Content creation and dissemination by-and-for users in rural areas

• Published in: 2009 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development pp. 56 - 65
• Main Authors: Agarwal, S.K., Kumar, A., Nanavati, A.A., Rajput, N.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.04.2009
• Subjects: Information management; Internet; Social network services; Usability
• ISBN: 1424446627; 9781424446629
• DOI: 10.1109/ICTD.2009.5426702

83% of the world population does not have access to Internet. Therefore there is a need for a simple and affordable interaction technology that can enable easy content creation and dissemination for this population. In this paper, we present the design, development and usage pattern of a VoiKiosk system that provides a voice-based kiosk solution for people in rural areas. This system is accessible by phone and thus meets the affordability and low literacy requirements. We present usability results gathered from usage by more than 900 villagers during four month of the on-field deployment of the system. The on-field experiments suggest the importance of locally created content in their own language for this population. The system provides interesting insights about the manner in which this community can create and manage information. Based on the use of the system in the four months, the VoiKiosk also suggests a mechanism to enable social networking for the rural population.