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Item Connecting in real space : how people share knowledge and technologies in cybercafés(Sam Nunn School of International Affairs & School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, US, 2010) Best, Michael L.We examine how the internet brings people together not virtually over digital networks but physically while co-located in public spaces. In particular we are interested in how people in cybercafés share and collaborate with others who are physically present in the facility at the same time. We hypothesize that both explicit and implicit collaboration occurs among co-present internet users – at times intentional and purposeful while in other cases accidental, fleeting or voyeuristic. Public shared internet facilities are particularly important in low-come settings such as found in Africa. To examine this hypothesis in an African context we conducted a survey of 75 computer users at a major cybercafé, Busy Internet, in Accra, Ghana. We found that more than one-third of respondents reported some significant form of collaboration and computer sharing with friends, family members, business associates, and even strangers while in the café. Of those respondents reporting computer sharing one-half reported gaining knowledge and learning from the other user as their primary reason for sharing while only a small minority sited purely economic reasons for sharing. Those respondents who shared computers typically came to the cybercafé with more friends or associates, and generally had a better view towards collaborative group work and broader forms of interaction while in the café compared to the nonsharing respondents.Item Connecting people for development : why public access ICTs matter(Technology and Social Change Group, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, US, 2013) Sey, Araba; Coward, Chris; Bar, François; Sciadas, George; Rothschild, Chris; Koepke, LucasLibraries, telecenters, and cybercafés play a critical role in extending the benefits of ICTs to a diverse range of people worldwide. The Global Impact Study provides evidence about the scale, character, and impacts of public access ICTs in eight countries: Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Lithuania, the Philippines, and South Africa. This report summarizes the study’s key findings, situating public access in the context of national development, discussing some disputed issues, and providing recommendations for policymakers, public access practitioners and researchers. Recommendations are intended to provide a framework for supportive policies and public access ICTs.Item Debates teóricos entorno al vínculo de los jóvenes con las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC)(2009) Aguerre, Carolina; Benítez Larghi, Sebastián; Calamari, Marina; Fontecoba, Ariel; Gaztañaga, Miguel; Moguillansky, Marina; Orchuela, Jimena; Ponce de León, JimenaItem ICTs and its social meanings : women in the margins of Thailand (December 2010)(2010)This paper explores ICT influence in the lives of marginalized women migrant workers in Thailand in the context of the repressive military regime of Burma (Myanmar). The enabling environment of ICTs in the border created significant differences in women’s survival, as freedom of information, communication and mobility had been largely repressed inside their own country. This paper argues for increased opportunities for women to access and use ICTs. While use of information and communication technology allows for processes of information and communication that were previously impossible for women to attain, many are still excluded.Item Implicancias del uso de las tecnologías de la información y comunicación en municipios rurales : un estudio de caso en Ayacucho, Perú(Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (IEP), Lima, PE, 2010) Kanashiro, Laura LeónItem Internet centers/usage by Burmese ethnic migrants in Mae Sod : traversing the borders of Internet divide and recasting ethnic identities(2010) Dacanay, NikosThis paper looks at the symbiotic relationship between the use of the Internet and the re/construction of ethnic identities. It argues that the incomplete and ongoing self-making nature of ethnic identity can shape how the Internet is used, as much as how the Internet shapes identity. Taken from ongoing research on the use of Internet centers by marginalized women in the Thai-Burmese border, the paper reflects upon the various means and meanings of the appropriation of the technology.Item Public access to ICT and employment : case of the impact of public access to ICT skills on job prospects in Rwanda(2010) Damascène, M. Jean; Theodomir, M.The paper presents a study in progress that aims at evaluating the impact of public access to ICT skills on job prospects in Rwanda. The study addresses the following issues: the impact of public access to ICT on skills; kinds of ICT skills acquired from ICT venues; how access to ICT changes the level of users’ computer skills; impacts of ICT skills acquired from public access ICT on users’ job prospects.Item Public access to ICTs : sculpting the profile of users; working paper(Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA), University of Washington Information School, Seattle, WA, US, 2012) Sciadas, George; Lyons, Hil; Rothschild, Chris; Sey, ArabaBased on a survey of public access ICT users in five countries, the preliminary analysis indicates that while many public access ICT users are young (40% under 20 years old), male (65%), students (44%), with at least secondary education (82%), there is a fair amount of diversity in user characteristics. The significance of public access ICTs is demonstrated in the finding that most users’ first contact with computers and the internet was in a public access venue. The Global Impact Study of Public Access to Information and Communication Technologies was a five-year project (2007-2012).Item Public access, private mobile : the interplay of shared access and the mobile Internet for teenagers in Cape Town(University of Cape Town, 2012-10) Walton, Marion; Donner, JonathanThe study assesses and describes the interplay between public PC-based Internet access and private mobile-based access for urban teenaged public access venue (PAV) users in Cape Town. South Africa is a particularly fruitful “leading edge” environment to do this work since not only mobile use, but specifically mobile Internet use, is increasingly common even among resource-constrained young people. We combine quantitative surveys with open-ended interviews of users and PAV operators. Discussion is structured around five claims: 1) Public access and private mobiles offer different affordances, and teenage users have developed complex, fine-grained practices which help them to negotiate the respective strengths and weaknesses of the affordances. 2) The PAV provides non-substitutable impact to resource-constrained users, even those with “the Internet in their pocket.” 3) Public access supports the development of digital literacies associated with hyperlinked media and largeformat documents, while mobile access supports everyday social literacies and messaging. 4) Teens can use a combination of mobile and public access Internet resources to participate in networked media production and grassroots economic mobilization. 5) PAV operators can improve venue rules and skills to encourage the complementary use of the mobile Internet.Item Understanding cybercafés users behavior in Mainland China : an exploratory study(2010) Wei Shang; Guoxin Li; Oluwasefunmi Arogundade; Xuemei JiangPay-per-use cybercafés are the dominant public access venue for the Internet in China. Internet speed and cybercafé facilities are found to be the most influential factors in users’ choice of cybercafés. Chatting and gaming are found to be major activities in cybercafés. In general, urban and rural users’ behavior are similar. This study assessed users of cybercafés for ICT services and products, based on their socio-demographic and economic characteristics and pattern of service utilization.