The geography of published and codified knowledge has always had stark core-periphery patterns. Just look at the below map of where academic articles are published from. However, increasing digital connectivity has sparked many hopes for the democratization of information and knowledge production in economically peripheral parts of the world. If you can access the sum… Read More »
This is a short post about the research that I lead into digital work and the digital economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. The work that I do (in tandem with my Geonet colleagues) specifically looks at the growth of digital gig economy and the business process outsourcing activities in four African countries namely South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria… Read More »
Data Scientist/Data Hacker Oxford Internet Institute, 1 St Giles, Oxford Grade 7: £31,076 – £38,183 p.a. The Oxford Internet Institute is a leading centre for research into individual, collective and institutional behaviour on the Internet. We seek a full-time Data Scientist to work with Professor Mark Graham on two projects: (1) the University of Oxford… Read More »
In this year’s Development Studies Association Conference, we will present a paper titled ‘Measuring the Hidden Contours of the Global Knowledge Economy with a Digital Index’. In this paper we propose a Digital Knowledge Economy Index, which combines traditional data sources with bespoke data on capacities and skills (measured via content-creation and participation on digital platforms)… Read More »
As part of the Green Templeton College Future of Work Programme we are bringing together leading researchers to consider the ways in which digitalisation and the internet are globally transforming work, employment and labour markets. This one-day conference features: Professor Saskia Sassen (Columbia University) and Professor Linda McDowell (University of Oxford) on digital work and exploitation;… Read More »
Who could possibly be against free internet access? This is the question that Mark Zuckerberg asks in a piece for the Times of India in which he claims Facebook’s Free Basics service “protects net neutrality”. Free Basics is the rebranded Internet.org, a Facebook operation where by partnering with local telecoms firms in the developing world… Read More »
With tech entrepreneurship on the rise across Africa, efforts to support the agenda are evolving and diversifying. There has been quite a bit of debate—sometimes of the heated kind—about whether incubators, hubs, labs, and other support organizations work. In my view, what’s often missing from such discussions is a deeper understanding of what a hub… Read More »