The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Digitisation

The world of digitisation has gone through many changes over the years, owing to inevitable changes in technology and formatting, as well as organisational policies. Particularly in recent years, where the web has offered a medium for access and exposure of materials that have been preserved, a new virtual landscape has opened up for the presentation of archives.

Highlighted in the lecture were a number of reasons for digitising, and of these this essay focuses on the potential for presenting a critical mass of materials, particularly with regard to web access. An issue that museums and archives come across is that people aren’t aware of what is available to them.

This reflection focuses on the benefits and drawbacks of the web as a medium to present archives to the public, using the BBC’s iPlayer as an example. Sutherland highlights how important the internet has become to the BBC, ‘It had taken just five years for the internet to become, at least theoretically, as important to the BBC as the two tenets[1] of broadcasting that had sustained it since its very launch in 1926.’[2]

The numerous broadcast materials that BBC’s archives possess are ever-expanding and physical storage space is an issue. Virtual storage offers an unlimited wealth of space for storing collections, once they’ve been digitised. James Insell, Head of Preservation at the BBC, reiterates this point: ‘Traditionally, archives have been used to dealing with the physical materials. In the future, that isn’t going to be the case. If you’ve got files, you can buy in servers and manage your storage service.’[3]

The internet provides a suitable medium for people to access the wealth of the collection. Web access to digitised materials is fantastic for extending organisations’ reach to wider and new audiences. ‘This permits them to deliver their programmes over a broadband data network at marginal incremental cost... and can also enable efficient streaming of video channels over the open internet’[4], but also to present a much larger volume of materials from their archives. Before archives’ collections were available digitally, individuals had to visit the archive to view the artefact. In the BBC’s case, this would generally be undertaken by researchers for producers of new programmes, and not the public.

For the past few years the BBC have been producing all their programmes in born-digital format, eliminating the need to digitise them. Digitisation projects are often long, when collections are large (the BBC has approximately 2m hours worth of material in their archive), and costly, because in many cases only experts have the ability to carry out the work. There is the need for an experienced project manager to oversee the whole process, to ensure that vision, costs and timings are not obscured by anything throughout the project, but also that a sustainable and feasible future management system follows.

Costs, as were mentioned in the lecture, are a key factor when it comes to a digitisation project, and therefore funding requires careful management. Return-on-investment (hereafter ROI) needs to be clearly visible, but materials need digitising before this is possible. The BBC’s programmes, in this case, are currently available to the public through the medium of the web, through their designed-for-purpose iPlayer, fulfilling their public service requirements, in turn ticking a box for ROI.

The BBC, via the iPlayer, makes all the programmes that are screened available for streaming, or downloading to view, for a period of 7 days after TV / radio broadcast. This is very useful for those people who may not be able to watch their favourite shows / sports broadcasts when they are screened live. It does not, however, account for any programmes that have been made prior to the launch of the iPlayer at the end of 2007, nor does it allow users to find any programme from longer than 7 days ago.

The early success of BBC iPlayer showed averages of:

‘around 1.3 million unique users a week, with as many as 500,000 streams or downloads per day...also boosting traffic figures for BBC.co.uk, according to the corporation, with the website attracting around 20 million UK unique users per week in January, a 29% year-on-year rise.’[5]

This success has been great for the BBC, who had noticed that, ‘The number of adults aged 16-34 watching, for example, news on BBC1 and BBC2 has dropped 12% in five years to 36% of the audience; around 2.5m young adults‘[6], and further the impact the internet could have on future audience figures: ‘the internet, and in particular Web 2.0 sites, offers the BBC a way to counter this and attract younger audiences.’[7]

Ashley Highfield (former head of future media and technology division at the BBC[8]), has the vision that by 2012, ‘all BBC content will be available on any platform at any time to anyone’[9]. However, this is a big vision to live up to:

‘We can only go as fast as we’ve got the money to do so. It’s an expensive business, a small pipe, and we’ve got a vast collection – bearing in mind that a lot may be duplicates and viewing copies, we have 4m items (2m hours).’[10]

The BBC is one of the UK’s, if not the most, prominent broadcaster, and their progress in the digital world has been hugely successful, with one of the most popular websites in the country, and their iPlayer service. If the digitisation of their collections can be completed on schedule, the accessibility and user-focused service will continue to keep them at the forefront of the UK’s, if not the World’s, news, information, and entertainment companies.

