Participatory Web 2.0 for development (in short Web2forDev) was a term coined around 2007-2008 to describe new ways of employing legemvweb services, in order to improve information sharing and collaborative production of content in the context of

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

work. Emerging developments in participatory Web and user-generated content platforms were seen to create conditions by which actors in development could easily relate to other stakeholders, have selective access to information, produce and publish their own content and redistribute pieces of content released by others. At this time, new social tools, such as wikis, blogs, and other user-generated content platforms, were first being considered for their ability to help development actors integrate, combine, aggregate, generate, moderate and mediate content. In a typical Web2forDev scenario data and/or functionalities from a number of free/low cost online applications are combined and served as mashups thus ensuring a wide range of online services at low cost. The term is no longer used in the development informatics or ICT4D fields.

History

Web2forDev was first used as a term at the Web2forDev International Conference organised by CTA and other development partners in Rome at FAO in September 2007. The event was organised by The Association for Progressive Communications, The ACP Secretariat, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) ACP-EU, Euforic,

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH,

International Fund for Agricultural Development The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD; french: link=no, Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA)) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to addres ...

, International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD),

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thr ...

and Université Cheikh Anta DIOP.

Technology Overview

Open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized so ...

and proprietary, free or low-cost interactive user centered applications that promote communication, online collaboration, sharing information,

user Ancient Egyptian roles * User (ancient Egyptian official), an ancient Egyptian nomarch (governor) of the Eighth Dynasty * Useramen, an ancient Egyptian vizier also called "User" Other uses * User (computing), a person (or software) using an ...

empowerment, and

social networking A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for ...

. Considering the constraints which affect many developing countries, Web2forDev applications are usually low-bandwidth friendly. There's a revolution that is vitally transforming the way business and enterprise utilize the Web. Something like an enormous software upgrade for the entire Web and it's called Web 2.0. The web is shifting from just being an intermediate in which information is transmitted and consumed, into being a platform in which content is shaped, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along. Various companies have started understanding that the social side of change, including personal networks and developing trusting relationships, might prove to be the most powerful strategy for promotion. The new Web 2.0 Business ground rules include an increasing focus on knowledge, trust, relationships, and communities which in many senses is the true structure of today's organization. Web 2.0 applications are changing the way the world communicates allowing consumers to share opinions, wants, needs and motivations.

Usage

Web 2.0 Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, and ...

applications are used in the development sector for a number of purposes and by different actors. Examples are ... *

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

gateways are being used to distribute development-related information to people with access to mobile phones but without access to internet. Similarly, these gateways enable mobile phone users to make their presence on the internet by posting to blogs and online databases via sms, etc. * Tagging systems and content aggregation enable users with access to only low-

bandwidth Bandwidth commonly refers to: * Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range * Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...

to find quickly the information they are searching for, without having to navigate through many bandwidth-demanding websites. * Users with old computers can take advantage of some online applications which can process their computing tasks the way their computers never could (e.g. online version of

Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in rast ...

) * Users who don't own their own PCs are using online services to store all their data, such as emails, documents, photos, etc., thus having access to them from any computer connected to internet. That way, online storage spaces and related services substitute physical

hard drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with mag ...

spaces (PCs) which in many regions are shared by many users.

Works

The Machine is Us/ing Us
Educational video by prof Michael Wesch, Kansas State University

References

*Addison C. 2009. The two hands of Web2forDev: a conference summary. PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK *Kreutz. C. 2009. Exploring the potentials of blogging for development; PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK *Macqueen D. 2009. Web 2.0 tools to promote social networking for the Forest Connect alliance. PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK *Deh P. 2009. Promoting information-sharing in Ghana using video blogging; PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK *Samii R. 2009. Mobile phones: the silver bullet to bridge the digital divide? PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK *Corbett J. and Kulchyski T. 2009. Anti social-computing: indigenous language, digital video and intellectual property. PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK *Karamagi E. and Nakirya M. 2009. Tools for enhancing knowledge-sharing in agriculture: improving rural livelihoods in Uganda.PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK *Okolloh O. 2009. Ushahidi or ‘testimony’: Web 2.0 tools for crowdsourcing crisis information. PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK *Jon Corbett, Guy Singleton and Kado Muir. 2009. Web 2.0 for Aboriginal cultural survival: a new Australian outback movement. PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK *Esterhuysen A. 2009. Circling the point: from ICT4D to Web 2.0 and back again. PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK *Zuckerman E. 2009 Web 2.0 tools for development: simple tools for smart people. PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK *Barth A. and Rambaldi G. 2009. The Web2forDev story: towards a community of practice. PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK *Vickery G and Wunch-Vincent S. 2007
Participative Web and User-Created Content: Web 2.0, Wikies and Social networking
OECD *Graham M. 2008
Warped Geographies of Development: The Internet and Theories of Economic Development
Geography Compass 2(3). *Greyling E. and Smith R. 2008. An innovative ICT solution to steer rural communities to global understanding: a case study from Durban, South Africa. paper presented at the

IFLA World Library and Information Congress The World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) is an international conference held annually by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) for the library and information services sector. It brings together over 3 ...

: 74th IFLA General Conference and Council; 10-14 August 2008, Québec, Canada *Griffiths J. 2008. Web 2.0 is not about technology: it’s about human relationships; Market Leader *Thompson M. 2007. ICT and Development Studies: Towards Development 2.0; paper presented to DSA Annual Conference 2007, Brighton *van der Burg G. 2008. Harmonizing Knowledge Sharing for Development, An IGLOO Software White Paper Ashley H., Corbett J, Garside B, Jones D and Rambaldi G.2009. Change at hand: Web 2.0 for development, PLA issue 59, IIED/CTA, London, UK

External links

Association for Progressive Communications
Global Internet community for Environment, Human Rights, Development and Peace
DGroups
Development through dialogue
Euforic
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216011635/http://www.euforic.org/ , date=2008-12-16
International Institute for Communication and Development
Information and communication technologies for development Web 2.0