Critical Perspectives on ICT in Kenya

“In Kenyan urban centers it is common to see many people walking around with their phone visible in their hands,” writes Jessica Gustafsson in her study of the means of communication in and around the Kenyan city of Eldoret. With such insights from the field Ørecomm begins a series of the fieldwork reports from researchers.

Jessica Gustafsson is the post-doctoral researcher in the Nordic-Kenyan research project Critical Perspectives on New Media and Processes of Social Change in the Global South. After having earlier completed her PhD about community radios in the slum areas of Nairobi, she joined a research on the usage of media in the rural, semi-urban and urban areas in the Rift Valley, Kenya. In the fall of 2014 she conducted a major household study amongst 800 households and presented a working report at Malmø University in November 2014.

One of Jessica’s observations is the gender inequality in media usage. According to her findings in the areas in and around Eldoret, ”the more advanced and expensive the technology is the greater the gap between women and men seems to be.” Furthermore, when studying online debates, Jessica comes to conclusion that “religious issues are the only issues that seem to be more popular among women than men, as family issues, interestingly enough, are more discussed by men online.”

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Vacancy for a Lecturer in Media and International Development Announced

The School of International Development at the University of East Anglia is looking for a lecturer/senior lecturer in the frame of its strategic plan to build internationally recognized research in media and international development. Closing date for applications: 27 April 2015.

Requirements for the candidates:

Preference will be given to candidates whose research fits within the research clusters focusing on media and international development, but interests in other areas of research, for example human and social geography, development geography, or politics and international development would be welcomed.

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GOComm: Results and Milestones

Striving to set a platform for cooperation between different stakeholders in the field of Communication for Development, Ørecomm launched a pilot project GOComm a year ago. And now we are excited to set new goals for it.

It’s been a prolific and an eventful year for GOComm and now, when reviewing what has been done, we are glad to see the potential of Øresund region to become a hub for Communication for Development. The main challenge is to link various actors and make them cooperate. Academics provide valuable data, which is not always used for practical implementation. Social entrepreneurs have brilliant ideas, yet might not seek consultancy from researchers thus lacking data for running their projects. The same stands for NGOs and governmental bodies. GOCOmm is meant to connect these hubs of knowledge and practice in the region and globally.

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African Media in a Global Age

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the University of Cape Town (UCT)  offer the 3rd LSE-UCT July School on 29 June-10 July 2015. This innovative two-week programme provides students, graduates and professionals from across the globe an opportunity to study important social sciences issues relevant to Africa today. The programme is taught by faculty from the University of Cape Town and LSE, two of the world’s leading institutions for teaching and research.

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Technology for Negotiation: Volunteers Needed

Negotiation in organizations will significantly change with a brand new app  idea developed by top learning designers in Denmark. And they give our community of communication for development a chance to be the first to test it and contribute with a feedback.