By Anna Bon
Web2fordev
I attended the Conference about Web2.0 for development in Rome, 24-27 September 2007, at the FAO.
Is Web 2.0 an internet hype? Just a tool, a new technology? And what can it do for development, for rural development, for natural resource management, for poverty reduction? What can internet do for the poor ? These were the questions I had when I went to this conference in Rome. There were many people there, American, Italian, French and Dutch people, people from India, Australia and several countries in Latin America, people from Kenia, Zambia, Ghana, Niger, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Tanzania, Senegal and many other countries. We were talking, listening to each other and brainstorming. The topic was not as evident as it seemed. After the first day of the conference I asked myself what this conference was all about. Does Web2.0 really exist? Is it of use? Is there anybody using it for anything valuable? And what about the internet connectivity? Do poor countries have enough bandwidth to use these tools? Is Web2.0 for development just a dream?
Consider the digital divide, the inequity in access to the global information society between the rich and the poor. Internet does exist in Africa. I know, because I have read my email in very remote places. But I do have my email account, my laptop, and the skills to use them. And what if you do not? What if you are a farmer, if you cannot read and write, if you live from what you grow on your own land. If you are a woman who is working on the field carrying your child on your back? Is the internet also there for you? What can information mean for you? What difference can a mobile phone mean for your life?
During the conference lots of time were spent on the assets of Web2.0. How you can create blogs. How you can publish your digital photos and videos to the World. How you can create news feeds. How you can become a smart bookmarker. How to create a podcast. Everybody was interested, because many of these tools were new to us. I like to be an innovator. I adore hypes. And I am always fond of gadgets.
Web 2.0 is social software, it is about fighting the information overload, about internet communities, about multimedia. Web 2.0 is new in development. Not many people I have met know it, or use it. Does it have a potential for developing countries? I met people who believe it does. People who record the local languages from Aboriginals in Australia, and make podcasts. People who make software to provide farmers in Uganda with the updated market information, so they can sell their coffee for better price. Journalists from Zambia who publish on there blogs, who empower communities with their interesting opinions. People who don’t need hardcopy to reach there audiences. People form Congo-Brazzaville who create blogs to inform people with HIV/Aids about their disease. All these activities are embryonic, but I really think these smart people will find there way within the global web.
We came here to learn how Web2.0 is used in rural development. The answer is that it has not yet been implemented. Is that disappointing? I think it is not! If we had organized a conference twelve years ago, a conference about Mobile Telephony and Rural Development, would anybody have taken it seriously? Could we have foreseen what mobile telephony would do for developing countries?
Web 2.0 may be new, but communication is of all ages. Where do we go from here? How can we shrink this digital divide? Does Web2.0 change people, their behaviors, can it remove prejudices? Is it about collaboration, trust, identity? Or is it just another internet hype we will forget within a short while?
The future will show us.
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