From Knowledge Engineering for Development to Development Informatics

Abstract

Knowledge Sharing is a key enabler of development of the rural poor. ICTs can play a critical role, providing for instance market data or weather information to sustenance farmers, or education to children in remote areas. While advanced knowledge technology has proven its use in many applications in the so-called developed world most of the tools cannot be easily applied in developing countries, because of restricted infrastructure, unsuitable modes of communication or ignorance of the local context. In the K4D tutorial at EKAW 2014 we argued that a new of kind of research in Knowledge Engineering is needed in order to make knowledge technology useful outside privileged developed countries. This research will have to include existing social and economic structures as fundamental requirements in order to be successful. Finally, we claim that this holds for a broader spectrum of subdisciplines of Computer Science, and not just for Knowledge Engineering, which lets us advocate Development Informatics: a joint forum for CS researchers who try to make their research relevant for the developing world as well.