employment

Social Networking in Developing Regions

Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on Mar 14, 2012

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Social Networking in Developing Regions data sheet 1422 Views
Author: 
Azarias Reda, Sam Shah, Mitul Tiwari, Anita Lillie, Brian Noble
Publication Date: 
Mar 2012
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Abstract: 

Online social networks have enjoyed signifcant growth over the past several years. With improvements in mobile and Internet penetration, developing countries are participating in increasing numbers in online communities. This paper provides the first large scale and detailed analysis of social networking usage in developing country contexts.

The analysis is based on data from LinkedIn, a professional social network with over 120 million members worldwide. LinkedIn has members from every country in the world, including millions in Africa, Asia, and South America. The goal of this paper is to provide researchers a detailed look at the growth, adoption, and other characteristics of social networking usage in developing countries compared to the developed world. To this end, we discuss several themes that illustrate different dimensions of social networking use, ranging from interconnectedness of members in geographic regions to the impact of local languages on social network participation.

Paper URL: 
http://www-personal.umich.edu/...
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Konbit: Using Mobile Tech (and Your Voice) for Local Jobs in Haiti


Posted by MelissaUlbricht on Mar 15, 2011





 

        
      
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Konbit: Using Mobile Tech (and Your Voice) for Local Jobs in Haiti data sheet 2988 Views

	
Konbit is a service that aims to help communities rebuild themselves after a crisis by indexing the skill sets of local residents, allowing NGOs to find and employ them. Konbit development started after the earthquake in Haiti, and in response to complaints that NGOs were typically bringing in their own labor, rather than hiring locally. The service allows Haitians to describe their everyday skills and talents, in their own voice and language, over a mobile phone. 

This audio content is then transcribed and translated into job skill categories that can be searched by NGOs and employers in the area. In this way, Konbit combines mobile and Internet technology with something more accessible to the Haitian community: their own voice.
Basic Information

      
Website URL: 

    

            

                    http://konbit.media.mit.edu/        

        





      
Organization involved in the project?: 

    

            

                    MIT Media Lab        

        





      
Project goals: 

    

            

                    
The goal of Konbit is to make job distribution more equitable by ensuring that Haitian nationals get jobs.

        

        





      
Brief description of the project: 

    

            

                    
Konbit is a service that helps communities rebuild themselves after a crisis by indexing the skill sets of local residents, allowing NGOs to find and employ them. Konbit development started after the earthquake, in response to complaints about how NGOs were typically bringing in their own labor, rather than hiring locally. The service allows Haitians to describe their everyday skills and talents, in their own voice and language, over a mobile phone.

        

        





      
Target audience: 

    

            

                    
Konbit's target audience is Haitian nationals who seek employment.

        

        






Detailed Information

      
Status: 

    

            

                    Ongoing        

        





      
What worked well? : 

    

            

                    
Konbit established a good working relationship with local mobile operator Digicel Haiti. The team also relied on a platform and approach that is familiar to the target audience: basic mobile phone and voice.

        

        





      
What did not work? What were the challenges?: 

    

            

                    
Translation is taking longer than expected. Actual job placement has yet to happen. Forming relationships with NGOs and local job providers has been a challenge for Konbit.
        

        





      
Links to any evaluations/reports/research: 

    

            

                    http://konbit.media.mit.edu/        

        












 




  
Does ICT Benefit the Poor? Evidence from South Africa


Posted by AnneryanHeatwole on Sep 18, 2009





 

        
      
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Does ICT Benefit the Poor? Evidence from South Africa data sheet 3883 Views

	

      
Author: 

    

            

                    Stefan Klonner, Patrick Nolen        

        





      
Publication Date: 

    

            

                    May 2008        

        





      
Publication Type: 

    

            

                    Report/White paper        

        





      
Abstract: 

    

            

                    
The authors study the economic effects of the roll-out of mobile phone network coverage in rural South Africa, addressing identification issues which arise from the fact that network roll-out cannot be viewed as an exogenous process to local economic development.


The authors combine spatially coded data from South Africa's leading network provider with annual labor force surveys, and use terrain properties to construct an instrumental variable that allows us to identify the causal effect of network coverage on economic outcomes under plausible assumptions. 


The study finds substantial effects of cell phone network roll-out on labor market outcomes with remarkable gender-specific differences. Employment increases by 15 percentage points when a locality receives network coverage. A gender-differentiated analysis shows that most of this effect is due to increased employment by women. Household income increases in a pro-poor way when cellular infrastructure is provided.
        

        





      
Paper URL: 

    

            

                    http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/...        

        










 




  
Souktel


Posted by CorinneRamey on Aug 31, 2009





 

        
      
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Souktel data sheet 8916 Views

	
Souktel, an SMS service based in the Middle East and East Africa, is all about connections. The service, launched in 2006, uses SMS to connect users to everything from jobs and internships to humanitarian aid and youth leadership programs.


The name comes from "souk," the Arabic word for "marketplace," and "tel," or "telephone. Although at least 80 percent of people in Palestine have access to mobile phones, most people have Internet access only in cafés or public places, said Jacob Korenblum, co-founder of Souktel. "Getting information about medical care, jobs, and food bank services can be difficult," he said. And even at Internet cafes, Korenblum said that many people, especially women, lack access to these services. "We wanted to develop a very simple service," he said. "That's how Souktel started."
Basic Information

      
Website URL: 

    

            

                    http://www.souktel.org        

        





      
Organization involved in the project?: 

    

            

                    Souktel        

        





      
Project goals: 

    

            

                    
Souktel works to connect job seekers with employers and to connect humanitarian groups with people that are seeking aid.
        

        





      
Brief description of the project: 

    

            

                    
Using Souktels' JobMatch, users can create mini-resumes, which are then accessible by employers. Employers can post job listings, which users can search by factors like job or location. With AidMatch, humanitarian agencies can send messages to field staff, or send create mailing lists and let recipients know when aid is available.
        

        





      
Target audience: 

    

            

                    
youth, aidworkers, general public
        

        






Detailed Information

      
Status: 

    

            

                    Ongoing        

        





      
What worked well? : 

    

            

                    
Matching people with jobs has been one of Souktel’s biggest successes, said Korenblum. “When a woman who can't go to Internet cafes finds a job through Souktel, that’s a huge success,” he said. Souktel has also been successful in partnering with other organizations, like universities and humanitarian organizations such as Mercy Corp, UN-OCHA and the Red Cross/Red Crescent. For the university partners, this is the first time that they have used mobile technology and none of them have job centers.
        

        





      
What did not work? What were the challenges?: 

    

            

                    
Challenges have included working with the different mobile carriers. The cost of SMS, which averages about $.05 US in Palestine, is also a challenge.