Mobility, Community and Human Rights
Dois posts chamam a atenção para o uso de tecnologias móveis como ferramenta de luta pelos direitos humanos e de reforço comunitário. Como temos mostrado nesse Carnet, as tecnologias móveis, principalmente os celulares aliados a ferramentas da web 2.0, têm propiciado a criação de projetos que reforçam a dimensão local, os laços comunitários e ajudam a disseminar informações que são usadas como ferramentas de barganha política e de luta pelos direitos humanos.
O primeiro post vem do Rue89, pela pluma do jornalista Théophile Kouamouo, mostrando como as SMS são ferramentas de luta na África, através do projeto, Ushahidi, como mostramos em outro post desse Carnet.
Do Rue 89
Trechos:
“(…) La récente crise politique kenyane a profondément traumatisé la société civile de ce pays parmi les plus évolués d’Afrique. Plusieurs informaticiens et spécialistes d’Internet ont essayé de se rendre utiles dans ce contexte explosif. Parmi eux, deux hommes: Erik Hersman, très influent au sein de la blogosphère “techno” africaine, installé aux Etats-Unis après avoir grandi au Kenya et au Soudan, et David Kobia, serial entrepreneur du web. Ils ont eu une idée: combiner les avantages de la téléphonie mobile (dont l’usage s’est démocratisé en Afrique) et d’Internet; utiliser le mobile pour mieux recueillir à la base les témoignages concernant les exactions de part et d’autre, et le web pour mieux les dénoncer. C’est ainsi que le site Ushahidi est né.(…)”
O outro post vem do MediaShift Idea Lab, em texto de Paul Lamb, mostrando como as tecnologias móveis em colaboração podem reforçar os laços comunitários e questões locais. O autor mostra um projeto fictício, o LOCABEAT, mas que encontra eco em vários projetos do mesmo gênero ao redor do planeta. Vejam alguns posts do Carnet sobre esse tema.
Trechos:
“My name is Jose Gutierrez. I am 18 years old and live in East Oakland, off of International and 24th Streets. We don’t have a computer in my house, and other than Spanish language TV and radio we get all of our information on our mobile phones on LOCOBEAT (fictional).
– On my cell phone I have my neighborhood mapped out. I know which blocks to avoid because of gangbangers & drug dealers (and I get color coded updates from people in my neighborhood when violence happens to help me decide which places to avoid and which safe routes for my little brother Ernesto to take walking to school)
– neighborhood job openings appear on my **mobile map** as they are announced, and I get a text message alert when I walk by a store or and business on the street that has an opening.
– I belong to locobeat’s **social network** that let’s me know if I know anybody that knows the person who is looking to hire, and keeps me and my friends connected. We get alerts when friends or friends of friends are nearby and have a color coded system for people we don’t like or the cops come around.
– My friends and I **share and rate the music** of local rappers and Hip-Hop artists that we like, and we have created our own marketing business that lets everyone know when and where our favorites are playing. We also earn money from ringtone and song downloads, and can mix our own beats on the fly.
-My uncle Jaime is a day laborer, and he gets a text message in Spanish when a day job is available, that tells him where to go…so he doesn’t need to stand out on the street all day.
-My mom uses locobeat to get alerts about fresh vegetables or other things she likes to buy arrive at our local supermarket.
(…)
There are lots of great mobile projects and tools (i.e., mobile banking) aimed at the poor in the developing world, so why not in the US too? What are your ideas for a mobile future in low income and underserved communities, and anyone interested in working on a real LOCOBEAT?”