open access and capacity building in ict4d

some apc projects (& personal perspectives) ann tothill, 6 September 2005 

http://www.apc.org/

http://www.apc.org/ Association for Progressive Communications

apc

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is an international network of civil society organisations dedicated to empowering and supporting groups and individuals working for peace, human rights, development and protection of the environment, through the strategic use of information and communication technologies…

http://www.apc.org/ Association for Progressive Communications

technology practice and policy

• National, regional and international ICTs policy advocacy

• Strategic use and capacity building– Development of open source software tools– Aggregation of resources– Training/informational materials

development– Training – (Analysis)

http://www.apc.org/ Association for Progressive Communications

open access for capacity building

• Opening up access to…– Physical infrastructure– Tools– Capacity building– Information/knowledge– Opportunities to create and share

knowledge• Publishing is only one element

http://www.apc.org/ Association for Progressive Communications

itrainonline

• 5-year old partnership initiative of organizations working in development internationally– Core partners APC, Bellanet, FAO,

IICD, INASP, OneWorld, UNESCO– ItrainOnline information gateway– Multimedia Training Kit (MMTK)

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itrainonline information gateway

• Many online ICTs capacity building resources (training, informational), but– Not always appropriate for CSO and ICT4D

contexts– Duplication of effort among partners

• Joint clearinghouse for online resources on strategic use/ICT4D needed

• Result: ItrainOnline portal (English, French and Spanish)http://www.itrainonline.org/

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ITO OS section graphicITO portal (continued)

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birth of the mmtk • ItrainOnline partners

– “Why don’t we develop training materials in a common format for ItrainOnline?” (and hey, leave a few stroopwafels for me).

• UNESCO– “Why don’t we support the development of a

toolkit to help community media practitioners and telecentres bridge the gap between and new media?”

• = MMTK momenthttp://www.itrainonline.org/itrainonline/mmtk

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mmtk principles• Reusability reduces duplication of effort• Adds value to training initiatives• “Mediated” use by trainers, but of value to end user• “Open content” approach

– Extends reach– Essential for adaptation / contextualization– Seemed like a good idea at the time– (Public funding)

• Modular– “Mixing and matching”– Contextualization / localization / translation– Repackaging– User contributions / updates– Good training practice

• No frills – Focus on substance– Bandwidth– Ease of reuse

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components

• Session plan• Handout• Slides • Exercises• Case studies• Evaluation tools

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scope

• Technical skills• Content production• Organizational development • Legal and ethical issues

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growth spurt• Projects / organizations• Content areas• Target audiences• Languages• Training format / duration• Cross-pollination with other types of

toolkits and materials collections• Next: more materials, industrial

strength backend• (Sky = limit?)

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back to earth• Open access publication is one aspect of

open access– E.g.

• “Physical infrastructure• Tools• Information/knowledge• Skills to use effectively• Opportunities to create and share knowledge”

– Tensions are possible • Open access is not an end in itself

– “Open interventions” not always most effective means to end

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“open juggling”• Open access does not necessarily mean accessible

– Bandwidth– OSs etc.– Navigation– Documentation/support– Users with disabilities– File formats

• Open access publication/open source software financial sustainability

• Balancing aspects of OA, and OA with other requirements & long-term concerns

• Accessible now does not necessarily mean accessible tomorrow

• “Open quality”?• User/contributor understanding of licensing provisions (CC)

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on balance• Need to increase awareness of complexity of

broader open access terrain• Our projects span the broad open access

terrain, and struggle with balance, competing demands

• No doubts about appropriateness/value of OA publication for our current materials projects– Approach important to achieving ICT4D and broader

capacity development goals– No revenue loss – Commitment to “MMTKing” materials from face-to-

face training is attractive to donors

http://www.apc.org/ Association for Progressive Communications

open access and capacity building in ict4d

some apc projects (& personal perspectives) ann tothill, 6 September 2005 

http://www.apc.org/