[1] ‘free from both political and commercial influence and answers only to its viewers and listeners’ – BBC Royal Charter – (review May 2005)

[2] Sutherland, B., ‘The BBC and its Web 2.0 Partners’, Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on Digital interactive media in entertainment and arts, ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, Vol. 274, 2007

[3] James Insell, Head of Preservation, BBC, Interview 28.02.08

[4] Cooper, W. J., Peering Into The Future Of Digital Media Distribution, informitv, http://www.ibc-show.com/IBC2007/Final%20Papers/Wired%20and%20Wireless%20Technologies/1240%20cooper.pdf, 2007

[5]Sweeny, M., iPlayer tops 17m views since Christmas, The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/feb/20/bbc.digitalmedia1?gusrc=rss&feed=technology, 20.02.08

[6] Sutherland, B., ‘The BBC and its Web 2.0 Partners’, Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on Digital interactive media in entertainment and arts, ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, Vol. 274, 2007

[7] Sutherland, B., ‘The BBC and its Web 2.0 Partners’, Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on Digital interactive media in entertainment and arts, ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, Vol. 274, 2007

[8] Highfield has now left to join Project Kangaroo, a collaborative group of British broadcasters

[9] James Insell, Head of Preservation, BBC, Interview 28.02.08

[10] James Insell, Head of Preservation, BBC, Interview 28.02.08

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e-Learning

According to Debande[1], there are four reasons to use ICT in education: social, vocational, pedagogical, and catalytic. This essay looks deeper into one of these reasons: Vocational ‘...driven by the requisite of ensuring that the system is preparing students for jobs which require skills in technology.’

To illustrate the vocational reasons for introducing ICT in education, we look at a particular programme designed and implemented in the UK to provide young people with a means of increasing their skills in using ICT as a part of their life, with a view to increasing the uptake of further ICT qualifications, and preparing the individual with the necessary skills for the future of employment. Offered to girls in primary and secondary schools, CC4G (Computer Clubs for Girls) was designed as an extra-curricular resource (i.e. to be used outside classroom time), and as such usage and membership is voluntary. This essay highlights the benefits and drawbacks of e-learning using the example to analyse its necessity and impact.

CC4G was developed by e-skills UK[2] as a tool to be delivered securely through the web, designed specifically for girls aged 10-14, an age where they traditionally lose interest in ICT, owing to its ‘geeky, nerdish and boring’[3] image. The programme’s aim is to dispel this myth and encourage more girls to participate in, and raise their confidence and skills in ICT through a set of exciting and relevant topics (such as fashion, music, celebrity).[4] But also to fill a skills gap in IT professional employment, in which the number of women working ‘...fell from 27% in 1997 to 21% in 2004, and it is continuing to decline, while just 17% of students starting computer science degrees are women’[5]. The project was initially funded by the South East regional development agency in 2003 as a pilot project, and further national funding from the Department for Education and Skills[6] in 2005 (£8.4m) enabled the programme to be rolled out nationally for three more years.

The ‘Courseware’, the 12 topics with over 150 hours of learning content, provides girls with the enthusiasm for IT and knowledge that many desirable jobs require the use of ICT skills. The soft and technical skills that are learned were developed in dialogue with IT employers and ICT curriculum employers, to ensure the fit-for-purpose nature of the programme. The employer input is invaluable when looking at the vocational reasons for using the resource.

Using interactive flash-based activities, the topics are introduced to the girls in a fun, game-like manner. This enables them to learn whilst having fun. James Paul Gee calls this ‘stealth learning’: ‘when the learners are so caught up in their goals that they don't realise they are learning or how much they are learning or where they actively seek new learning.’[7] This aspect of the resource is an innovative and exciting way for girls to learn, as computer games are often associated with boys.

