Jussi Impio

Mobile phone video camera in social context

Video recording is becoming available in various everyday situations, thanks to the quickly spreading video capabilities of modern mobile phones. Recording decision is now often made spontaneous, as the recording devices are constantly available without explicit planning. We discuss the effect of this change in the social environment on the basis of a study where four groups of people used digital video cameras in their everyday life. While this new way of communicating enables new social patterns, it also raises new concerns for privacy and trust. We discuss the relation of context and video recording through a model of primary and secondary contexts. We also analyze acceptability and transparency of video recording as functions of time.

Building a case for m-learning in Africa: African youth perspectives on education

This paper is based on a case study of six African countries. It takes a look at education challenges faced by African youth and the gaps that exist in the education systems. African youth have the potential to be frontrunners in socio-economic transformation in the continent. They need to be empowered to be able to play their part. The huge gaps between education policy and practice, and other problems in this sector leave many African youth out of the system. Information and communication technology (ICT) is being integrated in education in many African countries. The emphasis has been on equipping schools with computers and literacy of the same. However the progress and impact is minimal due to inadequate resources, infrastructural challenges and lack of capacity. Mobile phone penetration in the continent has increased phenomenally unlike ownership of personal computers. This paper therefore proposes m-learning using mobile phones as a logical and viable channel of delivering education to African youth.

Taking micro-enterprise online: the case of kenyan businesses

In this paper we describe the findings of a research study recently carried out amongst micro-entrepreneurs and freelance web developers in Kenya. The objective was to understand the level of need for website creation by such entrepreneurs for their businesses and further, the challenges associated with website design and maintenance. The study was inspired by the phenomenal uptake of Internet use in the country coupled with a need to explore how micro-entrepreneurs are faring in this space, what potential exists, and how it could be realized. The findings of the study show that the Internet can be the new frontier for many micro-entrepreneurs who want to take their businesses to the next level. The study also provides critical insights into the realities of micro-enterprise, and hence relevant issues to take into consideration in seeking to take micro-enterprise online. The insights therein cover such issues as affordability of solutions, quick return on investment, convergence of current business methods and practices with those presented by an online environment for greater impact, and need for very simple, intuitive web design tools and platforms. Innovation may be required so as to come up with more website options that are better suited to the needs of micro-entrepreneurs and that are cost-effective. Alternatively other internet-based tools or platforms could be developed to help micro-entrepreneurs conduct business online. This is because the typical websites of today are not necessarily suitable for their needs.

Mobile Video in Everyday Social Interactions

Video recording has become a spontaneous everyday activity for many people, thanks to the video capabilities of modern mobile phones. Internet connectivity of mobile phones enables fluent sharing of captured material even real-time, which makes video an up-and-coming everyday interaction medium. In this article we discuss the effect of the video camera in the social environment, everyday life situations, mainly based on a study where four groups of people used digital video cameras in their normal settings. We also reflect on another study of ours, relating to real-time mobile video communication and discuss future views. The aim of our research is to understand the possibilities in the domain of mobile video. Live and delayed sharing seem to have their special characteristics, live video being used as a virtual window between places whereas delayed video usage has more scope for good-quality content. While this novel way of interacting via mobile video enables new social patterns, it also raises new concerns for privacy and trust between participating persons in all roles, largely due to the widely spreading possibilities of videos. Video in a social situation affects cameramen (who record), targets (who are recorded), passers-by (who are unintentionally in the situation), and the audience (who follow the videos or recording situations) but also the other way around, the participants affect the video by their varying and evolving personal and communicational motivations for recording.

Designing an e-solution for linking informal self-help groups in Africa: a case study

In this paper we describe the process of designing an e-solution for linking informal self-help groups in Africa as a case study. As in many parts of the developing world, participation in these groups in Africa is very popular. Also loosely referred to as Merry-Go-Rounds (MGRs) these are groups of people who come together for either or all of: sharing knowledge, news, ideas, tradition, supporting one another in times of need (social welfare), saving and borrowing together in a rotational manner (informal banking), and carrying out local income generating or self / community development projects. In Africa majority of MGRs are geographically isolated particularly those in rural areas hence interaction between different groups in different regions is minimal yet linking the groups could benefit them in various ways as described in this paper. Worthy of consideration is the implementation of linkages through e-solutions that would help overcome the geographical dispersion of groups. The MGR Solution designed by Nokia Research Center (NRC) Africa is one such tool. It is a mobile solution for self-help groups to better manage their group activities and link them to other groups thus creating financial and social synergy. It provides for various functions to support internal group activities (administrative, financial and projects), group to group activities (e.g. sharing news, ideas, and assets, pooling finances, collaborating on projects) and other external functions (organizations that desire to be linked to and work with groups). To satisfy this, the prototype developed includes a website for the MGR service designed to be accessed from a mobile phone based on the limited screen size and a website that can be accessed from a Personal Computer (PC) as it has more features as compared to the strip down version for mobile phones. The solution also includes a mobile client for the internal group management activities, ability to access MGR web services via the mobile client, and use of SMS for communication by the MGR service. This paper examines the design process of the MGR Solution through ethnographic research, concept development and implementation, and generated user feedback, and hence related Human Computer Interaction (HCI) circumstances, consequences and opportunities. A virtual platform for sharing and exchange provides a good opportunity for growth and development of self-help groups due to increased access to information. It mitigates the geographical hurdle and other related socio-cultural and cost challenges. However certain things may need to be taken into account. These include possible language barriers and how to overcome these e.g. through translations, low literacy levels hence potential to explore audio technologies such as speech to text and text to speech, and elements that can be incorporated on the virtual platform to help build and increase trust amongst the users so that they are able to interact successfully. For example, groups using the system need to be able to verify authenticity of other groups, have some kind of guarantee or mitigation of risks associated to resource sharing with other groups and control and ownership of the shared content.