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The Internet and other new technologies have put information at the centre of the global economy. It is therefore important to understand who produces and reproduces this information, who has access, and who and where are represented by information in our contemporary knowledge economy. This audio slide show will highlight inequalities in traditional knowledge and information geographies, before moving to examine the Internet-era potentials for new and more inclusionary patterns. It will consider the implications for developing countries, and will conclude that rather than democratising platforms of knowledge sharing, the Internet seems to be enabling a digital division of labour in which the visibility, voice and power of the North is reinforced rather than diminished. The ultimate goal of the talk is then to ask why in an age of almost ubiquitous potential connectivity, so many people are still left out of global networks, debates and conversations.
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The Potential of the Internet for Development:Digital Divides and Uneven Geographies of Knowledge
A talk to DFIDMarch 29, 2012
Mark Graham, PhDOxford Internet Institute
University of Oxford
web: www.geospace.co.ukemail: [email protected]
twitter: @geoplace
Image: Copyright Roger Bamber
www.ihub.co.ke/blog/
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manypossibilities.netwww.telegeography.com/telecom-resources/map-gallery/
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Map by Mark Graham, Monica Stephens, Matthew ZookMap by Mark Graham, Monica Stephens, Matthew Zook
Spain: Spanish (Castilian) and Catalan
Belgium: Flemish and French
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total number of Wikipedia articles in all languages
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15th century
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16th century
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17th century
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18th century
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19th century
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20th century
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“The sum of all human knowledge”
Wikipedia research:
(1a) what is the geography of articles in MENA compared to the rest of the world?
(1b) what is the geography of articles in East Africa compared to the rest of the world?
Wikipedia research:
(2) do local authors in the Middle East/North Africa/East Africa comprise disproportionately fewer of the contributors to articles about that region?
Wikipedia research:
(3) are the contributions of local contributors undervalued?
More info about this story in Ford, H. (2011). The Missing Wikipedians. In Lovink, G., and Tkacz, N. Critical Point of View: A Wikipedia Reader.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feodor_Vassilyev
Gado Cartoons, Nairobi Daily Nation
Image: Copyright Roger Bamber
thank you
Dr Mark GrahamOxford Internet Institute
w: geospace.co.ukw: zerogeography.nete: [email protected]: @geoplace
