Convergence of Radio and Mobile Telephony - Any Effects on Rural Access, Habits and Development?

BoldSteps Ghana is a non-governmental organisation that aims at providing information to accelerate development in rural areas in Northern Ghana using information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) tools. One of the ways of doing this is to research specific areas and later find ways of disseminating customised versions of the findings to target groups. Research on the Impact of the Convergence of Traditional Radio and Newer ICTs ran from July 2010 to June 2011. This document summarises the findings of a series of focus group discussions involving organised women's associations in rural areas.

Discussions described within this blog report primarily raised questions on the women's use of mobile telephony in conjunction with traditional radio, in order to contribute to station programming, make announcements, or otherwise broadcast communications throughout the listening area.  Participant impressions on the effect of radio broadcasting on local and regional policy-making was discussed as well, as a means of identifying the importance of radio in their lives and the likelihood of further contributions from the women in the study groups.

From the discussion results, the author suggests that no correlation exists between use of mobile devices and contribution to radio content for reasons of cost and interest. The author further suggests that when compared to similar studies involving a broader demographic, which responded with higher levels of participation to radio content, that rural women are particularly less connected technologically and separated from overall social norms.