Research Results (I&N) / Résultats de recherches (I&R)
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Item AAU Research and Education Networking Unit (RENU) – Phase 2 : final report(Association of African Universities, Accra-North, GH, 2013-09) Barry, BoubakarThe project aims to catalyze and support development of national research and education networks (NRENs) in Africa and raise the awareness of key policy decision makers about the continuing importance of building network infrastructures and applications. The focus for this phase was West and Central Africa. There is a need to develop country blueprints and strategies in terms of network and services, and the policy, regulatory and resources support they wish to secure from the government. Recognition by governments of the importance of NRENS in policy documents is a first step. Capacity building with project outputs and outcomes are reviewed.Item Acceso universal a las telecomunicaciones y su vínculo con las políticas de banda ancha en América Latina(2010) Barrantes Cáceres, Roxana; Aguero Garcia, AileenItem Access to Africa's knowledge : publishing development research and measuring value(Learning Information Networking and Knowledge (LINK) Centre, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, ZA, 2010) Gray, EveWhile open access publishing models offer solutions to the marginalization of African research, this paper argues for a re-evaluation of the values that underpin recognition in scholarly publishing. When it comes to implementing scholarly publication policies, the vision of technological power and development-focused scientific output is undermined by a conservative research culture that relies on competitive systems for valuing and accrediting scholarship, managed by powerful global commercial publishing consortia. A common reflex in a rapidly changing environment is reversion to traditional publishing models, and a few rich countries in the global North needlessly dominate the publication of research within this changing system.Item Access to information gains ground in Africa(Communications Division, IDRC, 2012) IDRC. Communications DivisionThe “ATI in Africa” (Accesss to Information Africa) initiative is investigating to what extent citizens are gaining access to information through environment and natural resource laws and institutions. Natural resources drive the national and household economies of these and other developing countries. Thus, promoting transparency in this sphere is considered key to assuring healthy, prosperous societies. This document is part of a project proposal.Item Access to information in Africa(World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, US, 2011) World Resources InstituteWorld Resources Institute (WRI) is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to find practical ways to protect the earth and improve people’s lives. This two-page brief contains information related to WRI’s work in Africa on access to information (ATI) and transparency models within the context of natural resource management. The ATI in Africa project aims to create an evidence-based approach and an understanding of ATI, where partners develop and implement specific strategies to advocate for strengthening ATI in relation to governance of natural resources.Item Active and passive resistance to openness : the transparency model for freedom of information acts in Africa; three case studies(Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), 2011) Brobbey, Victor; Excell, Carole; Kakuru, Kenneth; Tilley, AlisonWhile more than 80 countries have passed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), only six are African countries: South Africa (2000), Angola (2002), Zimbabwe (2002), Uganda (2005), Ethiopia (2008), and Liberia (2010). This paper uses an analysis of the constitutions and FOIAs in Uganda and South Africa and the FOI Bill in Ghana to look at the ways in which the design of FOIAs allows government to actively and/or passively resist openness and transparency, and to exploit power imbalances between government and citizens. FOIAs need to be drafted squarely within the scope of constitutional language.Item Adding academic networks as an external KML map layer to the web version of the Africa Telecom Transmission Map(Hamilton Research, 2010) Hamilton, PaulThe 2010 edition of the Africa Telecom Transmission Map and Datasets shows the region’s terrestrial fibre and microwave, satellite and submarine cable networks. The presentation shows maps and related information. Hamilton Research (United Kingdom) is a specialist provider of research, analysis and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) cartographic services for telecom markets, and maintains a quarterly updated database of Africa’s transmission networks. “kml” or kmz (compressed) file endings point to a KML file as data source type.Item African Tertiary Institutions Connectivity Survey (ATICS) - 2006 Report(2006) Gakio, KaranjaItem Aiding surveillance : an exploration of how development and humanitarian aid initiatives are enabling surveillance in developing countries(Privacy International, 2013-10) Hosein, Gus; Nyst, CarlyAs development