"Several studies have already depicted the development of M4D and of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D), and that will not be repeated here. However, as this collection of chapters have sprung out from one of the M4D conferences – the M4D 2022 in Kigali – some notes on what have been salient at different conferences can be made. If we start with the M4D in Senegal 2014, we can see that from that conference stems a book where the chapters “initiate evocative conversations on how mobile technologies can contribute to expanding mobile participation practices” (Wamala-Larsson, Hellström, and Scharff 2015, 12). In Mozambique, in 2016, there were some contributions connecting to radio and TV technology; the M4D 2018 conference in Uganda included some papers on how utilities can be backed by subscription schemes via mobile services, as well as by apps where citizens can report dysfunctions and illicit use. The M4D 2020 did not take place, as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the possibility of running a conference on site and it was postponed to 2022, when Rwanda saw the first blended M4D conference. The Zoom presence for several dozen participants over three days went very well and, via two cameras and two large screens at the venue site, they blended in well at the conference. The IT maturing effect caused by the pandemic was thus noticeable. Among the presentations it was noticeable that the Internet of Things and drones, often blended with machine learning, are now imaginable as “mobile technology”. Of course, drones are always mobile, and IoT sensors often travel with cargo, but it was the realisation of the affordability of these technologies for food chain, livestock, and crop management, combined with their reliance on mobile phone networks to make use of farmers’ photos and senor data, that made such presentations appropriate at a conference that focuses on affordable communication technology. While technology is a prerequisite, in this volume, based on selected contributions to that conference, we will balance some imaginations with some assessments. The focus will not be on the “new” M4D, even though we acknowledge that it is time to set up demonstration farms with IoT and machine learning, as pointed out by Ronald Katamba from Uganda in an interview (Pettersson and Rehema 2022, 145), and books are now published on Applying Drone Technologies and Robotics for Agricultural Sustainability (Raj, Saini, and Pacheco 2023, with examples from India and Zimbabwe; see also FAO and ITU 2022). Instead, the chapters selected for this book adhere to the theme of knowledge dissemination and knowledge development, as mentioned already. One chapter was invited to report from the African Center of Excellence in Internet of Things, hosted by the University of Rwanda in Kigali, to illustrate the efforts to build native technological competence on an advanced level. That chapter simultaneously demonstrates the growing pan-African collaboration in the academic infrastructuring project." (Foreword, pages x-xi)
Mobile Technology for Development: An Introduction / John Sören Pettersson And Richard Musabe, vii
1 Service Learning and Appropriate Technology in ICT Education / Simon Pickin, Ángeles Manjarrés, and Simon R. Munyaneza, 1
2 Interconnected Bases for a Physical Metaversity in Africa / Vuyelwa Ruwodo, Antti Pinomaa, Lannie Uwu-Khaeb, And Erkki Sutinen, 26
3 Post-Pandemic Reflections of University Students' Perspective on E-Learning in South Africa / William Tichaona Vambe And Tineyi Herbert Pindura, 50
4 Students' Mobile Security Awareness: Insights From the Eastern Cape / David T. Risinamhodzi, Courage Matobobo, and Prince D. N. Ncube, 68
5 Use of Mobile Phones to Enhance Households' Access to Agricultural Information in Nyamira North, Kenya / Samwel Auya, 91
6 Digital Resilience Factors for Mobile Payment Services / Muftawu Dzang Alhassan and Martin Butler, 112
7 Decolonising Community-Based Media / Brian Semujju and Jude Mukundane, 141
8 Case Report: The "African Center of Excellence in Internet of Things" in Rwanda / Damien Hanyurwimfura, 160
Afterword: A View from the Back Seat / Sana Rouis Skandrani, 178