7th IDIA (International Development Informatics Association) Conference, on Public and private access to ICTs in developing regions. Bangkok, Thailand. 1-3 November 2013

1. WHAT DO WE
KNOW
ABOUT
DOUALA?
ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN AND ABOUT
THE LARGEST CAMEROONIAN CITY
IDIA Conference,
Bangkok, Thailandia
1 November 2013
Marta Pucciarelli
Amalia Sabiescu
Lorenzo Cantoni
New Media in Education Laboratory
Faculty of Communication Sciences
USI, Lugano, Switzerland

2. RESEARCH PURPOSE
Explore what “access to knowledge” means in the city of Douala, by framing
challenges and tendencies in the production and distribution of oral, printed
and digital information.

3. ACCESS TO..
INFORMATION OR KNOWLEDGE?
Knowledge is
contextualized, alive,
embedded in social
practices and
produced in
performative settings,
while information is a
set of representations
or abstractions of
prior episodes of
knowledge production
(Christie, 2004)

4. ACCESS AS..
PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF:
• Human knowledge (education, skills, know-how and human
capital);
• Information (including news, data, and information of public
concern, such as data about government and its activities);
• Knowledge-embedded goods (such as software);
• Tools for producing knowledge and knowledge-embedded
goods (e.g. communication technologies)
(Shaver & Rizk, 2010)

5. WARSCHAUER’S
MODEL:
PRINTED
&
DIGITAL
INFORMATION

6. WHY
DOUALA?
DOUALA

7. METHODOLOGY
1. Desk research (mainly scouting digital resources)
looking at information about the cultural and safety
context of the city
2. Ethnographic observation
3. Interviews (n. 40)
4. Questionnaires (n. 200)
Two months fieldwork
(Dec. 2012 – Jan. 2013)

8. KNOWLEDGE EMBEDDED
IN THE ORAL TRADITION
TOPONYMES

9. KNOWLEDGE
EMBEDDED IN
THE ORAL
TRADITION
RADIO PROGRAMS
TV SERIES
Produced and broadcasted in
Douala for a local audience

10. ACCESS TO WRITTEN
INFORMATION
Physical resources
Challenges
Tendencies
• No public library: students’
library of the University of
Douala
•
Foreign and private libraries
•
Poor commerce of books in
Douala.
•
Cameroonian publications in
limited editions due to the high
production costs
• Three bookstores, expensive
books, no academic
bookshops
• Only one Cameroonian
publishing house

11. ACCESS TO WRITTEN
INFORMATION

12. ACCESS TO WRITTEN
INFORMATION
Physical resources: Challenges &
Tendences
Centre of Documentation and Information : the municipal archive
“(t)here is no standard of relevance in the research and selection of
content: pieces of information are picked up from national journals and
international magazines and added to the related shelf”

13. ACCESS TO WRITTEN
INFORMATION
Contents: Challenges
• Printed media
controlled by the state
• Rare and expensive
books
• “Access to information
for education in
Cameroon is a
personal affair”

14. ACCESS TO WRITTEN
INFORMATION
Contents: Tendencies
• Documentation on Douala
produced by foreigners
• Few private initiatives
 DOUALA VILLE D’ART ET
D’HISTOIRE (doual’art)

15. ACCESS TO WRITTEN
INFORMATION
Human resource
• Deficit of 30.000 teachers  spread corruption
• Lack of meticulous archival work  problems of
communication
• Education Development Capacity Building project (World bank)
 in 2013, government performance rated as MODERATELY
UNSATISFACTORY

16. ACCESS TO WRITTEN
INFORMATION
Social resource
No public interest and initiative in providing access to information
• No policy, law or official text regulates the issue of libraries and
books.
• No public financial support to infrastructures, contents
production and training
Diffused private repetitions activities

17. ACCESS TO DIGITAL
INFORMATION
Physical resources
Challenges
• No regular electricity
• High cost of computers and Internet fees
• Lack of low-bandwidth of Internet connection
Tendencies
• Diffusion of telecenter and second-hand
computers
• Diffusion of Internet keys and 3G mobile
solutions

18. ACCESS TO DIGITAL
INFORMATION
Physical resources: tendencies

19. ACCESS TO DIGITAL
INFORMATION
Physical resources: tendencies
Mobile
owners

20. ACCESS TO DIGITAL
INFORMATION
Physical resources: tendencies
Smartphone
owners
Mobile
owners

21. ACCESS TO DIGITAL
INFORMATION
Physical resources: tendencies
Accessing
Internet
Smartphone
owners
Mobile
owners

22. ACCESS TO DIGITAL
INFORMATION
Contents: challenges
Poor online information on Douala
• Wikipedia
• Public websites
• Tourism websites
Tendencies
• Private initiatives
• Open Education Resources

23. ACCESS TO DIGITAL
INFORMATION
Human resources
Challenges
“(B)oth teacher trainers and in service teachers are computer
illiterates; illiteracy at the school level (teachers and head
teachers) was estimated at 96%. There is no public or private ICT
pedagogic training centre within the national territory, conducting
training for educators at various levels.” (Ndongfack, 2007, p. 10)

24. ACCESS TO DIGITAL
INFORMATION
Human resources
Tendencies
• Strategy for implementing the basic education sector ICT policy in
Cameroon 2007-2012
• Programme officiel d’informatique pour le premier et le second cycle de
l’enseignement général et les ENIEG (2010)
Not implemented homogeneously in
private and in public schools
• National Program for Governance and Strategic Management (2011)
WikiAfrica Cameroun and Wiki Love Monument training

25. ACCESS TO DIGITAL
INFORMATION
Social resources
Challenges
• Bureaucracy, lack of communication between public departments
• Network connectivity (512 k/s)
• Little motivation in the demand and production of information
Tendencies
• Free access to Wikipedia through
mobile phones
• Asian market of smartphones
• Mobile for leisure
• Telecenter for mobile services

26. DISCUSSION &
CONCLUSION
• The predominance of orality and of the role of the civil society
as holder and custodian of city growth and knowledge
• The interplay between information production and information access.
Need to invest in documenting the city in parallel with efforts for
improving access to information
• From oral to digital and the written media gap
• Potential of radio BUT limited scope of outreach
• Investments in digital production of information;
• Locals access digital content using private connections and telecentres;
• Usage of mobile phones for accessing leisure content (video streaming
and music) which once again suggests synergies with an oral culture.
• Private vs. public access

27. THANK YOU!
QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS?
Marta Pucciarelli
marta.pucciarelli@usi.ch