Technologies and African Societies in Pandemic Times E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 272

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

In February 2020, the Coronavirus pandemic became a worldwide health emergency, and in April of that year, the ITU and the WHO created a joint declaration to show their commitment to using ICTs to overcome the pandemic. Technologies and African Societies in Pandemic Times explores the impact of Covid-19 on African societies in North and West Africa through the lens of technology and social media. The authors of this book highlight how everyday people dealt with the pandemic from its onset, through the process of the development of the vaccine and to its eventual dissemination. This book tells stories of survival, of coping and, eventually, of economically thriving. The authors also describe how, in this extremely challenging moment for humanity, people used music, art and social media to reinvent the community, to share joy and pain and to try to remain connected.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Dedication Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Foreword

Introduction

PART 1: Covid-19, Information, and Communication

1 Reinventing Everyday Life in the Covid-19 Era: The Uses of Information and Communication Technologies as Tactics in an Abidjanese “Ordinary Courtyard”

1.1. Introduction

1.2. Results

1.3. Conclusion

1.4. References

2 Ambivalence of the Use of Digital Technologies in Public Communication About the Pandemic in Côte d’Ivoire

2.1. Introduction: Ivorian context of digital technology use in the Covid-19 period

2.2. Conceptualization of the social uses of technology in public communication

2.3. Collection and method for analyzing ambivalent uses of digital social media in the face of Covid-19 in Côte d’Ivoire

2.4. Digital social media, a popular source of information about the pandemic and a source of rumors and miscommunication

2.5. Conclusion: understanding the ambivalence of digital social media use in times of Covid-19

2.6. References

3 Fake News and Anti-Covid-19 Vaccines: Analysis of Facebook Users in Burkina Faso

3.1. Introduction

3.2. Methodology

3.3. The profiles of Facebook users and their content

3.4. Fake news in the representation of vaccine risks

3.5. Facebook users confront the vaccine communication strategy and fake news

3.6. Conclusion

3.7. References

PART 2: Covid, Art and Culture

4 Covid-19 Crisis and Musical Creation for Public Awareness in Africa

4.1. Introduction: musical creation for prevention

4.2. Musical information and the Covid-19 crisis in Africa: collecting and deciphering content

4.3. Musical works for health prevention

4.4. Conclusion

4.5. References

Online resources

5 Rethinking Theatrical Performances in the Covid-19 Era: Strategies and Perspectives

5.1. Introduction

5.2. Brief status of Ivorian theatrical performances before Covid-19

5.3. The situation of theatrical performances during Covid-19

5.4. Theatrical representations: resilience and resistance

5.5. Conclusion

5.6. References

Oral sources

6 Tourism and the Pandemic: How to be Resilient and Creative Thanks to NICTs. Case study: Aloha Surf Camp in Morocco

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Research methodology

6.3. Some geographical, economical and cultural notions of Moroccan surf tourism

6.4. Conceptual framework

6.5. Results and discussions

6.6. Conclusion

6.7. References

PART 3: Business, Education and Covid

7 Digital Technologies to Support Learning in the University Environment During the Pandemic at UFHB: From Hope to Disillusionment

7.1. Introduction

7.2. Digital technologies to support training in the university environment

7.3. Difficulties when appropriating ICTs within academic institutions in Africa

7.4. Improved access to ICTs, the digital divide in secondary education

7.5. The Covid-19 pandemic as a catalyst for the integration of ICTs into pedagogy and learning in the university setting

7.6. Methodology: meeting the students

7.7. Focus group characteristics

7.8. Smartphones, the students’ tool of choice

7.9. UFHB students’ perception of online learning

7.10. Pedagogy and experience of online courses

7.11. DSIC student critiques of the online training experience

7.12. Student suggestions for improving the organization of online courses

7.13. Discussion of the survey results

7.14. Conclusion

7.15. References

8 The Use of ICT by Students of the University Ibn Zohr During Covid-19: Uses and Representations

8.1. Introduction

8.2. Contextualization

8.3. Objective

8.4. Issue

8.5. Theoretical framework

8.6. Methodology and presentation of the tool

8.7. Results and discussion

8.8. Conclusion

8.9. References

9 Digital Communication for the Continuity of Socioeconomic Activities in Times of Covid-19 in Côte d’Ivoire: An Inventory of the Uses of ICTs

9.1. Introduction

9.2. Key theories

9.3. Method

9.4. The deployment of digital communication for socioeconomic activities

9.5. Recommendations to better adapt digital communication to managerial approaches

9.6. Conclusion

9.7. References

List of Authors

Index

Other titles from ISTE in Systems and Industrial Engineering – Robotics

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 2

Table 2.1 Number of respondents by municipality.

