“My answer is influenced by where I stand: South Asia, with 1.5 billion people in economies growing fast, but still with the world’s largest concentration of poor people. The biggest challenge for communication scholarship is that of understanding how different groups in society deal with rapid change. The issues range from understanding the lack of trust in the political system, even in nominally democratic countries, to how families deal with extended separations they experience because of the massive growth of migrant labor. Many among the poor (and even the middle classes) are new to electronic connectivity. How does this ability to communicate cheaply across distance affect social, economic and political processes? Perhaps the last question is unique to my region, but the others are possibly not.”

The award honors one person each year whose work has had a demonstrable impact on practice outside the academy, with clear benefits to the community.

The award was presented to him by Patrice M. Buzzanell, President of the International Communication Association.

At the ceremony a brief statement about his accomplishments and the ways his work has had sustainable social benefits was presented by the ICA:

“Dr. Rohan Samarajiva has co-edited a volume, ICT Infrastructure in Emerging Asia: Policy and Regulatory Roadblocks, that exemplifies the intention of this award, i.e., to show ways in which a significant engagement with research can influence communication change. This work highlights a very important but often under-researched region focusing on five Aisan countries: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal and Sri Lanka… A central thread underpinning all the viewpoints provided in the book is that technology itself cannot improve access to ICTs; policy and regulatory reform is critical. In providing data that challenges the vested and frequently dysfunctional interests which have underpinned past and present governance structures, this important research becomes in itself a significant marker of ways to work towards policy and regulatory reform.”

The 2009 conference of the ICA, themed “Keywords in Communication” took place from 21-25 May 2009 in Chicago, USA. The ICA is an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching, and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication. The ICA is over 50 years old, beginning as a small association of U.S. researchers and is now an international association with more than 4,300 members in 70 countries. The ICA includes 24 divisions and interest groups, each representing a special subfield of communication processes and phenomena

KEYNOTE ADDRESS, Tim Kelly (infoDev, World Bank) | Presentation

SESSION 1: Mobile Internet Use, Chaired by Francois Bar (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California)

- The iPhone and Mobile Access to the Internet, Richard Ling (Telenor/IT University of Copenhagen) and Pål Roe Sundsøy | Paper | Presentation

- New Paths: Exploring Mobile-only Internet Use in South Africa, Jonathan Donner (Microsoft Research, India) and Shikoh Gitau (University of Cape Town) | Paper | Presentation

- Internet and Online Media Usage on Mobile Phones Among Low-Income Urban Youth in Cape Town, Tino Kreutzer (Center for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa) | Paper | Presentation

SESSION 2: Trends in Mobile Usage: Part I,  Chaired by Tim Kelly (infoDev, The World Bank)

- Mobile Phones Use and Social Network Development Among Small Malaysian Retailers,  Tom Erik Julsrud, Grace Roldan and Andrew Wong (Telenor Research & Innovation, Norway and Malaysia) | Paper | Presentation

- Social Influence in Mobile Phone Adoption: Evidence from the Bottom of Pyramid,   Harsha de Silva and Dimuthu Ratnadiwakara  (LIRNEasia, Sri Lanka) | Paper | Presentation

- Education, Mobile Phone Use and Production Decisions: A Rural Case Study in Peru, Aileen  Agüero (DIRSI – Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (IEP), Peru) | Paper | Presentation

SESSION 3:  Trends in Mobile Usage: Part II, Chaired by Rohan Samarajiva (LIRNEasia)

- Mobile Teens in Taiwan, Yi-Fan Chen (Department of Communication and Theatre Arts, College of Arts and Letters, Old Dominion University, USA) | Paper | Presentation

- The Strategic Use of Mobile Phones Among Poor People in Some Latin American Countries, Luis Fernando Gamboa (Department of Economics, Universidad del Rosario, Colombia) | Paper | Presentationarno

- Mobile Phones and Migrant Workers in Malaysia, Grace Roldan (Telenor Research & Innovation Centre Asia Pacific, Malaysia)| Paper | Presentation

SESSION 4:  Mobiles and Social Networking, Chaired by Grace Roldan (Telenor Research and Innovation Asia Pacific)

