Digital Planet

By BBC World ServiceTechnology

Digital Planet episodes

November 15, 2022 The Open Internet for Africa
We hear about a new plan to drive economies and improve lives across Africa – the Open Internet project between the continent and the EU. A report “The Open Internet as Cornerstone of Digitalisation” is funded by the EU and points out in detail what needs to done to secure easy, reliable and cheap online access without which development will simply stall. We speak to two of the report’s authors – one from the EU and the other from Africa.
Monitoring Mangroves in the Pakistan Indus Delta
Mangrove forests are hugely impacted by climate change and monitoring them from space with satellites doesn’t deliver enough data to know fully how they are being impacted by rising temperatures and sea levels. Now a pilot project in the Indus River Delta, just south of Karachi in Pakistan, has used drones to image the mangroves allowing the researchers to study one of the world’s largest forests. The project’s director Obaid Rehman is on the show to tell us about their work and also how these mangrove forests can be used for carbon capture. He says their work should lead to more plantations of the forest too.
The talk at Web Summit 2022
Technology gatherings are back in full swing and Web Summit in Portugal is one of the biggest. This year’s conference was at full capacity and tech reporter Jane Wakefield joined the queues to see what was preoccupying the tech industry as 2022 draws to an end – and the big thing appears to be the Metaverse.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.
Studio Manager: Tim Heffer
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
(Image: Getty Images)
37 min
November 08, 2022 Controlling protesters in Iran via phones
A new report shows how the authorities in Iran can track and control protestors phones. An investigation by The Intercept news organisation has found that mobile phone coverage is being switched from a healthy 5G or 4G network to slow and clunky 2G coverage when protestors gather. This means they no longer can communicate using encrypted messages or calls on their smartphones and instead have to rely up traditional phone calls or SMS messages which can be intercepted and understood easily. This, according to the report is being done by a web programme. One of reports authors Sam Biddle, a journalist specialising in the misuse of power in technology, is on the programme.
Policing the metaverse
Imagine being attacked in virtual reality – will the experience be as traumatic as in real life? Perhaps not yet but in the near future if we are living as least part of our live in the Metaverse, crime will also be part of the virtual life. But currently there is little if no protection if a crime committed against our virtual selves. Now Europol – the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation – has published a report into Policing the Metaverse. Journalist Emma Woollacott has been reading the report and she explains the many perils that we could face and also how we need to act now to manage these crimes in the Metaverse.
Hollyplus -a digital twin AI that sings anything you want to (even if you can’t!)
Imagine being able to sing any song you like – and in any language you choose – even in musical styles that you have never studied? That’s now possible thanks to artist, musician and composer Holly Herndon. She has trained a computer algorithm to sing like her – the cloned voice can sing in any language or style she chooses – even extending her own vocal range. The project is called Hollyplus and the digital twin has just released its version of Dolly Parton’s song Jolene. The real Holly explains how she’s done this.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.
Studio Manager: Sue Maillot
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
(Image: Protest in Iran. Credit: Getty Images)
42 min
November 01, 2022 The Twitter takeover
Elon Musk completed on a 44-billion-dollar takeover of Twitter last week. He’s expressed the want to restructure the platform and create a digital ‘town square’, a potential space for free speech, growth and learning. But defining freedom of speech is a minefield, and some parties are afraid that Elon’s vision could provide opportunity for greater disinformation and misinformation. Gareth and Becky Hogge speculate as to whether Twitter can ever fulfil the digital idealism that many first dreamt of at the conception of the internet.
As social media platforms have become ever more adept at seeking out and closing bots, a thriving underground ecosystem has grown up where people make a living from setting up multiple fake accounts. Clients buy their services through so called ‘click farms’ that sell packages of likes and shares. For a few dollars a celeb, a business or a politician can simply buy a big following, and influence. A new report highlights the stories of the largely exploited gig economy workers behind the clicks. One of the authors is Rafael Grohmann of University of Toronto, Canada.
At the Digital Doorstep is a recent report that shines the spotlight on the manner in which novel doorbell cameras alter the behaviour and management of delivery drivers. Harrison Lewis speaks to the authors, Eve Zelickson and Aiha Nguyen from Data and Society, to find out how some of our doorsteps have become a social enigma; where does surveillance belong on private property when that same space also acts as a work place for others?

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.
Studio Manager: Bob Nettles
Producer: Harrison Lewis
(Image: Elon Musk 'Chief Twit' Photo Illustration. Credit: Getty Images)
41 min
October 25, 2022 Chip exports and US-China relations
The Biden administration announced a monumental policy shift earlier this month, set to limit and control the exportation of artificial intelligence and semiconductor technologies to China. The restrictions will block leading U.S. chip designers from accessing the Chinese market; selling goods that form the backbone of AI and supercomputing. Gregory Allen from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies explains how these actions could potentially ‘strangle’ large segments of the Chinese technology industry.