There has been no conclusive proof that the CC4G members go on to become employed in the IT industry, but this is because the first tranche of members (aged 10-14 in 2003) may still not yet be seeking employment, especially if they are attending higher education. This is not to say that the programme has been unsuccessful. Over 3000 schools and 150,000 members have been involved in CC4G and feedback has shown that members are more likely to aspire to a job in IT because of their involvement in the programme. Feedback has also shown that girls find the single sex environment for the clubs to be beneficial to them. Other benefits to learners include cross-curricular skills and others skills that reach into social and family environments.

The context in which the resource is delivered is an important factor. A club environment is less formal than a classroom, and children have the choice to work independently or within groups, enabling them to make choices and decisions leading to them discovering and exploring answers, making their own mistakes and rectifying them, themselves. The teacher simply facilitates the girls’ learning. This gives the learner a basic skill-set that is both looked for in employers and is very useful in the social context. Teachers can also find it more rewarding to facilitate a group / club, as opposed to teaching a class, noticing differences in the children’s behaviour and willingness to learn, perhaps owing to leaving the boundaries of the prescriptive format of a lesson.

However, this club-style teaching could also hinder the programme’s success, as many children are unable to, or don’t want to stay after school to take part in extra-curricular activities. This could be down to transport to and from school, other extra-curricular commitments such as sport, or simply disinterest towards the subject.

Teachers can find it difficult to get to grips with directing learning via a website, especially when the children of today are so technically-minded themselves. This issue may have been a barrier for schools to sign up to CC4G, coupled with the free-time that teachers would have to give up to run the club. To counteract this second problem, many schools run clubs as lunchtime sessions.

Fulfilling the desire of the IT industry, to increase the number of female professionals, is a long way off, but initial findings[8] show that 67% of girls surveyed had the propensity to find a career involving technology..

As findings have shown, the benefits of the CC4G programme lead to more rounded individuals with regard to their social and IT skills, as well as cross-curricular applications of skills learned. This in turn is positive for their development into the kind of employees the IT industry is looking for in the future. E-learning provides a suitable platform for delivering this programme as it gives the girls, however old, the feeling of directing their own learning and creating a team / club atmosphere in which it is healthy to work.

[1] Debande, O., ICTs and the Development of eLearning in Europe: the role of the public and private sectors, European Journal of Education, 39 (2) , 191–208, 2004

[2] e-skills UK are the sector skills council for IT and Telecoms, and have a remit to work closely with large and small employers in the IT industry, with education and with government.

[3] MORI research in, Thomas, K., The IT Girls: A report on Computer Clubs for Girls, http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/publications_reports_articles/web_articles/Web_Article531, July 2005

[5] Savaas, A., Cut IT skills shortage by closing gender gap, say female IT professionals, Computer Weekly, Nov 05

[6] Now known as the Department for Children, Families and Schools – DCFS

[7] Gee, J.P., What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007

[8] e-skills UK CC4G evaluation, 2006

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Socio-Technical Implications of Mobile Technology

‘In the mid-1990s, if a teen owned a mobile telephone it was likely an indicator of an over-pampered rich kid rather than today’s sense that it is a more or less essential part of a teen’s everyday identity kit.’[1]

I got my first mobile phone after passing my A-Levels in 1999, aged 18. It was a device that performed only the basic functions: calls and text messages (SMS). Then, it was a mid-range user-friendly phone. By the time I finished my undergraduate degree my phone had a camera, synchronised with my PC, and had internet capabilities. The speed at which the development in mobile telephony has progressed is astounding. The adaptation of society to uptake this progression has increased at a similarly astonishing rate. ‘For children growing up today the issue is not whether they will get a mobile phone, it's a question of when.’[2]

This uptake is all-encompassing of all walks of society, regardless in many cases, of income. Mobile phone service providers enable nearly everyone to be able to afford a mobile phone. In fact, there are 3.3bn[3] mobile handsets (enough for half the world’s population) in the world, from basic cellular telephones, to complex on-the-move devices (like Blackberries), or handheld computers (PDAs).