- Camera Phone and Photography Among French Young Users, Corinne Martin (CREM Metz University, France) | Paper | Presentation

- Political Involvement in “Mobilized” Society: The Interactive Relationships Among Mobile Communication, Social Network Characteristics, and Political Life, Scott Campbell and Nojin Kwak (Department of Communication Studies, University of Michigan, USA) | Paper | Presentation

- Navigating Expansive Social Horizons: The Social Utility of Mobile Phone E-mail Among Japanese Youth, Jeffrey Boase (Department of Communication, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA) and Mito Akiyoshi (Senshu University, Japan) | Paper | Presentation

- GPS Mobile Social Networks: Reexamining Our Interactions with Urban Space, Lee Humphreys (Department of Communication, Cornell University, USA) | Paper | Presentation

SESSION 5:  New Mobile Applications: Mobile Health, Education, News and Information Services, Chaired by Harsha de Silva (LIRNEasia)

- Perceptions of the Mobile Device as a News Medium from a Cross-cultural Perspective, Oscar Westlund (Department of Journalism and Mass communication, Göteborg University, Sweden) | Paper | Presentation

- CellBazaar, a Mobile-based E marketplace: Success Factors and Potential for Expansion, Ayesha Zainudeen , Rohan Samarajiva and Nirmali Sivapragasam (LIRNEasia, Sri Lanka) | Paper | Presentation

- The Aceh Besar Midwives with Mobile Phone Program: Design and Evaluation Perspectives Using the Information and Communication Technologies for Healthcare Model, Arul Chib (Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) | Paper | Presentation

- Mobile Voices: A Mobile, Open Source, Popular Communication Platform for First-Generation Immigrants in Los Angeles, Francois Bar (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, USA), Melissa Brough  Sasha Costanza-Chock, Amanda Garces, Carmen Gonzalez, and Cara Wallis | Paper | Presentation

SESSION 6: Mobile TV and Cinema: Part I Chaired by Richard Ling (Telenor/IT University of Copenhagen)

- Comparison of Mobile TV in Singapore and Taiwan: A Social-technical System Approach, Trisha Tsui-Chuan Lin (Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) and Yu-Li Liu (National Chengchi University, Taiwan) | Paper | Presentation

- Towards A Realistic Assessment of Mobile TV Developments, Anders  Henten , Reza Tadayoni and Iwona Windekilde  (CMI, Aalborg University, Denmark) | Paper | Presentation

- “Lonely Adopters”? An Exploratory Study of Early Adopters of Mobile Television and their Mobile Phone Appropriation, Veronika Karnowski (Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft und Medienforschung, der LMU München, Germany), Thilo von Pape (Université Paul-Verlaine, Metz, France) and Werner  Wirth (Universität Zürich , Switzerland) | Paper | Presentation

- GPSFilm:  Location-Based Mobile Cinema, Scott Hessels (School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) | Paper | Presentation

- Mobile Communication Uses in Television Narratives: An Exploration of Apparatgeist Theory, Emil Bakke (Ohio University, USA) and L. Meghan Peirce (Ohio University, USA) | Paper | Presentation

SESSION 7:  New Concerns Arising from New Technology, Chaired by Robin Mansell (London School of Economics and Political Science)

- Problems with Digital Inclusion and Public/Privacy Issues of Mobile Technology, Muneo Kaigo (Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan) | Paper | Presentation

- The Social Life of Wireless Urban Spaces: Internet Use, Social Networks, and the Public Realm, Keith N. Hampton , Oren Livio and Lauren Sessions (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, USA) | Paper | Presentation

- Managing Mobility: Location-based Services and the Politics of Mobile Spaces, Heather Maguire (Communications & Culture, York University, Canada | Paper | Presentation

The draft program for this one-and-a-half day preconference is now available. Twenty five papers were selected through a peer-reviewed process; papers based on research in 15 countries in five continents in on various aspects of mobile usage will be presented. Registration can be completed through the ICA conference website.

Mobile2.0: Beyond Voice?

