Affordable Voice Services to Bridge the Digital Divide: Presenting the Kasadaka Platform

André Baart*, Anna Bon, Victor de Boer, Francis Dittoh, Wendelien Tuijp, Hans Akkermans

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Despite its global reach, the World Wide Web still fails to serve about 3 billion people, the majority living in the Global South, especially in poor, low-resource regions, where broadband internet is not expected to be rolled out in the foreseeable future. Yet, to bring the advantages of ICTs at the reach of communities in low-resource development regions, lightweight, affordable and context-aware ICT solutions are needed, that fit local needs and context. To this end the Kasadaka platform was developed. This platform supports easy creation of local-content and voice-based information services, targeting currently ‘unconnected’ populations, taking into account contextual and infrastructural requirements, and matching local ecosystems. The Kasadaka platform and its Voice Service Development Kit support the development of decentralized voice-based information services, to serve local populations and communities in their own local languages, in regions where Internet and Web are absent and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationWeb Information Systems and Technologies
Subtitle of host publication14th International Conference, WEBIST 2018, Seville, Spain, September 18–20, 2018, Revised Selected Papers
EditorsMaría José Escalona, Francisco Domínguez Mayo, Tim A. Majchrzak, Valérie Monfort
PublisherSpringer
Pages195-220
Number of pages26
ISBN (Electronic)9783030353308
ISBN (Print)9783030353292
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Event14th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies, WEBIST 2018 - Seville, Spain
Duration: 18 Sept 201820 Sept 2018

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Business Information Processing
Volume372 LNBIP
ISSN (Print)1865-1348
ISSN (Electronic)1865-1356

Conference

Conference14th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies, WEBIST 2018
Country/TerritorySpain
CitySeville
Period18/09/1820/09/18

Keywords

  • Digital Divide
  • Low literacy
  • Low-resource hardware
  • Services development software kit
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Voice-based services

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