What is the role of ICT in democratization? The topic has been at the centre stage of recent debates among political activists and policy makers, and it also highlights Spider’s many efforts in this area. The Stockholm Internet Forum (SIF) has chosen the theme  this year to be “Internet Freedom for Development”. Many Spider partners are attending and contributing to the forum. The Spider team has produced a background paper to SIF on the topic “Building Participatory Democracy through ICT”. At another location, in Nairobi May 28-31, the East Africa ICT4Democracy Network, sponsored by Spider, is presenting its achievements at the conference Information Society Technologies in Africa (IST-Africa).

Read more about SIF and the new Spider Policy Paper
Read more about IST Africa

At the conference eLearning Africa (eLA), in Namibia May 29-31, Spider and Spider partners will participate in four sessions and workshops to present and discuss projects in the area. Spider will also host a stand in the exhibition and looks forward to opportunities to meet with old and new partners.

Picture: Bakari Hamadi Koye is a 66-year-old fisherman and a member of the Mwaembe Beach Management Unit in Mombasa, Kenya. He is part of a Spider funded study circle introducing mobile phones in the daily working life.

 

Read more about Spider at eLA

For many years, policy makers have relied on anecdotal evidence or pilot projects to determine the benefits of ICT for development.  Spider exchanges with leading scholars in ICT4D to discuss how academics can contribute to build a more robust knowledge base for the field.  At the recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), in Geneva May 13-17, Director of Spider Paula Uimonen, highlighted the role of research reflecting and interacting with development projects:  “We should not only support R&D but also D&R, research that builds on development efforts”.

Read more about Spider at WSIS Forum 2013

The meeting of theory and practice, research and development, development and research is also in the scope of Spider’s recent publication Spider Stories 2012. In this publication Spider partners tell about their projects in the format of “stories”, to illustrate and give profound descriptions and reflections from the field.

Read more about Spider Stories 2012
 

If you are in Stockholm May 28, welcome to join us for the Spider ICT4D Seminar at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University. This time discussing how Amartya Sen’s capability approach could be used in evaluating ICT4D projects.

More information on the seminar

In four downloadable leaflets short introductions to Spider is available for dissemination. The leaflets give the overall picture of “This is Spider” and cover in three subsequent leaflets our thematic areas of education, democracy and health. 

Link to leaflets