Vol. V No. 12
December 2007
The first monthly magazine on ICT4D
CMCs and subaltern gendered selves Community multimedia centres
Information for development
w w w. i 4 d o n l i n e . n e t
The lost sheep of ICT4D research Global academic consciousness
Story telling for knowledge sharing
ISSN 0972 - 804X
New media for development
iConnect series
knowledge for change
9 - 10 December 2007 Crowne Plaza Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Beyond the mainstream...
A GK3 Associated Event Its 2007! The mid-point of the goals set by the UN.
Where are we?
Announcing the first film festival of its kind focussing on the Millennium Development Goals through the eyes of ICT4D. Films showing us the true picture of what has happened at the grassroots
Register Now!
Register online now ... Limited seats available and Submit short documentary films or Community Created Content. Topics of the films should address the Millennium Development Goals in their essence such as, • Poverty alleviation • Education • Health • Gender equality • Women empowerment, etc.
Log on to www.i4donline.net/filmfestival or Contact Sulakshana Bhattacharya, sulakshana@csdms.in Organised by
GLOBAL
knowledge for change
Sponsors
In partnership with
KNOWLEDGE PARTNERSHIP
GKP
®
Contents
Vol. V No. 12
December 2007
Mail box
Features
et
online.n
info@i4d
21 News Columns 6
Bytes for All
44
Book review
45 46
What’s on
Internet shutdown, Burma Pulling the plug Stephanie Wang
10
Community multimedia centres
14
Connectivity in the community, Bolivia
Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber Dissidents Shambhu Ghatak
CMCs and subaltern gendered selves Lopa Ghosh
Shared satellite connectivity Liang Tan, Stijn van der Krogt
18
38
In Fact Worldwide press freedom index
Digital video in applied reasearch The purity of perspective Janak Rana Ghose
20
You Tube
37
Sarai
40
Global academic consciousness
Pave your own way through technology Shambhu Ghatak
A programme for developing societies Ritu Srivastava
The lost sheep of ICT4D research Gerard C. Raiti
33 ICTD project newsletter Special
CD with this issue
I get i4d magazines regularly at DevNet, which is an NGO promoting the use of ICT4D. We appreciate the high quality of the articles, and the diverse places they come from. I wish there were some more from Latin America and the Caribbean. We also look forward to the online news letter. It is an excellent magazine. Please keep sending it. We also use the website to get some of the news items, Vidyaratha Kissoon Projects Officer – DevNet,Guyana, vidyak1@gmail.com I really appreciate reading i4d magazine. I’m happy to see that India has taken up the chance to present itself as a driver in ICT4D through the magazine. I would be pleased to receive your magazine in future also. Peter Rave Project Manager ICT4D, Division Health, Education and Social Protection, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Eschborn, Germany peter.rave@gtz.de, This is to confirm that our NGO (Foundation for Media Alterantives) does receive the print magazine of i4d and we do value it, using it in our work and sharing it with colleagues. We would appreciate it if we continue to receive it. Thanks again and more power to i4d. Al Alegre Executive Director, FMA, Philippines, alalegre@fma.ph I am getting the magazine regularly, I find it useful for my purposes and the projects of OIF about microfinance in Asia and in Africa and I wish you can continue to send me your i4d publication.
25
Story telling for knowledge sharing Local content for development initiatives in African and Latin American countries Stories by: Ramata Soré, Giovanna Tipan Barrera, Emily Nyarko, Abdoul M. Thiam and Filifing Diakite, TovinNgombe
the Connection 37 Making Scaling Telecentres for Development Ravi Venkatesan Chairman, Microsoft, India
Hervé CRONEL Conseiller special, Economie et Développement, Cabinet du Secrétaire Général de la Francophonie, herve.cronel@francophonie.org
info@i4donline.net www.i4donline.net/feedback.asp
Subscription Form
EDITORIAL GUIDELINES Information for development www.i4donline.net
Duration
Issues
(Year)
Please also consult the editorial calendar to choose the theme of your interest. We also accept soft or hard copy submissions of your contributions. We encourage you to share your original research with our readers.
News stand
Subscription
Price Rs.
Rs.
1
12
2400
2160
2
24
4800
3
36
7200
Saving
Subscription US$
10% (Rs. 240)
US$ 200
4080
15% (Rs. 720)
US$ 320
5040
30% (Rs. 2160) Vol. V No. 5
May 2007
US$ 400
The first monthly magazine on ICT4D
Vol. V No. 6
June 2007
eLearning in African and Latin American countries
Mobile opportunities
ICTs- a viable solution for SMEs Information for development
www.i4donline.net
The first monthly magazine on ICT4D
Bottom of pyramid mobile access
Story telling for knowledge sharing - iConnect series
Information for development
ICT and SMEs in Egypt: A case study
w w w. i 4 d o n l i n e . n e t
Technology integration into enterprising projects
Capacity building in Asian countries Internet governance
e-Publishing Ongoing revolution in e-Publishing
ISSN 0972 - 804X
The Editor’s decision to select, accept, modify or adjust your write-ups due to space constraints will be final.
Lead up to GK 3 - Emerging Technologies
Promoting innovations, role of ICTs in SMEs
ICTs in SMEs, Mexico
Vol. V No. 7
The first monthly magazine on ICT4D
July 2007
Vol. V No. 8
August 2007
Extention of ICTs to youth in Vietnam
Vol. V No. 9
October 2007
i4d Awards 2007
Information for development
w w w. i 4 d o n l i n e . n e t
A galaxy of luminaries
knowledge for change
Vol. V No. 11
November 2007
Information for development
Interactive Multimedia Compact Disc (IMCD)
w w w. i 4 d o n l i n e . n e t
knowledge for change
The first monthly magazine on ICT4D
Learning skills for small scale entrepreneurs UIRI ICT project, Uganda
Opportunities for rural India
Technology enabled farm women
Story telling for knowledge sharing - iConnect series
Beyond the mainstream... i4d Film Festival India 2007
The first monthly magazine on ICT4D
Equalising growth in outsourcing
Practical Action, Sri Lanka
Telecentre tales Indian Telecentre Forum, 2007 Information for development
w w w. i 4 d o n l i n e . n e t
Employment in IT sector, India
Wealth creation in India by KPOS
Vol. V No. 10
Reviving indigenous paddy cultivation
A journey through three states
Rural livelihoods
Differential scenarios in employment
The first monthly magazine on ICT4D
September 2007
CSC programme review, NeGP, India
Youth livelihood
Creating livehood opportunities Information for development
w w w. i 4 d o n l i n e . n e t
The first monthly magazine on ICT4D
ISSN 0972 - 804X
i4d contains articles and features on the theme of ‘ICT for development’ and related issues. Authors are requested to follow the guidelines while sending their articles to i4d.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
Phones at the bottom of the pyramid
Information for development
Telecom accessibility
w w w. i 4 d o n l i n e . n e t
Applications of ICTs in virtual universities Distance education and ICTs
Campus with no gates
ICTs and the challenges ahead
Barefoot College
Addressing the digital divide
Emerging technologies in African and Latin American countries
All correspondence should be addressed to: The Editor-in-chief, i4d G-4, Sector-39, Noida, India Tel +91-120-2502180 to 85 Fax +91-120-2500060 Email info@i4donline.net
knowledge for change
I/We would like to subscribe for (circle as applicable)
1
2
Nocw ribe
ISSN 0972 - 804X
Lead up to GK3 - Emerging People
Lead up to GK 3 - Emerging Markets knowledge for change
ISSN 0972 - 804X
e-Agriculture Left to Right: H.E. Mohammed Al Amer, Preseident CIO, Govt. of Bahrain; Niranjan Meegammana, E-Fusion Pvt. Ltd., Sri Lanka; Ms. Bela Diwan, Computer Teacher, Springdales School, New Delhi; Santosh Choubey, Director, AISECT; Ravi Gupta, Director, CSDMS; Ms. Simmi Kher, Head, Computer Dept., Springdales School; William D Dar, Director General, ICRISAT, India; Dr. M.P. Narayanan, President, CSDMS; Ahmed Mahmoud Mohamed Eisa, Chairman, GDCO, Sudan; Subhash Kuntia, Joint Secretary, Dept. of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development. Govt. of India; Saurabh Gupta, State Informatics Officer, NIC Bihar, India; K. Anvar Sadath, Head, e-Krishi.
ISSN 0972 - 804X
knowledge for change
ISSN 0972 - 804X
ICTs for livelihoods ISSN 0972 - 804X
Editorial guidelines are available at http://www.i4donline.net/Editorial/Editorial_ Guidelines.asp
Government investments in ICT4D
Knowledge process outsourcing
knowledge for change
knowledge for change
3
subs ne! onli
years.
First name............................................................................................ Last name .......................................................................... Designation/profession ........................................................................ Organisation ...................................................................... Mailing address ................................................................................... City .................................................................................... State ................................................... Country ................................ Postal code ......................................................................... Tel (o) ................................................... Tel (r)................................................................. Fax .......................................................... Email ................................................... Website ............................................................................................................................. Payments for mailed subscriptions are only accepted via cheque or demand draft. Cash payments may be made in person. (tick one and fill as applicable) Please find enclosed my/our cheque/demand draft numbered dated ......................... for Rs......................................... in favour of CSDMS a/c payable at New Delhi. I am submitting this form in person and paying by cash Please use photocopies of this form as required.