and humanitarian donors and agencies rush to adopt new technologies that inherently facilitate surveillance, they may be creating and supporting systems that pose serious threats to individuals’ human rights, particularly their right to privacy. Advanced data analysis technologies and techniques inform and underpin sustainable policy related to transport, health, infrastructure and other public services. Frequently this data includes vast amounts of personal information about citizens, and, increasingly, non-citizens. In the absence of relevant and adequate legal frameworks, these technologies may have undesirable side effects.Item Analyzing multimedia data : exploring the dimensions of context in ICT for development research(2015) Chandwani, Rajesh; De, RahulIt is argued that ICT-for-development interventions should be seen as a dynamic and hybrid network of actors, artefacts, communities, and institutions embedded within the context. Comprehensive understanding of contextual nuances in ICT4D research is thus, an important determinant of quality of research. Scholars have emphasized that qualitative research is opportune in uncovering unique insights and comprehension in a poorly understood and hitherto unexplored arena such as ICT4D interventions in developing countries. While ‘data’ in most of the qualitative research refers to ‘words or textual data’, the advancements in the mobile technology, especially incorporation of compact cameras in the mobile phones, and increasing penetration of mobile phones allow researchers to easily capture multimedia data in their field study. We posit that multimedia data, having multiple dimensions as compared to textual data, enhance the capability of the researchers to understand and explore a specific dimension of qualitative research, namely the contextual dimension, enabling the researcher to undertake a more valid or rigorous investigation of the phenomenon as embedded in the context. By explicating the process of analysis of multimedia data- video recordings of doctor-patient interaction over telemedicine, the authors emphasize that multimedia data analysis can considerably enhance the quality of research in the ICTD domain. In doing so, this paper addresses two important issues related to the methodological issues in qualitative analysis of multimedia data: (1) when and why should the researcher consider collecting multimedia data as opposed to textual data and (2) how should the researcher proceed in analyzing the multimedia data.Item Analyzing the impact of information and communication technology for development : lessons learnt from the SIRCA II Program(2015) Estevez, Elsa; Soledad Ramírez Montoya, MaríaDuring recent years, we have witnessed revolutionary developments of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and their impact on people’s lives. The way in which such developments contribute to socio-economic development and empowering people depends highly on the absorptive capacity of different societies. While in developed countries, their IT-ecosystems have the capacity for enriching themselves through empowered actors and enhanced interactions and, in turn, for continuous growth; in developing countries, such eco-systems face challenges to produce similar results. However, the challenges faced, particularly by the countries in the Global South; in Asia, Africa and Latin America, can be transformed into opportunities if countries are able to leapfrog in the learning process and develop their human and institutional capacities. In this context, capacity-building programs on ICT for Development (ICT4D), such as Strengthening Information Society Research Capacity Alliance (SIRCA), are of the upmost importance to developing countries. In this introduction to the SIRCA special issue of The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries we discuss the evolution of ICT4D policy and research, explain the experience of the SIRCA II Program, and summarizes the lessons learnt from it.Item Annex 16 : automated traffic monitoring for complex road conditions(2018-03) Opatha, R. K; Peiris, Akila; Gamini, D. D. A.; Edirisuriya, Ananda; Athuraliya, C. D.; Jayasooriya, IsuruRecent advancements in computer vision and machine learning techniques have made traffic monitoring systems highly effective in well structured traffic conditions such as highways. But these systems struggle in handling complex and irregular conditions that exist in developing countries, due to lack of infrastructure and regulation. This research breaks down the problem into different sub-tasks such as vehicle detection, vehicle tracking, and vehicle recognition, then combines each process into one pipeline that can be used for traffic monitoring. Implementing the final pipeline involves improving and aggregating existing techniques. Results demonstrate the potential of these techniques for automated traffic monitoring.Item Annex 17 : deep semantic segmentation for built-up area extraction and mapping from satellite imagery(2018-03) Athuraliya, C. D.; Ramasinghe, Sameera; Lokanathan, SriganeshResearch focuses on generating more usable built-up area maps, as traditional methods (such as surveys and