information and communication ... -...

Information and Communication Technology in Emerging Markets:

Central Asia

CAICT Project

Principal Investigators: Drs. Beth Kolko, Eric McGlinchey, Jan Spyridakis

Graduate Research Assistants: Shoshana Billik, Kathleen Gygi, Erica Johnson, Emma Rose, Carolyn Wei

Undergraduate Research Assistants: Mark Licata, Odina Salihbaeva, Desiree Willis

Funded by NSF Grant #NSF-0326101

Overview

•Introduction

•Internet use

•Culture and the Internet

•Future Implications

Young girl in a computer lab in Uzbekistan.Photo: www.irex.org/eurasia.

Project BackgroundThe Central Asia + Information and Communication Technology (CAICT) Project has many ongoing research areas:

• Mobile phone use in Uzbekistan• Central Asian chat sites and forums• Regional surveys of information-seeking

patterns and interaction with technology• Interviews of teachers, healthcare

professionals, IT professionals and businesspeople

• Regional analysis of internet access points

Who are Central Asian Internet users?

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25

50

75

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Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Uzbekistan

Countries

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Figure 1. Percentage of respondents who go online to access the Internetn = 1000 for all countries.

Students in a computer lab in Termiz, Uzbekistan.

Photo: Carolyn Wei

Who are Central Asian Internet users? (cont’d)

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0

5

10

15

20

25

Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Uzbekistan

Country

Perc

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womenmen

Figure 2. Internet Usage by GenderKz women: n = 523. Kz men: n = 477. Kg women: n = 563. Kg men: n = 437. Tj women: n = 482. Tj men: n = 518. Uz women: n = 536. Uz men: n = 464.

Who are Central Asian Internet users? (cont’d)

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Upper Middle Lower

Figure 3. Percentage of Internet users by socioeconomic status in KazakhstanUpper: n = 26. Middle: n = 820. Lower: n = 150.

Where do they access the Internet?

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30

40

50

60

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Internet café WorkSchoolHomeFriend or relative's homeNGO or public access pointHome officeAt spouse's workLibraryDon't know/refused

Internet café in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Photo: Carolyn Wei.

Figure 4. Internet use by location n =1000 for all countries.

School computer lab in Qarshi, Uzbekistan. Photo: Carolyn Wei.

How are they using the Internet?

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Uzbekistan

Tajikistan

Kygyzstan

Kazakhstan

Several times a day

Once a day

3-5 times a week

1-2 days a week

Every few weeks

Less often

Figure 5. Frequency of Internet use. n =1000 for all countries.

How are they using the Internet? (cont’d)

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w atching movies

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Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Uzbekistan

Figure 6. Mean number of users performing various tasks at access points at time of visit. ‘n’ = the number of visits recorded. Kazakhstan: n = 17. Kyrgyzstan: n = 262. Tajikistan: n = 82. Uzbekistan: n = 77.

How are they using the Internet? (cont’d)Several trends in Internet usage are occurring in Central Asia:

•Type of activity varies by country

•Most users access the Internet once or twice a week

•Many people use chat sites and online forums to talk to friends and voice their opinions

Kyrgyz chat site Shalash. http://chat.kg.

How does Internet use interact with culture?

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100Pe

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tage very untrustworthy

untrustworhtytrustworthyvery trustworthy

KyrgyzstanKazakhstan Tajikistan Uzbekistan

Figure 7. Trustworthiness of information from the Internetn = 1000 for all countries.

How does Internet use interact with culture? (cont’d)

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33.3

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63.2

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yes

no

Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Uzbekistan

Figure 8. Percentage of Internet users who think that the Internet gives people a voice in politics.

n = 1000 for all countries.

How does Internet use interact with culture? (cont’d)

0

20

40

60

80

100Pe

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tage

strongly disagree

disagree

agree

strongly agree

Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Uzbekistan

Figure 9. Level of agreement with the phrase “The government monitors Internet activity”

n = 1000 for all countries.

How does Internet use interact with culture? (cont’d)

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100

Perc

enta

ge strongly disagree

disagree

agree

strongly agree

Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Uzbekistan

Figure 10. Level of agreement with the phrase “The Internet contains a great deal of immoral material”n = 1000 for all countries.

Future Implications•Informing design processes in Central Asia and other emerging markets•Documenting and understanding information seeking behavior•Creating ICT for Development projects•Developing localized software and access points based on culture

Internet café. Photo: Beth Kolko