The Information school invited you to the presentation “Mobile Communication and Development: Appropriating Mobile Phones in Ghana”
Friday, February 6th
Mary Gates Hall, 254
2:30-4:00PM
Presented by Araba Sey, Research Associate, Center for Information & Society (CIS), Information School, University of Washington.
BIO:
Araba Sey is a research associate with the Center for Information & Society (CIS) at the Information School, University of Washington. Her research interests are in the social and economic implications of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in developing countries. Most recently she has been investigating the development of mobile payphone systems in Africa, and mobile phone use in Ghana. She is currently working on a project at CIS investigating the impacts of public access to ICTs.
ABSTRACT:
The last decade has seen rapid growth in the uptake of mobile communication technologies around the world. Mobile telephones in particular have demonstrated an exceptional ability to cut through hitherto obstinate barriers to adoption in developing countries. I examine the introduction, adoption and use of mobile phones in Ghana, using the lenses of technology appropriation, sustainable livelihoods, and ICTs for development. From this perspective, I characterize mobile phone appropriation as a cycle of interaction between service providers and mobile phone users, driven by cost and affordability considerations linked not only to users’ efforts to conserve income, but also to service providers’ efforts to generate revenue. Thus a stream of innovative delivery and usage strategies circulates between these parties. Amongst these strategies, the role of micro-entrepreneurial intermediaries such as payphone operators has been significant in making mobile telephony more accessible to people with limited income. However, the flow of innovations also has had the result of undercutting the livelihood of these intermediaries.