DavidM/SCPA 529 Assignment 2

Overview

• disintermediate cross cultural development from the government-agency 'industry'
• create ways to connect on existential issues with opportunities for considered collective support
• create portable, multi language easily re-usable information supporting multiple perspectives
• enable participation of sensitive non professionals
• connecting people across cultures, for understanding and reconciliation
• filter system to allow gradual direct connections
  • Focused on finding common elements between people and enriching that connection and understanding, while "helping the poor."
  • Engage dedicated researchers and aid workers, but explore and create direct connection between ordinary people on both sides
• Explore and enable hubs, go-to people, development of interventions in communities (rather than as a by product of wealthy communities) and low cost devices, for example cell phones that may have internet access

Description

Low cost concept where communities here (and in other countries), are connected to communities in a 'disadvantaged' rural area. Looking at the type of Facebook or other virtual community group where people are interested in issues such as:

• local farming
• women's rights
  • birthing
  • nutrition
• sustainability
  • recycling
  • building materials and techniques
• rights
  • representation
  • intermediaries
• enabling
  • micro loans (Kiva)
• research
  • knowledge building
  • translation
• exchange
  • language
  • culture
  • subtitling

Supporting low cost internet-enabled devices and access, try to connect them so they could reciprocally exchange ideas and support (text, images, video, audio), and also nominate individuals to travel back and forth.

disadvantaged rural individuals <-> facilitators - local anthropologist, social worker, trusted individuals <-> local language wiki <-> <-> local language wiki <-> enabled individuals with considerate members

Partners and references

• kiva
• http://questionbox.org
• http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/canada-unveils-adopt-a-village-project-in-afghanistan/article1193525/
• http://www.worldfoodgarden.org/ - A website dedicated to creating a world-wide Victory Garden by offering free garden planning tools detailing what to plant and when for every location in the world, the world's first map of small food gardens, garden profiles, networking, seedswaps and more...
• http://mashable.com/2009/07/24/education-social-media/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codevelopment
• http://psdblog.worldbank.org/psdblog/2009/03/development-20-idle-hands-are-still-the-work-of-the-devil.html - although Mechanical Turk ideas get ugly fast

Local participant - fb, twit, etc - lang intermed - wiki db - lang intermed - aid worker - rural participant

Formal partners

• Canada - CIDI?
• International - ?
• Local - country ? NGOs?

Issues

• dangerous or naive to try to connect people
  • Use a simple vetting process and social learning and censure
  • don't underestimate groups, which will include diverse points of view
  • professionals are intermediaries

• not properly connecting to all the stakeholders
• not having the right team
• timeline and funding issues
• competition including government, etc
• technological wrong turns

Other

Ironic element called "SUV Ralley" where government ministers and jet-set aid workers could keep themselves busy while all this goes on.

SCPA 529 assignments