban, and urban settings in Kenya. Our findings reveal that family communication focuses on economic support, well-being, life advice, and everyday coordination of activities. We also outline social factors that affect family communication, including being an eldest child, having a widowed sibling, and having reduced access to technology because of gender, literacy, or one's financial situation. Lastly, we discuss new opportunities for technology design and articulate the challenges that designers will face if creating or deploying family communication technologies in Kenya.

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Section: Economic Supportsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

How technology supports family communication in rural, suburban, and urban kenya

Oduor

Neustaedter

Judge

et al. 2014

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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“…These result from inequality in access, distribution, and use of ICT; security; ergonomic issues; and other mobile technology limitations (Mimbi et al, 2011). Implications for these limitations include…”

Section: 3mentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Perceptions of the Role of IT in Resolving Governance Challenges in a Transition State: THe Case of Tanzania

Mimbi

Kyobe

2017

E J Info Sys Dev Countries

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International bodies and donors demand that countries demonstrate how they use IT to ensure effective governance. However, measuring the role of IT in governance remains problematic, particularly in transition economies characterised by poor IT capabilities. This paper measured public perceptions of the role of IT in addressing governance challenges in transition Tanzania. The paper identifies (i) usage of IT for governance and democratic purposes, (ii) governance processes and (iii) external pressures as key interplaying factors influencing effective governance. Adopting the Gestalts (configurational) approach, we argue that IT contributes to effective governance when it is coherent with (ii) and (iii). One hundred and sixty six members of the public were surveyed and cluster analysis was used to determine the degree of coherence. None of the three clusters of (i), (ii) and (iii) that emerged revealed a strong coherent relationship, indicating that IT was not playing a major role in addressing governance challenges in transition Tanzania.

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“…In addition to the many other social benefits that stem from access to communication services, mobile phones have been found to enhance the livelihoods of micro-entrepreneurs in both urban and rural locations [10,15,26], improve access to health services [11,27], and support small-scale farmers with better agricultural information [3]. Some have argued, in fact, that mobile phones represent an answer to the so-called "digital divide" given their low costs and ease of use [22,31]. A particular focus of recent ICT and development efforts centers on the use of mobile phones to help smallholder farmers improve their access to information, financial services, and markets [16,38,43,44].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The mobile divide revisited

Steinfield

Wyche

Chen

et al. 2015

Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development

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A survey of 191 randomly selected rural farm households in central Malawi was completed to provide a better estimate of mobile phone access in a country that falls at the lower end of published mobile subscription rates. We further ask whether there remains evidence of a mobile divide, across both socio-economic status and gender, in such a context. Detailed analyses of mobile phone ownership, usage practices, and the sources that phone and non-phone owners use for farming-relevant information highlight problems with the current over-reliance on mobile phones as a primary conduit for agricultural information and services.

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Mobile phones and digital divide in East African countries

Cited by 6 publications

References 13 publications

How technology supports family communication in rural, suburban, and urban kenya

How technology supports family communication in rural, suburban, and urban kenya

Public Perceptions of the Role of IT in Resolving Governance Challenges in a Transition State: THe Case of Tanzania

The mobile divide revisited

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