VillageShare

Network traffic locality in a rural African village

D.J. Johnson, E.M. Belding, and G. van Stam, ICTD March 2012, Atlanta, Georgia USA

The Internet is evolving from a system of connections between humans and machines to a new paradigm of social connection. However, it is still dominated by a hub and spoke architecture with inter-connectivity between users typically requiring connections to a common server on the Internet. This creates a large amount of traffic that must traverse an Internet gateway, even when users communicate with each other in a local network. Nowhere is this inefficiency more pronounced than in rural areas with low-bandwidth connectivity to the Internet. Our previous work in a rural village in Macha, Zambia showed that web traffic, and social networking in particular, are dominant services. In this paper we use a recent network trace, from this same village, to explore the degree of local user-to-user interaction in the village. Extraction of a social graph, using instant message interactions on Facebook, reveals that 54% of the messages are between local users. Traffic analysis highlights that the potential spare capacity of the local network is not utilized for direct local communication between users even though indirect communication between local users is routed through services on the Internet. These findings build a strong motivation for a new rural network architecture that places services that enable user-to-user interaction and file sharing in the village.

Technology Retains Talent

van Stam, Gertjan. Published in ICT-Update', Issue no. 62, October 2011

With little access to formal extension services, a rural Zambian community set up an internet connection to develop local agriculture, education and energy facilities. The community is now using local radio to encourage other villages to do the same.

Relatio: An Examination of the Relational Dimension of Resource Allocation

Sheneberger, Kevin, van Stam, Gertjan, Economics and Finance Review Vol. 1(4) pp. 26 – 33, June, 2011

The indigenous traditions and values of African peoples have been viewed as being behind the times. Disregarding established, functioning systems of African resource allocation has led to a system of interaction out of touch with local cultural priorities. Through a review of literature, augmented by qualitative interviews and observational analysis, the evolutionary nature of rationality is revealed; demonstrating the necessity for our understanding of economic choice to be adjusted to involve broader conceptions of its constitution, restraints, and motivations. It is derived that two parallel systems for addressing basic questions of choice and resource management exist; a traditional “rational” Western system, and a “relational” African system. After establishing these intersecting systems, the value of African uniqueness is appreciated. This paper attempts to build upon the work of other economists in the addition of a “relational” component of rationality, informed by both social and material forms of capital.

Traffic Characterization and Internet Usage in Rural Africa

D. L. Johnson, V. Pejovic, E. M. Belding, and G. van Stam, In: Proceedings of WWW, March 2011, Hyderabad, India

While Internet connectivity has reached a significant part of the world's population, those living in rural areas of the developing world are still largely disconnected. Recent efforts have provided Internet connectivity to a growing number of remote locations, yet Internet traffic demands cause many of these networks to fail to deliver basic quality of service needed for simple applications. For an in-depth investigation of the problem, we gather and analyze network traces from a rural wireless network in Macha, Zambia. We supplemented our analysis with on-site interviews from Macha, Zambia and Dwesa, South Africa, another rural community that hosts a local wireless network. The results reveal that Internet traffic in rural Africa differs significantly from the developed world. We observe dominance of web-based traffic, as opposed to peer-to-peer traffic common to urban areas. Application-wise, online social networks are the most popular, while the majority of bandwidth is consumed by large operating system updates. Our analysis also uncovers numerous network anomalies, such as significant malware traffic. Finally, we find a strong feedback loop between network performance and user behavior. Based on our findings, we conclude with a discussion of new directions in network design that take into account both technical and social factors.

Macha Works!

van Stam, Gertjan, van Oortmerssen, Gerard, In: Proceedings of the WebSci10: Extending the Frontiers of Society On-Line, April 26-27th, 2010, Raleigh, NC, USA

Macha is a small and resource limited village in rural Zambia. Since 2003 remarkable progress is taking shape in Macha. Since that time, the village is connected to Internet via a VSAT satellite connection, integrated with a holistic and respectful vision based upon developing the potential of the local community. Thus the local community plays a major role in the development process.
To operate the communications network a cooperative not-for profit company was set up, Macha Works, with its ICT unit LinkNet, owned by the community.
Overall the Macha approach appears very successful and is now being scaled up to many more villages in Zambia. Macha itself is in a next stage of development. It is evolving into a center of expertise with training, talent development, innovation and experimentation in the fields of agriculture, alternative energy, appropriate types of entrepreneurship, and novel approaches in ICT fitting the African context. A cooperation with the University of Zambia in Lusaka is evolving with education, applied research, and practical work taking place in rural Macha. Hundreds of new employment positions have been created since Macha Works started its activities.
Connecting rural communities in Africa is quite a challenge. Communication and energy infrastructures are lacking. Connectivity through satellite links are extremely expensive. Mobile Internet might be an alternative in the medium term. Introduction of Virtual Network Operations to share costs can support reaching the marginal, rural markets.
The value of the holistic approach driven by connectivity has been recognized and the development in Macha is now supported by organizations and authorities in Zambia, Netherlands, the Global Research Association and European partners. Connectivity appears to be a powerful tool to empower the local community to guide their own development. In addition, two valuable additional effects should be mentioned. First, Internet can help to preserve and share the cultural heritage. Second, communities in rural Africa become part of and thereby enrich the global community.
This paper describes the approach taken, the obstacles encountered (logistics, finance, durability of equipment in harsh conditions, regulation issues etc.), the lessons learned as well as the plans for next steps.

