Digital Malawi: Developing Hope in the Information Age

After working in tech for 10 years, it has been clear to me that the industry is structured for making the rich get richer, and marginalized populations remain marginalized. With the ever-growing concern and disappointment against how capitalists utilize ICT in wealthy nations, I decided to become a Canadian international volunteer to explore a more ethical, sustainable, and humane use of digital technologies. In this series, I write about what I observed, experienced, and learned through the year-long volunteering experience at an entrepreneurship and innovation hub in Malawi, a small landlocked country in sub-Saharan Africa recorded as one of the poorest countries in the world.

computer-programming-trainees * With Malawian young people I taught computer programming in Python.

Currently, I am running a fundraising to support the work done by World University Service of Canada, a Canadian non-profit organization I'm serving for. Your support would be greatly appreciated. Note that donations above 20 CAD will be tax deductible in Canada.

Articles in this series

  1. Starting Field Study on How Information Flows in Malawi
  2. Definition, Role, and Current Status of Digital Literacy in Malawi #LiteracyDay
  3. Dilemma over "Best Practice": How We Could Develop Data Protection Practices in Malawi
  4. Starting with Humanity—Growth and Technology Otherwise Hurt You
  5. Is Computer Education Always Good?
  6. Relativize Malawi, and Rethink Their Contexts
  7. One of the Poorest Life Is Not *That* Bad
  8. Language: Behind the Power Dynamics in Information Society
  9. I'm Not "China"—Connecting HERE and THERE in Systems
  10. Materializing Digital Transformation
  11. The End of the Beginning—What I Talk About When I Talk About Malawi

  Author: Takuya Kitazawa

Takuya Kitazawa is a freelance software developer, previously working at a Big Tech and Silicon Valley-based start-up company where he wore multiple hats as a full-stack software developer, machine learning engineer, data scientist, and product manager. At the intersection of technological and social aspects of data-driven applications, he is passionate about promoting the ethical use of information technologies through his mentoring, business consultation, and public engagement activities. See CV for more information, or contact at [email protected].