Abstract
Once again this issue of Information Development takes us around the world, with articles on themes as varied as their geographical spread.
We begin in South Asia with a general review of the role of information in rural development – a frequently-discussed topic in these pages. In ‘Role of information for rural development in Bangladesh: a sector-wise review’, Kazi Mostak Gausul Hoq of the University of Dhaka provides an overview of the roles information could play in various socio-politico-economic sectors in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Against a backdrop of the enactment of a Right to Information Act and the government’s recent efforts towards establishing a Digital Bangladesh by the year 2021, the country has been witnessing a revival of information-focused activities in its rural and far-flung areas. Covering diverse areas including agriculture, health, human rights, education, employment, market and finance and disaster management, the article indicates how an informed and knowledge-empowered rural people could work towards ensuring the socio-economic advancement of the country, thereby recognizing the role of information for sustainable rural development.
The preservation of the documentary heritage in Africa is the subject of the next paper, ‘Availing the liberation struggle heritage to the public: some reflections on the use of Web 2.0 technologies in archives within the East and Southern Africa Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (ESARBICA)’, by Francis Garaba of the Lutheran Theological Institute Library in Scottsville, South Africa. This paper addresses the extent to which Web 2.0 technologies may be used to make the liberation struggle heritage available to the public in archival institutions in the ESARBICA region, noting that the advent of web technologies provides an opportunity for these institutions to improve their public image. Social media technologies can have a transformative influence, but have to be the right technology for the right place and the right people, and archivists need to find innovative strategies to use these technologies.
We remain in Africa, but with a change of theme, in the next paper. In ‘Information use and policy decision making by district assembly members in Ghana’, David Kobla Fiankor of Ho Polytechnic and Harry Akussah of the University of Ghana report on a study to investigate information utilization for policy decision-making by assembly members in Ghana’s local government system. The study revealed that assembly members had little access to relevant and reliable information when making decisions about policies, programmes and policy implementation, and often made decisions based on what could be remembered. The study makes a number of recommendations for improving the situation.
Still in Africa, but again with a complete change of subject, the paper by Mutawakilu A. Tiamiyu, Abiodun S. Bankole and Rosemary O. Agbonlahor of the University of Ibadan describes a study of ‘Catalytic mechanisms for promoting ICT investment and use in cassava value chains in south-western Nigeria’. A model articulated to capture the catalytic and transmission processes in ICT investment and use in the cassava value chain highlighted key process points that policy may target in order to improve the use of ICT by small and medium enterprises to leverage their value chain activities.
The next paper also describes a model, this time one proposed for application in Malaysia. In ‘Knowledge sharing in the public sector in Malaysia: a proposed holistic model’, Zawiyah M. Yusof, Mohd. Bakhari Ismail, Kamsuriah Ahmad and Maryati M. Yusof of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia describe their attempt to develop a holistic knowledge sharing model for the public sector in Malaysia that is based on an integrated approach. Such a model is deemed appropriate and necessary to steer knowledge sharing initiatives in tandem with forming the base for policy-making of such initiatives.
Another change of location and topic takes us to Latin America and the role of infomediaries. In ‘Lending a visible hand: an analysis of infomediary behavior in Colombian public access computing venues’, Ricardo Gomez (a member of the Information Development Editorial Advisory Board), Phil Fawcett and Joel Turner of the University of Washington discuss the findings of an in-depth study of the role of infomediaries in libraries, telecenters and cybercafés in Colombia. Infomediaries in such public access computing (PAC) venues contribute to human development by enabling easier access to many types of information, and this research sheds new light on their importance in this role.
We return to Southern Africa and another complete change of content with the next paper. In ‘An investigation of institutional repositories in state universities in Zimbabwe’, Esther Nyambi and Sally Maynard of Loughborough University examine the current state of institutional repositories in Zimbabwe and the challenges and enablers for institutional growth, whilst evaluating the operational issues that might be affecting the setting up of institutional repositories. The current state of repositories has largely been influenced by the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe. Partnerships forged between the libraries and INASP are playing a significant role in supporting research and the setting up of repositories, but the issue still requires attention and financial assistance from the government and from the universities themselves.
Perhaps the most widespread ICT application in developing countries is the mobile phone. The next paper, ‘A voice for the voiceless: peer-to-peer mobile phone networks for a community radio service’ by Kavitha Ranganathan and Ankur Sarin of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, proposes a new application for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) – community radio. The authors argue that MANETS help overcome important limitations in how community radio is currently operationalized and identify critical design elements and a broad architecture for a MANET based community radio service. They go on to consider the choice of broadcast protocol and the desired characteristics of a community radio broadcasting service, and evaluate eight popular broadcasting protocols to find those most suited for their proposed application.
The final paper in this issue returns us to the theme of agricultural information, but again takes us to the other side of the world. In ‘An analysis of agricultural informatization in Korea: the government’s role in bridging the digital gap’. Junghoon Moon and Md. Dulal Hossain, of Seoul National University, Hyoung Goo Kang, of Hanyang University and Jungsoon Shin of Ewha Womans University discuss the challenges inherent in agricultural informatization by analyzing both the first-order and second-order effects of the digital divide at the regional level and addressing the role of the Korean government in narrowing the regional digital divide. The results offer a better understanding of the type and amount of effort required to raise the level of agricultural informatization to bridge the digital divide and provide researchers with some guidelines for examining the digital divide and determining how it influences farmers, villagers, managers, and economies.
This issue contains the regular columns on CDS/ISIS Information, by Alan Hopkinson, Stray Thoughts, by Msafiri, and Education for Librarianship and Information Studies: Fit for Purpose? – the first contribution to this column by Editorial Advisory Board member Professor Archie Dick, of the Department of Information Science at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
UNESCO is in the news again in the News section of this issue. The announcement by the United States that it will cut its funding to UNESCO because of the UNESCO General Conference’s decision to admit Palestine to membership poses a serious threat to UNESCO’s ability to maintain its cultural, educational and scientific programmes since the US provides some 20 percent of UNESCO’s budget. The US remains a member of UNESCO, so it is hoped that some solution will be found before too long. Meanwhile, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has launched an Emergency Multi-Donor Fund to help fill the shortfall resulting from the United States’ decision.