Three Acacia publications
for launch at conference
Overview
Summaries of publications:
Summary:
In
1997, Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) launched
its Acacia initiative in an effort to empower sub-Saharan African
communities with the ability to apply information and communication
technologies, or ICTs, to their own social and economic development. Now,
5 years later, the Acacia initiative presents this unique and
groundbreaking three-volume collection of original research on this
important and timely issue.
Volume 1:
Opportunities and
Challenges for Community Development
This
volume presents the results of a series of studies that looked at the
introduction, adoption, and utilization of ICTs at the community level. In
various contexts – geographical, technological, socioeconomic, cultural,
and institutional – the book explores the questions of community
participation. It looks at how communities in sub-Saharan Africa have
reacted to the changes brought about by the introduction of these new ICTs
and, in detail, presents both the opportunities and the challenges that
ICTs present for community development and poverty reduction.
Volume 2 and volume 3 present Acacia experiences for modalities of
community access to ICT.
Volume 2:
This volume presents the results of
a series of Multi-purpose Community Telecentre (MCT) models that were set
up as pilot experimental projects in mostly rural African communities. It
discusses, specifically, issues of affordability and community access for
poor and marginalized communities. The book also explores questions
related to management and ownership of MCTs and looks at how poor and
marginalized communities can ensure their sustainability. The study
further provides enlightenment on the usefulness of MCTs in African
communities and how they can better contribute to poverty reduction. It
also highlights the relevance of MCTs to universal access strategies and
describes the importance of the economic, political, cultural and
socio-economical contexts for the successful implementation of an MCT.
See book summary.
Volume 3:
Networking Institutions of Learning – School Net
The SchoolNet volume presents
research based on various cases experimenting with the introduction of
ICTs in Sub-Saharan African schools. The book shows how ICTs can be used
in different environments and contexts for the achievement of the same
goal: greater learning through the provision of community and collective
access to ICTs by learners and teachers. It explores issues of
connectivity and content development for an appropriate use of ICTs in
African schools. Finally, the study points out required actions at the
policy level to ensure an effective integration of ICT in school curricula
and for achieving universal access.
These volumes will be useful for all stakeholders involved in supporting
Africa’s entry into the Information Society. Academics and researchers
will be interested in the new data and experiences on ICTs in Africa, an
area where not much primary research exists. Government policy makers and
development practitioners/activists will also find the studies useful as
reference tools or handbooks for undertaking successful ICT projects and
programs in Africa.
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