Scientific Proof

From following conferences through Twitter Hashtags, with ICT possible while nested in my rural African habitat, I notice many, sometimes rather desperate, calls for scientific proof for the impact of ICT implementations in (rural) Africa. Consensus seems to grow that it is not simple to proof impact of complex intervention as bringing (ICT) infrastructure into new frontiers, but there is little guidance on how to do it.

It is a matter of the realm within which one wants to define/proof impact. In a Western mindset scientist mostly aim to contribute to comprehensive mathematical models, preferably with conclusions in the realm of economics. Implicitly, those models focus on short-term effects, and give clear guidance on risks. They do not necessary cater for long-term effects, nor give clear guidance on uncertainties. Those models have proven track record, working well under standard circumstances.

As there is still much less known of (rural) African realities, for modeling purposes these circumstances cannot yet be defined as standard. Effects of enshrined cultural focus on history, communities of people and inclusiveness, effects of infectious deceases, and dominance of closed societies, are most significant for long-term effects. Thus, necessarily, proof of impact in Africa starts with assessing long-term significance.

We witness changed lives, spurs in local innovation, and inspired communities and people that emerge as players prone to have long term effect in the(ir) world. How does one proof that? I suggest by registering and study of facts and stories of communities and individuals concerning the intervention, evaluating their social consequences seen from various stakeholders' distinct historical and society perspectives, and possibly, when circumstances can thus be modeled, in economic terms.

I consider myself privileged to work with many scientists and students in multiple disciplines, from Africa and the rest of the world, whom dare to go in these uncharted, deep waters. Although we have come a long way, it feels like we are just starting. No wonder! Long-term assessments can take long! And as we aim for scientific proof in these varied cultural contexts, is is good take take time in assessing the results then to rely on elevator pitches only.

Being Together

The notion of technology being external, and of limited relevance, of one's personality is shifting. For instance, one's interaction through technology on Social Networks is becoming recognized as part one's (perceived) identity. Deprived of technology, one is not able to build such identity, and thus one exists partially. Facebook's recent picture depicting friendships worldwide is a striking example of showing those that exist.

Reasoning from radical African communalism, one could provide a new answer to the dominant rational view on identity, that, for instance, an internet search (or services like Gist) of a person now shows. As an antidote to the thus growing distance between individuals stands the African traditional view that 'reality of the communal world takes preference over the reality of the individual life'. Many might heed to such, hence, I guess, growth of building communities on the Web.

In my view, researching technology within the realm of traditional African thought could open new ways as how we perceive, and thus develop, technology. For instance, African social-ethical ideals might provide answers to technology development that otherwise focuses quite singularly on empowering the individual at the expense of the collective. Of course, such research is to be conducted in a different manner, using inclusive, collaborative methods, with open source and non-competitive approaches.

Seeing the difficulties that ensue with the prevailing Western view, I would like to encourage that technology could aim to unite people among themselves to facilitate Being Together.

TryEngineering Video

Intergration of Cultures

Vindicated by experience in rural Africa, and glancing over world news, the message is clear: "integration of cultures is floundering".

Within resource abundant settings there is lots of documentation available for anyone interested to understand what is. Cultures as they are can be known. Now pops the challenge to understanding what is becoming. One does so by interacting with the existing information, setting up networks of relationships to facilitate this process. Basically one shares information and guards relationships.

In resource limited settings all this information is not available. No books, no news papers, little Internet, and communication channels are just opening in privileged places. It is the past experience with cultural differences, so strongly felt during colonial times and often blamed for current inequities, that one must reckon with daily. It is by knowing history that members in rural community say they view current events, and contemplate the future. Such history is transmitted via oral means, within the given set of relationships. As private space is thus freely shared, the community views exchange of new and external information with apprehension.

In Macha I recognize the helpful existence of well defined world-views. This acts as third culture - a neutral ground - where one travels to from different cultures. Such world-view, properly defined with its thought patterns and models, provides for a space where individuals meet and information can be shared.

No doubt communications are instrumental. Living during current times of greatly expanding information networks - bridging gaps with cables, wireless signals, social networks, and other emerging means of communication - is very exiting. I am privileged to witness it all from an environments where its impacts are reverberating through all aspects of community life.

The Relationality Of It All

In our activities for progress and lasting partnerships, we often go through periods of monitoring and evaluation. These are important times, involving independent experts or peer-review. Positive remarks boost our energy, and constructive criticism help us in focusing areas for improvement.