Whilst access to the World Wide Web becomes ever more integral to modern day life, the digital divide is growing. Those residing in Africa and the Americas appear to have the least affordable, least reliable and slowest internet. Elena Babarskaite at Surfshark, a VPN service company located in the Netherlands, unpicks their latest investigation into our Digital Quality of Life.
In one Ghana household, an AI powered chatbot tutor called Rori, developed by Rising Academies, helps its student stay up to date with his favourite subject, maths. Lucinda Rouse hears how this smart teacher, available through Whatsapp, could soon reach 200,000 children across West Africa, bypassing expensive tuition fees.
(Image: Semiconductor and circuit board. Credit: Getty Images)
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from
Bill Thompson
Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
Producer: Harrison Lewis
45 min
October 18, 2022 5bn mobile phones to become waste in 2022
The WEEE forum estimates that of the 16 billion mobile phones in the world about 5.3bn will no longer be in use this year. Despite being packed with precious metals like gold, silver and palladium and other recyclable parts most will not be disposed of properly. This mountain of e-waste (that if piled on top of each other would reach 120 times higher than the International Space Station) is only part of e-waste problem with other small consumer electronics e.g. remotes, headphones, clocks, irons etc., being hoarded in even greater numbers than mobiles. Magdalena Charytanowicz from the WEEE forum is on the show and explains the magnitude of the problem and how it needs to be tackled.
100 years of the BBC
As the BBC starts its 100th anniversary celebrations, we have a report from BBC Northampton’s Martin Heath, who is spending the day at the site of the Daventry transmitting station at Borough Hill. Martin tells us about the history of the station (it was initially was used for long wave, and short wave broadcasting and closed in 1992) and we also speak to one of the engineers who worked there about the technology used.
The biggest radio telescope in the Northern Hemisphere
The NOEMA radio telescope is now the most powerful radio telescope in the northern hemisphere. Twelve antennas in the French Alps will simultaneously detect and measure a large number of signatures of molecules and atoms. More than 5000 scientists from across the world will now be able to observe stars being born, comets, black holes and light from cosmic objects that has been travelling to Earth for more than 13 billion years. We find out about the tech that is making this possible.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.
Studio Manager: Gayl Gordon
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
(Image credit: Getty Images)
41 min
October 11, 2022 Internet under attack in Ukraine
Ukraine has faced internet outages since missile attacks restarted on Monday -a drop of more than 20% was recorded yesterday by The Internet Observatory Netblocks. This loss of connectivity is not thought to be due to cyber attacks but more about physical attacks on power infrastructure. Director of Netblocks, Alp Toker, is on the show to explain what’s happened.
The boom in mobile money in Somalia
Despite the worst drought in 40 years, Somalians are embracing mobile money to the point that it’s replacing formal currency. Without a central bank following the collapse of the government, the country was flooded with counterfeit money, this led to mobile money becoming popular. Two thirds of payments now being made via mobiles with 73% of the population over the age of 16 using mobile money services. Aid agencies are using the services to get money to remote rural populations in al-Shabab controlled areas impacted by the drought. We speak to Quartz East Africa Correspondent Tom Collins and Dean of Economics at SIMAD University in Mogadishu, Abdinur Ali Mohamed.
Pass me that lobster: Conjuring up the metaverse
On Tuesday Meta announce their metaverse plans. The sheer volume of images needed to fill the metaverse for it to be a success cannot be left to big tech if the metaverse is going to be a success. The metaverse will also have to rely on the next generation image making tools to fill the space for everyone who wants to use it in the way they want to use it . Bill Thompson explains how we will be able to take a lobster out of our backpack in the VR future.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.
Studio Manager: Michael Millham
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
(Image credit: Getty Images)
43 min
October 04, 2022 Pandemic pushes women online
In 2020 more than 40% of the world’s population was not using the internet, with many more women being unable to get online. Now a new global study into digital access in 90 countries shows that although women were disproportionately impacted by the Covid pandemic, it seems to have got more of them online in South East Asia and Africa. In these two parts of the world, the study shows progress in terms of bridging the gap between men and women and access to tech and the internet. While, historically, 90% of transactions in India were done by cash, the researchers say the pandemic forced more people to turn to digital payments for everyday items including food and other goods. In many parts of South East Asia, including India, many women are doing most of the shopping. The combination paved the way for progress and highlights a unique instance where the pandemic benefited women in these regions. Additionally, now equipped with their own digital wallets, women are afforded more agency over their finances. The progress in gender parity was seen in sub-Saharan Africa (8% improvement from 2019-2021), the Middle East and North Africa (6%), and South Asia (3%). We speak to Tufts University researchers who carried out the work, the dean of Global Business, Bhaskar Chakravorti, and research manager Christina Filipovic.
War Games: Real Conflicts/Virtual Worlds/Extreme Environments
Gareth and Ghislaine visit the Imperial War Museum in London to see the UK’s first-ever exhibition to explore video games and what they can tell us about conflict. Developing technology has introduced new ways of telling and experiencing war stories; toy soldiers and board games, cinema screenings of World War One, radio broadcasts from the frontlines of WWII, and TV images of the Cold War have given way to first-person shooter games on iconic consoles like the Atari 2600 and the Super Nintendo to internet driven team battles with the latest graphics and audio immersion. But is gaming tech the right place to explore conflict and how much is this entertainment industry driving tech development elsewhere?
Presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
(Photo: Rural woman talking on a mobile phone and using a laptop, India. Credit: Exotica.im/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)
40 min
September 27, 2022 Tiny robots cure mice with deadly pneumonia
Microrobots have been created and used to treat the most common form of pneumonia that infects patients in ICU. In experiments, currently carried out in mice at the University of California San Diego, the tiny robots swam around the lungs and delivered antibiotics that killed the disease-causing bacteria. The amount of antibiotics needed is a tiny fraction of the amount currently used to treat this infection intravenously. The robots are made from algae cells (this allows them to move) covered in antibiotic-filled nanoparticles. These nanoparticles are made with tiny spheres that are coated with the cell membranes of neutrophils – a type of white blood cell that fights infection and inflammation - making the microrobots more effective at fighting the lung infection. We hear from lead author Professor Joseph Wang about the tech that’s allowed the team of nanoengineers to create these microrobots.
Internet shutdowns in India – on what grounds are they allowed?
Since 2012 there have been 683 full internet blackouts in India according to the internet shutdown tracker run by the Software Freedom Law Centre (SLFC). Many of these are done without following government rules. Now India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has only a week left to reveal the grounds on which it approves or imposes internet shutdowns in the country. The SFLC filed a lawsuit against the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and West Bengal, after internet shutdowns were ordered to prevent cheating during state exams. This is a common occurrence around the time of public exams across the country as stolen exam papers often appear on the internet. Now the Supreme Court has ruled that the protocols on which these decisions are made need to be made public. Tech reporter Emma Woollacott explains the massive impact of these shutdowns and lawyer Mishi Choudhary founder of the SFLC explains why they bought about the lawsuit.
National Robotarium opens in Edinburgh
Digital Planet’s Hannah Fisher has been given access to the UK’s first robotarium and reports on the eve of its opening for the programme. A big aim of the national robotarium at Heriot Watt University is to change public opinion about what robots actually are and how we can use them.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.
Studio Manager: Andrew Garratt
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
(Image: Illustration of microrobots entering the lungs to treat pneumonia. Credit: Wang lab/UC San Diego:)
47 min
September 20, 2022 Gamification – does making things fun work?
Do you track your physical activity on your phone, count your daily steps, or how many calories you’ve burnt? Perhaps you are learning a new language using an app or have performance-related leaderboards at work? All these things are part of gamification – making everyday tasks more fun. But is all this gameplay good for us and is there actually any evidence that it works? Digital Planet this week explores the phenomenon of gamification with guests Adrian Hon, the CEO and founder of the games developer Six to Start and co-creator of one of the world’s most popular gamified apps, Zombies, Run! and Gabe Zichermann founder of six high-tech companies and author of three books on Gamification, including “Gamification by Design”.
The programme is presented by Bill Thompson with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.
Studio Manager: Tim Heffer
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
(Image: Gamification. Credit: Getty Images)
31 min
September 13, 2022 Community Networks: Connecting the unconnected
The Digital Divide in Tribal Communities
Across the North American continent, there is a stark difference in the availability of the internet to different communities. Tribal lands are typically remote, rural, and rugged landscapes, and often have very patchy, or non-existent internet connectivity. Dr. Traci Morris explains why such a digital divide exists and how tribes are working together, both within their communities and with each other, to create and gain access to communications networks.
Digital Deras connecting farmers in rural Pakistan
In rural Punjab in Pakistan, farmers and villagers gather in places called ‘Deras’ to socialise, drink tea and coffee and discuss their farms. But one project has created a community network to transform one of these Deras to have digital facilities – a ‘Digital Dera’. Farmers use this Digital Dera to access crucial weather forecasts and other information to help them manage their farms more efficiently. It also helps them battle the impact of climate change, as the crop cycles change due to shifting weather patterns. Founders of the project Fouad Bajwa and Aamer Hayat speak to Gareth about the impact of the Digital Dera project on the farming community.
Offline interview in Cuba
Cuba is one of the least digitally connected countries in the Western hemisphere. This is due to the US trade embargo but also poor internet infrastructure and tight control of its own government on the flow of information. Although accessing digital technologies is getting better, for ordinary Cubans going online is still a challenge. The internet connection is slow, unreliable, and prohibitively expensive. To combat this, they have created an offline underground internet called ‘El Paquete Semanal’ or ‘Weekly Package’ – it is a one-terabyte collection of eclectic material of movies, tv-series, sports, and music while turning a blind eye to copyright. Reporter Snezana Curcic visited to learn more about this Cuban alternative to broadband internet.
This programme was first transmitted on Tuesday 7th June 2022.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.
Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum
Producer: Hannah Fisher
(Photo: 5G data stream running through a rural village
Credit: Huber & Starke/Digital Vision/Getty Images)
32 min