Podcasting for development
There seems to be a mania to take any new technology and apply it to the developing world, be it computers, solar panels, or, the next big thing, iPods. (Sorry, OLPC, you're no longer the cool new kid on the development block.) And the really next big thing is podcasting for the developing world. An article on scidev.net discusses one such initiative in Peru:
Practical Action has been working on podcasts for the Cajamarca region of northern Peru since 2006. A poor, rural area, most of the people there rely on agriculture for their livelihoods...Practical Action's local office in Peru surveyed local people about the type of information they needed to support their livelihoods - advice on grape cultivation or raising cattle for example. This information was then gathered from experts and recorded as digital audio files...
And Practical Action is not the only organization attempting to incorporate podcasting into existing communications and information strategies. The Kothmale Community Radio project, located in Sri Lanka, employs a range of technology in its communications program. They've developed what they call an "e-tuk tuk," which includes "a laptop computer, wireless Internet, generator, printer, camera, telephone and camera." The project coordinator notes that the initiative helps stimulate participation among those who wouldn't normally get involved with a radio station because of caste or gender.
Of course, an "e-tuk tuk" isn't going to be possible in a lot of places. Electricity and battery power are serious constraints to more widespread adoption of this kind of technology. Want more information on the topic? Have a look at this Wiki devoted to podcasting in development.
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Last year we started a Podcast that aims at local economic development practitioners in developing countries, see http://www.ledcast.net, and more recently http://www.radiodel.net. Some lessons learnt:
* Downloads for early shows are just as high as downloads for more recent episodes. It appears that many of our colleagues are only slowly warming to this new technology. Also, in many places people are still downloadedly challenged, i.e. downloading a 10 MB file may be difficult or even impossible.
* At one of our events last year, we handed out mp3 players to participants that we fully loaded with our own and other programs. This lowered one of the barriers. When we asked a few months later, most people had actually used them. But also the majority of them had not downloaded additional podcasts. Many if not most of our colleagues are unfamiliar with either Itunes or RSS feeds, so that we started to send out direct links to the shows via e-mail.
* Some people told us that they used the Podcasts for teaching purposes or as a starting point for little workshops with colleagues or stakeholders who in their locality are involved in local economic development.
Conclusion: While the barriers to producing a Podcast with good sound quality and distributing it a minimal cost have dropped enormously, the barriers to downloading it and listening to it are still substantial. However, those people who are sufficiently IT-literate to find and download a Podcast tend to find it highly useful.
Posted by: Jorg Meyer-Stamer | Jun 29, 2008 5:06:24 PM