Table 2.2 Means of communication used for information (%).

Table 2.3 Frequent sources of rumors (%).

Table 2.4 Use of social networks by education level.

Chapter 3

Table 3.1 Distribution of the corpus according to the accounts of Facebook use...

Table 3.2 Nature of the elements of the corpus.

Chapter 4

Table 4.1 Summary table of data from the research corpus.

Chapter 6

Table 6.1 Informant profiles

Chapter 8

Table 8.1 Distribution of the respondents according to their place of residenc...

Table 8.2 Most used social networks versus gender – FLSH

Table 8.3 Most used social networks versus gender – ESEF

Table 8.4 Preferred mode of learning for students

Table 8.5 Satisfaction level of the measures taken by the establishment

Table 8.6 Platform frequentation before lockdown

Table 8.7 The cost of accessing the Internet

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1

Figure 1.1 A loudspeaker connected by Bluetooth to an Android phone at the gri...

Figure 1.2 Children playing with a digital tablet. For a color version of this...

Chapter 2

Figure 2.1 Judging information about Covid-19 from social networks.

Figure 2.2 Views on selected rumors about Covid-19.

Chapter 3

Figure 3.1 Graphical distribution of publications by user.

Figure 3.2 Distribution of the corpus according to the nature of the publicati...

Figure 3.3 Statistical data on the educational level of Facebook users.

Figure 3.4 The number of fake news posts on Facebook according to the elements...

Figure 3.5 Trends in Facebook users’ choices of vaccines.

Chapter 6

Figure 6.1 Research area, with the hotel establishments visited8 during this s...

Figure 6.2 Popularity of the term “digital nomad”21 (as a percentage of curren...

Guide

Cover Page

Dedication Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Foreword

Introduction

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

List of Authors

Index

Other titles from ISTE in Systems and Industrial Engineering – Robotics

WILEY END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

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To my friends and colleagues Alain Diassé and Celestin Gnonzion who passed away too soon

Julien Atchoua

To my wife Laetitia, my daughter Jessica and my son Ethan and all my colleagues and friends

Jean-Jacques Maomra Bogui

To my wife Faby and my son Eja and to those who derive their happiness from serving others

Saikou Diallo

Africa Digital Age Setcoordinated byJean-Paul Bourrières

Volume 2

Technologies and African Societies in Pandemic Times

Using Technology to Survive and Thrive During the Covid-19 Era

Edited by

Saikou DialloJean-Jacques Maomra BoguiJulien Atchoua

First published 2023 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:

ISTE Ltd

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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London SW19 4EU

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UK

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www.iste.co.uk

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© ISTE Ltd 2023The rights of Saikou Diallo, Jean-Jacques Maomra Bogui and Julien Atchoua to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s), contributor(s) or editor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of ISTE Group.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023930940

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA CIP record for this book is available from the British LibraryISBN 978-1-78630-452-0

Foreword

This collective work presents varied but convergent perspectives on the methods and means implemented in Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso in particular, but also elsewhere in Africa, to limit the disruptive effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on daily life and public productivity on the continent. The authors of the nine chapters that make up the book examine adaptive uses of new information and communication technologies (NICTs) in key areas of community and national life in the countries studied from several angles. These areas include school and university education, the dissemination of information about the pandemic and the sensitization of the population on health and hygiene precautions, the innovative reconfiguration of certain virtual communities, the use of musical and artistic creativity in the fight against the pandemic and the promotion of tourism adapted to the new realities inherent to Covid-19. Also noteworthy is the careful attention devoted to the consequences of misinformation and disinformation that, unfortunately, insidiously infiltrate social media networks daily. This is especially critical as it gets to the heart of the misinterpretation that many individuals and groups across the African continent are thwarting the health services’ efforts to raise awareness to curb the pandemic.

Reading through the various methodological approaches used to gather, present and contextualize the data and information conveyed in this collective work, the reader can see the scientific rigor that each author has applied in researching, analyzing and interpreting the data collected not only in the field, but also from relevant didactic sources.

