Participatory Research and Ownership with Technology, Information and Change (PROTIC) II

Driven by a $2.15M donation, this research in Bangladesh is investigating digital citizenship from the perspectives of vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society.

Research activities

‘PROTIC’ means a sign or symbol in Bengali, therefore articulating a symbol of development and progress, a sign of digitisation, a token of recognition (of community voice) and an image of action research.

PROTIC II is a collaboration between Monash Faculty of Information Technology and OXFAM. It is the second phase of PROTIC – a five-year international development project that was dedicated to empowering rural women in Bangladesh. One element of this initiative was supporting rural women through the use of mobile devices.

This part of the project seeks to articulate the impact of societal digital transformation initiatives on disadvantaged and low-literacy communities. It also aims to develop contextually and culturally-sensitive strategies and actions to ensure that citizens are not marginalised further.

PROTIC research will also be supported by a DECRA project. Dr Viviane Hessami, formerly Research Fellow with PROTIC I, will be awarded $399,429 to develop a framework for culturally-sensitive and gender-sensitive information dissemination and preservation in developing countries, with her research focusing on rural communities in Bangladesh.