The CSDMS team
i4d news The first daily news service on ICT4D
Subscribe at www.i4donline.net 4
i4d, G-4 Sector 39, Noida 201 301, India Tel +91 120 250 2180 to 85 Fax +91 120 250 0060 Email info@i4donline.net
i4d is entering another year of publication and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Authors who have contributed to the magazine. The new year will see i4d extending its partnerships with organisations to get more focused content from specific locations around the world. The first few issues have been streamlined. Authors are welcome to send in their conributions aligned to the below mentioned issues:
i4d Editorial Calendar 2008 Month
Theme
January
GK3 conference special
Feburary
Open publishing
March
Security and cyber crime
April
ICTs and statistics
May
ICTs Latin America special
i4d | December 2007
Editorial Information for development
w w w. i 4 d o n l i n e . n e t
New media dreams
ADVISORY BOARD M P Narayanan, Chairman, i4d Chin Saik Yoon Southbound Publications, Malaysia Karl Harmsen United Nations University Kenneth Keniston Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Mohammed Yunus Grameen Bank, Bangladesh Nagy Hanna e-Leadership Academy, University of Maryland, USA Richard Fuchs IDRC, Singapore Rinalia Abdul Rahim Global Knowledge Partnership, Malaysia Walter Fust Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Switzerland Wijayananda Jayaweera UNESCO, France EDITORIAL BOARD Akhtar Badshah, Frederick Noronha GROUP DIRECTORS Maneesh Prasad, Sanjay Kumar EDITORIAL TEAM Editor-in-Chief Ravi Gupta Programme Co-ordinator Jayalakshmi Chittoor Sr. Research Associates Prashant Gupta, Shambhu Ghatak, Ritu Srivastava Research Associate Ajitha Saravanan Designers Bishwajeet Kumar Singh, Om Prakash Thakur, Chandrakesh Bihari Lal (James) Web Programmer Zia Salahuddin i4d G-4 Sector 39, NOIDA, UP, 201 301, India Phone +91 120 250 2181-85 Fax +91 120 250 0060 Email info@i4donline.net Web www.i4donline.net Printed at Yashi Media Works Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, India i4d is a monthly publication. It is intended for those interested and involved in the use of Information and Commnication Technologies for development of underserved communities. It is hoped that it will serve to foster a growing network by keeping the community up to date on many activities in this wide and exciting field. i4d does not necessarily subscribe to the views expressed in this publication. All views expressed in this magazine are those of the contributors. i4d is not responsible or accountable for any loss incurred directly or indirectly as a result of the information provided.
Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies, 2006
New media is a term, that is now seen to represent a group of digital technologies, and the re-organisation of traditional forms of media in their wake. They also bring in their wake a large dose of optimism. Recently Professor William Dutton, in his inaugural lecture, at the Oxford Internet Institute, heralded the emergence of what he calls, the ‘Fifth Estate’. He speaks about the coming into being of a realm, which is an alternative to the fourth estate. Citizen journalists, bloggers, researchers, and organisations, are providing an alternative source of information and reportage. There has been a growing appreciation of individual attempts to provide texts of social, journalistic, and analytical merit. The recent unfolding of events in Burma is an indication of the power of new media to challenge the hold of major media conglomerates over news-making. The open net initiative report, suggests the extent to which new media can circumvent policing of the media by the government. However, it also suggests the power of surveillance that the state can use to target citizens. New media also finds extensive application in Education, also allowing for the envisioning a new culture of life-long learning. There are potentialities within new media that can be exploited to make education more inclusive. Accordingly the governments should take cognizance and make sure that the rote is not followed where the benefits of new technologies accrue to a small minority, while the populace in general languishes behind, as has been the case historically. Immediate attention is warranted to the government making available these technologies, and more importantly, the progressive ideas that could steer these to a positive future, from within the state institutions and organisations spread across the country. Knowledge generated around the world in leading universities, hopefully, would soon be available as free resources. In fact, many leading universities, including recently, The University of California, Berkeley, have already made available, for free, lectures as Podcasts and Webcasts. Public resource platforms are proliferating on the internet. New arrangements like ‘shared infrastructure’ are mandated to ensure immediate access to a world of opportunities. New media therefore has implications for politics, democratic practice, intellectual property, censorship, surveillance, freedom of textual production, media critique, and community and individual expression. These are all integral to the project of a more functional democracy. As Gerard Raiti, suggests in his article, included in his issue, ICT4D research needs to take heed of the multidisciplinary aspects of ICTs, including a focus on, and drawing from, the experiences of everyday life, in their complex sociohistorical contexts.
Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License
i4d is supported by:
It is yet to be seen how the normative predictions on the implications of new media, translate into empirical results on the terra firma.
Ravi Gupta Ravi.Gupta@csdms.in December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
5
INTERNET SHUTDOWN, BURMA
Pulling the plug Introduction A sudden sharp increase in fuel prices in Burma precipitated rallies in Rangoon on August 19, 2007. Burmese spend up to 70 percent of their monthly income on food alone, making the fuel price hikes amidst chronic inflation untenable. Over the next month, leadership of the protests passed from former student leaders and a number of female activists to Buddhist monks, with participation swelling to an estimated crowd of 100,000 protesters on September 23. Throughout the crisis, citizen journalists and bloggers continued to feed raw, graphic footage and witness accounts to the outside world via the Internet, even through the first days of a violent crackdown beginning on September 26 that left up to 200 dead. These citizen journalists have been described invariably as ‘tech-savvy’ university students and youth. However, through ‘trusted-contact blogging’, multiple generations of Burmese became involved in circulating valuable information not obtainable by traditional means to the rest of the world. Photographs and videos taken with cell phones and digital cameras were dispatched outside the country by way of the Internet and assembled into a patchwork of powerful images. On September 29, 2007, the Burmese military junta, governing as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), raised the stakes of this information warfare by employing a tactic much cruder and more drastic than a firewall. The SPDC made use of its complete control over the country’s Internet gateways to shut down Internet access altogether, and reportedly terminated the majority of cell phone services. It has yet to publicly acknowledge these acts. This was the government’s attempt to immobilise and disarm the essential communication tools used by citizen journalists: cell phones and t h e In t e r n e t . T h e In t e r n e t , a n d correspondingly, information technology,
6
has been credited as the transformative platform that sets the ‘saffron revolution’ apart from the ‘8.8.88’ movement. In 1988, a student-led democratic movement was met with a brutal crackdown in which 3,000 Burmese were killed. However, in the recent events of 2007, a relatively small group of Burmese citizens achieved a disproportionate impact on the global awareness and understanding of this current crisis, despite operating in a very limited online space where information is severely controlled. By the time the protests began, the SPDC had already established one of the world’s most restrictive systems of information control, and had been extending its reach into the Internet despite less than 1 percent of the population having online access. ONI testing conducted in late 2006 demonstrated that the two Burmese Internet service providers (ISPs), Myanmar Posts and Telecom (MPT) and BaganNet/ Myanmar Teleport (formerly Bagan Cybertech), filtered extensively. They focused overwhelmingly on independent media, political reform, and human rights sites relating to domestic issues. Until it shut down Internet access on September 29, the Burmese government did not take an entirely systematic approach to
The SPDC made use of its complete control over the country’s Internet gateways to shut down Internet access altogether
filtering. Of the sites found to be blocked, less than a third were blocked on both ISPs. The remaining blocked sites were blocked on one ISP or the other, but not both. Other significant variations among the ISPs, including the inconsistent blocking of pornography and gambling sites, suggested that distinct filtering methods were being used.
Crackdown on Internet use continues The effort to bring the Internet under tight control intensified in the past few months and culminated in the complete shutdown of access on September 29. However, because it was focused mainly on constricting incoming political information from overseas, the government was unprepared for the outflow of information over the Internet. After the shutdown, outside observers were likely to have more information related to the developing situation than people inside Burma. On October 11, 2007, during a break in the regulated outages, an Internet user in Rangoon reported that many international news sites were blocked, including CNN and Reuters. As of late 2006, Radio Free Asia and OhmyNews were the only international news sites blocked by both BaganNet and MPT. However, many of the major overseas news sites gathering the stream of images and updates as the protests escalated, including Mizzima News (www. mizzima.com), the Democratic Voice of Burma (www.dvb.no), and Irawaddy (www.irrawaddy.org) have been blocked since 2005. Both ISPs block many other independent news sites focusing on Burmese issues. The government is just beginning to investigate Internet users who were involved in political activities and transferring information to news agencies. Along with Internet related services such as travel and Web sites, Internet cafés are still being i4d | December 2007
closed and their computers confiscated, with the government claiming that they illegally used ‘freedom’ software. According to another source, UN offices and other organisations based in the Traders Hotel and the Sakura tower in Rangoon were raided by military forces, as many photos were taken from the height of those buildings. The MPT has also asked ICT companies to submit letters pledging to avoid involvement in political matters and to control their employees’ Internet usage. Some companies have not signed on yet.
In search of free expression: the ‘G-lite revolution’ The Burmese government has near-complete control over broadcast and print media. All domestic radio and television stations are state-owned and controlled. While more than 100 print publications are now privately-owned, the Ministry of Information limits licensing to media outlets that agree to print only approved material and submit to vigorous advance censorship by its Press Scrutiny and Registration Division. The Printers and Publishers Registration Law is prodigious in scope, prohibiting the printing of anything ‘detrimental’ to the state, ‘any descriptions which though factually correct, are unsuitable because of the time or circumstances of their writing’, and ‘any criticism of a nonconstructive type of the work of government departments.’ Within this heavily controlled traditional media environment, the Internet has provided a limited means for free expression. The Internet had begun to enhance a bi-directional flow information and communication for many Burmese, especially the educated, urban elite. Most users access the Internet at Internet cafés, which have witnessed an ‘explosion of usage,’ especially in Rangoon. Anecdotally, it appears that nearly all Internet cafés have installed foreign hosted proxy sites or servers and other circumvention tools. The ‘G-lite revolution’, one of the names for the incipient movement of citizen journalists feeding information overseas, is coined after a proxy site for accessing Gmail (glite.sayni.net) that is reportedly ubiquitous in Burmese cyber cafés and ‘resides’ on hundreds of servers inside Burma. Citizen journalists and bloggers were actively uploading images and updates in the approximately 200 Internet cafés still open in the days before the Internet was shut down completely. The ‘G-lite revolution’ depended on smallscale technologies in order for Burmese to be able to circumvent the firewall and gain access to the most basic of Internet services. ONI confirmed that both Burmese ISPs have blocked many of the more prominent circumvention tools, including Proxify, Guardster, and Anonymizer. Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Hushmail, and mail2web were blocked by both ISPs, while MPT took the precaution of blocking thirteen additional e-Mail sites, including Hotmail and Fastmail.
