What is Info Poverty? (Written By Mitch Roberson)

Recently I was asked to present at the United  Nations during the 13th
Infopoverty World Conference. This sounded very interesting  but I wondered what this conference really was about. The title told me  a little bit but to be honest I accepted the opportunity and began to prepare  without fully understanding what I would encounter. The topic I was asked to  present on was alternative connectivity methods in country’s with limited  connectivity. If you want to see the presentation it was recorded and can be  found here: 
http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/watch/3rd-4th-plenary-13th-infopoverty-world-conference:-ict-innovations-for-nation-building-and-the-empowerment-of-people/2253228969001

 I am about 2 hours and 25-27 min into the video you should be
able to scroll through to that time and watch my speech. However, that is not
the purpose of this post. 

So back to the question, what is Infopoverty? Well, in today’s  day and age we are overloaded with information, from the moment we wake up you  can have instant access to the latest news, sports and weather.  Our  phones are so smart now you can be in constant contact with work, friends and  family, even if you don’t always want to be. But, can you imagine being in an  area that has no connectivity at all?  Totally or completely deprived of  Information and Communication from the outside world except for when someone  visits? This is what Infopoverty is about, the lack of availability of  information.

 At the conference  we were focused on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s).   One of the story’s I heard was  from Dr. John Steffens of the Infopoverty Institute based out of Oklahoma City.  He was talking about a school that the head master had called and asked him to  obtain computers for his school. John worked with other organizations to deliver  several computers (not sure about the total number) the head master called him  to let him know the computers arrived. The village had a huge party and parade to welcome the computers to the School. Everyone was excited however they were  not able to use the computers because they had no power. 

My first thought was, “What?” you mean that someone did not even  think to ask if they had power? Of course this is my ignorance showing through.
Dr. Steffens continued to explain the Education Minister from that country came to the school and was amazed they had computers even when they did not have the power to turn them on. Because of this the Education Minister and others helped negotiate the power connection down to half of the original cost.  Last  thing Dr. Steffens heard was they were still negotiating the power connection  but it had come down significantly. 

Little did I know that delivering the computers even though there
was not power would ultimately help the school and possibly the entire village
receive power before others. David Neely the CEO of Affecting Change
International often talks about how important it is to part with the local
community to be sure that whatever project you are doing is really what the
village needs.  Sometimes what we think they need is not what they really need at all.  In some cases we may even think the request is outlandish. But this shows that  partnering with the Head master of the school and delivering what he asked  assisted in way more than just having a couple of computers.