Furthermore, when chapters are profiled in thematic order, the dialectical synergy that links them together becomes evident. It provides the reader-researcher, in particular, but not exclusively, with a more articulate and enriching understanding.

To illustrate the dialectical synergy in question, it is sufficient to take the example of four chapters without losing sight of the intersectionality linking, in one way or another, all nine chapters to each other. The four chapters considered are as follows: “The Use of ICT by Students of the University Ibn Zohr During Covid-19: Uses and Representations” (Chapter 8) led by Samar Chakhrati, “Digital Technologies to Support Learning in the University Environment During the Pandemic at UFHB: From Hope to Disillusionment” (Chapter 7) led by Jean-Jacques Maomra Bogui, “Fake News and Anti-Covid-19 Vaccines: Analysis of Facebook Users in Burkina Faso” (Chapter 3) led by Marcel Bagare and “Ambivalence of the Use of Digital Technologies in Public Communication About the Pandemic in Côte d’Ivoire” (Chapter 2) led by Nanga Désiré Coulibaly.

Chapter 8 presents a comparative study of the use of information and communication technologies by students at this Moroccan university in two academic bodies: the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, which have open access to these technologies, and the École Supérieure de l’Éducation et de la Formation d’Agadir, which has regulated access. The authors’ declared objective is to verify the effectiveness of the technologies available to students in learning and the forms of use likely to emerge from their active participation in the virtual scholastic space created in response. Chapter 7 offers a study along the same lines, but applied in this case to the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire). It highlights the disillusionment that has resulted from the digitization program for teaching and learning in this institution. In this chapter, the author uses a quantitative research method based on the so-called “focus group” scenario, which allows him to document the infatuation that the idea of introducing virtual learning using platforms such as Zoom, Blackboard and Teams would have generated. He also examines the events that led to the transmutation of this original infatuation into disillusionment among the people and groups targeted in the research.

In addition, Chapters 2 and 3 offer investigations into the abuse of the internet and social media through the spread of false news about Covid-19 and related hygiene and health precautions and vaccines. Bagare and Coulibaly each start from three converging theses. The first states that the spiraling rise of social media and its ever-increasing influence within all social strata and categories has seriously undermined the informational and communicational monopoly that the mass media used to boast. The second argues that the almost innate receptivity of social media to the ambivalent production and circulation of information, misinformation and disinformation makes users of these media particularly vulnerable to the effects of fake news and conspiracy theories during crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, the third thesis elucidates that Covid-19 is the first crisis of this nature and scale to shake the world in the age of social media. Hence, the exponential danger that the abuse of these media poses to millions of users worldwide in general, but in Africa in particular, and most notably, in the case studies conducted by Bagare and Coulibaly, within Burkina Faso and Abidjan. This is all the more problematic because, as Etienne Klein notes, whom Coulibaly has cited aptly, “Our society which is dominated by digital technologies, puts our ability to distinguish what is true from what is false in crisis. And it creates a world where everyone asserts their truth”.

Ultimately, this book represents a welcome contribution to deepening and strengthening our critical and objective understanding of the complex confluence between new information and communication technologies (NICTs), and the determination to live an individual and community life in as normal a way as possible during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mohamed SALIOU CAMARA

November 2022

Introduction

In February 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic became a worldwide health emergency. On April 20, 2020, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Health Organization (WHO) created a joint declaration to show their commitment to using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to overcome the pandemic. Despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, almost all human activities continued. So that several corporations could survive, these activities had to continue, even if some paused for longer than others. In response, a specific terminology emerged in the public space. Reinventing how we go about our lives has proved critical to remaining resilient in the face of the pandemic. These formulas continued through public discourse and debate during the various waves.

Although the pandemic did not manifest homogeneously and uniformly in all countries, it must be emphasized that the response was globalized under guidance from WHO. At the level of internal health policies in certain states, we have seen discourses that differ from those of the dominant institution. In any case, the crisis has caused the emergence of new technological practices, which until that point had not been used in certain human activities. The crisis has now made them indispensable. We have also seen new practices that positively contribute to the response and could become permanent. Responses to the crisis have varied according to the knowledge as it became available.

