Communities and Communication

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of participating in an ICT4D workshop at the Royal Holloway Campus of the University of London in Egham, Surrey. It's been a while since I had an intellectually-stimulating session with like-minded people. The workshop drew together 30-something researchers and practitioners from different backgrounds - united by one common motivation - their interests and/or involvement in ICT4D.

In his final remark, Prof Tim Unwin said something very profound - that a good workshop should inspire you to at least change an aspect of something you do, or even get you to do something new! "It's scarry what I am thinking of doing next", Tim said.

I got there late. The most financially convenient means of travelling there meant that I left Coventry at 7am only to get to London at 9.30am, (which was when the workshop was starting), and I had to be on the train for another 45minutes before getting to Egham. Anyway, I eventually arrived, and still had to walk half an hour to the Campus - it was the first time i was making this trip, and I didnt realize that the campus was a longer trek than I had anticipated. Anyway, this meant that I missed some presentations but anyhow, the day went really well.

Different people presented their work related to different "communities". Note the term communities in quotes because one discussion was about the definition of the term "community". Take a moment, pause and think what your own personal view and definition of the term "community" is, and you will definitely be suprised at what comes to mind. Does community mean the place you leave in? The place you work?Or even your ethnic orientation? What about the concept of online communities? I will not go further into this because that is a whole topic on its own.

Relevant to the workshop was what the term community means to introduction of ICT. It was agreed that a researcher's definition of community will be vary depending on the place he/she is carrying out the research, and indeed the nature of the research itself. Another very important discussion was about the development of ICT solutions for developing communities - also known as as emerging markets and how vital it is for these solutions to suit the needs of these communities. The workshop dealt with other different topics eg sustainable development, top-down business strategies, bottom-up telecommunications development, inclusion vs exclusion of commuties as a result of new ICT solutions.

All in all, I had the opportunity to finally meet Prof Tim and network with other people. It was cool talking to researchers that have projects currently running in Kenya, others interested in Kenya and Africa as a whole. On a very personal note, it helped to put my own aspirations into perspective.

It was a day well spent, a trip worth making. On my return bus journey, the bus driver had such a nice sense of homour, his announcements couldnt help but put a cheer. I couldnt help thinking that the dude actually loved and enjoyed his job!