Digital Media (ICT) for development. The use of crowd sourcing maps as a tool for citizen empowerment and engagement. Case study of Map Kibera Project

• Main Author: Gedgauda, Alise
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS) 2013
• Subjects: Crowd sourcing; Social change; Participatory communication; Citizen journalism; Community mapping; ICT; New media; Engineering and Technology; Teknik och teknologier
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-21368

Map Kibera project and it’s Voice of Kibera reporting initiative present an example of new media applying the principle of crowd sourcing to foster social change and provide voice to community of Kibera, Kenya. The aim of this study was to analyses, firstly, how the concept of participatory communication has been applied during the implementation of the project. As a basis for this approach an Integrated Model of Communication for Social Change was applied during the analysis of articles being produced on two project blogs to identify what steps have been implemented and what new aspects could be brought. Secondly, it was important to understand what social change the implementation of such project could bring to community it serves for. Finally, in order to develop a strategy for sustainability possible barriers/limitations of citizen/actor engagement were identified. Research tools used for this analysis were qualitative semi-structured interviews with project team members as well as participants/non participants of the project combined together with quantitative content analysis applied on articles produced on Map Kibera and Voice of Kibera blogs.Most important findings indicate that the application of IMCFSC took place almost fully but was applied on a particular community – project team. At the same time the use of crowd sourcing platform and reporting gave citizens of Kibera an opportunity to create their own agenda and provide a real picture of the area thus gaining a “voice” and possibility to speak out loud to broader communities. Nevertheless it is important to mention that the access to information created during the project was possible mostly in the offline form (printed materials, maps) and via mobile phones thus indicating to such barriers as the lack of such ICT tools as computers and also to the need to co-operate more closely to broader community of Kibera to avoid possible misconception of the work of the project. These findings are important to consider when planning implementation of similar projects in other communities located in different geographical, political and social settings.