FORMALITIES 

 
Title: ​Low-infrastructure internets: Building on local solutions and global 
perspectives 
Degree project student’s name: ​Jonathan Adam   
Name of supervisor at CSC: ​Hanna Hasselqvist 
Current date: ​February 7 2018 
 
 
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE 
 
Description of the research area 
Many projects in the field of ICT for development (ICT4D) have grappled with 
issues of scalability, generalisability and self-sustainability.1 The introduction of new 
technologies in impoverished communities can seem promising in the short term, 
but once funding and external support dries up systems can prove hard to maintain 
within the local context and fall by the wayside.2 These failures have led ICT4D to 
stress the importance of context-dependent solutions and ongoing engagement with 
communities to integrate new technology within them. Moving away from a 
developmental model in which the introduction of new technology paves the way for 
social progress, researchers have come to realize that there are always inherent 
constraints to be dealt with. Some researchers have focused on Computing within 
Limits as an alternative viewpoint to ICT4D’s; while a great deal of overlap exists, 
research within Computing within Limits has contended that these limits will only 
become more widespread in the future.3 Instead of viewing them as a situation that 
needs to be “worked around,”they should be embraced as an integral feature of the 
design space. Work within Computing within Limits has therefore focused on 
envisioning what forms technology might take in the case of civilizational collapse or 
limited infrastructure.4 
While researchers have envisioned high-level models of what forms 
technology might take in the face of calamitous circumstances, many communities 
worldwide have already created their own technological practices that work within 
their limits - either through using existing technology in vernacular ways, or through 
creating new technologies altogether. These local uses of technology have been the 
subject of investigation for anthropologists in various communities, from Susan 

1
​Hamel, Jean-Yves. "ICT4D and the human development and capabilities approach: The potentials of
information and communication technology." (2010): 1-77.
2
​Heeks, Richard. "Information systems and developing countries: Failure, success, and local
improvisations." ​The information society​ 18.2 (2002): 101-112.
3
​Silberman, M. Six. "Information systems for the age of consequences." ​First Monday​ 20.8 (2015).
4
​Penzenstadler, Birgit, et al. "Collapse (and other futures) software engineering." ​First Monday​ 20.8
(2015).
Wyche’s work on cell phone usage in Kenya5, to Ted Henken’s writings on Cuba’s 
inventos digitales​.6 These researchers focus on the local context that shapes a 
certain technology, and the role of the technology within this specific context. 
 
Objective 
 
This project aims to bridge the distance between the high-level perspectives offered 
by researchers from Computing within Limits, and the specific solutions developed 
in local contexts documented by anthropologists. Specifically, how can the internet 
be envisioned within a context of severe limits? This project hopes to take the 
conclusions found in ethnographies as serious starting points to rethink what 
technological infrastructure looks like within limited contexts. By applying the 
practical knowledge gained through experience on the field, the theoretical 
viewpoints become less abstract thought experiments and move towards real-life 
design problems with significant implications for both less developed environments 
as well as other contexts. 
 
RESEARCH QUESTION AND METHOD 
 
Question 
How can we design and classify digital networks that are bottom-up, 
minimal-dependency and easy to install and configure for communities with low 
levels of digital infrastructure or literacy? 
 
Specified problem definition 
 
This thesis consists of two major areas of work: firstly, conceptualizing a theoretical 
framework for thinking about internet and digital networks based on their 
affordances and implementations; and secondly, designing specific tools (hardware, 
software, or services such as educational materials) that facilitate creating digital 
networks in low-infrastructure environments.  
 
Examination method 
 
The literature study will be supplemented with a number of informant 
interviews in key geographical zones. Currently it looks like it might be able to 

5
​Wyche, Susan P., and Laura L. Murphy. "Dead China-make phones off the grid: investigating and
designing for mobile phone use in rural Africa." ​Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems
Conference​. ACM, 2012.
6
​Henken, Ted A. "Cuba's Digital Millennials: Independent Digital Media and Civil Society on the Island
of the Disconnected." ​Social Research: An International Quarterly​84.2 (2017): 429-456.
contact informants in Kenya and in Cuba, who could provide insight into local 
contexts and give their feedback on the theoretical framework proposed. 
The literature study and informant interviews will inform a set of design 
principles, which will then form the backbone for the practical aspect. 
 
 
Expected results 
 
The theoretical component should result in a framework that can competently 
and meaningfully analyze existing digital networks. It should be able to categorize 
networks based on affordances given limits of power, technological infrastructure 
and technical knowhow among its users, and find commonalities and differences 
between networks with very different infrastructures. 
The practical component of this work should bring forth a set of experimental 
designs that feed off of existing technological practices to augment digital 
connectivity. These designs/prototypes will, for example, critically engage with the 
affordances of people currently accessing the internet through cell phones: how can 
their connectivity be improved, or changed? How can their phone help others get 
online too? These designs will focus on augmenting existing technology to make 
more possible in terms of digital networking. 
 
