History of technology and humanitarian technologies: A case study regarding the design and deployment of humanitarian technologies among rural communities in Colombia

摘要

This paper reports a project that integrated grass-root communities of Alto Magdalena and Tequendama, Cundinamarca and academics from Uniminuto (Colombia) and Algoma (Canada) Universities. This partnership led to the participative design of a technological training program about regional development. This program combines three elements: world views, ancestral knowledge and the needs that the farming and peasant communities of Cundinamarca perceive as imperative. The authors were invited to join the initiative by leading a historical reflection on the conflicting views of technology as a source of community and environmental difficulties, and also as an opportunity to overcome the pressing challenges that rural communities face nowadays (i.e. young people migration, low productivity and environmental degradation). This dialogue between academics and community members dealt with technological initiatives, such as energy for lighting and cooking, grass-root initiatives for rural connectivity and social media, water & sanitation, and agricultural technologies. In addition, a debate took place that focus on the community memory about large scale institutional programs for technological development. The paper discusses the motivation, methodology, outcomes, and conclusions of this partnership. The discussion has a socio-technical perspective, linking concrete technological initiatives to a broader understanding of the economical, political, cultural and environmental factors that define successful humanitarian technology implementation.