Limitingly, monitoring and evaluation is mostly executed from a predominantly rational view point. Such emanates from the predominant western setting, where the relational tends to heed towards the rational, where people follow the agreed upon action. This is quite different than the reality in my rural area, where the rational tends to heed towards the relational, where action emerges because people are together.

A western newspaper recently published a few lines on the importance of mutual respect, in the context of issues encountered in integration of different cultures in western societies. It was explained that “respect within collectivistic (non-western, GvS) societies means one not always says the truth. This is because the truth can hurt someone, and the feelings of someone are seen more important that the saying the truth".

This short monitoring and evaluation statement shows handling of truth singularly defined in light of rationality. In my view, truth fundamentally is defined in the relational realm. For instance, even in view of the statement above, there is even a difference between the (rational) truth and saying it. For instance, in a situation of where saying the (rational) truth can hurt a relationship, the best course of action can be to delay mentioning it, and first build the relationship to be able to address the issue later. Such is quite feasible in respectful, open relationships, where questions are being asked carefully, people listen, and all are focused on holistically assessing both the relational and rational.

I propose to recognize the relationality of it all, and to aim to be able to echo the words of Horatio Spafford, 'Whatever my lot, it is well, it is well, with my soul'.

Internet needed in rural Africa

It is nice to witness more and more leaders stating that Internet connectivity is urgently needed in developing worlds. UNESCO, Jeffrey Sachs, and many others join the choir that sings the benefits that Internet connectivity and bandwidth bring to Africa. This is a far cry from the 'why' question predominantly asked until recently. With the emergence of policies in the West that broadband Internet connectivity is a right for all its residents, it is good to now see the 'why Internet in Africa'-question fading away.

Also it is exiting to see that satellites are being launched and (sea)cables being rolled out to connect Africa. We are eagerly awaiting lower costs of bandwidth, as up to now we have not seen a decrease in pricing; We continue to pay well over USD 1,000 per month for a dedicated 128 kb/s connection. The ever growing demand for bandwidth - even to be able to keep doing what we already do - effectively means the cost of service continues to rise.

The causes of the continued high prices of bandwidth are known: Investors recuperate their investments first, urged to do so in these perilousness times and unknown territories. It also becomes apparent that the costs of transporting 'the last mile' (or in our case the last hundred kilometers) is the next hurdle. Quotes for terrestrial connectivity between rural areas and the 'backbone' in urban areas are surreal, multiple times the cost of bringing the (international) bandwidth to that urban area. And thus a 1 Mb/s committed connection, costing less then USD 200 per year in London, still cost us more then USD 80,000 per year. Although we (also) need such bandwidth – actually much more to satisfy the live saving needs in our rural community - this kind of money is just inconceivable.

Then, all this does not take into account the investments in equipment, the cost of transport, and the cost of local staff performing in operations and maintenance. We have witnessed that current equipment raises major hurdles to perform in rural areas. Circumstantial facts generate often at leasts one major 'show stopper', making most equipment to fail in a rural African environment.

I am glad that with students of the University of Zambia, and the Copperbeld University, and with collaborating applied research and expert partners from all over the world, we are venturing on the path of applied technology research. Through such long term activities we will be able to sustain an inspirational role. Also it provides hope to generate real technological breakthroughs which can perform well in the rural African environments, and thus, on the long run, will facilitate the role out of Internet on this continent.

Virtual Realities

After an other bout of globe trotting, I am keenly aware of the various parallel existing and diverse realities.

While dwelling in rural African areas, it is difficult to contemplate a world where individual consumer demand is being satisfied with abundant and tuned availability, with shops that seemingly stock up everything. Where food is in abundance, water – cold and warm – never stop running from multiple taps inside a home, where there is little dust, everything appears aligned and clean, a world were people cherish individuality before community, where money comes in plastic forms, or out of a wall, and where people are busy have no time and appear to live in luxury and comfort. This seems virtual reality, only existing 'in stories'.

While dwelling in urban western settings, it is difficult to contemplate a world where basic commodities and resources are scarce and supply is erratic, activities are directed by weather and seasons, and markets offer more of the same, and time seemingly does not exit. Where gathering of food and water is a daily struggle, where written texts are not seen, activities are set by communities whom defines the individual. This seems virtual reality, which only exits 'in stories'.

These are no virtual realities, but worthwhile existing and real existences. Thus the challenge is to augment the visual or oral experiences - either by text or multimedia, or speech – with sensory information, with immersion, and real interaction.

