ICTs for Development blog
Catch up on the most recent posts from our Centre for Digital Development blog.
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Global transfers: M-Pesa and intellectual property rights
Chris Foster
7 September 2021
In July 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom announced a significant event – the intellectual property rights (IPR) for the mobile money service M-Pesa was finally “moving back into African control”. For this, it paid a sum of £7m to its UK-based parent company Vodafone. The announcement didn’t receive […]
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Fairwork vis-à-vis ILO Decent Work Standards
Richard Heeks
5 August 2021
How does the Fairwork framework of five decent work standards in the gig economy – fair pay, conditions, management, contracts, representation – compare to more conventional frameworks? As explained in a recently-published paper, Fairwork is a simplified, revised and measurable version of the 11 elements of the International Labour Organization’s decent work agenda. Comparing the […]
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The Rise of Digital Self-Exclusion
Richard Heeks
3 August 2021
Why are marginalised groups self-excluding from digital systems? The digital exclusion problem used to be people outside the house unable to get in. For example, the digital divide preventing groups from accessing the benefits of digital systems. Recently, a new digital exclusion issue is arising: people deciding they’d rather stay outside the house. Some examples […]
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Latest Digital Development Outputs (Data, Economy, Health, Platforms, Water) from CDD, Manchester
Richard Heeks
26 July 2021
Recent outputs – on Data-for-Development; Digital Economy; Digital Health; Digital Platforms; Digital Water – from Centre for Digital Development researchers, University of Manchester: DATA-FOR-DEVELOPMENT “Strengthening the Skills Pipeline for Statistical Capacity Development to Meet the Demands of Sustainable Development: Implementing a Data Fellowship Model in Colombia” (open access) by Pete Jones, Jackie Carter, Jaco Renken & […]
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A Better Way to Research Digital Platforms
Richard Heeks
1 July 2021
In a new European Journal of Development Research paper – “Conceptualising Digital Platforms in Developing Countries as Socio-Technical Transitions” – I and my co-authors argue that there is a better way to research digital platforms. Digital platforms play an ever-growing role within international development, and a body of research has emerged as a result. This research […]
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Digital Platforms as Institutions
Richard Heeks
2 June 2021
How should we understand digital platforms from an institutional perspective? The paper, “Digital Platforms and Institutional Voids in Developing Countries”, suggests a four-layer model of institutional forms, and illustrates this using ride-hailing platforms as an example. Layer 1: Digital Institutions. Platforms themselves are institutions into which digitised routines and rules have been designed based on […]
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How Platforms Change Markets: The Lens of “Institutional Voids”
Richard Heeks
11 May 2021
Do digital platforms change markets for better or worse? To help understand this, we used the lens of institutional voids in the World Development paper, “Digital Platforms and Institutional Voids in Developing Countries”. This argues that markets don’t work properly because they have institutional shortcomings or voids: inadequate provision of information, limited matching of buyers […]
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Digital Platforms as Development Infrastructure
Richard Heeks
20 April 2021
I’m going to argue here that digital platforms should be understood as development infrastructure[1]. In recent years, there’s been a renewed emphasis on the value and role of infrastructure in international development[2]. Official development assistance for infrastructure has therefore risen but there remains a significant infrastructure financing gap[3]. It may be something of an exaggeration […]
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Latest Digital Development Outputs (Data, Humanitarianism, Labour, Platforms) from CDD, Manchester
Richard Heeks
9 March 2021
Recent outputs – on Data-for-Development; Digital Humanitarianism; Digital Labour; Digital Platforms – from Centre for Digital Development researchers, University of Manchester: DATA-FOR-DEVELOPMENT “The Rise of the Data Economy and Policy Strategies for Digital Development” (open access) by Shamel Azmeh, Christopher Foster & Ahmad Abd Rabuh, expands on policy debates around digital development. It examines the […]
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Delivering Urban Data Justice for “Smart Cities 2.0”
Richard Heeks
11 February 2021
What new institutions are needed to ensure smart cities are also data-just cities? Smart City 1.0 “is primarily focused on diffusing smart technologies for corporate and economic interests”. Smart City 2.0 is “a decentralised, people-centric approach where smart technologies are employed as tools to tackle social problems, address resident needs and foster collaborative participation”.[1] Given […]
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