"The Digital Ecosystem Framework is organized around three separate, overlapping pillars:
Digital Infrastructure and Adoption: the resources that make digital systems possible and how individuals and organizations access and use these resources;
Digital Society, Rights, and Governance: how digital t
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echnology intersects with government, civil society, and the media;
Digital Economy: the role digital technology plays in increasing economic opportunity and efficiency.
USAID’s Digital Ecosystem framework encompasses four cross-cutting topics:
Inclusion: reducing disparities in access and the “digital divide”;
Cybersecurity: protecting information against damage, unauthorized use or modification, or exploitation;
Emerging Technologies: encompassing artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, blockchain, 5G and other new technologies;
Geopolitical Positioning: the influence of authoritarian states that are actively working to shape the global digital space." (https://www.ictworks.org/usaid-digital-ecosystem-framework)
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"This book frames digital sovereignty as a right to be claimed and a process constantly in the making, as a condition of the ability to critically partake in the digital transformation. Emphasizing a political and transformative significance of the term, this interdisciplinary publication gathers sc
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holars, activists, artists and human rights advocates who develop practices or provide spaces and structures to foster sophisticated means of digital involvement. Its aim is to identify diverse facets of what it means to be digitally sovereign, but also to critically discuss the viability of the term, especially in the light of modern-day crises and for the many future challenges yet to come. The positions assembled in this volume analyze new opportunities for social participation and policy making and recommend alternative technological and social practices utilized by various groups and collectives – both before and after COVID-19." (Introduction, page 13)
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"The opportunity for further growth in the ICT sector by leveraging the sizeable youth workforce, including females, is immense. The Skills to Succeed program in Bangladesh helps vulnerable youth (ages 15-24), living in slum communities, develop employability, ICT technical and entrepreneurship skil
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ls, and provides job linkage services to prepare them to obtain decent work in the ICT & Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) value chain, from which marginalized youth have traditionally been excluded. Since 2017, 10,800 youth have received employability skills training (41% female). Additionally, 6,810 youth have received vocational training in ICT and 2,730 entrepreneurship training. Of these, 3,117 youth have been placed in jobs and 504 in self-employment.
One of the key learnings from the S2S program in Bangladesh is that, in order for youth to be more likely to advance in the ICT sector, where technology leaps forward at a fast pace, they need to become lifelong learners and, ideally, develop technology skills at an earlier age. This is why the S2S program is expanding to reach marginalized in-school and out-of-school very young adolescents (ages 10 to 14) to build their life skills, growth mindset and digital skills so they are able to continuously learn, adapt and be prepared to take advantage of the jobs of the future.
An innovative approach for providing access to the internet and build the digital skills of to the most marginalized adolescents and youth in Bangladesh, particularly girls, is the use of a Mobile Training Center (MTC). The MTC moves around Chattogram to provide skills training to adolescent girls and boys at their doorsteps. The MTC has one technical instructor and two life skills trainers. These instructors facilitate a 24-hour training on life skills and growth mindset, and a 24-hour training on digital literacy and citizenship. The MTC is set up in a large bus, it is equipped with 15 laptop computers, internet connection, and furniture to facilitate trainings. Internet access is provided through 3G/4G portable Router Access Points. Service is procured from high quality mobile network service providers in Bangladesh, such as Grameen Phone or Robi, with whom the program has corporate agreements.
By meeting adolescents close to their homes and communities, the MTC will overcome common participation barriers for marginalized and vulnerable adolescents, such as personal safety and the time and cost of traveling to training centers. These barriers frequently prevent girls from pursuing or completing trainings." (Pages 1-2)
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"En este texto nos preguntamos, en concreto, por los efectos de la desigualdad económica en el acceso a las tecnologías digitales, en especial a Internet y, por ende, a los derechos que se ejercen a través suyo. También nos preguntamos por la caracterización jurídica del acceso a Internet, tan
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to en el plano internacional de los derechos humanos como en el plano local del derecho constitucional, y por la relación que pueda existir entre esta caracterización jurídica y su potencialidad para reducir las desigualdades. En el contexto de la sociedad de la información, el estudio de la desigualdad económica nos conduce a precisar las diferencias en función de las condiciones del acceso efectivo a las tecnologías digitales, en concreto a Internet, su gran e indiscutible protagonista. El acceso a Internet visto y entendido como el medio para acceder a bienes y servicios, para el ejercicio de los derechos humanos, para la realización de actividades significativas, para aumentar la productividad y —en general— para concretar las promesas del desarrollo y de la participación efectiva en el progreso científico y sus beneficios. Este texto busca realizar una aproximación teórica al problema de las desigualdades en el acceso a Internet desde dos miradas. Por un lado, desde la idea de la brecha digital y, por otro, desde la búsqueda de la (mejor) caracterización jurídica del acceso a Internet, que pueda, en tal contexto, servir de herramienta en la toma de decisiones orientadas a la reducción de las desigualdades y al cierre de la brecha digital." (Introducción, página 25-26)
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"Although the internet facilitates connection, participation, and engagement, there is a need for new and innovative strategies for closing the gender digital divide in Uganda. A socio-economic, political, and robustic legal approach is needed to close the gender digital divide. This requires regula
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r reviews of existing legal frameworks to ensure they are aligned with the latest technological trends and issues, evidence-based research conducted, strategic litigation and guidelines for the government in formulating national policies in closing the gender digital divide in Uganda." (Conclusion, page 8)
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"Kenya’s digital ecosystem has significant strengths not yet fully leveraged:
• Political interest in digital technology at national and county level: The Government of Kenya’s
(GoK) digital economy blueprint, ICT Masterplan, and eCitizen (government service platform for
Kenyan citizens and re
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sidents) are only a few of many digital initiatives undertaken to transform Kenya
into a thriving middle-income country by 2030. County-level programming such as County Data Desks
have demonstrated great initiative by county leadership in embracing digital tools to ensure a more
transparent and efficient process.
