Jim Witkin wrote on Triplepundit a very interesting story about social ecology as one of the five pillars of sustainability. Jim refers to work of Walter Stahel — one of the founders of the sustainability movement.
[by way of Christian Kreutz Bookmarks on Delicio.us]
Many of the initiatives addressing the issues of social ecology rely on bringing modern technologies — like cell phones, computers, and Internet access — to populations in need. These initiatives are helping to “bridge the digital divide” and are often referred to as ICT4D (Information and Communication Technologies for Development). ICTs are used either directly by the disadvantaged population in some manner, or can be used to assist aid organizations and NGOs to improve socio-economic conditions. We can’t remember what our lives were like before the use computers and mobile phones; we often take these tools for granted, but for many people in developing regions these communication tools can have a profound impact on improving their lives and communities.
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“The good news: recognizing the widespread use of mobile phones even in the most remote areas, several non-profits are helping to grow this “Social Mobile” space, providing simple tools and basic training to grassroots NGOs. One of the more prominent non-profits in this space is kiwanja.net, founded by Ken Banks who offers an explanation for his focus on mobile phones, “Clearly, mobile phones are relatively cheap (when compared to personal or laptop computers, anyway). They are small and portable, have good battery life, provide instant voice communications, have SMS functionality at the very least… What’s more, hundreds of millions of some of the poorest members of society either own one or have access to one. No other two-way communications technology comes close.”
译文:
短信填平数字鸿沟
吉姆·威特金在Triplepundit网站上发表过一篇关于社会生态学的趣文，将社会生态学列为可持续性的五个支柱之一。吉姆引用了可持续性理论运动创始人之一沃尔特·斯达尔的观点。
（源于克里斯汀·克鲁兹在Delicio.us上的书签）
许多人面对有待解决的社会生态问题上，起初都会依赖于将现代的科学技术--如手机、计算机以及网络--向大众推广。这些常规方法有助于填平数字鸿沟，也通常被称为ICT4D（促进发展的信息通信技术）。信息通信技术可以直接服务于弱势群体，亦可以协助援助机构和非政府组织改善社会经济条件。我们已忘记以前没有计算机和手机的生活是什么样子了，这些通讯工具对我们来说已经习以为常了，然而它们对于欠发达地区的人们生活水平的提高却有着深远的影响。
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值得高兴的是，一些非营利机构已经注意到手机的广泛使用--甚至是在甚为偏远的地区，并开始帮助建立社会移动空间，这就给新建的非政府组织提供了便捷的工具和基础培训。kiwanja.net是一个长久性非营利机构，它的创立人肯·班克斯解释了他对于手机的关注点，“很显然，手机价格较为低廉（当然，这是与计算机或笔记本电脑的价格相比较的结果）。手机小巧且便于携带，电池寿命可观，可进行即时语音通讯，况且还有收发短信功能......除此之外，最为贫困的社会里也有上亿人可以各自拥有或者可以使用到一部手机。再没有其他双向通讯技术可以与此相媲美的了。”