We have gone from rigid restrictions – in the form of lockdowns and curfews – to an increasing easing of restrictions. To a certain extent, technological tools have helped to maintain minimum levels of service in several fields of economic activity. This pandemic spurred dynamic and unprecedented technological innovations. Faced with the unprecedented character of Covid-19, society has naturally put its level of resilience to the test in terms of its ability to adapt and reinvent itself. Social, community and professional life has been significantly tested. Across professions, tools have been used to keep the human and economic activity moving forward so that society could feel the effects of the pandemic less severely.

In the medical sector, technology has made a significant leap forward in consultation practices, prevention, management of certain diseases or pathologies, health information and health statistics. In other words, the technological innovations brought about by the health emergency have instigated new approaches to health: e-health or connected health. For example, digital public health services have undoubtedly emerged in the public sector to help trace the contact cases of those diagnosed with Covid-19. Technological devices developed by governments have also contributed to the response.

In the professional field, the pandemic encouraged the development of telecommuting or remote work. In some, technology has proven to be a real opportunity for evolution and innovation, making us rethink daily work habits and practices. A minimum level of service could be maintained due to a certain pre-disposition of the working population to leverage technology and the devices they used before the pandemic.

In the field of education, teaching had to continue virtually during this crisis. Education systems have put special arrangements in place to provide online courses. Numerous practices have emerged or reappeared to ensure these lessons can run normally. One example of this is the re-emergence of virtual education. Whether in the format of tele-education or television education, the implementation of this practice has occurred with specific nuances per country. Family relationships have also been tested by Covid-19. It became necessary to work from home overnight. The family environment became the place of work, with all the difficulties that this can imply. This new situation of increased use of technology, spurred on by the pandemic in countries across the world, has been experienced differently from one country to another in Africa.

This book’s creators wish to promote international and interdisciplinary collaboration through this initiative, and facilitate the connection between theory and field. In this way, this book addresses all interests in digital technologies and digital communication as tools for resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa. This book is structured around the following objectives:

– identify technologies, tools or platforms to respond to the pandemic in social and professional contexts;

– identify new uses of technologies that have contributed to the resilience of African populations in response to Covid-19;

– describe the processes through which social relations and economic activities were able to continue in this context of Covid-19 in Africa;

– analyze the uses of technologies throughout the crisis, considering their contribution to the continuation of the activities of design, production and maintenance of structures and infrastructures, but also through the obstacles that these technologies have helped to overcome to help families, communities, private and public enterprises function more effectively;

– analyze approaches and techniques for appropriating or reappropriating technological tools in response to the pandemic in the African context;

– describe the new phenomena of media-information and the practices that have emerged or experienced strong growth in digital technologies in the African pandemic.

This collective work is structured in three main parts. Each part includes three chapters. In the first part, entitled “Covid-19, Information and Communication”, the first chapter is “Reinventing Everyday Life in the Covid-19 Era. The Uses of Information and Communication Technologies as Tactics in an Abidjanese “Ordinary Courtyard””. According to the author, Youssouf Soumahoro, in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic significantly impacted the Ivory Coast, specifically an area called Abidjan. According to the study conducted in this chapter, the population seemed to bypass the barriers of daily life and overcome the restrictions by using ICT. These technological tools helped fight against the isolation of individuals socially distanced by Covid-19. They enabled them to communicate with their personal and professional environments, as well as their communities. ICT seemed to stimulate the Abidjanese population to regain sociability while respecting restrictive measures. The role also extended to provide relevant information on the current health situation and maintain education and schooling among students.

Digital technology is presented as a solution to tackle physical limitations, while representing an opportunity for development from an economic perspective. The pandemic has become a lever for the population, materialized here by the inhabitants of an ordinary courtyard, and on the Internet by users who use technology to escape their daily realities, mentally or economically. Thus, ICT is used for a wide range of purposes – whether relational, economic, informational, leisurely or educational. They help the people of Abidjan to build a sense of adaptiveness, as they are tools of resilience, and strengthen social ties.

The second chapter, authored by Nanga Désiré Coulibaly, is entitled “Ambivalence of the Use of Digital Technologies in Public Communication About the Pandemic in Côte d’Ivoire”. Covid-19 was imposed in Côte d’Ivoire, as in all other countries of the African continent. To inform and mobilize the population to fight against the spread of the virus, the Ivorian government uses digital technologies for its public communication. However, the overabundance of digital tools has led to a potential cyber-dependency, which could harm psychological and physical health. Despite this, ICTs can be positioned as a solution to a real informational need. Indeed, restrictive measures, although broadcast incessantly in traditional media, are not necessarily followed in everyday life. Therefore, digital media attracts an attentive audience and reveals a genuine efficiency on the ground.

