The Heilmeier Questions

I've been introduced to the Heilmeier Questions (or Heilmeier Catechism) [see: the Heilmeier wikipedia post for further] and I feel the need to spend a little time with them for this project.

What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.
I'm exploring the world of social computing, including SMS because it is the extension of social computing in the developing world. I'm interested primarily in how social computing is changing the non-Western world, but particularly the world in "weak states." I'm interested in how social computing can improve people's lives, as well as how they are being used to tear down existing systems of governance and civil/social institutions.

My objective is to develop new theories for new media and the less wired world. From that theory, encourage the development of programs that will assist people to create environments (secure in terms of physical, health, human rights and --oh, whatever the heck Shannon Beebe is talking about in his forthcoming book!! He's awesome.) and collaborative, grassroots capabilities that are necessary to moving forward to creating their own futures.

How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice? Currently, governmental organizations of all types have a practice that is relatively limited, but that is changing rapidly. New software like Twitter and its clones, Mpesa, and other just incredibly "kewl sh*t" like Youtube are educating, communicating, collaborating and empowering the heck out of people. NON-government organizations are way out ahead of the curve! The point of this project is to look at current practice and explore its limits.

The world is,in my view, divided into the "wired" and the "less wired." The less wired are not necessarily UNDERPRIVILEDGED! NGOs, businesses and the people themselves are creating the APPROPRIATE technologies for their needs!

What's new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?

At this point, this is a "thought experiment." My ambition is to write up a personal research program and go to Africa perhaps in 2011 or 2012, with perhaps a trip to SE Asia in 2010. No kidding. I am trying to find the right set of research approaches. I have a friend, an Africanist, I'd like to do this with. He's completely ignorant of this project at the mo.

What's new in my approach is that I want to collect data and develop theory that is directly relevant to the creation of computational social science models of communication for the international development domain. No one, I don't think, is even thinking about this at the moment, unless they've talked to me.

Who cares? Anyone who has the insane ambition to change the world for the poorest and most threatened people on the planet.

If you're successful, what difference will it make? If successful, this project could significantly advance understanding between the wired and less wired worlds, improve the less wired world's access to empowering technology, and hopefully work to make the world a more secure place in the Beebe definition of the term.

What are the risks and the payoffs? It's early days. Is there alot out there to look at? It's developing. But that's the point, to get in on this powerful trend at the start. The payoff: a boatload of new ideas and new directions for governmental organizations to assist in developing and stabilizing conflict environments in the less wired world.

How much will it cost? At the start, just my weekends and evenings. Later, travel costs and perhaps some costs for collaborative work when I find the right partners. My ambition is to start a project with Kabul University this year. Total cost might go: 200K, 300K, 450K, 400K, 400K for a total of 1750K in five years. That's a straight ballpark. (I already have funds invested in this for 2009, which is why it's small for 2010. It's OPM--Other People's Money!)

How long will it take? Five years.

What are the midterm and final "exams" to check for success?
June 2009: New paper to be delivered at conference in Istanbul on culture and society. Discussion of new project with Kabul University.
Fall 2009: A new paper to be delivered at a conference in Seoul, Korea on digital natives. "The Digital Native Wears Sandals" (Funding of new project? 30K?)
Second new project done by others on cyber militias.
Summer 2010: Research project in Thailand? Six weeks? (15K?)
Fall 2010: Outbrief on Kabul and Estonia projects. Start on Sierre Leone?
2011: Research project in Sierre Leone? (Or Sudan, Congo or Angola---or all three).
2012: Book Project. Preliminary drafts of social models of new media use in the less wired world.
2013. Development of good models of communications for the less wired world.
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Why DO this at all? Um. The number of people doing this is kind of tiny. Like, I'm having trouble finding anyone. I /know/ they are out there, probably at Yahoo and Google. This is a good place for someone like me, a bleeding edge kind of scholar, to play. Anyway, I will be posting here alot more regularly.

Postscript: You might want to check out this old paper on communication and development theory in the developing world, the only thing I've found thus far: comm theory paper. It's mostly about radio.

Social computing: where do you begin?

These are the innovators.  Absolutely no one is trying to create the cutting edge in social use for the latest technologies than teenagers. They cheat on tests using SMS; they organize movie dates for ten to fifty people at the click of a cellphone button; they stare at their cellphones during conversations with their parents, multi-tasking between their "real" lives and their family lives.  They "twitter." They facebook. They myspace. They are always on the lookout for the next big thing. 

Those of us over 30 are just trying to get a handle on what is out there already. Have you heard about mosquito ringtones?  Do have a clue about Twitter? Can you use SMS---do you know what that means?  Social computing, the use of innovations in technology and software to connect to other people, learn more about other people, and change social behavior owing to the benefits of real-time and asynchronous information feeds, has been with us awhile.  One could say it began with the creation of email,  or perhaps a bit later,  with the birth of the world-wide web, that innovation of SirTim Berners-Lee. Some of us hoary heads recall the thrill of the first command line chat functionality back in the mid-80s and the British MUDS where we slew monsters and on the sidelines, discussed personal lives. And if you know what TS stands for, yes, you are probably old.
Today social computing is not about email, MUDDING Or MUSHING, or any of those venerable technological wonders that are commonplace enough to have dictionary entries in Webster's. Social computing-- blogging, texting, facebook/myspace and their ilk, twittering (aka microblogging) and on and on--is changing the world. Different cultures and societies are using social computing ways that are changing attitudes and worldviews in almost every part of the world, including Africa, the least wired continent.