census) are infrequent and costly. The work proposes a modified Fully Convolutional Network (FCN) architecture that will improve semantic segmentation operation on satellite imagery for built-up area extraction and urban mapping. This method could bridge the gap between existing extraction techniques and actual land cover/built-up area maps used by practitioners. Applications are potentially to socio-economic classification and urban planning, where building density functions as a proxy measure for socio-economic level, and building distribution for urban area estimates and growth, respectively.Item Annex 20 : code of practice for the secondary use of mobile network big data(2018-03)Personal data must be protected against accidental destruction or loss, alteration, and unauthorized disclosure or access. This Code of Practice addresses issues related to the processing and uses of Mobile Network Big Data (MNBD), where data collection practices “will be transparent and will not go beyond /will desist from collecting more data than needed for the efficient operation of the network and the supply of goods and services to the customer.” It covers data storage, as well as accountability of Data Controllers, and compliance with national standards within binding agreements.Item Annex 21 : scrutiny of electricity billing and supply data as a probable proxy for economic activities : an analysis of power consumption of Dhaka, Bangladesh (draft)(2018-03) Zaber, Moinul; Bhyiyan, Farhad; Sayeed, Abu; Islam, Samiul; Rakib, Nibras; Ali, AminThis case study attempts to provide a load forecasting model to help ascertain short-term electricity demand at the regional level in Bangladesh. To assist policy makers in determining how regulatory decisions impact behavior, consumer level billing data, and power satiation level, supply data such as load variability and load shedding is analyzed. Cleaning the dataset and dealing with outlier values includes such problems as lack of exact household addresses in Dhaka city. The impact of changes in appliance use due to weather or price hikes is examined in order to predict future energy needs of consumers.Item APC 1990-2010 Celebrating Twenty Years Networking Online for Social Justice and Sustainable Development(2010)The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is a global network of networks of social activists that began in 1990 to provide communication infrastructure and collaboration in the non-profit world, focusing on peace, human rights and the environment. By 1989 networks in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Nicaragua and Sweden were exchanging information with each other and with the Institute for Global Communications (U.S. based IGC) and (U.K. based) GreenNet. This fascinating study maps out timelines, histories and trajectories of many interlinked groups. Today the APC remains committed to making the Internet serve global civil society; working to ensure the Internet is free and open.Item APC Access to knowledge / IP / Media Piracy Workshop, 7 April 2010, Sunnyside Park Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa(IDRC, Ottawa, ON, CA, 2010) Diga, KathleenThe workshop invited speakers from several IDRC projects and South African groups to present their work in the Open Access knowledge space, hosting about 40 participants from various sectors including representatives from the South Africa department of trade and industry (dti), public works, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), NGOs, media and other private sector firms. Presentations included Intellectual Property laws and access for the visually impaired, as well as Open Standards. Overall, the workshop succeeded in bringing intellectual property issues of the disadvantaged and for education purposes to the fore to a diverse group of participants.Item Asignación y Administración del Espectro Radioeléctrico en Países de Centroamérica y su Impacto en el Desarrollo del Sector de Servicios de Telecomunicación Móvil(2010-12) Diálogo Regional sobre Sociedad de la InformaciónItem Avaliando os websites de transparência orçamentária nacionais e subnacionais e medindo impactos de dados abertos sobre direitos humanos no Brasil(Instituto de Estudos Socioeconômicos, 2014-07) Craveiro, Gisele; Tavares, Marcelo; Beghin, Nathalie; Zigoni, CarmelaItem Avoiding the resource curse : spotlight on oil in Uganda(World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, US, 2011) Veit, Peter G.; Excell, Carole; Zomer, AlisaUganda has made significant progress in codifying the rights of access to information (ATI) and participation and toward putting in place the institutional infrastructure, including a regulatory framework for the oil sector. Political roll-backs that are re-concentrating power in the executive branch of government and the growing scale of known oil reserves however, may jeopardize these advances. This paper reviews the Petroleum Bill in terms of exemptions to ATI. The government has not released to the public, or even to Parliament, important information regarding the oil sector, including the five Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) with oil exploration companies.