the digital birth of an african city @icegov2016, montevideo
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THE DIGITAL BIRTH OF AN AFRICAN CITY- Douala (Cameroon)
Marta Pucciarelli, Lorenzo Cantoni,Nadzeya Kalbaska
SUPSI – University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland
USI -Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano - Switzerland
ICEGOV 2016, Montevideo, Uruguay
ICEGOV 2016, Montevideo, Uruguay
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INFORMATION HIGHWAY?
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Increased individual use of the Internet
According ITU, individuals using the Internet in developing countries grown from 7.3% to 35.3% during the last fifteen years, while just in Africa they rose more then ten times, growing from 2.4% to 20.7%
In Cameroon Individual use of the Internet has increased more than twenty times, passing from 0.2% in 2000 to 11.0% in 2014
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PURPOSES OF THE RESEARCH
• to go in depth to the online presence of developing countries
• to focus on the online visibility of an African city (Douala, Cameroun)
• to explore the temporal (from 1989 to 2013) and spatial evolution of online stakeholders
• to evaluate whose voices are contributing to shape the digital city
ICEGOV 2016, Montevideo, Uruguay
ICEGOV 2016, Montevideo, Uruguay
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CONTEXT OF THE RESEARCH
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ICEGOV 2016, Montevideo, Uruguay
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS1. how the digital Douala has evolved during the
time?2. whose voices are contributing to shape the
digital Douala?3. where do they come from?4. what part of the city is represented/hidden
online?
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METHODOLOGY:Data Collection
(May-July 2014)
Keywords: name of the activityneighborhood
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METHODOLOGY:Data Collection
Activity category
Name activity
Neighbourhood
mail Online presence
Origin/headquarted
Website Social media
Year
Art galleries/museums
Espace doual’art Bonanjo yes yes www.doualar
t.org
www.facebook.com/pages/Doualart/352373388233581?ref=ts&fref=ts
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METHODOLOGY:Data Collection
Activity category
Name activity
Neighbourhood
mail Online presence
Origin/headquarted
Website Social media
Year
Art galleries/museums
Espace doual’art Bonanjo yes yes local www.doualar
t.org
www.facebook.com/pages/Doualart/352373388233581?ref=ts&fref=ts
From the official website
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METHODOLOGY:Data Collection
Activity category
Name activity
Neighbourhood
mail Online presence
Origin/headquarted
Website Social media
Year
Art galleries/museums
Espace doual’art Bonanjo yes yes local www.doualar
t.org
www.facebook.com/pages/Doualart/352373388233581?ref=ts&fref=ts
2007
From www.domain
tools.com
From the official websiteFrom Duouala Zoom
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METHODOLOGY:Data Cleaning
1. Data provided by the database were initially reported in more than one category (A) or their presence was not limited to a single area of the city (B).
A) Only the most fitting category was taken into consideration. B) All instances were kept only in the case where it was necessary to geo-localize their online presence on the map.
2. The database was also filtered from local and global platforms for website building (e.g weebly.com, overblog.com, popolus.org, webs.com, e-monsite.com)
3. Activities not considered:A) Those registered in 2014 b) When the registration year was unavailable.
METHODOLOGY:Data Analysis
Activity category
Name activity
Neighbourhood
mail Online presence
Origin Website Social media
Year
Art galleries/museums
Espace doual’art Bonanjo yes yes local www.doualar
t.org
www.facebook.com/pages/Doualart/352373388233581?ref=ts&fref=ts
2007
RQ2
Whose voices are contributing to shape the digital Douala? 20 macro-categories
Which areas of the city they are representing Visible and invisible
neighbourhoods
RQ4
Where do they come from?
local, national or international
origin
RQ3
How the digital Douala has evolved
during the time? 1989-2013; still pictures (2007-
2010-2013)
RQ1
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RESULTS: the digital Douala
4529 socio economic activities20 macro-categories
513 online presence = 11,37%467 websites 46 Facebook accounts
2590 email account = 57,19%
97 Having both
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RESULTS: Slow motion
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Online presence (Website/Facebook)
Online communication(email)
11.37%
57.19%
Online/offlineMacro-categories
88.63%
42.81%
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RESULTS: online presence of macro-category
150 online activities
5 online activities
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RESULTS: online presence of macro-category
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RESULTS: online presence of macro-category
47,8%Douala as
economic and commercial
capital
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RESULTS: online presence of macro-category
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RESULTS: online saturation of macro-
category27,5%23,8%
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67% local
100% international
RESULTS: online saturation of macro-
category
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67% local
100% international
Douala’s inhabitants use technology to find a job and, therefore, to build their own future.
RESULTS: online saturation of macro-
category
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14th
18th
RESULTS: online saturation of macro-
category
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RESULTS: online presence of macro-category
6.1%
9%8.3%6.5%
RESULTS: online saturation of macro-
category
8.3%6.5%
12.5%
10.9%
RESULTS: online saturation of macro-
category
8.3%6.5%
12.5%
10.9%
100% local
82% localtendency to go online of the categories linked to educational, social, cultural and urban activities.
RESULTS: online saturation of macro-
category
RESULTS: online saturation of macro-
category
RESULTS: online saturation of macro-
category
RESULTS: online saturation of macro-
category
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RESULTS: offline visible space
118 neighbourhoods
53 present socioeconomic activities
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RESULTS: online visible space
118 neighbourhoods
53 present socioeconomic activities
36 present online activities2 neighbourhoods represent 50.3% of the whole online presence of the city
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RESULTS: online saturation of visible
space2 neighbourhoods (Akwa and Bonanjo) reaches 12.3% and 19.2% of online saturation
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CONCLUSIONS• Holistic approach (including time and space) on representing the picture of a
digital city
• How it’s online representations is produced and what are the relationships with the physical city
• The least represented online neighborhoods are indeed the most marginal zones of the city
• The online visibility of the most popular categories (Retailers, Bank and insurance, Import-export) within the economic capital, along with the most popular parts of the city does not result in higher online saturation.
• Where there is little activity formally registered (education, art and entertainment), the greater is the effort and motivation to communicate their online presence.
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QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS?
Marta Pucciarelli [email protected]
www.unescochair.usi.ch