A growing role for bloggers and citizen journalists Nearly all Burmese bloggers, both local and overseas, are users of Google’s Blogspot. A significant number of bloggers posted about the fuel hike protests, with lively commentary and discussions. According to ONI sources, some political blogs have been banned since mid-2007 and rumours circulated that the rest would be banned if this trend continued, spurring many local bloggers to December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
self-monitor their postings in the hope that their blogs would not be added to the blacklist. Until the Internet shutdown on September 29, citizen journalists inside Burma maintained contact with overseas bloggers through the use of eMail, chat, proxies, and free hosting pages. These bloggers were often organised in small networks of less than a dozen individuals, including both local and overseas bloggers. Overseas Burmese bloggers sent back local proxy server links and other tools via email and chats. During the protests, a few new blogs emerged to become among the most active of Burmese blogs, including ko-htike.blogspot.com, myochitmyanmar.blogspot.com and drlunswe.blogspot.com. Other established blogs previously serving as personal journals with a non-political focus turned their attention to providing news and updates, including the Rangoon-based bloggers Dathana (dathana. blogspot.com) and Dawn (www.xanga.com/dawn_1o9). Bloggers with a dedicated focus to political issues, including Niknayman (niknayman.blogspot.com), continue to update regularly. While those who could use the Internet had access to blogs and overseas sites, most Burmese continued to get their news from satellite TV (e.g. CAN) and overseas radio broadcasts (e.g. BBC and VOA). The state mouthpiece, through television and newspapers, directly addressed this fact when it blamed international news organisations for the unrest, labeling foreign media as ‘destructionists’ and ‘spies.’
Perceptions of surveillance Multiple sources identified the opportunity for improved surveillance as the rationale behind the government’s policy originally limiting Internet access to the curfew hours of 21:00 and 5:00. Not only would the late hours allotted for access significantly reduce the number of users (as most Burmese users do not have home access), but it would also make the task of identifying
Within this heavily controlled traditional media environment, the Internet has provided a limited means for free expression targeted users easier for a government without much experience in tracking and investigating Internet usage. Government eMail services are also believed to be under surveillance, with delays of up to 24 hours between the sending and receipt of eMails. Surveillance methods are more effective when there are fewer targets, and a possible strategy of the Burmese regime may be to keep more people offline. The government appears to be pursuing a combination of methods, including the limiting of access, increased filtering, and intimidation and harassment.
Information wars 2.0 Despite the lack of sophistication displayed by the junta in shutting down the Internet, the recent events in Burma mark a pronounced escalation in the information wars between governments and their critics. Burma provides a rare example of a government also
7
taking extreme measures to keep information from escaping its borders. In pulling the plug on the Internet Burma became only the second country to resort to such drastic action; in 2005 King Gyanendra of Nepal declared martial law and briefly shut down the Internet, along with international telephone lines and cellular communication networks. One of the mainstays of the Burmese government’s strategy for restricting information flows in Burma had been Internet filtering, which prevented access to information offered up outside the country. Websites and blogs are easily blocked as they tend to occupy a distinct, persistent location on the Internet. In this case, however, the junta attempted to sever the bi-directional flow of information so that the picture of reality for people on both sides of the Burmese border would remain distorted. As a result, the targets for censorship expanded exponentially from web sites that are critical of the junta to any individual with a camera or cell phone and direct or indirect access to the Internet. Moreover, the raw footage coming out of Burma provided a striking narrative of the unfolding events, including some ‘unforgivable and unforgettable photos’, from views of cheering
Reports are emerging about information technology being used effectively to assist authorities in identifying and targeting citizens protesters and protective human chains to the fatal shooting of a Japanese journalist caught on film. This was citizen media in its simplest form, utilising the cheap sensors and network that have helped to spawn the information revolution without the need for additional editorial input or elaborate post-production work. This distributed form of reporting is, in practical terms, impossible to block completely, prompting the extreme measures taken by the Burmese regime. Burma joins the growing list of countries that have increased Internet censorship in line with key political events. This eventbased filtering has been documented by the ONI during the March 2005 Kyrgyzstan parliamentary elections, the March 2006 presidential elections in Belarus, and the October 2006 Tajik presidential elections. Election-time filtering has also been reported in other regions, including Uganda, Yemen and Bahrain. In the current climate of extreme repression, fear, and deep disillusionment, as roundups and abuses continue, bi-directional technologies are put to many uses. Reports are emerging about information technology being used effectively to assist authorities in identifying and targeting citizens. According to the Sunday Times, security forces in Mandalay used Chinese counter-terrorist technology to check the registrations of motorcycles against numbers captured from digital images in the protests. While citizens were capturing protests on video, so were security forces.
8
The impacts and reverberations of these events are now unfolding for those who engage in civil disobedience as well as for those who seek to suppress dissent. Many Burmese citizens who helped to document the uprising could be implicated by the electronic footprints left behind, while others will remain anonymous by virtue of the numerous existing holes in the Burmese surveillance network. It is not difficult to envision increasingly tighter controls over the Internet and communication infrastructure in Burma, with the rapid deployment of additional surveillance tools, reinforced filtering, and stronger policies to link all Internet-based communication with real identification. Similarly, we may expect a surge of analogous restrictions in other countries that harbour fears and insecurities mirroring those displayed by the Burmese junta. While the SPDC has exacerbated its legacy of massive human rights violations through this crackdown, many believe that the breakthrough uses of the Internet over this period have enabled some irreversible gains. Multiple generations of Burmese living locally and abroad have found linkages to each other as blogging became increasingly recognised as a valuable source of information.68. One Burmese leader characterises this gain as the forging of a link between the leaders of the generation that participated in 8.8.88, many of whom were jailed or exiled, and the new generation of activists in Burma. Burmese netizens, operating in a constrained and challenging space in a country with especially low Internet penetration rates, have demonstrated that the tools of information technology can have a strong impact on the global coverage of events as they are unfolding, and sometimes on the events themselves. The events in Burma also provide a chilling example of the limitations of the Internet, access to which was ultimately vulnerable to the unilateral choices of a repressive regime. However, even the vast majority of Burmese without access to or knowledge of the Internet may have benefited from the enduring achievement of a small band of citizen bloggers and journalists—the uploading of vital, relevant information to the Internet was broadcast back in via television and radio and spread through personal networks and communities throughout the country. Stephanie Wang Open Net Initiative, swang@cyber.law.harvard.edu
•
Stephanie Wang was the primary author of this report. Shishir Nagaraja contributed the technical analysis. Please visit http://opennet.net/research/bulletins/013 to see the extended bulletin, of which this is an abridged version.
•
The OpenNet Initiative is a partnership between the Advanced Network Research Group at the University of Cambridge, the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, and the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford. ONI’s mission is to identify and document Internet filtering and surveillance, and to promote and inform wider public dialogue about such practices. For more information about ONI, please visit http://opennet.net. i4d | December 2007
COMMUNITY MULTIMEDIA CENTRES (CMCS)
CMCs and subaltern gendered selves Introduction Community media is fundamentally about subversion, a democratic project tucked away from the mainstream, a site of symbolic resistance and new meanings, where social actors continually question and re-etch the boundaries of domination. This article is based on research that tried to assess whether a CMCs can become a locale of micro-resistance for women - their own social space right in the heart of an oppressive terrain. Using a combination of in-depth interviews and participant observation, an attempt has been made, to investigate how an ICT centre located in an Islamic community, creates subaltern gendered selvesi.