Moreover, information is undergoing an epidemic with dramatic consequences on the population, even qualified as “infodemia” by the WHO. Digital communication techniques are certainly efficient due to their quantitative scope, but they are not always qualitative, particularly when the population is confronted with false information about restrictive measures. Each individual is free to express their opinion on issues relating to Covid-19, thus creating a possible cycle of fake news, which can be relayed en masse and start to spin the rumor mill. This situation is a viral phenomenon that is dangerous for the health of Ivorians. The ambivalence of the uses of digital technologies is, therefore, the result of access to digital culture and ICT, as well as the education necessary to untangle true information from false information, considering just how much data circulates online.

The third chapter is written by Marcel Bagare, which deals with “Fake News and Anti-Covid-19 Vaccines: Analysis of Facebook Users in Burkina Faso”. The author indicates that Africa, which seems to be less affected by Covid-19 than other continents, has witnessed a strong reaction from authorities to keep the pandemic on its territory under control. In this respect, raising public awareness has been a major challenge, particularly through the Internet. The web makes information accessible to any Internet user, which entails a plurality of points of view. In contrast, previously traditional media channels dictated the transmitted information, taking advantage of their monopoly. In this chapter, the topic of the safety and veracity of the anti-Covid-19 vaccine, as discussed on the web in Burkina Faso, is a central component. Fake news is presented as dangerous, especially when it concerns Covid-19, which is, in essence, the first pandemic in the age of digital and social networks. The behavior of those in Burkina on Facebook toward this vaccine is the subject of the article. Many people share conspiracy theories and unfounded information on the platform, where two-thirds of users are uneducated. For others, Facebook is their main source of information, so fake news about the vaccine became accepted by the population, putting their health at risk.

The second part of this book addresses the pandemic as it unfolded in the daily realities of the cultural sector. It is entitled “Covid, Art and Culture”. In the first chapter of this part (Chapter 4), Julien Atchoua discusses the “Covid-19 Crisis and Musical Creation for Public Awareness in Africa”. This chapter tackles the role of musical creation in raising public awareness in Africa. Music (a mix of sounds assembled to form a pleasing whole) is an art form presented as having strong physical and psychological effects on individuals who hear it. Each artist uses notes, lyrics or instruments to share and transmit ideas about everyday life and social practices. In this way, music supports actions that can help to prevent Covid-19. As proof of this, the virus was presented as a foreign disease, especially on social networks. African decision-makers have opted for an informative communication strategy using music.

As an art form, music enables the study of many social aspects inherent to the specificities of melodies, lyrics and internal and external elements. During a crisis like that of Covid-19, the socio-sanitary stakes were revealed. Atchoua presents his methodology and results in his eponymous analysis. The musical works were studied to highlight the trend of health awareness echoing in Africa through the education of populations about restrictive measures and the threats resulting from the virus. However, digitalized misinformation reigns on the continent. Music, which is multilingual and present in homes without any particular social distinction, conveys the preventive message of official national and international institutions in a pacifist manner. Thus, all styles of music and artists represent informative and preventive channels that can help inform a population confronted with Covid-19.

In the second chapter of Part 2 (Chapter 5), Losséni Fanny proposes “Rethinking Theatrical Performances in the Covid-19 Era: Strategies and Perspectives”. According to the author, since the Covid-19 pandemic, restrictive measures have limited social interactions, including performances in the theatre. Presented by the chapter’s author as a source of resilience, the theatre would be essential to individuals’ physical and mental development. Several innovations in testing theatrical representations that were already in decline following a prosperous era from the 1970s to the 1990s are being tested in Cote D’Ivoire. Despite certain negative consequences, such as significant economic losses, these trials have visibly positive effects on the potential creativity inherent in situations of crisis.

Constraints induce resilience and resistance. Theatrical performances have used these constraints to develop a creative way to generate renewed interest. Also, the professionals in the sector have been inventive when generating innovative methods and practices that respect the recommended measures, such as digital communication and social networks. Finally, the author of the chapter supports the role of the Ivorian State in the promotion and reinvention of media, culture and the arts, considering funding and consulting many key players working in the sector.