EVALUATION AND NEWS VALUE 
 
Evaluation 
 
The theoretical aspect of this work will be deemed successful if it establishes a 
robust way to discuss digital networks in terms of their affordances and limitations 
with regards to available technology, infrastructure and social maintenance. 
As it is not possible to conduct a fieldwork evaluation for the practical aspect, the 
evaluation for this part will not be a full-blown user-evaluation. Rather, the artifacts 
produced will be evaluated by individuals in Sweden (i.e., not direct users) for 
usability. Carrying out these designs in Sweden has the advantage of ample access 
to sources of academic knowledge and physical resources; from this position, 
generalized solutions can be developed easily and then subjected to emulations of 
limits, instead of working within a pre-existing context of limits and ‘overfitting’ 
designs to these specific contexts. 
Overall, perhaps one of the more pertinent questions of evaluation for this thesis is: 
does it propose a valid way of engaging with developing communities? As I am 
unable to conduct fieldwork, I am going against the current paradigm in ICT4D 
contexts, and yet, I argue that the work I do is still valuable. By the end of this project, 
I should have a theoretical framework that is applicable to a wide range of situations, 
and practical designs that reinforce the principles of this framework and 
demonstrate potential ways forward in scenarios of severe limits. A successful 
thesis would both create rigor in documenting current practices in limits situations, 
but also demonstrate how this knowledge could extend in principle to potential 
future situations - for example, strategies and designs collected here could also be 
of use in the case of disaster events in Sweden.7 
 
Work’s Innovation/news value 
 
This thesis should be innovative in how it engages in dialogue both with the 
theoretical papers from the Computing within limits community, as well as the 
findings of ethnographers. Both of these influences should have equal sway in the 
directions that this thesis takes. Furthermore, this thesis should find its own way of 
navigating the existing paradigms of ICT4D projects. As mentioned above, this thesis 
does not include fieldwork and is therefore not emblematic of most ICT4D work. By 
merging theoretical perspectives with anthropological survey and research by 
design, this thesis is suggesting a different way of tackling design problems within 
ICT4D within a globalized context. 
 
 
PRE-STUDY 
 
Description of the literature study 
The literature study will incorporate two main areas: internet from a computing 
within limits scenario, and specific ethnographic case studies of internet usage in 
low-infrastructure environments. The literature study submitted as the theoretical 
backbone of the thesis will fully cover the literature of the computing within limits 
scenario, and provide an overview of the scope of the ethnographic study. 
 
The first section will take as its red thread some of the papers proposed in the 
Computing Within Limits conferences. Jay Chen has written about “A strategy for 
limits-aware computing”8 as well as the overlap between Limits and ICT4D, thus 
providing an overview of how to approach these problems conceptually.9 Paul 
Schmitt et al. wrote “Navigating Connectivity in Reduced Infrastructure 
Environments,” suggesting possible hardware options for ad-hoc internets;10 and in 
“Macroscopically Sustainable Networking: On Internet Quines”, Barath Raghavan 

7
​Forsman, Catherine. "After Hurricane Katrina: post disaster experience research using HCI tools and
techniques." ​International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction​. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg,
2007.
8
​Chen, Jay. "A strategy for limits-aware computing." ​Proceedings of the Second Workshop on
Computing within Limits​. ACM, 2016.
9
​Chen, Jay. "Computing within limits and ICTD." ​First Monday​20.8 (2015).
10
​Schmitt, Paul, and Elizabeth Belding. "Navigating connectivity in reduced infrastructure
environments." ​Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Computing within Limits​. ACM, 2016.
dissects the internet’s dependencies in order to suggest ways in which the internet 
can be structured as a set of self-replicating technological infrastructures.11 This last 
paper ventures into interesting conceptual territory but is quite vague in terms of 
implementation and implications. While its model of sustainable internet seems 
promising, the aim of the theoretical framework will be to expand on some of the 
vaguer points raised in this paper. 
 
The second section of the literature study will hone in on specific case studies 
compiled by anthropologists or researchers studying technology in specific contexts. 
The specific case areas are still dependent on where I can secure informants and 
whether a large body of literature exists for that area, but currently the most likely 
candidates include studying digital ingenuity in Cuba (through the work of Ernesto 
Oroza12 and Thomas A Henken13) and cell phone usage in Kenya (through the work of 
Susan Wyche14). The aim of this section is to come up with specific design issues 
that come up in real-life contexts related to being connected in low-infrastructure 
environments. This section of the literature therefore acts as the alternative to a 
more conventional user interviews that might begin a design process. The aim is to 
find both issues specific to the contexts described by the anthropologists, but also 
try to find common ground between geographies and practices, in order to arrive at 
generalizations of how these ad-hoc systems work at scale.  
 