Community media, gender and resistance Literature on community media usually exists as a rich repertoire of narratives, accounts of struggles and triumphs from across the world (see works of Alfonso Gumucio Dagron or Peter M Lewis). Theoretical expositions are rare but one that lays down an empirical framework to study resistance, is an unusual body of empirical evidence compiled by John Downing (Radical Media: rebellious communication and social movements, 2001) ranging from Moroccan women street traders to Soviet graffiti. Downing examines the relationship between power, culture and alternative media and befitting the latent anarchism of these acts, he proposed a new term radical mediaii. The ICT project at Seelampur is, however more akin in nature to the quotidian politics of citizen’s media (another definition of community media offered by Clemencia Rodriguez). But what informs this study greatly is the way Downing explores hegemony and
10
resistance by referring to Italian theoretician Antonion Gramsci and anthropologist JC Scott respectively. Gramsci in his Prison Notebooks talks about the deeply entrenched authority of cultural institutions where the status quo is achieved through agencies of information that propagate and naturalise dominant ideology. Much like the silent hegemony of patriarchy; wherein gender becomes an indisputable socio-cultural, biological, even mythical construct. For Gramsci the only hope lay in the revolution of the masses, an uprising that never came, dooming us all to a state of resignation. But the anthropologist Scott dwells more on the massive middle terrain between the two extremes of ‘quiescence’ and ‘revolt’ – the infra politics of private emotions and little acts of resistance which are never visible in an organised form and can only be witnessed within the nuances of daily lives and social relations. Micro-resistance or controlled blasphemy through continuous ironic performances finds great and enthusiastic resonance in the way post modern feminist politics is envisioned by theorists like Donna Haraway and Judith Butler. In her legendary thesis A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the late 20th Century, (1989) Haraway deconstructs the re-ifying character of technology to create within it a negotiable and immensely creative space for feminine identity and politics. She wrote this essay when the Internet was still in its nascent stages and the whole discourse around it had the alienating ring of sci-fi. Since this study is about how women use Internet in the setting of a CMCs to question entrenched patriarchal values, Haraway’s contention that feminist politics must use technology as the ultimate site of opposition is greatly informing. If new
media has empowering potential and is the source of symbolic capital, how is it possible to articulate resistance through it? Gender identity is a result of continuous performance. Heterosexual society sustains the illusion of natural gender identity by outlawing the alternative performance. Without a clearly defined notion of an original gender identity, the heterosexual organisations — romance, marriage, family, all appear arbitrary. According to Butler, envisioning sexual identity as a performance enables constant disruption. It becomes a recourse through which women may question the symbolic legitimacy of their social and cultural roles. Feminist politics is mobilised through practices that challenge these regulatory norms. Butler has been criticised by feminist politicians like Martha Nussbaum for her stance of ‘hip’ quietism and retreat from the realities feminist politics of the South remain committed to. However, the concept of small resistance is particularly useful if we consider it as an act of resistance by disempowered women without any socio-economic independence and prevented from ever forming an agitational community. It is within this superstructure of small resistance in a democratic space using the democratic tools of new media, that this study frames its findings.
The Islamic ideoscape In the heart of Seelampur, a Muslim dominated area in East Delhi, UNESCO has initiated a project called ‘Empowerment of the Underpriviledged through the use of ICTs.’ I chose this location particularly because of its cultural complexity. Tradition plays a massive role in this community and the lives of these women are far more cloistered than elsewhere. When the i4d | December 2007
Muslim community all over the world is being stereotyped in the normative framing of terrorism, the men of the community are increasing their stranglehold on women - a reflexive reaction of the patriarchal society when there is a danger to its territories from outside. As the ideoscape of Islamic community is becoming increasingly problematic, there is a trend towards overprotectiveness of culture. At this moment of increased repression, studying how these women use a form of media that is an ultimate symbol of progression and have access to an unrestrained worldview, is particularly full of potential.
Net and the self At Seelampur, the women who gather at the centre, constantly stretch and recreate their selves. Unlike Rheingold’s ‘virtual life’, for these girls the web is not a world apart, a social space removed entirely from the real offline world, where new identities are formed effortlessly and cyberian lives lived with schizophrenic distinctness. New media is instead a transforming space which provides resources and empowering encounters that enable them to challenge or enrich their normative social roles outside that space. Miller and Slater (2000) provides an invaluable framework in their study of the Trinidadian community, to assess the embeddedness of Internet. Religion is one of the highest pre-occupation of the Internet users at Seelampur. Wallpaper on all the desktops are downloaded pictures of the holy site of Mecca or other places of religious interest. The respondents admitted to being intensely religious and none considered it an imposition. The Islamic identity is central to their use of the Internet. As one of the respondents Guddiiii reveals: “I think there is a deep-seated pre-occupation with religion in our lives and that gets spilled over to our use of Internet. This must be because we are very religious people. Everyday a large amount of time is invested in prayers and our life in itself is regulated by the tenets of religion. We often have questions about certain situations and practices…the Internet is a great resource for those answers. We even go back home and inform our parents what we have learnt”. The Internet is regularly used to surf articles on the religious profile of various countries. The respondents confirmed that they had a keen interest in the nuances of the religious practices of various sects and Islamic countries. Images of prosperous West Asian countries, where the men of the community often migrate for economic reasons, constitute their mediascape, imagined worlds, ‘chimeral, aesthetic, even fantastic objects, particularly if assessed by the criteria of some other perspective, some other imagined world” (Appadurai, 1990). The respondents pointed out that girls from their community who got married to men working in those countries, were thought to be lucky as they escaped the squalour of existence. Information from the Internet reinforces their imagination out of which they form scripts that “constitute the narratives of the Other and proto-narratives of possible lives”.
New relationships, new identities The respondents particularly enjoy the prospect of forming ‘entirely new relationships and identities, constituted within December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
new media, and in competition with ostensibly non-mediated, older forms of relationship’ (Slater, 2002). They create their own network through IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and exchange of eMails, without abandoning a sense of moral permissibility. Only the respondents who were unmarried admitted to having formed friendships online. Most of them followed a certain pattern when it came to chatting or exchanging eMails. At some point they had logged on to the chatrooms of a popular website. But they had found the pace and unregulated character of chatting, confusing. The incessant flow of message often without any narrative sequence or personal touch, put off the girls. In the relatively quiet and unpopulated chatrooms however, they were able to come across some users with whom they exchanged eMail ids and entered exclusive chats from their personal Instant Messengers (IM). Several studies have indicated that women find the textual medium of email or IM, liberating and are more articulate than they ever would be in a face-to-face interaction. Najma confirms this view point: “It is a strange experience. I never thought I could be such an extrovert with another person. There is this boy from Bangalore. He is studying Engineering and is a Hindu. I did not tell him that I am a Muslim. But he guessed from my chat id… He wants to meet me and has even asked for my phone number. You know…there is
another girl in this centre who had formed such a friendship with a boy. He used to call her and they would talk for hours on the telephone at the centre. Some girls amongst us work as informers for the Maulanaji. They went and told him. One day he caught her red-handed, snatched the phone from her hands and disconnected the wire. After that incident we are all very cautious now. There was a boy in Delhi whom I had met on the Net and he used to call sometimes… But I stopped afterwards.” Some of the respondents allowed me to witness their chatting. In most cases, I could detect a reluctance to reveal their actual location. They usually only revealed that they were from Delhi or East Delhi. It was the only indication that the girls were uncomfortable about their socio-economic conditions and were willing to undertake a bit of subterfuge when it came to ephemeral romantic liaison. They were enticed by the notion that on the
11
Patriarchy is an overarching system of domination in their lives, imposed silently and suffered without resistance or awareness. Religion sanctifies all patriarchal impositions. Subservience becomes a pious deed that cannot be questioned or even resented. Usually the respondents accept the stereotypes legitimised by religion and the strict dictates of tradition. But the lack of a larger political resistance or overt agitation is not the same thing as mute acceptance. Internet, they could pass themselves off as carefree college girls who could go out on dates to a neighbourhood McDonalds or Barista, if they chose to. I observed however that the girls were not equipped to create entirely fictional identities. They were almost as reticent during the chat as they were in real life. A restricted typing speed seemed to wear out the patience of the person on the other side. Moreover, since their Hindi was liberally sprinkled with Urdu they used the English script to write and their expressions automatically took on a rather formal character. Chatting is largely considered a rare exposure to male friends, which never happens in their actual lives. Within the precincts of the centre, in a virtual atmosphere that requires engagement with the Internet, a medium seen as embodying advancement, the moral aspect or taboo which is non-negotiable in real life, does not hold good. The ‘friends’ they seek online are an escape for them, fictions that they do not want to materialise.
A counter public sphere Though Habermas’ account of the public sphere has lost much of its significance and has been criticized variously as ‘patriarchal’ and ‘colonial,’ the concept still remains central to the formulations of democracy, citizenship and public opinion. Participation, free access, deliberation, rational discourse and a platform from which to question the legitimacy of authority, are some of the features of the public sphere which continue to be crucial to any social formation. According to one of Habermas’ critics, Nancy Fraser (1993), the public sphere is inadequate mainly because it is envisioned as a completely male domain to which women have no access at all. She offers an alternative model for subordinate groups whom she calls the ‘subaltern counterpublics.’ These are ‘parallel discursive arenas where members of subordinated social groups invent and circulate counter-discourses, so as to formulate oppositional interpretation of their identities, interests and needs.’ This post bourgeoisie formulation is of particular importance to feminist ideology. The ICT centre at Seelampur serves as a counter public sphere for the marginalised women of the highly stratified Muslim community. Entrance to the lane which houses the centre is guarded by the façade of the madarsah. The minarets stand like sentries while hundreds of boys who are under the tutelage of the institution, laze around in the afternoon heat, in their white religious caps. In contrast to the public face of Seelampur is the ICT centre. It gained legitimacy by being part of the sacrosanct precincts of the madarsah. In an adjoining building whose construction is incomplete, tucked away from the hub outside, is a single room with 25 computers and broadband access. The respondents were unanimous that the time they spent learning the computer or
12
surfing the Internet, was the best relaxation they could ever have. They all looked forward to this daily routine. After dropping out of school, none of the respondents have the time or the opportunity to mingle with friends. As Anjum points out, her best friend was married off last year. She mingles with other girls rarely and only fleetingly. Guddi is the only one who has friends and identifies with the concepts of ‘catching up’ or ‘hanging out’. None of the other respondents, married or unmarried, have ever considered doing that. It was after coming to the centre, that they went out on sight-seeing trip for the day. The trip was planned spontaneously by one of the group leaders in the team. Money was raised and the transport, itinerary and food arranged. Permission from the family was obtained with relative ease as the party comprised only of girls. The respondents pointed out, there is a sense of formality and education attached to any activity planned by the centre. The families assumed that the Maulana was aware of the picnic. In a daring act, which earned the displeasure of the religious head, the girls actually went on the picnic without seeking his approval. The respondents feel that participation in group discussions, various creative and multimedia project, spontaneous talentshowing programmes or even the basic act of gathering for some informal talk, enables them to speak in their own voice. They enjoy being part of group discussions which usually have some formal topic decided before hand. As one respondent Najma whose sister is a victim of dowry, pointed out, discussion on such issues, helps vent a certain anger and frustration. At a group discussion on dowry, Najma recounted her sister’s story and was gratified when the other members tried to think of a solution. As Farser argues, “… to interact discursively as a member of a public — subaltern or otherwise — is to attempt to disseminate one’s discourse into ever-widening arenas.” Conversation, even if unstructured and informal like the gossip or girly banter, is empowering and refreshing for the respondents. As Shama points out, it is only at the centre, while embroidering with the other girls, that she feels the freedom to voice her thoughts and laugh out loud. In case of Negar and her friends, being able to discuss various topics furthered their ‘critical reflection’ about those issues and about life in general. Group discussions, or the process of articulating good reason in public, also augmented their negotiating skill in their personal lives. It maybe something as removed from the realm of realpolitik as being able to stand her ground while engaging in petty argument with the mother in law. But for Negar it is a sense of triumph no less.