Internet usage and performance analysis of a rural wireless network in Macha, Zambia

Johnson, David, Belding, Elizabeth, Almeroth, Kevin, van Stam, Gertjan, In: Proceeding of the 4th ACM Workshop on Networked Systems for Developing Regions (NSDR'10), June 15, 2010, San Francisco, CA, USA

There have been a number of rural wireless networks providing Internet access over the last decade but little is known about how the Internet is being used, how these networks perform and whether they follow similar trends when compared with Internet usage patterns in developed regions. We analyse a set of network traces from the LinkNet wireless network in Zambia, which provides Internet access to approximately 300 residents of a rural village using a satellite link and a combination of point-to-point links, hotspots and wireless mesh networks. Our analysis reveals largely web-based traffic as opposed to the peer-to-peer traffic dominance that one finds in urban areas. Social networking sites receive the most hits, and large file downloads from operating system reprositories contribute the most to the bandwidth consumption. A number of network pathologies in the gateway as well as the wireless mesh network are also analysed and a set of recommendations conclude the work.

e-Piano, A Case of Music Education via e-Learning in Rural Zambia

Shoemaker, Kristin, van Stam, Gertjan, In: Proceedings of the WebSci10: Extending the Frontiers of Society On-Line, April 26-27th, 2010, Raleigh, NC, USA

A new educational environment is emerging within the field of applied music instruction. For the purposes of testing the viability of e-learning through the study of the piano, a unique relationship was established between a teacher in suburban North America and two students (currently ages 10 and 9) in rural Zambia.

Synchronous (real time) exchanges were initiated on a weekly basis through the use of a digital piano keyboard, a computer with Internet access, web-cameras, and video-conferencing software on either end of the connection. When the Internet connection was reliable, real time learning closely replicated traditional one-on-one music instruction in which student and teacher are physically in the same room. Synchronous communication was also investigated outside of individual instruction within group environments, in which the students joined with peers from across the globe in order to enrich the learning experience.

To supersede the poor audio quality of video-conferencing software between pianos, the participants of the study used Internet MIDI, a software application that enables two piano keyboards to control, synchronize, and exchange data electronically through MIDI technology. This technology made it possible to have a purely musical conversation within the lesson. To our knowledge, by participating in the beta testing of Internet MIDI, the participants of the study were among the first in the world to have access to such long-distance MIDI connections.

Real-time communication has many benefits, but because it is completely dependent on the quality of Internet connection, it can also be a frustrating experience if the connection is poor (e.g. audio reverberation, frozen video feed, dropped calls). Thus, it was necessary to seek an alternative form of communication – time-shifted learning.

In asynchronous (time-shifted) communication, lessons were exchanged between students and teacher via pre-recorded video, in which audio and video quality were not determined by the strength of the Internet connection. Once created, videos were posted and stored in password-protected albums on a variety of social networking sites. After the video was downloaded, the student or teacher could view it offline at a self-directed pace, pausing, rewinding, and repeating as many times as deemed necessary. Although positive, this form of learning can leave holes in the learning experience as it negates live interaction.

Due to drawbacks associated with real-time and time-shifted modes of e-learning when used in isolation, this study investigated the effectiveness of combining synchronous and asynchronous forms of communication within the learning experience.

A Rural Implementation of a 52 Node Mixed Wireless Mesh Network in Macha, Zambia

Backens, Jonathan, Mweemba, Gregory, van Stam, Gertjan, AfriComm, Maputo, Mozambique, 2009

In spite of increasing international and academic attention, there remains many challenges facing real world implementations of developing technologies. There has been considerable hype behind Wireless Mesh Networking as the ubiquitous solution for rural ICT in the developing world. In this paper, we present the real world rural mesh network implementation in the village of Macha, Zambia and draw both performance conclusions as well as overall experiential conclusions. The purpose of this paper is to introduce and analyze our low cost solution and extrapolate future trends for rural ICT implementations in Zambia.

Opportunities and challenges of E-learning in Zambia: Experiences and Reflections

J. Schurgers, G. van Stam, S. Banda, M. Labib, In: Medical Journal of Zambia, Volume 36 Number 3 (2009)

Traditional teaching modalities are teacher centered. New developments in Medical Education target more student centred strategies. The introduction of ICT in education open a new world of possibilities. UNZA initiates electronic library and collaborative initiatives with Medical schools, aimed for benefits for students from e-learning resources.
This paper explores opportunities of using internet as learning resource at UNZA, describes experiences with three e-learning iCT initiatives, and discusses challenges and opportunties of e-learning in Zambia.

Bringing Internet connectivity to rural Zambia using a collaborative approach

• Matthee, Karel, Mweemba, Gregory, Pais, Adrian, van Stam, Gertjan, Rijken, Marijn, ICTD2007, Bangalore, India, 2007

This paper presents an initiative to bring connectivity to rural Zambia using a collaborative approach. In particular, if focuses on a proof-of-concept Internet service that has been implemented in rural Macha located in the Southern Province of Zambia. The service operates using satellite terminals (for connection to the Internet) and a wireless local area network. The provision of Internet access has enabled local health institutes to operate more efficiently and given local people the opportunity to communicate and explore new ideas. It has also created new employment opportunities and generated several projects including a data entry service and a sunflower farming initiative. Being a rural area, several problems hamper progress including frequent electricity outages and the exorbitant cost of bandwidth. International collaboration has been established between LinkNet, the Meraka Institute (South Africa), TNO (Netherlands) and the Global Research Alliance. With its partners, LinkNet addresses the main challenges through applied research and innovation and targets an upscaling of its activities throughout rural Zambia and beyond.