This essay focuses on the impact that mobile technology has had on young people, particularly on the use of mobile phones in western society. As with everything, there are pros and cons to the impacts that mobile technology has on people’s lives. The following sections highlights and discuss some of these with specific reference use of mobile phones by young people, their families, and peers as tools for a variety of different activities. Selwyn suggests, ‘The most immediate social effect of mobile telecommunications technologies is their ability to increase the intensity and widen the scope of interaction.’[4]

Benefits

The ever-increasing functionality of mobile phones gives users many benefits from being able to locate their friends, chatting on mobile instant-messaging clients, text-messaging, to using their phone to browse the internet, and uploading, downloading and listening to music. Camera and video functionalities enable users show or even broadcast their activities.

The safety aspects of mobile phones are increasingly becoming reasons why parents are purchasing mobiles for their children. The constant connection between parent and child gives the parent peace of mind of their child’s whereabouts and movements. Relating to personal safety, some mobile phones today have built in GPS, so people can find out locate themselves if lost.

The increased usage of mobile phones has given many young people the skills and enthusiasm needed to understand technology in a wider aspect. Inquisitive children being exposed to a device like a mobile phone can lead to their learning of technical skills, e.g. programming, at a very early age, and taking up qualifications in ICT. A study at Coventry University found that text messaging on mobiles to be ‘linked positively with literacy achievements.’[5]

Mobile technology is also useful as a pedagogical tool where it is making a big impact on the way that educators are approaching the future of learning in schools and extending into further education. Talking of the use of PDAs in education, a headteacher at a school in Dudley, mentions how the teaching staff can ‘inform children of how they are doing, provide the suitable tools which they can select for their own personal learning style, and we can monitor, support, and assess as we go along.’[6]

Risks

Looking at the negative effects of mobile technology brings us to, once again, the functionality. Camera and video functionality has lead to the despicable craze for ‘happy slapping’, (e.g.[7],[8]). There have been many cases where youths have recorded the terrorising, bullying or assault of a victim on their mobile phone cameras. These videos are then shown to peers, either by sending them to each other or uploading to the web, through such social video sites as YouTube.com.

It has been claimed that there are potential health risks associated with the use of mobile phones. According to Cox, in his study[9]reporting on health hazards of mobile phones, he states that there have been incidents of cancer occurring in people, reportedly because they live near a base station that provides mobile phones with signal. There have also been claims that severe headaches are caused by the use of mobile phones, as well as an excess of lymphoma, leading to cancer and brain tumours. He does state, however, that, ‘...because mobile phones of the present form have not been in use for very long, direct epidemiological evidence of adverse effects with an appropriate latency period cannot be available.’[10]

Exploiting young people financially, can be very harmful, especially when they do not have regular income. Gimmicks that are advertised and sold to enhance mobile phones, such as ringtones or games, are often directed at younger mobile phone users through TV adverts on channels widely watched by youngsters. Young people are generally more susceptible to the novelty products, e.g. a new ringtone. Websites such as Jamster[11] offer ringtones and graphics that seem to be one-off purchases, but require subscription to their site, at potentially unaffordable rates. Unsubscribing is made difficult too.

‘It took Radio 38 years to reach 50 million users, TV 17 years, Cable 14 years, the Web 4 years, and Mobile phones 6 months.’[12] The way that society has developed and adapted over the years to the use of technology as a part of everyday life, has meant that the adoption rates of the newer technologies have been faster than those of older technologies. These increases may be down to earlier communication technologies not being as encompassing of society as recent technologies, incorporating all economic classes and ages. Young peoples’ expectations mean that they will be the driving force behind future developments and innovations in technology. They have grown up with technology and are truly the Technological Generation.

[1] Seyler Ling, R., Ling, R., & Pedersen, P.E., Mobile Communications: Re-Negotiation of the Social Sphere, Birkhauser, 2005.

