We are looking forward to a big year at RIA with a number of projects either kicking off or coming to fruition.
The results of our After Access surveys will begin filtering out in the next couple of months. This work is critical as the only nationally representative source of demand-side data around digital access in multiple African countries. Through this work, we can inform policymakers and researchers on how African households, individuals, and microenterprises use the Internet and other digital technologies, their barriers to access, and how they can be overcome. See the blog post by Andrew Partridge outlining the value of the surveys on microenterprises in this newsletter and the working paper of the high-level findings from the Ethiopian After Access survey report, part of the Measuring Digital Inequality in Africa series.
The fascinating findings from this working paper (to be analysed in greater depth in a follow-up policy paper due later this year) would not have been possible without the incredible support of our Ethiopian partners. Dr Lishan Adam, an independent consultant and researcher, is one of the longest-standing country partners and RIA associates. We thank him for his invaluable support in the analysis and provision of policy content. Thanks also to Dr Esubalew Alemneh, Director of the ICT4D Research Centre at Bahir Dar University, who oversaw the fieldwork. And, of course, well done to RIA’s Andrew Partridge and Nawal Omar for their herculean efforts in producing this research.
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