Challenging patriarchy Patriarchy is an overarching system of domination in their lives, imposed silently and suffered without resistance or awareness. i4d | December 2007
Religion sanctifies all patriarchal impositions. Subservience becomes a pious deed that cannot be questioned or even resented. Usually the respondents accept the stereotypes legitimised by religion and the strict dictates of tradition. But the lack of a larger political resistance or overt agitation is not the same thing as mute acceptance. They can be said to belong to the ‘massive middle ground’ where apparent conformity is maintained as a strategy and resistance is subtle. Radical confrontations are not possible due to inescapable socio-economic conditions or deeply ingrained cultural beliefs. Opposition in such cases is often attained through nurturing of unruly emotions. These emotions have immense political potential as they are the starting point of developing a critical perspective of the dominant order. As Anjum elaborates: “In Islam the women are promised a sum of money called mahr, at the time of her nikaah. Strangely, our clan claims to be rigorously Islamic when it comes to determining the roles we ought to play and the restrictions that we should maintain. But when it comes to mahr, they seem to have forgotten about it completely. Even if there is an agreement, it is verbal and never paid heed to. Whereas dowry, which was never a part of Islam, is becoming increasingly legitimate. Not a single girl in our community can expect to get married without her parents giving some dowry”. The women have created their own repertoire of bravery. Anecdotes of girls and families who have protested against dowry or managed to reduce the amount are keenly gathered. There are some stories of girls who have broken off the match after a demand has been made. Heroic status is bestowed on Nisha Sharma, a girl from Delhi who made the headlines when, dressed in bridal finery, during the marriage ceremony, she called the police and had the groom party arrested after they asked her father for more dowry. What can be traced here is a valiant if slow process of challenging the images of stereotypical constructs imposed on these women. They choose their own role models and create a new repertoire of tales that celebrate women not as sacrificing mothers or duty bound housewives but as radical individuals. The oral tradition is sustained and further enriched by the Internet. In their surfings, respondents find themselves, out of curiosity, drawn to accumulating more information on dowry. Everyday life is transformed into a political space in the context of this research. Respondents feel that finding a new perspective and being able to question the roles assigned to them, gets reflected in the way they negotiate with their families. In the realm of ‘quotidian politics’, defiance in the small encounters of familial relations is deemed politically significant.
New ambitions The respondents were all aware, even if vaguely in some cases, that the roles assigned to them as future wives and mothers, were insufficient. There was a general consciousness that there ought to be some reason to be dissatisfied and that, within the precincts of the ICT centre at least, their new-found urges could be articulated. Belonging to a group which has access to broadband Internet facilities, raises the status and self-esteem of the participants. In Seelampur, women have been systematically denied access to life-resources and their political lives severely regulated by the December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
tenets of religion. Through a serpentine lane where mosquitoes buzz in a cloud, cramped rooms huddle against each other, through the chatter of boys and men at their daily work and play, the respondents walk to the ICT centre silently, draped in the darkness of their hijab. Once within the centre they don new selves and find their voices: Guddi: For centuries, our women have followed the dictates of religion without questioning it. Yet today we feel the need to do something more than what is kept in store for us. There have been remarkable women in our history as well… Benazir Bhutto was the prime minister of a country. We have read the tales of Razia Sultana, the brave and beautiful warrior. Why is it that today when the whole world is advancing we must walk backwards? Guddi’s comments highlight the paradoxical relationship these women have with their religion, traditional values and their newfound ambitions. It is reflected in all the responses. While Guddi does admit that religious orthodoxy restricts the lives of the women in her community and forces them to lead cloistered lives, she is reluctant to be critical and speaks with a certain fearful reverence. All her instances of grand ambitions are from within the Islamic community all over the world. Clearly her ambition is permissible only so far as her identification with it finds a reflection or role model from within the premise of the Islamic culture. All the respondents were eager to articulate some form of aspiration, even if they had no specific plans or were unsure as to what could be considered ambitious. Marriage, child-bearing and nurturing the family as homemakers were still the most concrete life plans. Anjum, who has been betrothed to a traditional Sunni family and whose groom is studying to be a maulana, has put forward a request to her future in-laws. She has asked permission to be allowed to continue her training at the ICT. They have been silent so far. But will she marry even if they prevent her? Anjum fails to answer the question as it poses a challenge she is yet to face. She has formed an ambition. But the reality maybe too inescapable for her to gain the courage to see it materialize. The problem of real life sustainability of ambitions persist.
Conclusion The women in Seelampur forge new selves from the resources on the Internet, which equip them better to take up the challenges of the symbolic struggle in which they have traditionally had a disadvantage. However, the research findings reveal that it is not just about procuring information and converting it to using it to life-strategies. It is also about the democratic space created around the place of media use. Interaction within that political sphere works as a probe with which they re-assess the ideological superstructure governing their lives. The CMCs has been the harbinger of an undefined sense of hope and increased self esteem in their lives. Whether or not this urge for a better life will be materialised in reality, can only be assessed over a period of time. Lopa Ghosh, lopa_g@yahoo.com i.
The data presented here was gathered in July 2005, at the Datamation Foundation CMC, in Seelampur, North East Delhi, India. ii. Community Media may often be used interchangeably with ‘alternative media’ and ‘radical media’ to allow for political implications. iii. Names of some of the respondents have been changed on request.
13
CONNECTIVITY IN THE COMMUNITY, BOLIVIA
A case for shared satellite connectivity Shared connectivity model has shown to provide a community access model that can be sustainable from an organisational, technical, financial and ownership perspective
Liang Tan Capacity Development-in Charge (Bolivia and Ecuador) ltan@iicd.org
Stijn van der Krogt Team Leader Country Programmes skrogt@iicd.org
IICD, The Netherlands
14
Since the year 2000, the International Institute for Communication and development (IICD) actively supports a large-scale ICT for development programme in Bolivia: TICBolivia (www.ticbolivia.net). The programme is operational with 15 projects at department and national levels in Bolivia in the sectors of agriculture, governance and education. At this moment 50,000 end-users using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are reached directly through the 90 information centres or school laboratories operating in all departments of Bolivia. Around 500,000 farmers, indigenous people, teachers and students benefit indirectly through a combination of access to rural information centres, radio programmes, websites and printed information materials. However, since the start of the programme, project partners and end users have indicated that lacking access, low quality and high pricing of telephony and Internet connectivity remains a key limitation to effective and sustainable implementation of ICT for development. IICD and the local partner organisations, including both grass-root organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), bundled efforts and have searched for more effective technical and organisational models for rural connectivity. This article describes possible technical and organisational solutions for sustainable universal services solutions in rural areas on the basis of 3 years of on-the-ground experience with a shared satellite connectivity model operational in 11 communities in Bolivia.
Sustainable rural connectivity model In order to satisfy the needs for information and communication, partners have
experimented with combinations of traditional and modern digital connectivity modes that respond to the technical and financial possibilities in each particular area. The most challenging solution for rural connectivity is found in the shared satellite connectivity model, very suitable for regular high-quality access. This model can allow multiple partners, if properly addressing technical, financial and particularly management issues, to make optimal use of the exchange of information and communication services at an affordable level. The shared satellite connectivity model is based on the sharing of a satellite - VSAT - link between local organisations at community level. In this case, one organisation active in the community contracts a VSAT service. The costs of investment and operations are then distributed among a group of local organisations. Local organisations are linked to the connection via wireless linkages, either through WiFi or Mesh solutions. After three years of study and trial and error, the shared connectivity model is operational in the 11 participating communities. In five of the communities, the service is technically and financially sustainable, whereas others are still in the process of finding a fully sustainable approach.