[2] Global cellphone penetration reaches 50 %, Thu Nov 29, 2007, http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=media&storyID=nL29172095

[3] Global cellphone penetration reaches 50 %, Thu Nov 29, 2007, http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=media&storyID=nL29172095

[4] Selwyn, N., (2003) Schooling the Mobile Generation: The Future for Schools in the Mobile Networked Society, British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 24, No. 2. (April 2003), pp. 131-144.

[6] Heaviside, B. in Secondary ICT - Personalised Learning with ICT 3, (video) March 2005, http://www.teachers.tv/video/169

[9] Cox, D.R., Communication of Risk: Health Hazards from Mobile Phones, Journal of Royal Statistics Study, Royal Statistic Society, 2003

[10] Cox, D.R., Communication of Risk: Health Hazards from Mobile Phones, Journal of Royal Statistics Study, Royal Statistic Society, 2003

[12] Ibid

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The National Gallery: the Use of Multimedia Resources in Museums

The basis for this essay is recent visits to the National Gallery (NG) and Tate Modern (TM). Both have available interactive multimedia systems whose aims are to add value to / enhance to the visitor’s experience. We look at the two different multimedia systems available in the two London Museums and analyse the value they add to / take away from a traditional visit[1] to an art gallery.

The NG’s system, called ArtStart, is placed in the refreshments area providing a free, informative and productive way to spend 10-15 minute refreshment break. The digitisation of the entire gallery’s collection is supported by detailed information on the most popular pieces (it has a top 30) of its collection makes ArtStart a meaningful and worthwhile investment in the gallery.

ArtStart provides the user with a searchable database, using artist name, date, suggested themes, etc. It also allows the possibility to zoom in on paintings to a level that visitors can’t when viewing the painting physically, owing to security measures. The ‘30 most popular’ theme for works at the NG has the most comprehensive descriptions and information, as they are the best known, and most viewed. The whereabouts of the particular work that is viewed on the ArtStart machines is pointed out in order for them to find it. People are also able to plan their trips around the NG before they leave their home, as the ArtStart and NG website enable this functionality.

At the TM, for a cost of £2, a visitor can make use of a small and portable computer in the form of a PDA device. This contains a vast amount of information that supports and extends the patron’s visit beyond that of what is available from a traditional visit. The PDA device offers an audio tour, but extends the learning further. It encourages the user to look at certain elements, sometimes giving an insight into the meaning of the artists’ works. The device uses music, video and audio (in some cases, by the artist themselves), and has interactive games to enhance the learning. Specialist tours for children and British sign language reach out to a wider audience.

Evans and Sterry state that interactive multimedia in museums are,

‘...excellent interpreters... communicating large amounts of often complex information in a user friendly and interesting way, whilst empowering visitors to access the information they require at their own pace.’[2]

This empowering information that visitors can gain from multimedia systems can be invaluable, and make their experience of the museum visit that much more educational. TM’s evaluation of their multimedia devices ‘...show[s] that people taking the tour spend longer in the galleries, and improved their visit.’[3] Saying this, however, the longer time spent in the gallery may have been related to the fact that they were using the device, and not paying attention to the actual works.

Multimedia in museums can also have detrimental effects, taking the visitor’s focus away from the works, encouraging them to interact with, in the TM example, the PDA device. This happened in another study, where visitors, ‘...invested substantial amounts of time interacting with the computer, more than with any other individual exhibit.’[4]

Multimedia can also remove the appreciation of the aura of the work. The ‘aura’ of a work of art, according to Walter Benjamin’s well-criticised essay, is defined as its ‘…presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.’[5] Benjamin also explains how the mechanical reproduction of a work of art, as is presented to visitor using NG’s ArtStart, withers its aura, because the uniqueness of the original work, in terms of place, time and space are different. The ArtStart resource does, however, help to expand people’s knowledge of art, and appreciate it more.

When looking at all the benefits the use of multimedia affords museums and galleries, it is clear that there are many enhancements, but also detractions from the visitor’s experience.

