PublicationsPublications
Illustrative case study of NetTel@Africa
By Matthew Mitchell (in press April 2005), chapter published in the Encyclopedia of Developing Regional Communities with Information and Communication Technology, Idea Group Reference: Hershey, PA
Abstract: NetTel@Africa (NetTel) is a transnational capacity development program focused on improving the policy and regulatory environment for the information communication technologies (ICT) and telecommunications (telecom) sectors. The overall goal of NetTel is to expand access to ICT and telecom services for all citizens in Africa. To achieve this broad goal, NetTel seeks to leverage advanced level policy making and regulatory controls to stimulate private sector investment in services and infrastructure and to promote the adaptation and application of ICT and telecom services by governments, businesses, schools, and communities. This section provides an overview of the NetTel program, focusing on the structure, principles, practices, and lesson learned from this on-going initiative.
Africa Dot Edu: IT Opportunities and Higher Education in Africa
Edited by: Maria A. Beebe, Koffi Magloire, Banji Oyeyinka, and Madanmohan Rao
ICTs like the Internet have a huge potential as a positive change factor across a wide range of sectors in Africa - but their diffusion and usage have faced massive challenges in the past. In much of Africa, the situation is now improving for the better - as documented by the newly released book "AfricaDotEdu: IT Opportunities and Higher Education in Africa." The book is the first to chronicle and analyse the growth of the Internet in Africa and especially highlight the role of the education sector. For more information, visit the Africa dot Edu website
Using the Internet to Enable Developing Country Universities to Meet the Challenges of Globalization through Collaborative Virtual Programmes
By: Derek W. Keats, Maria Beebe, and Gunnar Kullenberg
Globalization represents a significant threat as well as a substantial opportunity to the economies and educational systems of Africa and other areas of the developing world. This paper shows that, if used wisely, information technology has the power to help create powerful and synergistic educational partnerships at local, regional and global scale. Such new and large-scale partnerships, only possible because of the existence of the Internet, have the potential to allow educational institutions to respond positively to globalization and help promote development if enough partnerships can be created and sustained. This paper explores two emerging educational partnerships, NetTel@Africa and the International Ocean Institute Virtual University (IOIVU), in terms of the lessons for how technology can be used to respond to the challenges and opportunities of globalization, and to allow institutions in developing countries to achieve results that could not be achieved by either institution acting alone. Although they are responses to different circumstances, and operate at different scales, NetTel@Africa and the IOIVU have many common elements. These partnerships serve as examples of how the Internet can unite widely the scattered expertise in most areas of human endeavor that exist in Africa and other areas of the developing world to create virtual concentrations, or "centres of excellence" that do not have a single physical base. read the full paper »
Exploring the Future of the Digital Divide Through Ethnographic Futures Research
By Matthew Mitchell (November 4, 2002), journal article published in First Monday, Volume 7, Number 11.
Abstract: Exploring the Future of the Digital Divide through Ethnographic Futures Research by Matthew M. Mitchell. This study examines leaders who work for social change in an information society. Grounded in the notion that leadership and social change are necessarily future oriented, this study attempts to learn how those who lead the effort to ameliorate the digital divide in Washington State perceive the optimistic, pessimistic, and most probable futures. In this study, the digital divide is framed as a social problem that is caused, in part, by inequities in the ability to access and to use information communication technologies. Furthermore, this study is concerned that the digital divide impacts the opportunities for participation in social and economic arrangements, which may be a threat to social and economic justice.
Can ICT Stimulate Economic Development?
By: Bill Gillis and Matthew Mitchell, WSU Center to Bridge the Digital Divide
This brief article explores the challenges faced by those who attempt to document the attribution between information communication technologies (ICT) and development. After introducing this challenge, a model used by the WSU Center to Bridge the Digital Divide is presented as a helpful tool for making sense of the relationship between ICT and economic development. Paper originally published by the Benton Foundation's Digital Divide Network Download a PDF copy of the article here »