Mobile phones are becoming increasingly important in bringing people into the Information Society.  It is widely accepted that the inhabitants of the future household will carry mobile devices that will be capable of voice and data communication, information retrieval and forms of entertainment consumption. Mobiles are now (and will increasingly become) payment devices that can also send, process and receive voice, text as well as images; in the next few years they will also be capable of information-retrieval and publishing functions normally associated with the Internet. Through such services and applications, industry experts predict that many in emerging markets will experience the Internet, or ‘elements’ of the Internet for the first time through a mobile phone, rather than a PC; mobile payments, mobile social networking, SMS voting are just a few examples of some of these services and applications.

Emerging markets appear to be following a different trajectory from developed markets; while the latter are moving forward via triple- and quadruple-play scenarios, the former are moving on paths that involve mobile phones as the key platform for bringing people affordably into the Information Society; something we describe as “2.0.”

This preconference will draw together research constituting evidence for and against this emerging Mobile2.0 narrative in the context of the larger social-science understanding of mobile-use behavior.  The preconference will also contribute to understanding emerging mobile use patterns.

The keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Tim Kelly, Lead ICT Policy Specialist at the World Bank. Papers will be presented by academics from the US, as well as Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa.

The pre-conference is being organized by LIRNEasia (www.lirneasia.net).  For more information please contact sivapragasam[at]lirne.net

Draft program 1.7

ICA is an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching, and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication. The ICA is over 50 years old, begining as a small association of U.S. researchers and is now an international association with more than 4,300 members in 70 countries. The ICA includes 24 divisions and interest groups, each representing a special subfield of communication processes and phenomena.

ICA holds an annual conference at which several hundred research papers are presented and over 2,000 scholars from all over the world participate. LIRNEasia will organise a 1.5 day preconference workshop at the conference, entitled “Mobile2.0: Beyond Voice?” The call for abstracts can be viewed here.

Mobile phones are becoming increasingly important in bringing people into the Information Society.  It is widely accepted that the inhabitants of the future household will carry mobile devices that will be capable of voice and data communication, information retrieval and forms of entertainment consumption. Mobiles are now (and will increasingly become) payment devices that can also send, process and receive voice, text as well as images; in the next few years they will also be capable of information-retrieval and publishing functions normally associated with the Internet. Through such services and applications, industry experts predict that many in emerging markets will experience the Internet, or ‘elements’ of the Internet for the first time through a mobile phone, rather than a PC; mobile payments, mobile social networking, SMS voting are just a few examples of some of these services and applications.

Emerging markets appear to be following a different trajectory from developed markets; while the latter are moving forward via triple- and quadruple-play scenarios, the former are moving on paths that involve mobile phones as the key platform for bringing people affordably into the Information Society; something we describe as “2.0.”

This preconference will draw together research constituting evidence for and against this emerging Mobile2.0 narrative in the context of the larger social-science understanding of mobile-use behavior.  We welcome abstracts which will contribute to understanding emerging mobile use patterns, under the following areas of interest:

• Current trends in mobile connectivity and applications
• The potential of mobiles (and other ICTs) for bridging digital, gender as well as other socio-economic divides
• Mobiles (and other ICTs) making markets more efficient
• Mobile as a platform for Mobile2.0 services (e.g., payment, banking, government, etc)
• Policy and regulatory challenges for the new era of Mobile2.0
• Mobiles and social networking
• Mobile2.0 and shared access Comparisons between emerging and ‘emerged’ markets

The workshop will not be limited to papers dealing with the mobile as the path to the Information Society or to research dealing with the developing world, but we do expect these themes to be represented. We encourage papers that draw comparisons with other ICTs also. Up to five sessions will be accommodated.

In order to examine this question as well as other dimensions in mobile communication we are issuing a call for papers for a pre-conference at the 2009 meeting of the International Communication Association. Abstracts of no more than 500 words are due by October 31, 2008.  Please send them, along with your name and contact information to zainudeen{at}lirne{dot}net. Accepted abstracts will be notified by 21 November 2008. Final papers will be due by April 1, 2009.

The pre-conference is being organized by LIRNEasia. It will be held in Chicago.

Cost:
ICA Members: USD 90
ICA Student Members: USD 60

Please check http://www.icahdq.org for updates)

Organized by
Dr. Rohan Samarajiva, Executive Director, LIRNEasia
Ayesha Zainudeen, Senior Researcher, LIRNEasia