The current Government believes that there are four main priorities when it comes to museums and galleries. Those are:

1. ‘Ensuring that children have the opportunity to enjoy a vibrant cultural and sporting life;

2. Opening institutions to the widest possible cross section of people;

3. Ensuring that the creative, leisure and tourist industries provide the maximum possible benefit to the economy; and

4. Ensuring our museums and galleries are exciting, modern and provide real value for money’[6]

Through museums having multimedia installations, among other didactic offerings, the Government’s aim is to improve the educational experience for all types of audience, from children to pensioners, because they believe that, ‘...education is central to the role of museums today.’[7]

It is the aim of the museums discussed in this essay to help people to learn to appreciate art more, but everyone learns in different ways, requiring different approaches. In some cases music may help, but for others it may be annoying. Both systems allow visitors to explore difference aspects of the artworks, according to their personal curiosity and interests. The difficulty is to strike a balance between guiding (or educating) people and providing them with learning resources to explore for themselves.

The realm of the digital museum is something that is raised when thinking about accessing digital reproductions of works of art, in this case via the NG’s website or an online ArtStart. Considerations of how to present a gallery’s collections to a much wider audience invariably involve the internet, which, ‘...holds the greatest potential [here], and museums must look at ways of using its potential to build understanding of collections, cutting across institutional (and national) boundaries.’[8]

[1] By ‘traditional’ visit, it is meant that the patron will walk around the gallery at their leisure, taking in the artefacts and reading the associated information

[2] Evans, J.A., and Sterry, P., Portable Computers and Interactive Multimedia: A New Paradigm for Interpreting Museum Collections, Archiving and Museum Informatics 13:113-126, 1999

[4] Economou, M., The Evaluation of Museum Multimedia Applications: Lessons from Research, Museum Management and Curatorship, 17:2, 173 – 187, 1998

[5] Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, in: Illuminations, London: Pimlico, 214, 1999.

[6] Museums and Galleries, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/Museums_galleries/default.htm

[7] A Vision for Museum Education, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2000

[8] Understanding the Future: Museums and 21st Century Life, Department for Culture, Media and Sport 2005

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Digital Technology in the Developing World

John Pilbeam spoke about projects with which he is involved that aim to increase what he called the North’s (western society) awareness of the issues that surround many of the South (developing countries) of the world. One of the projects mentioned was ‘Ushahidi’[1], a fantastic project in the form of an online application that enables users to read and upload information to an online map (Google Maps) about riots and food and water shortages and any other problems that occurred as a result of the Kenyan presidential elections recently. On the surface, this project sounds like a brilliant way of informing the population of problems that could be coming their way, but is fundamentally flawed because most of the population do not have access to a computer, let alone an internet connection.

It is an example of how technology is used to try and help the masses but realistically would only be used by middle classes and NGOs. Although John mentioned that technology is just a tool, and can’t affect social change on its own, this essay looks at ways that technology, particularly mobile technology, can reduce the challenge that the citizens of developing countries face going about their daily lives.

Mobile phones in developing countries are becoming more and more common, and not in the same way they are used by westerners. This essay discusses various elements of mobile technology used in the developing world, particularly in Africa, where (much like in the North) they are becoming a vital part of daily life and beneficial to all types of people.

The rate at which mobile phone usage has grown the world over has been tremendous, but in Africa, the growth has been greatest and is continuing to be the fastest growing market in the world.

‘Over the past five years the continent's mobile phone use has increased at an annual rate of 65 percent - twice the global average. In June of 1999, Kenya had 15,000 mobile phone subscribers. By the end of 2004 the country had 3.4 million subscribers, and in the last 18 months this number has grown to over 5.6 million’[2]

This high usage is driven by many reasons, notably the lack of electricity and therefore fixed telephones, or computers.