Tourism is a field particularly affected by this crisis. Hanane Mabrouk and John Van Den Plas wrote Chapter 6, entitled “Tourism and the Pandemic: How to be Resilient and Creative Thanks to NICTs. Case study: Aloha Surf Camp in Morocco”. Indeed, the pandemic linked to Covid-19 has had a detrimental impact on industries worldwide, including the tourism sector, which is expected to be promising in Africa by 2020. Morocco’s borders have remained closed, so the tourism sector, the second contributor to the country’s GDP, has been restricted to national travelers. However, new ICTs (NICTs) have not been limited by the measures; international targets can still be reached digitally, and there is the potential to reach people physically in the future.

In Morocco, tourism stakeholders have demonstrated the resilience and creativity needed to revitalize their economy in times of health crisis. This article focuses on the study conducted in 2021 at the Aloha Surf Camp resort in Taghazout Bay. There, local tourism workers and their resilience have enabled the development of an innovative ICT strategy. Digital nomads and the well of possibilities made possible by NICTs, including Instagram, have led the manager of Aloha Surf Camp to expand his offer through artistic residencies, studio recordings and a complete package of services related to music, accessible face-to-face, as well as remotely. Thus, NICTs have transformed economic risk from the pandemic and targeting tourism into a force for innovation and, in turn, a competitive advantage.

In the last part of this book on “Business, Education and Covid”, Jean-Jacques Maomra Bogui analyzes “Digital Technologies to Support Learning in the University Environment During the Pandemic at UFHB: From Hope to Disillusionment” (Chapter 7). In this chapter, he considers that digital technologies, which are now anchored in the educational system in sub-Saharan Africa, would seem to be efficient pedagogical tools. However, the use of ICT needs to be put into context to measure its effects. In the university environment, ICT would be beneficial when it is focused on the student and their studies rather than on the lecture. However, the uptake of ICT in African education is still hampered by operational problems.

While ICT access has grown, secondary education’s digital divide persists. The Covid-19 pandemic froze the world in 2019, and social and pedagogical exchanges have undergone rapid digitalization, especially on smartphones, so they can continue to exist. The study conducted with students of the DSIC of UFHB reveals significant difficulties in properly monitoring online learning outside of the physical setting of the school and its infrastructure. Goals for improvement include students’ participation in decisions that concern them, ICT training for teachers and students, and support for digitalizing students at university and home. Finally, the Covid-19 crisis was a time of rapid adaptation, a precursor to investing in digital technologies in the educational environment.

Another chapter, entitled “The Use of ICT by Students of the University Ibn Zohr During Covid-19: Uses and Representations” (Chapter 8) is proposed by Abderrahmane Amsidder, Samar Chakhrati and Semaya El Boutouly. Nowadays, digital technologies, also called ICTs, punctuate our daily lives. Always accessible, we no longer separate our professional time from our personal time. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, universities had to react quickly and adapt to virtual learning for pedagogical continuity, such as the University Ibn Zohr in Agadir. The effectiveness of ICT in learning is evaluated in an open-access institution and one with selective access.

The study shows an uneven distribution of Internet access and ICT use among the student community. The majority have an email address and one or more social networking accounts, with Facebook and WhatsApp leading the way. A smartphone is a major tool in digital access, but its use is hampered by the lack of infrastructure and expensive equipment inaccessible to the average Moroccan student. Also, higher education students are ready to introduce ICT in their pedagogical learning processes, although the digital divide is an important element to consider.

In the last chapter of this book, Bassémory Koné analyzes “Digital Communication for the Continuity of Socioeconomic Activities in Times of Covid-19 in Côte d’Ivoire: An Inventory of the Uses of ICTs”. The Covid-19 virus has forced all socioeconomic actors to reinvent a way of functioning, in light of the barriers, to maintain their activities. Digital technologies contribute to adapting new managerial approaches to maintain socioeconomic functioning in Côte d’Ivoire. First, digital communication had to be implemented quickly to manage the restrictions linked to Covid-19. This situation has brought to light many obstacles previously buried in the traditional institutionalization of socioeconomic activities. Finally, confronting reality leads to tangible recommendations necessary for a future adaptation of managerial and educational approaches using digital means.