Study of the use, limitations, and possibilities of peer-to-peer digital marketplaces for rural micro-enterprises in developing countries.

微型和小型企业通常被定义为工人少于10人、年营业额少于10万美元的企业，在消除收入不平等方面发挥着重要的发展作用，特别是在发展中国家（Asiedu等人，2019; Duncombe & Heeks，2002）。这是因为中小企业因其创造就业和创收以促进可持续发展和社会发展的能力而得到认可（Duncombe和Heeks，2002年）。与此同时，通过COVID 19大流行，将数字技术应用于商业已经成为企业生存的关键（Modgil等人，2022年）。MSE也开始采用多种数字解决方案来创新和优化其业务领域的业务运营：包括物流、市场准入、支付和融资渠道。尽管如此，由于基础设施、技术、社会等方面的原因，在MSE的总括术语内，农村微型企业（ME）与城市同行相比，在数字化方面面临着无数挑战（Philip等人，2017）和介入方法（Makoto等人，2021).在过去的二十年中，数字计算技术主要由发达国家的技术公司设计，通常用于城市、基础设施连接良好和数字化复杂的受众（哈代等人，2019年）。解决农村和城市之间数字鸿沟的传统方法尽管被视为正在恶化（Hollman等人，2021年），但主要是通过赤字模式，即农村技术能力需要“赶上"城市同行。技术设计中的赤字模式和缺乏包容性要求对目前农村社区的数字技术设计进行批判性的审视，并需要为农村量身定制适当的技术，并发现独特的数字解决方案（哈代和Wyche，2019）基于农村社区独特的技术，经济和人类需求（Räisänen & Tuovinen，2020）.在联合国可持续发展目标8号“体面工作和经济增长”和10号“减少不平等”的推动下，我的博士论文试图将联合收割机（ME）被忽视的数字需求与越来越多的点对点（P2P）结合起来发达国家和发展中国家的数字市场（Akhmadi & Pratolo，2021），研究发展中国家农村ME数字市场的使用，限制和可能性。这项研究呼吁以用户为中心，共同制作的方法在研究农村ME的人机交互（HCI）与P2P数字市场。通过民族志的观察，主要利益相关者的访谈，并在马来西亚农村参与设计研讨会，本研究试图了解农村ME'与数字市场的HCI，并寻求与当地利益相关者共同设计一个适合发展中国家农村微型企业需求和限制的点对点数字市场框架。研究问题：农村微型企业在日常业务运营中如何与数字技术互动（或不互动）？在发展中国家农村创业背景下，当前数字市场存在哪些局限性？设计一个适合农村企业家和农村社区需求的点对点数字市场有哪些要求？

Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE), which are enterprises typically defined as having less than 10 workers and annual turnover of less than $100,000, play a significant development role in leveling income inequality, especially amongst developing countries (Asiedu et al., 2019; Duncombe & Heeks, 2002). This is because MSE is recognised for its ability to create employment and generate income for sustainable and social development (Duncombe & Heeks, 2002). In the meantime, appropriating digital technologies into commerce has become crucial for the survival of enterprises evident through the COVID19 pandemic (Modgil et al., 2022). MSE likewise have begun adopting numerous digital solutions to innovate and optimise their business operations across its business areas: including logistics, access to market, payments, and access to finance. Despite so, within the umbrella term of MSE, rural micro-enterprises (ME) face a myriad of challenges in digitalisation compared to its urban counterparts due to infrastructural, technological, social(Philip et al., 2017) and interventional approach (Makoto et al., 2021).Digital computing technologies have in the past two decades been predominantly designed by technological companies in developed countries, often for an urban, infrastructurally well-connected and digitally sophisticated audience (Hardy et al., 2019). The traditional approach in addressing the digital divide between rural and urban despite being seen as worsening (Hollman et al, 2021), has primarily been through a deficit model, whereby rural technological capabilities need to 'catch up' with its urban counterparts. The deficit model and the lack of inclusion in technology design calls for a critical view of present digital technology design for rural communities and a need for appropriate technology tailored to the rural and in the discovery of unique digital solutions (Hardy & Wyche, 2019) based on the distinct technological, economical and human needs of rural communities (Räisänen & Tuovinen, 2020).Motivated by the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals No.8 of "Decent Work and Economic Growth" and No.10 of "Reduced Inequality", my PhD proposal attempts to combine the overlooked digital needs of rural micro-enterprise (ME) with the rising adoption of peer-to-peer (P2P) digital marketplaces across the developed and developing world (Akhmadi & Pratolo, 2021) to study the use, limitations, and possibilities of digital marketplaces for rural ME in developing countries. This research calls for a user-centred and co-produced approach in studying rural ME's human-computer interactions (HCI) with P2P digital marketplaces. Through ethnographic observations, key stakeholder interviews, and participatory-design workshops in rural Malaysia, this research attempts to understand the HCI of rural ME' with digital marketplaces and seek to co-design a peer-to-peer digital marketplaces framework with local stakeholders suited to the needs and limitations of rural micro-business in developing countries.Research Questions:How are rural micro-enterprises interacting (or not interacting) with digital technologies in their day-to-day business operations?What are the limitations of current digital marketplaces in the context of rural entrepreneurship in developing countries?What are the requirements for designing a peer-to-peer digital marketplace suited to the needs of rural entrepreneurs and rural communities?