Information Access for Development:
                    Weather Information Access for Rural Ghana*
                                                        Invited talk abstract

                                                           Francis Dittoh
                                                 University of Development Studies
                                                           Tamale, Ghana
                                                        fdittoh@uds.edu.gh




ABSTRACT
With very low internet penetration, over 64% of Africans have no     The study will use an adapted living-labs approach for
internet access. In recent years, urban Africa has improved in       requirements engineering, which will involve all stakeholders,
terms of internet access with 3G and 4G available in some cities.    especially the end-users and institutions that deal with rural
Rural and suburban Africa however still has virtually no access to   communities, in the development of a system that is usable by the
internet services. Issues of illiteracy, numerous local languages    illiterate, accessible in their own language(s), requiring
and the lack of infrastructure are the foremost barriers that keep   inexpensive equipment for the system design and already existing
these people unconnected although information needs such as          and/or inexpensive equipment for the end-users. The research will
market prices and weather forecasts might be relevant to these       also look at the various ways of creating technical sustainability,
communities. These conditions are similar for most countries in      possibly with training and the development of communities of
sub-Saharan Africa. Information of this nature, available on the     local developers. 1
internet or elsewhere, can be accessed by proxy rather than
directly.
The widespread availability of mobile phones and radio access in
rural areas suggests attention should be concentrated on these
technologies because it is important to use what is readily
available. This research delves practically into how ICTs can
provide rural communities with regular access to up-to-date
information, from the world wide web, peers or organizations,
which is relevant to their needs.




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