Through field studies in Tanzania, among other methods, Gudrun Wicander has developed a model for how mobile phones can be nodes for reporting statistics from the countryâs elementary schools. Statistics are the foundation for distributing important resources. Sending in information via text messages simplifies and speeds up administration and resource distribution while also making it more transparent.
The school system in Tanzania comprises some 15 000 elementary schools and 10 million pupils. The system for following up and for distributing resources has major drawbacks, not least owing to problems with reporting statistics, which takes a long time and is not always reliable.
âYou canât trust the mail service. Forms need to be distributed all over the country, and completed forms then have to be taken to local offices.
Manual compilations are done there and, once again in physical form, they are then physically delivered to the ministry,â says Gudrun Wicander.
There is a strong will in Tanzania to modernize government administration and, not least, to invest in schooling. Wired Internet connections are not available all over the country, and they cost ten times as much as in the West. Any commitment to electronic administration using computers is also hampered by the shortage of electricity.
âOn the other hand, the mobile phone network covers the majority of the population. But Internet connection via the mobile network would be far too costly. But it would be possible to use text messaging to send in statistics directly to the central governmentâs computers. Many people in the countryside, including all the school principals I interviewed, have mobile phones. Mobile phones are easy to use, cheaper, and more reliable than computers,â says Gudrun Wicander.
In her dissertation Mobile Supported e-Government Systems she presents a model that covers not only the technology as such but also methods for implementation and follow-up. The solution proposed is to make use of the well-developed mobile network and link it to other communications tools.
âI see great opportunities in reporting statistics regarding the number of students in schools, for instance, with the aid of texting via mobile phones. This would mean faster and more reliable base figures for distributing resources to schools, which would ultimately benefit the pupils,â says Gudrun Wicander.
Widespread access to mobile phones in developing countries would also entail that the rural population would not have to travel to convey information.
âParadoxically, the mobile phone presents an opportunity to remain âimmobile,â so to speak,â concludes Gudrun Wicander.
Gudrun Wicander completed her doctorate in informatics at Karlstad University in December 2011 and is working today at Stockholm-based Spider â a network for researchers, public-sector actors, and business collaboratively advancing the use of IT (ICT4D – ICT for Development).
Gudrun Wicander, mobile: +46 (0)709- 109 805; gudrun.wicander@kau.se or gudrun@spidercenter.org
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Novels, films, and games that describe wastelands and worlds in ruin tend to feature places of rest â peaceful oases and havens in stark contrast to the surrounding wasteland. What is the function of these places in post-apocalyptic fiction? Karlstad Universityâs Andreas Nyström investigates further in his doctoral thesis, Places of Rest in Worlds of Ruins: Havens in Post-Apocalyptic Fiction.
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The first study to examine prenatal exposure to the phthalate DiNP finds it is associated with a shorter anogenital distance (AGD) in Swedish boys at the age of 21 months. These findings raise concern since animal research has linked DiNP exposure to a shorter AGD, and studies on humans have related shorter AGD to male genital birth defects as well as impaired reproductive function in adult males, and the levels of DiNP metabolites in humans are increasing globally.
23 October, 2013 - Karlstads universitet
Children who had PVC floorings in the bedroom at baseline were more likely to develop asthma during the following 10 years period when compared with children living without such flooring material. Furthermore, there were indications that PVC flooring in the parentsâ bedrooms were stronger associated with the new cases of asthma when compared with child’s bedroom. This could be an indication that prenatal exposure is of importance.
5 July, 2013 - Karlstads universitet
Half of all the produced food in the world is thrown away. According to a new study from Karlstad researcher Helen Williams and her Australian colleagues, smart packaging can be one important part of the solution to reduce food waste.
Expertsvar, The Swedish Research Council, Hantverkargatan 11B, Stockholm SWEDENPhone +46(0)8 546 44 000
P.O. Box 1035, SE-101 38 Stockholm, expertsvar@vr.se
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