Enhancing Empowerment in Social Life Networks Tamara Ginige 42760100

1. Enhancing Empowerment in Social Life Networks Tamara Ginige 42760100 Supervisor – Prof Deborah Richards

2. Outline • Overall objective of the collaborative project • Main focus of my research within the collaborative project • User Empowerment • Key Problem – Overall project • Possible solution • Social Networks and Social Life Networks • Research Approach • Progress in the last six months • High Level Conceptual Architecture of Mobile Based Information System • Research plan for next year

3. Overall objective of the collaborative project • To investigate how to develop a Mobile Based Information System (MBIS) to assist the livelihood of people in developing countries using a new concept called Social Life Networks (SLN).

4. Main focus of my research in the collaborative project • To investigate how to design, implement and evaluate software applications in the proposed Mobile Based Information System to facilitate processes to empower individuals and community. • This research will produce • an empowerment model • a software artefact

5. User Empowerment and Empowerment Theory • User empowerment is a process. • Via that process individuals learn to see a closer correspondence between • their goals and sense of how to achieve them • their efforts and life outcomes1 • The empowerment theory suggests that actions, activities or structures may be empowering, and the outcome of each process results in a level of being empowered2 • 1Mechanic, D. (1991). "Adolescents at risk: New Directions." Seventh Annual Conference on Health Policy12(8): 638-643 • 2Zimmerman, M. A. (1988). "Citizen participation, perceived control and psychological empowerment " American Journal of Community Psychology16(5): 725-750

6. Empowerment Processes and Outcomes

7. Key Problem – Overall Project • Sri Lankan farmers do not have easy access to farming information. • Information required: • Dynamic: market prices, supply and demand situations for their produce, farming hands, weather patterns • Static: pests, fertilizer, soil types, seeds, transportation • Un-informed decision making • Leads to financial hardship, feeling helpless, frustrated and less empowered

8. Key Problem • Example: • Growing the same crop in an area the same season • Taking these crops to the local market at the same time • Outcome • Oversupply • Wastage

9. Current Information exchange among farmers

10. New opportunities to solve the problem and enhance empowerment • There are new opportunities to solve this problem using • Widespread use of mobile phones • Features of Web 2.0 • Social Networks

11. Mobile Growth in the World Growth of Mobile Phone Usage Penetration by Continents

12. Mobile Growth in Sri Lanka • 80% of the population uses a mobile phone1 • ICT usage of farmers2: • 6% of farmers use computers • 68% of farmers own a mobile phone • 1Telecommunications. (2011). "Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka." Retrieved 28/11/2011, from http://www.trc.gov.lk/information/statistics.html • 2Lokanathan, S. and N. Kapugama (2012). Smallholders and Micro-enterprises in Agriculture. Knowledge-based Economies. Colombo, Sri Lanka, LIRNEasia.

13. Web 1.0 and User Empowerment via Web 2.0 • Web 1.0 • Two groups: Information consumers and information producers • Web 2.0 • Two groups started to merge. • Information consumers have become information producers -> can lead to user empowerment • Results of this empowerment : Blogs and wikis, and websites such as Wikipedia and YouTube • Micro-blogs • Information aggregation

14. Social Networks Connecting People

15. Social Life Networks - SLN Connecting People and Public Resources

16. Creating a better market dispersion Land Market A Market Farmer A Mkt B Farmer B Farmer C Market C

17. Review of available mobile applications There is no user empowerment in these mobile applications.

18. User Empowerment

19. Research Approach • Design science research approach will be used. • Relevance of the problem • Literature review • Design and implementation of empowerment model as an artefact • How to test the artefact • Field testing of the artefact • Evaluation of results • Design changes and continuation of iterative process

20. Progress - last six months • Technology Review • Social Networks, User empowerment through use of Web 2.0, Growth of micro blogging, Social Life Networks, Available mobile applications • Review of information and empowerment needs of farmers • Focus group meetings, surveys, reports • Future interview with other researchers in Sri Lanka - Ethics application has been submitted • Review of empowerment theory and other empowerment studies • Publication of a poster and two international conference papers • Involvement in the design of high level conceptual architecture for Mobile Based Information System

21. High Level Conceptual Architecture of MBIS

22. Collaborative Research Team Information Aggregation Unit by the American research group Mobile User Interface by the Italian research group Agriculture Ontology and localisation of application for SLN by the Sri Lankan research group Empowerment Model by Macquarie University KM and Query Engine by UWS

23. Research Plan – Next 12 months • Analyse of information and empowerment needs of farmers • Design and implementation of possible processes for empowerment • Publication of results in an International Conference

24. Thank You.