• Relatively strong digital infrastructure: Kenya’s expanding ICT infrastructure and GoK’s pursuit
of innovations driving connectivity (e.g., Google Loon pilots) demonstrates an investment in Kenya’s
inclusive future.
• Strong private sector engagement in digital innovation: From large mobile network operators and
multinational tech companies to startups and aspiring entrepreneurs, Kenya’s rich innovation culture is
an undervalued and underleveraged national resource." (Executive summary, page 3)
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"This research brings together scholarship across the Americas and Caribbean to examine digital inclusion initiatives in the following countries: Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, the United States, and Canada. Across the cases, several themes emerge that offer important indicator
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s for future digital inclusion initiatives. First, public policy can effectively reduce access gaps when it addresses the trifecta of network, device, and skill provision. Second, this triple-crown of public policy is highly effective for longitudinal effect when implemented early via educational institutions. Third, rural-urban digital inequality is resistant to change such that rural populations benefit less from policy initiatives than their urban counterparts. Fourth, digital inclusion in rural areas and among marginalized populations is most effective when cocreated with communities to ensure community investment, participation, and control. Fifth, stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic are rapidly increasing our dependence on digital technologies, making digital inclusion more important than ever for education and rural communities. We therefore close the article with discussion of how the COVID-19 pandemic is amplifying digital disadvantage and exclusion across the Americas, the Caribbean, and the globe. (Abstract)
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"This is the true story of how, against all odds, a remote Mexican pueblo built its own autonomous cell phone network – without help from telecom companies or the government. Anthropologist Roberto J. González paints a vivid and nuanced picture of life in a Oaxaca mountain village and the collect
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ive tribulation, triumph, and tragedy the community experienced in pursuit of getting connected. In doing so, this book captures the challenges and contradictions facing Mexico's indigenous peoples today, as they struggle to wire themselves into the 21st century using mobile technologies, ingenuity, and sheer determination. It also holds a broader lesson about the great paradox of the digital age, by exploring how constant connection through virtual worlds can hinder our ability to communicate with those around us." (Back cover)
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"In the 1991 cyclones that hit Bangladesh, 90 per cent of the 140 000 victims were women. In the deadly heat waves that hit France in 2003, most fatalities were elderly women. During the 2005 Hurricane Katrina emergency in New Orleans, most of the victims were Afro-American women and their children.
