CIS Events

Joyojeet Pal from UC Berkeley discusses “Computers and the Promise of Development”

Tuesday, May 13th 2:30pm

Mary Gates Hall, Room 420

In this talk, we look at the recent history of technology and development, or what we have come to know as ICTD and consider some areas of promise and caution. We use extensive primary research at two major ICTD projects in India - a telecenter and e-literacy project in Kerala, and a Computer Aided Learning program in Karnataka, and illustrate how these projects have fared on some indicators of development, but also try to understand how rural users and interest groups perceive technology and how this impacts technology adoption. In Kerala, we use the results of a household survey to examine the extent of shared computer use and computer literacy service delivery through telecenter kiosks. In Karnataka, we use interviews of rural parents and stakeholders around schools with recently allocated computers, to document the aspirations related to technology and the impact of past contact with computers on these aspirations. This research is better known for findings on the ways in which children seat themselves in front of computers and control input devices, which I briefly cover. In bringing the two studies together, we raise questions on two important issues -- first, is there a case for public funding of telecenters, and second, what are the elements of rural discourse on technology that may impact such demand.

Bio:

Joyojeet Pal is a PhD candidate in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California at Berkeley. His research is primarily on socio-economic impacts of rural technology projects. In addition to research at Berkeley, Joyojeet has worked extensively with the Microsoft Research India on their emerging markets research, as well as with product groups on their education products for children in the developing world. Before his current research career, Joyojeet worked at the Times of India, and at Hewlett Packard. He has a Bachelor's degree in Commerce and Economics from Sydenham College, University of Mumbai.

Questions??? Please contact Rucha Ambikar at rucha@u.washington.edu or 206 543 3084.