The application of mobile phone technology in Africa differs hugely from the way they are used in the North. As discussed in an earlier essay, westerners use their mobile phones to find out where friends are, take photos, listen to music, do their work on the train, etc. But ‘...mobile phones in Africa are used for a wide variety of tasks, from sending money to family members to buying a fish from the market.’[3] Mobile phones also offer the opportunity to skilled people to receive calls when there is work needed, rather than walking to and from workplaces sometimes waiting hours to find out.

One of the obvious questions is about mobile phones having signal in countries that do not have many mobile phone masts. In Africa, a place where sustainable energy is more important than anywhere, solar energy can be harnessed easily with the use of solar panels, and wind energy by turbines. Solar and wind powered mobile base stations are slowly becoming aspects of the African landscape, giving many people access to mobile phone signal to make relatively cheap calls. ‘Hybrid systems that utilize renewable energy such as wind and solar are making it possible to extend wireless service in remote areas that are not connected to grid power.’[4]

Before the implementation of sustainable energy-powered base stations, people that owned mobile phones may have had to travels hours to gain signal to make a call / send a text message and sometimes hefty roaming charges would be applied. Users often use dual sim cards which enable the user to switch between mobile phone networks to get the best signal or price on calls.

To increase the signal in Africa, a number of private companies, notably Motorola and WinAfrique, are building these masts under contract from African telecommunication and wireless companies. Obviously, the more masts there are, the more money telecommunication companies can make on charging users, but it is a win-win situation, as the extension of wireless service can make a huge difference to countries’ productivity rates: ‘It has been shown that adding an additional ten mobile phones per 100 people boosts a typical developing country’s GDP growth by 0.6 percent.’[5]

Another question that comes to mind is ‘how can people in the developing world, without much income, afford to run a mobile phone?’ This is obviously an issue, but the cost of credit is affordable to many[6]. The cost of a handset is expensive, but many villagers share handsets and make their calls on their own sim cards. Other solutions to this problem involve village phones[7], and recycled mobile phones.[8] As most villages do not have power, there is obviously a lack of access to computers and the internet, which holds much information that can help improve lives by increasing access to learning and further knowledge. Access to the internet via mobile telephones is a much more realistic opportunity for Africans than via PCs.

There is much that needs to be done to help create better lives for those in the South, most of it beyond our control. Major issues including war, poverty, lack of medical supplies, sanitation, electricity, etc. require funding that is hard to come by. Collaboration between international and local governing bodies, as well as industry and employment may lead to a better life for those suffering from the aforementioned issues. With this collaboration it is massively important to include the opinions and well being of local citizens. The examples of mobile technology enabling the increasing standards of living in parts of Africa prove that technology can and may well be one of the steps towards equality in the developing world.

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Identity Privacy, and Anonymity in the Digital World,

To what extent should we worry about the details we disclose online?

Many people worry about the safety and privacy of their identity and personal ‘data’ online. People input their personal and banking details into websites many times a day. These details can be accessed by an increasing number of criminals to steal people’s identity / money / credit.

From personal details retained by social networking sites, like Facebook and Bebo, to shopping and banking, the medium for interaction and therefore storage of information is moving more and more to the web. Banking customers rarely have the opportunity to visit a local branch, owing to increasingly busy daily work routines, and it is more convenient, cheaper and simply quicker to use an online banking system. Shopping online has similar benefits, giving the customer the same, if not more choice than in-store shopping, comfortably and at any time from their PC. In most cases, these benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

It is the cases where this process goes wrong and details are stolen. There are ‘...sites offering medical histories, information about the shipment of goods and corporate e-mail and pension details’[1], known as data supermarkets, from which criminals buy data to avoid having to find it themselves. People’s bank / credit card details may be stolen and used to make purchases. Invariably, banks are able to monitor and understand patterns that identity thieves use, and do catch many criminals. But the real issue for the security, not just for the websites themselves, is where the data is then stored. There have been numerous cases of vast amounts of data being ‘misplaced’ or stolen, and this has led to many individuals losing money, or having their credit ratings destroyed.

