Strategic Use New Media Peaceful Social Change

Strategic Use of New Media for Peaceful Social Change 3
The ICT sector in Sudan has experienced a remarkable boom in the last
decade with a steadily increasing internet penetration rate of 23 percent in
2013 (up from 21 percent in 2012, 19 percent in 2011, and 16.7 percent
in 2010). 4 Mobile phone penetration has also seen a sharp increase since
2000, standing at 75 percent by the end of 2013 – according to the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU). 5 Although there are no hard
statistics, our experience tells us that more citizens (especially youth) in
Sudan are accessing the internet on their mobile phones than ever before.
This is mainly because Sudan also boasts the cheapest post-paid mobile
phone costs in the Middle East and North Africa (2012), made possible due
to healthy market competition amongst four telecommunications providers.
In early 2013, the National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) reported
more than 27 million cell phone subscribers in 2012 and a coverage of 88
percent that extends to 800 cities and towns.
This guide will build on the above-mentioned gains in Sudan’s ICT
infrastructure. It is meant to be user-friendly and will draw from the experience
of Sudanese youth movements and civil society groups that actively use new
media and ICTs, as well as from the regional and international experience
of civil society in countries such as Egypt, Iran, and Kenya, to mention a
few. This will be done by providing a rich array of case studies, interviews,
analysis, theories and examples to help guide you toward being better digital
communicators; designing better online campaigns; and understanding
what combination of digital tools can work to serve you more efficiently.
The guide also assumes that its users are already using social media and
ICTs to some extent and are looking for resources to improve their strategies
and expand their tools beyond what is traditionally used.
While this guide will explain the evolution and potential use of a variety of
digital applications and tools (such as blogs, Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook)
as well as concepts (such as crowdsourcing, crowd fundraising, crisis
mapping and digital security), except for the case of Twitter, it will not teach
you how to use these tools as much as it will guide you toward resources
to investigate the tools and enrich your understanding on how to use those
applications to their maximum potential when working for peaceful social
change and expanded civic participation.
INTRODUCTION
4 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.P2.
5 ITU data. Sudan mobile subscribers from 2000 to end of 2012.