Krittika D'Silva
Aditya Vashistha
Gaetano Borriello
ABSTRACT
This paper describes the design and pilot deployment of a mobile application to support interactive voice forums, in which users can record messages and listen to messages that others have recorded. While such forums have typically relied on voice calls for participation, participation through a mobile application (and mobile Internet) can offer benefits in terms of costs, offline access to downloaded content, and supplements with other media types, such as photos. Using the Android platform, we implement an application to support CGNet Swara, a voice-based citizen journalism platform. We describe an early-stage pilot deployment that is already seeing unsupervised usage in rural India.
- Vashistha, A. and Thies W., (2012). IVR Junction: Building Scalable and Distributed Voice Applications in the Developing World. In NSDR 2012.Google Scholar
- "Emerging Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technology." Pew Research Centers Global Attitudes Project.Google Scholar
- Mudliar, P., Donner, J., and Thies, W., (2013). Emergent Practices Around CGNet Swara: A Voice Forum for Citizen Journalism in Rural India. In ITID 2013. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Smyth, T. N., Kumar, S., Medhi, I. and Toyama, K., (2010). Where There's a Will There's a Way: Mobile Media Sharing in Urban India. In CHI 2010. Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- A Mobile Application for Interactive Voice Forums: Design and Pilot Deployment in Rural India
Recommendations
Revisiting CGNet Swara and its impact in rural India
ICTD '15: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and DevelopmentCGNet Swara is a voice-based platform for citizen journalism, launched in rural India in 2010. Since then, CGNet Swara has logged over 575,000 phone calls, over 6,900 published stories, and 287 reports of specific problems that were solved via the ...
ICT-Enabled Grievance Redressal in Central India: A Comparative Analysis
ICTD '16: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and DevelopmentHelping citizens to resolve grievances is an important part of many e-governance initiatives. In this paper, we examine two contemporary initiatives that use ICTs to help citizens resolve grievances in central India. One system is a state-run call ...
Emergent practices around CGNet Swara, voice forum for citizen journalism in rural India
ICTD '12: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and DevelopmentRural communities in India are often underserved by the mainstream media. While there is a public discourse surrounding the issues they face, this dialogue typically takes place on television, in newspaper editorials, and on the Internet. Unfortunately, ...
Comments