Information networks for bridging information divide in isolated communities of farmers in rural India

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study analyzes the process adopted by information poor communities of farmers from five remote villages in Gujarat, India, which use IBM's Spoken Web for building an information network (INet). Spoken Web enables information poor communities to create and access VoiceSites over their mobile phones. After analyzing in‐depth phone interviews with 31 farmers using grounded theory principles, we propose a four‐stage model of seeding, building, growing and scaling an INet among information poor communities of farmers in rural India. We conclude that (a) gatekeepers of farmer communities, (b) communities of practice, (c) collaborative information behavior (CIB) among the farmers and (d) benefits of using INet play a key role in seeding, building, growing and scaling stage respectively. Thus, the INet reduces information divide among isolated farmer communities by allowing them to seek, produce and share information in their native language at any time of the day without requiring them to invest in any new technology or travel.