Disempowering Technologies: Innovation, Interests and Impact of Mobile Gambling

削弱技术的力量：移动赌博的创新、利益和影响

• 批准号: 2286518
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Royal Holloway University of London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2286518
• 关键词: Disempowering; Technologies; Innovation; Interests; Impact

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have brought significant development benefits to communities around the world through, for example, the use of mobile phones for money transfers. The assumption of a 'technological fix' has also been significantly criticised. However, much less attention has been paid to the potentially negative aspects of ICTs, and the complexity of technological consequences that can see harmful outcomes emerge from innovations intended to support development. Gambling companies have overwhelmingly benefited from innovation in ICTs: mobile technology has enhanced the accessibility of gambling, moving it beyond physical casinos and into all realms of personal life. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where mobile telephony brought great development promise a decade ago, the industry has expanded dramatically in recent years. In Kenya, one of the most developed African markets, around two million people use mobile gambling products and a recent study found that digital betting was the second most occurring transaction amongst the young, urban population. This industry was made possible by mobile money brands like M-Pesa, one of the most publicised development interventions of the digital age, which promised to help alleviate poverty through financial inclusion by providing low cost remittances, money storage and payments. Today, there is evidence that some Kenyans are overborrowing mobile credit to gamble, resulting in hardship and in some cases, financial exclusion. 'Disempowering Technologies' seeks to unpack the common and contrasting interests at play in the mobile gambling industry in Nairobi, Kenya. Using actor-network theory, this research takes an interpretivist approach and aims to track and map interests by "following the actors" involved in the creation and diffusion of mobile gambling apps, as well as researching the motivations of the end users. The project will conduct primary research in Nairobi with three broad categories of stakeholder - customers, companies and commentators - in order to better understand the vested interests driving use and to examine the negative effects at the personal, household, and community level. The overarching objective is to find out how the wellbeing and agency of vulnerable users can be protected and enhanced through institutional, corporate and technological interventions. In mapping the complex socio-technical system emerging around innovations in mobile technology and gambling apps in Nairobi, the research contributes to our understanding of the paradoxical effects of ICTs in societies and their implications for development, exploring the complexity of the 'dark side' of ICT4D

信息和通信技术（ICT）通过使用移动的电话进行汇款等方式，为世界各地的社区带来了重大的发展利益。“技术修复”的假设也受到了严重的批评。然而，对信通技术潜在的负面影响以及技术后果的复杂性的关注要少得多，这些技术后果可能会导致旨在支持发展的创新产生有害后果。博彩公司从信通技术的创新中受益匪浅：移动的技术提高了赌博的可及性，使其超越了实体赌场，进入了个人生活的各个领域。在撒哈拉以南非洲地区，移动的电话在十年前带来了巨大的发展前景，近年来该行业急剧扩张。在非洲最发达的市场之一肯尼亚，约有200万人使用移动的赌博产品，最近的一项研究发现，数字赌博是年轻城市人口中第二大交易。这一行业是由移动的货币品牌如M-Pesa实现的，M-Pesa是数字时代最受关注的发展干预措施之一，它承诺通过提供低成本汇款，货币存储和支付，通过金融包容性帮助减轻贫困。今天，有证据表明，一些肯尼亚人过度借贷移动的信贷来赌博，导致困难，在某些情况下，金融排斥。在肯尼亚的内罗毕，“削弱技术”试图揭示移动的赌博业中的共同利益和对立利益。使用演员网络理论，这项研究采取了解释主义的方法，旨在跟踪和地图的利益，“以下演员”参与创建和传播的移动的赌博应用程序，以及研究的动机的最终用户。该项目将在内罗毕与三大类利益攸关方-客户、公司和评论员-进行初步研究，以便更好地了解推动使用的既得利益，并审查对个人、家庭和社区的负面影响。总体目标是找出如何通过机构、公司和技术干预措施保护和加强弱势用户的福祉和机构。在绘制围绕内罗毕移动的技术和赌博应用程序创新出现的复杂社会技术系统时，研究有助于我们理解ICT在社会中的矛盾影响及其对发展的影响，探索ICT 4D“黑暗面”的复杂性