Personal details shared on the web are just as sensitive as banking details. Basic elements of people’s lives are shared on social networking sites like Facebook. Users upload information such as their home address, phone numbers, photos of their family and friends. Access to this gives a comprehensive insight into their identity; all data for thieves to use to impersonate others to gain loans or credit cards, for example. Users’ passwords are often simple and the same for their access to many sites. These can be easily discovered by looking at e.g. a Facebook profile. Education in how to create a secure, hard-to-crack password is offered on many sites at registration, but it needs to be made clearer to help avoid identity theft. Britain’s information watchdog ‘found that 4.5 million people aged 14 to 21 had posted information on the internet which could make them vulnerable to identity fraud or blight their future careers.’[2]

Google and many other online marketing and advertising companies make billions from using captured / stored personal data to target internet users with advertising relevant to them.

In June 2007, The Times revealed that Apple’s hugely popular iTunes store was collecting users personal data, ‘including the name and e-mail addresses of purchasers, [are] embedded into the AAC files that Apple uses to distribute music tracks.’[3] In many cases, this information is presented to the user in terms and conditions pages. These pages tend to be very long and written incomprehensibly for the general public, and people often skim through them or skip them completely. Information Commissioner’s Office research found that:

‘1/3 of young people had never read privacy policies on social networking sites and did not understand how they could manage their personal information... 95 per cent of respondents said they were worried about website operators using their details to target advertising at them, or to pass the data to other websites or companies.’[4]

The vast amount of data that is provided by users via the web rarely leads to any kind of malicious attacks on the individual. In the case of social networking sites, the information a user provides is, consciously or unconsciously, the kind of information they hope to glean from friends’ pages withing their network. Gross, Acquisti, and Heinz support this theory: ‘The consideration of how information is expected to flow from node to node in somebody’s social network should also inform that person’s expectations for privacy of information revealed in the network.’[5]

Recent plans by the UK’s Home Office are leading to the clamping down on social networking sites’ sharing of users’ personal information. This is mainly to increase safety for children’s interactions through the web, forcing users to verify their real age. Users’ profiles would have to, ‘show a small logo to identify whether it is publicly searchable or not,’[6] as well as provide, ‘warnings on the dangers of giving personal information that might identify their home address.’[7]

Although most websites that require disclosing bank details for online purchases use https (with heightened security levels), other websites that involve disclosing other details that can be almost as useful for criminals, do not. Websites should be aiming to increase their security to give users peace of mind, and to lessen the potential of any sort of information theft. This may be done through (inter)national legislation (perhaps by amendments to the data protection act) and made mandatory for any online merchant / capturer of data.

With many day-to-day activities, like shopping or banking, there is not much other choice than doing it online. The convenience, practicalities, and occasionally financial benefits of such online activities highlighted earlier must be forfeited if the customer is anxious to use the web as the medium. For most, the web provides many convenient uses for day-to-day life, be it networking for new jobs, friends, or shopping or banking. The storage of personal details is a necessary evil for people to gain the benefits that the internet has to offer, but legislation must be applied soon to ensure the safety of its users.

[1] Thieves set up data supermarkets, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7363422.stm, 23.04.08

[2] Verkaik, R, and Taylor, J., Facebook backlash over sale of personal data, The Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-backlash-over-sale-of-personal-data-760221.html, 24.11.2007

[3]Blakely, R., Personal data found hidden in iTunes tracks, The Times, http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article1871173.ece, 01.06.2007

[4] Verkaik, R, and Taylor, J., Facebook backlash over sale of personal data, The Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-backlash-over-sale-of-personal-data-760221.html, 24.11.2007

[5] Gross, R., Acquisti, A., & Heinz, H.J., Information revelation and privacy in online social networks: Workshop On Privacy In The Electronic Society, Proceedings of the 2005 ACM workshop on Privacy in the electronic society, 2005

[6] Kiss, J., Social networking safety plan unveiled, The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr/02/facebook.myspace?gusrc=rss&feed=technology, 02.04.2008

[7] Kiss, J., Social networking safety plan unveiled, The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr/02/facebook.myspace?gusrc=rss&feed=technology, 02.04.2008

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