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And yet again, with the COVID-19 pandemic, women are bearing the brunt; not only because they represent an estimated 70 per cent of frontline healthcare workers and undertake most of the care work in the home, but because their over-representation in the informal economy and lower pay rates mean they are significantly harder hit by the economic downturn. In such times of crises, access to accurate information is life-saving and life-changing for women, their families and their communities. Their perspectives and experiences, as well as their ability to organize, lobby and inform, can dramatically improve disaster risk management. That is why we need more innovative and culturally sensitive approaches to empowering women and girls through digital networks, platforms and technologies. With many years of experience in delivering communications in times of disasters, ITU and the other partners of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) can attest to the importance and impact of such empowerment. That is why we are working to involve more women in the development of national disaster management strategies and strategic consultations on disaster preparedness and response, including for early warning systems. We hope this joint paper will go a long way towards integrating women’s needs into national disaster risk reduction frameworks, as well as in ensuring they get access to the digital tools that can play such an important role in their own safety and security, and that of their families and communities." (Foreword)
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"The Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) supports civil society actors worldwide in their advocacy for democracy and peace, encourages dialogue within civil society and contributes to the protection of minorities and persons at risk. With the fellowships of the CrossCulture Programme (CCP), ifa
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supports the interlacing of German and foreign civil society actors from the cultural, educational, scientific, artistic and medial sectors from more than 40 partner countries. The goals for the participating fellows and organisations are to broaden and deepen their expertise, share and acquire intercultural skills, learn from each other and impart their own knowledge. »Digital Civil Society« is one of the focal topics of the programme which is treated within the scope of CCP Fellowships and thematic workshops. In 2019, CCP fellows, alumni and experts came together in a workshop to exchange ideas, share practices and seek solutions in the fields of digital inclusion and digital security. This publication is the product of this global cross-cultural cooperation and collects personal commentaries, best-practice examples and recommendations for action." (Back cover)
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"Making Open Development Inclusive: Lessons from IDRC Research focuses on the connection between openness and inclusion in global development. It brings together the latest research that cuts across a wide variety of political, economic, and social arenas - from governance to education to entreprene
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urship and more. The chapters draw on empirical evidence from a wide and diverse range of applications of openness, uncovering the many critical and underlying elements that shape and structure how particular openness initiatives and/or activities play out - and critically - who gets to participate, and who benefits [or not] from openness, while exploring the frontiers where openness intersects with deeper challenges of development, technology, and innovation." (Publisher description)
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"Inclusion in peace processes is conventionally understood in “offline” terms, such as being physically present at the negotiation table. However, digital technology can support a mediator’s efforts to integrate a broad variety of perspectives, interests, and needs into a peace process. This r
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eport explores the current and future practice of digital inclusion, giving a framework for understanding the possibilities and risks, and providing examples of practical ways digital technologies can contribute to mediated peace processes." (www.usip.org)
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"There is a large body of research that has examined digital inequities, inequalities, and divides—i.e., those countries, communities, and individuals digitally left behind or disadvantaged. Whereas we know quite a lot about what is lacking and for whom, there is less focus on what works to allevi
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ate these inequalities and divides in a variety of cultural contexts. This thematic issue brings together scholarship on digital inclusion initiatives and research from over 20 countries and in the context of numerous aspects, including different types of initiatives as well as different types of target audiences for these initiatives. Each article provides unique insights into what does and does not work in various communities, making recommendations on what could be done to improve the examined initiatives. We hope that the breadth and depth of articles presented here will be useful not just for academic audiences seeking to broaden their understanding of digital inclusion and ‘what can be done’ rather than focusing on ‘what is amiss,’ but also for policymakers and digital inclusion initiatives who are eager to expand and advance their digital inclusion work within their communities." (Abstract, page 132)
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"The digital divide in rural areas is an important social issue, especially in developing countries. Although Internet and broadband penetration have increased in the world generally, there are many obstacles for rural China to get access to ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and its ser
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vices. The mobile platform is regarded as a novel and effective tool to reduce the digital divide. Based on a case of one mobile platform, namely WeCountry in Chinese rural areas, this study illustrates how a mobile platform bridges the digital divide and helps rural areas achieve social inclusion. Results show that: (1) the mobile platform mainly acts on the digital capability divide elimination, and it has to guide and increase users’ usage capability; (2) the mobile platform can empower villagers in structural, psychological, and resource dimensions, achieving political inclusion, social participation inclusion, and economic inclusion; (3) platform providers and government are key organizations during the divide elimination process. This paper concludes with theoretical and practical implications." (Abstract)
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"This book discusses how digital inequalities today may lead to other types of inequalities in the Global South. Contributions to this collection move past discussing an access problem - a binary division between 'haves and have-nots' - to analyse complex inequalities in the internet use, benefits,
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and opportunities of people in the Global South region. Using specific case studies, this book underlines how communities in the Global South are now attempting to participate in the information age despite high costs, a lack of infrastructure, and more barriers to entry. Contributions discuss the recent changes in the Global South. These changes include greater technological availability, the spread of digital literacy programs and computer courses, and the overall growth in engagement of people from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and languages in digital environments." (Publisher description)
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"This report is structured according to five overlapping themes that we consider a helpful framework for assessing internet health: privacy and security, openness, digital inclusion, web literacy, and decentralization, but it’s designed so you can read the articles in any order." (Introduction)
"In chapters examining a broad range of issues - including sexuality, politics, education, race, gender relations, the environment and social protest movements - Digitized Lives argues that making sense of digitized culture means looking past the glossy surface of techno gear to ask deeper questions
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about how we can utilize technology to create a more socially, politically and economically just world. This second edition includes important updates on mobile and social media, examining how new platforms and devices have altered how we interact with digital technologies in an allegedly 'post-truth' era." (Publisher description)
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