CONDITIONS AND SCHEDULE 
 
Resources 
Informants: As a way to challenge the theoretical propositions, I will try to find 
informants from within local contexts. I have leads on establishing informants in 
Cuba (who can give information about el paquete and other ad-hoc internet 
solutions) and Kenya (who can give information about cell phones and internet). 
 
Hardware: this will be dependent on the specific hardware requirements that the 
literature study suggests. 
 
Test participants: People in Sweden who will be asked to evaluate the artifacts as 
presented to them based on ease of use, and functionality within a number of use 

11
​Raghavan, Barath, and Shaddi Hasan. "Macroscopically sustainable networking: on internet
quines." ​Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Computing within Limits​. ACM, 2016.
12
​Oroza, Ernesto. "Desobediencia Tecnológica. De la revolucion al revolico." ​Recuperado de
[Link] ernestooroza. com/desobediencia-tecnologica-de-la-revolucion-al-revolico​(2012).
13
​Henken, Ted A. "Cuba's Digital Millennials: Independent Digital Media and Civil Society on the Island 
of the Disconnected." Social Research: An International Quarterly 84.2 (2017): 429-456.
14
​Wyche, Susan P., and Laura L. Murphy. "Dead China-make phones off the grid: investigating and 
designing for mobile phone use in rural Africa." Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems 
Conference. ACM, 2012. 
cases ranging from scenarios of acute infrastructure failure to chronically 
underdeveloped infrastructure. 
 
Limitations 
 
This project will not venture into the redesigning of communication systems 
protocols. Designs will use off-the-shelf parts and will not focus on efficiency or 
performance on purely technical benchmark aspects, but rather focus on usability. 
The project will not explicitly focus on strategies to disseminate these designs and 
will not attempt to spread these designs within a local context (due to financial 
constraints). 
 
Schedule 
 
February 20: Finish phase 1 of the literature review 
Mar 5: Finish Phase 2 of the literature review (ethnographic studies) 
Mar 12: Contact informants 
Mar 19: Finish theoretical framework of internet networks 
Mar 26: Research hardware options, collect relevant hardware (eg. old phones) 
Apr 2: Begin basic designs 
Apr 9: Begin intermediate designs 
Apr 16: Most sophisticated designs ready as prototypes 
Apr 23: Evaluation of designs by “users” 
Apr 30: Iteration on designs 
May 7: Finish first complete draft 
May 21: 
May 25: Finish final draft 
June 1: Present thesis 
 
 
References 
 
Chen, Jay. "A strategy for limits-aware computing." Proceedings of the Second Workshop on 
Computing within Limits. ACM, 2016 
 
Chen, Jay. "Computing within limits and ICTD." ​First Monday​20.8 (2015). 
 
Forsman, Catherine. "After Hurricane Katrina: post disaster experience research using HCI tools and 
techniques." International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 
2007. 
 
Hamel, Jean-Yves. "ICT4D and the human development and capabilities approach: The potentials of 
information and communication technology." (2010): 1-77. 
 
Heeks, Richard. "Information systems and developing countries: Failure, success, and local 
improvisations." The information society 18.2 (2002): 101-112. 
 
Henken, Ted A. "Cuba's Digital Millennials: Independent Digital Media and Civil Society on the Island of 
the Disconnected." Social Research: An International Quarterly 84.2 (2017): 429-456. 
 
Oroza, Ernesto. "Desobediencia Tecnológica. De la revolucion al revolico." ​Recuperado de
[Link] ernestooroza. com/desobediencia-tecnologica-de-la-revolucion-al-revolico​(2012).

Penzenstadler, Birgit, et al. "Collapse (and other futures) software engineering." First Monday 20.8 
(2015). 
 
Raghavan, Barath, and Shaddi Hasan. "Macroscopically sustainable networking: on internet quines."
Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Computing within Limits​. ACM, 2016. 
 
Schmitt, Paul, and Elizabeth Belding. "Navigating connectivity in reduced infrastructure
environments." ​Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Computing within Limits​. ACM, 2016.

Silberman, M. Six. "Information systems for the age of consequences." First Monday 20.8 (2015). 
 
Wyche, Susan P., and Laura L. Murphy. "Dead China-make phones off the grid: investigating and 
designing for mobile phone use in rural Africa." Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems 
Conference. ACM, 2012.