Lessons learned The shared connectivity model has shown to provide a community access model that can be sustainable from an organisational, technical, financial and ownership perspective. On the basis of both the successes and especially failures, a number of lessons can be learned: Organisation and capacity aspects: During the pilot projects, the organisational i4d | December 2007
aspects have shown to be a key success factor. It is important to set a clear and formal organisation structure including a service agreement with all parties in the community involved. The agreement is to address issues of network administration, service levels and billing conditions. Our partner organisations played a key role in ensuring collaboration between local organisations to certify joint negotiation with service providers. Due to differences in management style, collaboration among potential parties at community level is often difficult to establish. Professional legal advice was found to be necessary to ensure good contractual terms and conditions of the service agreement. From the start of the project it is important to ensure involvement of participating organisations’ management and the mayors of the communities. This requires that the project manager and technician explain the concepts, consequences and the importance of making these major investments in connectivity. A solid understanding of the way these installations are structured saves lots of time and makes management an ally in promoting the model. Administrators of the information centres need to be trained in organisational and financial management to ensure that the centres are run in a viable way. The most successful information centre administrators are those with a thorough knowledge of their target group. A related problem is the fast turnover of trained administrators, which requires a continuous training programme integrated as part of the project. It is important to start training of the local technicians from the start. Therefore the projects have consistently focused on building strong technical teams on the ground. The other key component is to have regular knowledge exchanges between different projects throughout the country. Technology aspects: IICD partners had to learn the hard way that service provision is not guaranteed. The biggest problem encountered during the last years was the low service quality. In many cases the actual bandwidth provided was below promised or no bandwidth at all was available for days. A lacking regulatory framework currently makes it difficult to claim restitution of service costs or to change to alternative providers. The only counter measure available was to withhold payments, until service was re-established. The service descriptions given by providers are often so limited that there is almost no possibility to have any
December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
guarantees to what service was bought. It is very difficult to find out whether a ‘clear channel’ is really clear channel, as in many cases a connection is shared up to even 1:100. Furthermore, measurements of the actual capacity provided indicate much lower bandwidth than promised. If there was upload speed, lag-time of in certain cases 16 second delays made voice communication impossible. This directly affects the willingness of partners to share costs. More so, it de-motivates end users from using the ICT services, especially painful when users have travelled to visit the information centres. As a result of poor service levels the sustainability of the services is difficult to secure. In the case of the shared connectivity model, a community obtains access to Internet, e-Mail and chat services but has also an option to telephony via VoIP. A combination of Internet and telephony will allow communities to dramatically enhance the changes to introduce financially sustainable connectivity solutions. Yet, there are two main barriers that currently complicate the introduction of VoIP. Whereas the download bandwidth of satellite connections is fairly decent and reliable, upload bandwidth is often very poor, directly affecting VoIP calls. Communities providing VoIP over their shared community network can also be accused of making illegal phone calls and false competition with service providers. A license fee requires a lengthy legal process and extremely high costs beyond all means for most remote communities. In Europe and the United States the major telecom providers are now rapidly switching their revenue models. Telephony both local and nationally is almost free, because the existing infrastructure can transport voice and data over copper wire and fibre optics facilitating broadband Internet. Almost all calls are now switched over Internet as telecom operators are using the different distribution networks already available. South-America is different in that there is no widespread network of copper or fibre yet. It was noted that clients were supplied with old and outdated VSAT equipment. In certain cases the installation costs could have been less costly if a newer, and often, smaller satellite would be installed. This would have reduced transportation cost and installation time. Electrical engineering was a serious problem. Wiring of and connecting to the other locations in the community were often
15
done in a haphazard way. Open, unprotected wiring was hanging loosely in the air or over the ground without any tubing. Electricity installations sometimes were connected with loose ends and risk of power failures. In some cases lightening struck installations, causing routers and modems to be fried. In many places stable electricity is a serious problem. Therefore back-up generators are needed to guarantee maximum uptime. Power backup systems are often costly and weigh heavily on the installation budget. Many of the installations did not have any proper security measures in place. No firewalls were installed, no anti-virus software, which resulted in some cases to servers completely being infected and no longer workable. To resolve these issues servers need to be re-installed from scratch. Financial aspects: To sustain the service financially the project experience indicates that at least four community organisations should commit to sharing the costs of satellite services. These can include the local government office, schools, hospitals, farmer associations, etc. In some cases, the organisations have to make available a specific budget for communication. In this, the members of the organisation - in case of farmer associations or the partner association in the schools - introduce an additional fee. In most cases however, the organisations have replaced the regular budget for telephony and part of travel costs for the payment of connectivity fees. It was found that organisations have been spending a lot of money on communication anyhow, due to high travel and telephony costs. To ensure sufficient organisations to participate in the cost sharing model, it is advisable to focus on a medium sized community which is able to sustain the cost and then in a later stadium try to link up a smaller community. Another challenge is the presence of a simple but reliable financial control system to charge for use of the Internet in the information centres and the development of a coherent pricing strategy for use. Initially the centres only charged for the Internet connection, and forgot to charge for any of the other overhead costs such as office rent, electricity, salary for the administrator, maintenance and expenses for technical support.
Ownership and local content aspects: From the experience it is seen that the key factor to sustainability is related to ownership in the community and the development of relevant information content. If these conditions are met, the shared connectivity model is found to be financially sustainable. As for the ownership issue, it is found essential that the community organisations directly
16
involve their users in the set-up and operation of the information centres. Once directly involved, awareness about possibilities of innovative instruments such as ICT can be built and local organisations can identify information needs among the different user groups. This requires that the initiating organisations are very familiar with the local context and need a level of trust in the community. Interestingly, it was found that users are willing to pay for high-quality services if addressing their needs. In all centres the users have shown a clear demand for two-way communication and information relevant to particular user groups.
Conclusion In the current projects, evaluation among users indicates a direct economic and social impact of the use of ICT. Participating farmers experience a direct economic benefit from using telephony and Internet services in the centres. They particularly value agriculture information related to market opportunities, prices and better production methods, but also want to use ICT to promote their produce to a wider public via the Web. Teachers and students participating in the projects have indicated that the use of e-Mail and Internet, more than telephony, has directly enhanced the quality of education in rural areas. Through the Internet, they receive better teaching materials for both the teachers and students, but they also enhance the cultural awareness through communication with peers in other parts of the country and in the world. It was sure that the users were trained in the search and selection of information available on the web or in the use of information collected by the initiating NGOs or grass-root organisations. Yet, equally important is that the users can develop their own content for direct use among their peers and to promote local products and content. The experience in Bolivia shows that it is possible to implement connectivity in rural areas in a sustainable way. With strong local demand from the farmer and education communities and local governments these connectivity solutions can greatly enhance the universal access policies sought by the government in Latin America. This is not only about connectivity. This is also about enhancing social and economic development and creating new opportunities for people in rural areas. „ For additional information, please visit the website www.iicd.org/countries/bolivia i4d | December 2007
MAKING THE CONNECTION
Scaling telecentres for development Making the Connection: Scaling Telecenters for Development, a free guide included as a CD with this publication, is written for those involved in the planning, deployment, and management of telecentres. With the Telecentre Knowledge Network, built in partnership with telecentre.org, Microsoft hopes to foster engagement between telecentre stakeholders and provide an open forum, a catalyst, and a coordination point for collective thought, discussion, and action that can help guide the community with the changing needs and aspirations of the underserved communities around the world. Visit this growing community at www.telecentre.org to share your experience.
I
nvestors, governments, and people around the world are counting on the growth of the world economy, continuing at its current rapid rate. But as the world views prospects that have never been brighter, there is a worrying aspect we must regard too. The prosperity accentuates the already stark contrasts in wealth and human development – especially in countries like ours - and we may be reaching the point where unless there are more beneficiaries, the skewed growth will bring about violent confrontations rather than prosperity. There is no one single magic antidote to poverty. Rather, its alleviation cuts across multiple areas including education, access to health and sanitation, and education and economic opportunity. A critical mechanism to aid the cause is access to information services. The lack of access to information and basic services impacts the capacity of a population to educate itself and improve its talent base. Today, computers and the Internet are some of the most powerful mediums of accessing and processing information, but they only reach one billion people worldwide. Digital inclusion, with an eye on understanding and delivering the most relevant services, has to be a focus for a country like ours. I agree that technology is not an end unto itself but it can be a critical accelerator for development.
December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
Earlier this year, Microsoft launched the Unlimited Potential Initiative, that envisions enabling sustained social and economic opportunity for the next five billion people in the world. Realising this vision, however, cannot be done simply by developing new technologies or investing money. It requires collaboration between the vibrant ecosystem of governments, non-governmental organisations, industry partners, academia, and citizens, to make progress. In the domain of ‘ICT4D’, telecentres offer a viable option of delivering services to underserved communities: they can improve access to information, provide job and skill enhancement opportunities, offer services such as e-Healthcare and eCommerce, and connect a community to its government and the global marketplace. However, historically, sustaining and extending the impact of telecentres has been difficult. The 1990s were characterised by pilots, early struggles, and little demonstrable impact. From year 2000 on, the telecentre movement has shown growth mainly due to WSIS recognition of ICT as a key enabler, as well as key technological advancements. India has not been left out and marches on with the government’s National eGovernance Plan (NeGP). The role of entrepreneurs, infrastructural improvements, and G2C (Government to
Citizens) and B2C (Business to Citizens) services, have all been identified as critical factors of this programme, yet challenges persist related to these exact issues including irregular power supply, lack of training, lack of deployed relevant services, and the need for co-ordination among various agencies and financial sustainability. Microsoft recognises the challenge and has, in partnership with telecentre. org, sponsored a Rural Innovation Fund to help local software developers build relevant applications. It has also partnered with esteemed industry leaders, AED and telecentre.org to develop a set of best practices addressing the critical ingredients for sustainable telecentre models. Our vision and hope for the next decade is to reach a point where shared access will yield even greater impact on development. In order to do that, some of the most important challenges facing that movement, including the lack of co-ordination and knowledge sharing, as faced by NeGP programmes, need to be addressed. These resources serve only as a piece of Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to help underserved communities realise their potential. As a stakeholder, you have an opportunity to catalyse thinking and drive impact in this evolving and complex space. Join us today. Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India
17
DIGITAL VIDEO IN APPLIED RESEARCH
The purity of perspective This text is based on field research in the Vidharba region of Maharashtra, India, in context of the transgenic variety of cotton called Bt Cotton. There has been a lot of discussion in political, academic, activist, and scientific circles about Bt Cotton, and the popular media has latched on to the rather sensationalist theme of farmers committing suicide. But there is very little in terms of trying to gauge how farmers themselves navigate the technology and the terms they use to do so. If one wishes to discuss how farmers identify with and use these new technologies, one must understand at the outset, where farmers are coming from in terms of semantics and discursive reference points. The basis of the problem is located at that initial entry point into a dialogue: the first question asked by you as a researcher. It is you who has formed the question. It is you that will then internalise the response and offer a further query to better isolate some semblance of a theme, notion, or narrative. The only solution that appears feasible is to reallocate the responsibility of asking the question to those individuals who possess the experiences one wishes to understand better. An exercise in asking farmers to define terms alone has presented a combination of what they expect I want to hear, and their own honest interpretation of these terms. The challenge is to distil the latter down by removing the former as
much as possible. It is, in essence, to retain the integrity of the purity of perspective.
