Hybrid collectives for effective spatial data infrastructure development in the global south : developing a Zambian prototype.

Abstract

The aim of this thesis was to generate a theoretical framework to help people understand how to better develop spatial data infrastructures (SDIs) in the Global South that could lead to addressing the challenges of access to location information for grassroots communities. This resulted in the deployment and extension of the hybrid collective and commons concept in SDI development. Current approaches to SDI development have neglected the grassroots and their location information needs as well as their potential to contribute to the SDI digital-knowledge resource, a shortcoming this thesis addresses by introducing what I term the “hybrid SDI collective” framework. I asked, “How can we understand the socio-technical infrastructure of SDI development in such a way as to ensure that SDIs in the Global South may be created and maintained?” I did so to enable the GIScience community to understand SDI development as a hybrid collective activity of laypeople, professionals, and non-human actants. Using a case study of smallholder farmers in rural Zambia involving semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, using the Agile software development approach to develop a mobile GIS app, and field testing, I showed that an SDI can be developed from free resources and managed as a commons by a community made up of both experts and laypeople located in the Global South. I also showed that laypeople have the potential to make valuable contributions to digital location information and to the management of SDIs through their experience in managing commons. The significance of this study is that it informs our theoretical understanding of SDI development by focusing on resource-constrained and marginalised communities hitherto ignored. It thus informs our empirical understanding of participatory approaches to smartphone-based VGI.