• What we do
  • The People
  • About Us
  • Why Innovation Africa
  • Contact Us
Innovation AfricaCreating the Future Today
  • Feature Articles
  • Innovation
  • Agriculture
  • ICT
  • Technology
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Health
  • Store
  • Contact Us
Menu
  • Feature Articles
  • Innovation
  • Agriculture
  • ICT
  • Technology
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Health
  • Store
  • Contact Us
  • Guess Which Communications Platform Youth Prefer Today?

    November 18, 2015 Editor 0

    sms-facebook-whatsapp

    Youth are adopting new technology faster and smarter than the general population. We know this anecdotally and witness it in our daily lives as we interact with youth in our communities. But what does this mean for development, and how do we harness it our youth-focused programming? Some new learnings from Jordan provide guidance on how to make the most of ICT for the mobile-first generation.

    What Youth Are Using These Days

    A recent survey of rural youth conducted by DAI’s Jordan Workforce Development Project and partner Souktel Digital Solutions in the Zarqa, Marqa, Irbid and Tafilah Governorates found that:

    • 93% of surveyed youth had access to a mobile phone
    • 76% had access to a smartphone
    • 82% used WhatsApp on a regular basis
    • 86% used Facebook on a regular basis
    • As a preferred means of communication and information sharing/gathering: 52% preferred Facebook, 35% preferred WhatsApp, and 3% preferred SMS.

    These statistics aren’t coming from Jordan’s high-income minority: Survey participants were marginalized youth, in government training programs, in the poorest and most rural governorates. These numbers may surprise you. They certainly surprised us.

    How We Adapted

    This type of quick and dirty data collection enabled us to make rational, end user- and data-driven decisions about what type of ICT interventions would make the most impact for our target population.

    For example: we are augmenting our SMS and IVR platforms by building WhatsApp-based solutions, investing in training, and pushing forward policy reforms to enable these centers to leverage the technologies their youth stakeholders use and love – social media and WhatsApp.

    We are working with training centers to ensure their staff have the skills to use these tools, to enhance not only their communications and outreach – but also facilitate their mentoring, teaching and student and alumni support. Many of the ideas and techniques come from training institute teachers we spoke to during the survey process.

    These enterprising teachers saw the significant role social media played in their students’ lives and seized the opportunity to use it for class communications and management. What we are now working to do is successfully institutionalize that behavior.

    We All Need to Adapt

    Without this survey, we might have made some incomplete ICT choices with limited durability and sustainability. The first step in every ICT4D project design process should be a field assessment to gather real-time information on what, how and why your target audience uses technology.

    Technology adoption moves far too fast for us to believe that what we proposed in an RFP response two years ago is still accurate.

    An initial investment in user surveying helps avoid the poor resource allocation choices that happen when projects invests in obsolete or little-used technologies due to lack of up-to-date information. Social media won’t always be the answer – with kids these days, the next best thing is always around the corner.

    By Kristen Roggemann, Principal Mobile Solutions Specialist at DAI

    Go to SourceReprinted from ICTWorks

    Related Posts

    • Powering up Africa through innovationPowering up Africa through innovation
    • Photo story: Busting soil myths in TanzaniaPhoto story: Busting soil myths in Tanzania
    • Malawi: Minister Says Science and Technology Crucial for the Country’s Economic DevelopmentMalawi: Minister Says Science and Technology Crucial for the Country’s Economic Development
    • SA satellite manufacturer taken over by the StateSA satellite manufacturer taken over by the State
    • Research: Middle Managers Have an Outsized Impact on InnovationResearch: Middle Managers Have an Outsized Impact on Innovation
    • WHY AFRICA NEEDS MORE INVESTMENT IN INNOVATION, DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGYWHY AFRICA NEEDS MORE INVESTMENT IN INNOVATION, DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
    Sovrn
    Share

    Categories: ICT

    Tags: Communications Platform

    From Epidemic Meningitis Vaccines for Africa to the Meningitis Vaccine Project. Check Out Inveneo’s New Solar Powered Digital Library Kit

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

Subscribe to our stories


 

Recent Posts

  • Entrepreneurial Alertness, Innovation Modes, And Business Models in Small- And Medium-Sized Enterprises December 30, 2021
  • The Strategic Role of Design in Driving Digital Innovation June 10, 2021
  • Correction to: Hybrid mosquitoes? Evidence from rural Tanzania on how local communities conceptualize and respond to modified mosquitoes as a tool for malaria control June 10, 2021
  • BRIEF FOCUS: Optimal spacing for groundnuts in smallholder farming systems June 9, 2021
  • COVID-19 pandemic: impacts on the achievements of Sustainable Development Goals in Africa June 9, 2021

Categories

Archives

Popular Post-All time

  • A review on biomass-based... 1k views
  • Apply Now: $500,000 for Y... 798 views
  • Can blockchain disrupt ge... 797 views
  • Test Your Value Propositi... 749 views
  • Prize-winning projects pr... 722 views

Recent Posts

  • Entrepreneurial Alertness, Innovation Modes, And Business Models in Small- And Medium-Sized Enterprises
  • The Strategic Role of Design in Driving Digital Innovation
  • Correction to: Hybrid mosquitoes? Evidence from rural Tanzania on how local communities conceptualize and respond to modified mosquitoes as a tool for malaria control
  • BRIEF FOCUS: Optimal spacing for groundnuts in smallholder farming systems
  • COVID-19 pandemic: impacts on the achievements of Sustainable Development Goals in Africa
  • Explicit knowledge networks and their relationship with productivity in SMEs
  • Intellectual property issues in artificial intelligence: specific reference to the service sector
  • Africa RISING publishes a livestock feed and forage production manual for Ethiopia
  • Transforming crop residues into a precious feed resource for small ruminants in northern Ghana
  • Photo report: West Africa project partners cap off 2020 with farmers field day events in Northern Ghana and Southern Mali

Tag Cloud

    africa African Agriculture Business Business model Business_Finance Company Crowdsourcing data Development East Africa economics Education Entrepreneur entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship ethiopia ghana Health_Medical_Pharma ict Information technology Innovation kenya knowledge Knowledge Management Leadership marketing mobile Mobile phone nigeria Open innovation Organization Research rwanda science Science and technology studies social enterprise social entrepreneurship south africa Strategic management strategy tanzania Technology Technology_Internet uganda

Categories

Archives

  • A review on biomass-based hydrogen production for renewable energy supply 1k views
  • Apply Now: $500,000 for Your Big Data Innovations in Agriculture 798 views
  • Can blockchain disrupt gender inequality? 797 views
  • Test Your Value Proposition: Supercharge Lean Startup and CustDev Principles 749 views
  • Prize-winning projects promote healthier eating, smarter crop investments 722 views

Copyright © 2005-2020 Innovation Africa Theme created by PWT. Powered by WordPress.org