Theoretical framework My attempt at addressing this challenge is through using the medium of the moving image as a tool to facilitate this role transferral. There are two bodies of work that I have drawn upon to facilitate this process - Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques and Participatory Video (PV). PV is an exercise whereby the process of production involves those, that would commonly be termed ‘actors’ in a documentary context, as ‘producers’. The audiovisual medium presents a visceral, pragmatic, and immediate form of depicting a particular theme, and control over that medium can be held by anyone, and used for a variety of purposes, with explicit reference to the terms championed by the producers. Of application and symmetry While PV may find its roots in an exercise that took place forty years ago, it has begun to take on a new relevance in recent practice, due primarily to three reasons. First, devices to capture digital video (DV) are now widespread and relatively affordable. Cassette or card based DV cameras, mobile phones, and digital still cameras with video capture capability are common and becoming increasingly affordable.
Second, editing and compressing content requires a simple desktop computer, an optical media writer, and either proprietary software (i.e. Windows Movie Maker within Windows XP and Vista) or free, open source distributions (i.e. dyne: bolic)1. Third, sharing this content to a wide audience is possible to anyone with direct or indirect access to connectivity through portals such as YouTube or Google Video. Given this, the opportunity to use PV in conjunction with PRA presents itself as logical and pragmatic in a research context. The precise objective of my using digital video has been to distil themes that are of concern to the community via a means that minimizes the possibility of my gauging the concerns based solely on responses of queries rooted in my own perspective alone, and to then address and analyse these themes in my research. While 1-6 (see box on next page) are fairly procedural in nature, it is the last element, processing and analysis, that presents the most pressing challenge of all.
Processing and analysis Consider the piece created by farmers on farmers’ suicide referenced in point 5 (see box on next page). There are distinct themes that arise here: what constitutes a ‘good’ farmer (i.e. following instructions as presented by scientific institutions,
PRA and PV as complementary research tools • • • •
18
Minimisation of the intrusive nature and bias of the researcher from the exercise of both forming and asking questions, as community members themselves undertake the process of how best to present a narrative Broadcasting the resultant content (i.e. on a TV set, a laptop screen, or an LCD projector) facilitates immediate interaction and feedback with the participants and the broader community and gives rise to further discussion, often immediately after the screening The audiovisual medium is appealing and easily understood, thereby facilitating wider inclusion Participants realise that creating content is not a highly technical affair, which furthers the possibility of future efforts of producing content to suit their own objectives, according to their own terms i4d | December 2007
Applying PRA and PV in practice 1. Establishing links. Prior to my visiting the community, I was looking for an organisation that was working in the area, and interested in using video in the context I was proposing. I did not want this exercise to be isolated to the time I was in the community, but to ensure that there would be someone willing to support the initiative. I decided to work with YUVA, an NGO based in Nagpur, about three hours away from the community2. This was how I met the family I have been staying with, as well as others in the surrounding areas also involved in YUVA’s work. 2. Who are you? My first introduction to using the tool entailed house-to-house visits to ask elementary questions that would allow me to focus logistically and thematically (i.e. your name, how much land you have, what you are growing). This would be achieved by my first asking these questions to one household, and after their response, to show them how to engage the camera to record, and then ask the same questions to the next household, with that person showing the next how to engage the camera to record, and so on. This was done over 170 households over three days, which was then screened back to the community each evening for their comments and reactions. 3. What’s your story? A piece of paper would be divided into six sections (i.e. six scenes), and after giving an example of a story, I would then ask groups of people gathered in a coming public space to tell me a story in these six (or more) boxes by drawing it out, referring to themes of their own choice. In the first instance of doing this, one of the participants wrote down a dialogue to
avoiding debt, capitalising on new technologies such as seed and pesticides, accumulating material wealth) and a ‘bad’ farmer (i.e. what could be termed laziness, alcoholism, the acceptance of debt, and the resultant resort to suicide as a final solution the problems incurred from his decisions). Of interest to me here was this notion of formal regulation in terms of farming practice, as well as the role of credit in farmers’ decision-making processes (as voiced by the main scriptwriter at the end of the piece). The narrative seems to allege that in order to be successful as a farmer, one must capitalize on formal knowledge, and avoid informal debt. In terms my own work, the link here is the relationship between traditional farming practice and new, ‘scientific’ techniques, such as using Bt Cotton and other inputs. ‘Progress’ is determined by successful application of these new technologies, and that information on how to do so should be gleaned from third parties; in this case, an agricultural university. This will lead to success: having two gas cylinders, a ‘Hero Honda Super Splendor’, cotton plants “up to my waist with 100 bolls and 200 flowers”. Via the more traditional elements of addressing my research objectives (i.e. formal/informal group interviews), I have found that an understanding of regulation at the level of farmers is not based on government directives or legal frameworks, but rather by practices undertaken by farmers for generations; what could be termed ‘traditional knowledge’. This exercise of production has provided additional insight on how farmers consider the introduction of new technologies, and the resultant onset of new ways of ‘regulating’ their farming practice. If you want to succeed and be prosperous, you must adapt to new technologies in an informed manner, as the consequences of not doing so are dire indeed. This is what lies at the basis of a decision making process. December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
4.
5.
6.
7.
complement the storyboard with input from others, which was beyond what I had expected, but has since stuck procedurally. The shoot. The participants would then find actors and a ‘set’ to shoot the story, based on the proceeding exercise. All editing was done on the camera. The screening. After the shoot was done and credits were added (i.e. a still shot of a piece of paper with the information written on it), my camera was hooked onto my laptop, which was then fed into an LCD projector and enlarged onto a white bed-sheet approximately ten feet high. It was broadcast in a common space where people could easily gather, and began around 8pm (i.e. after dinner). An amplifier and speaker were borrowed from the panchayat hall and a microphone was placed near the speaker of my laptop3. Late night with KR. After the piece was screened, one person (KR, name changed here) from a neighbouring village (about a 15-20 minute walk away) who has done some voluntary work with YUVA and myself, acted as talk show host, and people came up in front of the camera, which projected their interaction to the rest of the audience of about 200 people. Processing and analysis. Elements 2-6 would usually occur over an eight hour period over the course of a day. After it was all over (around midnight), I would begin to (and at the time of this writing, am) get the footage translated of the piece and the talk show, and attempt to make the necessary links to my research in terms of themes (i.e. risk and uncertainty) and their representation.
Prior to this exercise, I had not asked about what constitutes a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ farmer; I did not really consider it on those terms, as I was more focused on an understanding of regulation, risk, and uncertainty. In allowing those I was working with an opportunity to form their own narrative, I was able to gain access to a process of asking a question that I would not have asked otherwise, with the corresponding production and themes arising (i.e. a judgement of progress as fuelled by behavioural change via technological adoption as a means to avoid severe consequences) furthering my own capacity to understand what I was seeing. I would argue that using video in such a context cannot replace traditional systems of applied fieldwork inquiry in a research context. There has to be an initial familiarity with the people one is working with, which can be secured from both historical experience and everyday interaction (i.e. living in the community for some time, asking strategic questions, and using the extant literature as reference points to guide your inquiry). That said, the use of a video as a tool has opened up new doors of inquiry and analysis that I do not think I would have been able to pursue if not for offering those I was (am) working with the opportunity to ask the questions themselves. Janak Rana Ghose, R.Ghose@ids.ac.uk
1. 2. 3.
Refer to http://www.dynebolic.org . A copy an ISO suitable for writing a CD of the distribution is also available here. Refer to http://www.yuvaindia.org. Refer to http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-243387251247651263 5&hl=en to see an example of a piece shot by farmers on farmers’ suicide in Vidharba.
