Rural communities crowdsource technology development

Abstract

In this paper, we describe our newest project endeavor in which we conceptualize crowdsourcing technology development for and with rural communities in Namibia. The project is based on design work which was carried out over a longer period of time with a single rural pilot community in Namibia and its transferability of technology and concepts into other rural communities. In an attempt to overcome expensive technology adaptations we explore the possibility of having rural communities' crowdsource their defined and specified technology needs. We describe the concept and our current implementation with a first user evaluation in two rural communities. We also discuss the next phase of the project.