Developmental Spiral

The many interactions and connections we foster with scientists from within Africa and abroad, facilitated through our uniquely connected rural African environment, result in an interesting phenomenon; A scenario unfolds in which (pre)understanding of our rural African context is being refined, based upon the continuous flow of information. This availability of data leads to new interpretations of the environment and its challenges. Consecutively innovative approaches emerge, gently leading towards appropriate and progress-bringing interventions. This scenario appears to me as a developmental spiral.

The presentation of scientific paper on Internet performance at Macha, yesterday at NSDR10 in San Francisco, resulted in valuable interactions with leading scientists and practitioners. Obviously it is all about the interpretation of what we witness. And due to our enshrined culturally diversity, I postulate that both the facts being witnessed, and the observers witnessing it are being challenged. This iterative process hones existing models and lead to new insights.

I wrote earlier about the influence of preunderstanding. It is quite clear that facts reported from our environment do also work inside the recipient, in this case scientists. Preunderstanding in individual scientists and their collective is changing. Interestingly, querying the (same) data with this changed preunderstanding can further, possibly new, insights: enhanced understanding emerges. This is a spiral, not a circle, as it is a progressive and constructive process. Although the environment or context are not changing necessarily, as a result of studying and interacting with the information, over time, observers grow their ability to understand this environment and context in a new way.

Thus study and research is facilitatory in assuring that we spiral in the right direction. As the Macha Works Model is both subject of scrutiny and a facilitator of the same, research findings are bound to interact, refine and improve its tangible results.

Lessons Learned

While thinking about the effectiveness of our formal training activities in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) – or perhaps for any activity one focuses on - I seem to observe that in our rural African environment a formal way of teaching seems less effective then an informal way of educating. This observation is being strengthened by observing the informal interaction of local talent on Social Networks on the Internet, for instance on Facebook or specific Twitter hashtags like #mwedu.

I see technicians at LinkNet acquiring ICT skills and growing in stature at breath taking speed in line with the Macha Works Model in the predominantly informal setting of Macha Works, while they are considerably slowing down and lose drive when going through - often costly and time consuming – formal, on western thinking based, training classes. Obviously, even acquisition of ICT skills in rural Africa can utilize the often well honed observation capabilities of people.

After reading a number of scientific papers, I was triggered to assess the phenomenon of writing as a representation of speech. As this is an oral culture, it is obvious that communications through writing is often ineffective, possibly because it basically is an abstract representation of reality. I have learned that in the rural African environment thinking and conceptualizing takes place in an existentialistic way. This is quite different that the essentialistic thought patterns enshrined in the West. In our environment, comprehension does not come through deconstruction of the matter at hand in layers of reality. Comprehension comes through an assessment of the whole, and then foremost in reviewing its relevance, and integration, and effect for groups of people in the community.

Thus it seems that practical skills are not necessarily acquired through imparting and absorption of abstract concepts. Actually, it seems that comprehension of such abstract facts are more related to foreign concepts of certification and individual remuneration, while observational and participatory interaction seem to relate to skills development for actions resulting in betterments in the local community.

Technological realities are now predominantly communicated through writings and deconstruction of various components that build the whole. Of course, it is not an issue of either this or that. However, it appears crucial that a complementary, humanized expression of technology is being developed. Real sustainability of technology can be witnessed in practice when an all encompassing description is recognized, described, and enshrined in the local language.

Visionary Drive

Engaging with people and institutions in resource limited environments is engaging with groups of people in their collective decision making process. It is in the group interactions, equally on the local, regional, national, international, and various institutional levels, where the authorities, rights vested on the individual or a group of people, and formulation and application of policies are being expressed and tested. Thus the necessity to spend significant amount of time to understand the environment and its drivers resulting in a rationale for behavior, and understanding of existing practices of governance.

To be able to sustainably interact, participate, and ultimately collaborate in resource limited environments, one has to show one's colors, one's character. Of course, such is only possible in an atmosphere of respect for vested interests that are, while considering existing engagement processes, members and actors as the most appropriate setting under existing circumstances.

In my strive for sustainable progress, I recognize that one's vision - the clear, distinctive and specific view on the future usually connected with advances in technology or social arrangements - is important input in the engagement process. It is this vision that can transmit from one mind to another through speech, writing, behavior, or other imitable phenomena. Taking the concept of memes, the units of cultural ideas thus transmitted are the devices utilized to expedite and affect favorable support in the collective decision making.

Of course, this process can be tough and sometimes disheartening, especially in cross cultural settings. However, when all done in a humble, vulnerable way, is is not difficult be inspired by expressions and interactions that are true, are honorable, beautiful, and of value.