19
YOU TUBE
Pave your own way through technology The latest technology to have made a dent on the minds of young people, both in the West and the East, is ‘YouTube’. ‘ Yo u Tu b e ’ i s basically a website for uploading, viewing and sharing video clips. It came into being in 2005, thanks to the efforts of three former PayPal employees. ‘YouTube’s’ playback technology is based on Macromedia’s Flash Player 7, and it utilises the Sorenson Spark H.263 video codec. It is a platform for posting and sharing videos/video-clips/films, which is free, provided one is registered with the website. It has been found that videos on ‘YouTube’ generally stream smoothly, without lags or slowdowns. The mobile site of ‘YouTube’ titled ‘YouTube Mobile’ came into being on 15 June, 2007. Although there are allegations against ‘YouTube’ regarding copyright violations, and the kind of content which is posted, ‘YouTube’ now a days is also used in a positive fashion. It is now clear that the uploading of pornography or videos containing nudity is not allowed on ‘YouTube’. ‘YouTube’ does not allow anybody to upload content, which is not permitted by the copyright law of the United States. Like the Internet and blogs, ‘YouTube’ has also faced censorships and bans by various national governments all across the globe, owing to the threat it poses to states in terms of security, morality and ethics. There are allegations against ‘YouTube’ for hosting videos of real-life animal cruelty. ‘YouTube’ has also been used in few countries by students to bully. Hence, YouTube is a platform to post and share videos which can be animation, footage of public events or personal recordings of friends, provided the content is not offensive or illegal. YouTube since its inception had been useful for journalists, film-makers and even politicians, apart from the ordinary ‘netizens’. It is argued
20
by some that ‘YouTube’ is an outlet for creativity of the people. During the United Nations Internet Governance Forum, which was held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in November, 2007, there was discussions on the pros and cons associated with the Internet and new media. It has been observed by some during the Forum that ‘Web 2.0’–the second generation of web-based communities and hosted services–would bring less, not more, democracy. User-generated sites like ‘Facebook’, ‘Wikipedia’ and ‘YouTube’ have not benefited the talented. In fact, profits (read ‘supernormal’ profits) incurred/generated were not going to the creators of content, but to a tiny corporate minority. There are also allegations that the Internet is responsible for trivialising politics by helping to create a ‘cacophony of opinions, where one cannot sort out the truth.’ Hence, there is the need for media literacy and healthy scepticism in order to judge and assess the growth and impact of the new media, the Internet and interactive websites like the ‘YouTube’. A really important argument, which can be provided here is that the existing ‘digital divide’, would not allow the common man to utilise and maneuver the new technologies and the new media. The point is to govern and move the technology in a decentralised manner, and not letting the technology govern and shape the progress of the human race. For example, nowadays, if one logs on to ‘YouTube’, then one can now watch classroom lectures being delivered by professors from various universities such as the University of California at Berkeley, University of Harvard etc. ‘YouTube’ has served the student community by bringing higher education within the ambit of the web. ‘YouTube’ can thus be used for imparting visual and virtual literacy. In another way, ‘YouTube’ has proven itself to be something worthy and serious. ‘YouTube’ is now
considered as a website, which provides real, substantial, useful interactive content. ‘YouTube’s’ higher education initiative, as have been exemplified earlier, works as a marketing tool to help strengthen alumni ties, and expand community outreach. Through the YouTube, young film makers can now market their documentaries and films, too. Although ‘YouTube’ provide some hope and space in the era of globalisation, there still exists voices to look at this new medium critically. One can do a thorough research on ‘YouTube’, by seeing its impact on gender relations in a patriarchal society in India, in this respect. By simply projecting ‘YouTube’ as the best technology, which is available, would be to neglect the real issue. There exists alternative forms of expressing one’s talent. There exists alternative platforms for expressing creativity such as street theaters, jatras (another form of traditional drama, which exists in Bengal, India), bahoorupis (artists) performing in front of the rural folks, Kalighat paintings (another form of traditional painting/ art, which came into being in Bengal during the 19th Century) etc. In the backdrop of emerging technologies like ‘YouTube’, it is essential to know whether such old art forms will die out or remain intact. In fact, one can add that platforms like ‘YouTube’ itself can be used to promote old (folk) art forms by creative and young artists and film-makers. Unfortunately, not much effort has been made in this direction. Shambhu Ghatak, shambhu@csdms.in
References: •
• •
•
7 things you should know about YouTube, http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ ELI7018.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube Image of ‘You Tube’ accessed from: http://politicsoffthegrid.files.wordpress. com/2007/08/youtube_logo.jpg www.un.org/news i4d | December 2007
Information for development www.i4donline.net
Agriculture UN agriculture fund for new project in Gabon The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has announced the launch of a new project aimed at helping farmers in Gabon diversify their incomes by developing and marketing new products from staple crops. The agreement for the US$ 5.7 million loan and US$ 300,000 grant was signed in Rome recently and will receive co-financing from the OPEC Fund for International Development. The project is expected to help small farmers and their organisations get better access to value chains for products like banana, cassava and peanuts with significant market potential. The project aims to directly benefit 28,000 farmers, half of whom are women and a third young people.
Community radio Community radio empowers rural women Women in Dhanakauli Village Development Committee (VDC) of Kapilvastu District, Nepal now have started a campaign against the production and consumption of liquor in the village with the help from community radio programmes. Besides this, the women of the cooperative groups also conduct various awareness programmes on the rights of women and children, legal rights, human rights, the constitutional provisions as well as the constituent assembly in the village. In Dhading district, Community Radio is running under Rural Communication Cooperative Organisation, which has distributed radio sets to 40 Chepang families. Chepang families form Thakre, Goganpani, Pinda and Kumpur VDC received the radio sets.
Campus radio has got students hooked Indian youth would be coming on air since the government announced revised guidelines on community radio services December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
(CRS). After that, premier educational institutes and universities like Delhi University , Jamia Milia Islamia in Delhi, University of Agricultural Sciences and Holy Cross College in the south have already gone on air. Now, IIT-Kanpur, IIM-Kozikhode and IIM-Lucknow are jumping into this platform. IIM-Kozikhode and Lucknow have decided to launch Internet radio. While IIM-Kanpur’s community radio services is already operational, IIM-Lucknow is planning to go live shortly. IIT-Kanpur is planning to come with its own community radio by next month. IIT-Kanpur wants to reach out to the community around the college besides the students. There are plans to air programmes on agricultural research, newer technologies and topics of general interest. It will cover radius of 15 km of the campus. In the last one year, 10 campus radio stations across the country have become operational.
e-Governance egov New e-Service package at Jordan government The Ministry of Information & Communications Technology (MoICT) of Jordan has signed an agreement with regional technology and management firm to develop an electronic service that facilitates the issuance and renewal of vocational licenses in the country. The new service will enable the public to receive the necessary approvals to obtain the vocational license electronically from other related entities which include the Greater Amman Municipality, the Ministry of Trade & Industry, the Companies Control Department, Amman Chamber of Commerce and the Amman Chamber of Industry. This service will reduce the time required for licensing and simplify the processes and procedures and improving the overall quality of service provided by the government.
ADB funds for e-Initiative in Assam, India The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has given a proposal to provide technical
assistance for deploying innovative ICT skills for supporting the e-Governance initiative in Assam (India). The Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund will provide technical assistance of worth US$ 500,000, which has been provided to the ADB. The technical assistance is scheduled to be implemented within a 10-month period from November to August, 2008. The main purpose of the e-Asia programme is to empower the capacity of developing member countries and provide technical assistance for promoting ICT and closing the digital divide, especially through national and regional strategies. In this context, cost innovative technologies, like broadband access network or wireless network, can be considered as appropriate technology solutions. This will enable and expedite the e-Government and e-Rural development process in an effective and efficient manner. The technical assistance will help Dispur reduce the digital divide by expanding the Assam State Wide Area Network for e-Governance delivery. The programme includes rural area initiatives relating to agriculture, land records and registration and improvement of ICT accessibility and development of e-Governance applications in accordance with the roadmap to be identified by the e-Government masterplan.
Singapore e-Governance to reach masses Singapore is moving ahead in the direction of government’s online initiatives. While speaking at the e-Government Summit 2007, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA), stated that the country’s public e-Services need to be extended to reach more people. Recently, the government has revamped MyeCitizen portal, so that its content be customised, including lifestyle information like entertainment and travel services. The portal provides Singaporeans with a consolidated dashboard of government services that they can access online. The government has put more than 150 e-Government services on mobile platforms to make public services more accessible.
21
The i4d News
UK Universities brings web 2.0 tools in education UK-based universities are taking education into different direction by using web 2.0 to deliver academic content. They are using various sorts of communication tools, including pod-casting for mini lectures, mobile phones and iPods. On the other hand, students are against this movement. According to research, called Learner Experience Project carried out by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) students want to be left alone. Based on qualitative research, JISC shows that students are using IT to manage their social lives but they are unaware of how they could use IT skills to enhance their studies. Lawrie Phipps, JISC Project Manager stated that universities can use web2.0 more sensibly in education. Social networking sites allows students to create their own groups and academic communities in areas like biomedicine. The project also shows that web 2.0 and social networking have the potential to bring distance learning students closer together in what would be a virtual campus.
Education Education via EDUSAT becomes interactive in India All educational institutions in India having Satellite Interactive Terminals (SITs) or Receive Only Terminals (ROTs), can now receive educational programmes from EDUSAT, the first Indian satellite built exclusively for serving the educational sector. Curriculum-based education is being imparted via the satellite by the University Grants Commission (UGC) through the Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC). The institutions can also interact and ask questions through audio-video conferencing or text mode or through telephone. All states and Union Territories had earlier committed to sign memorandums of understanding with the ISRO and the Human Resource Development within the next two months. Only 14 states and Union Territories are so far using the satellite. EDUSAT has several new technologies. It carries five Ku-band transponders providing spot beams, one Ku-band transponder providing a national beam and six extended C-band transponders with national coverage beam. It will join the INSAT system that already has more than 130 transponders in C-band, extended C-band and Ku-band providing a variety of telecommunication and television services. The infrastructure of EDUSAT is being utilised by Indira Gandhi National Open University -(IGNOU) for curriculum-based education, teachers’ training, professional educational courses and for conducting teleconferencing sessions for software content generation. National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) also conducts interactive orientation/training programmes of teachers and teachers’ educators. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) utilises EDUSAT network for group discussion, lectures, demonstrations, video-shows, training and capacity building programmes.
22
Rwanda takes ICT to street kids Rwanda will launch an extensive campaign aimed at taking Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to street boys in the country. The project, initiated in Africa by One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is aimed at equipping every Rwandan child with a laptop. The laptops would also be given out to children in all primary schools in the country. Last month’s Connect Africa International summit on ICT, set the goal of ensuring Internet access to every African by 2012. At least US$ 300 million will be invested in projects which will promote Information and Communication Technology in Africa.
Education comes on wheels in India The Rajasthan Government is trying to reach out to rural areas of the state with the launch of mobile education van. The mobile education van will cover from beauty tips to computer education to healthcare. Initially, the state government will launch mobile beauty van costing INR 2 million and fitted with beauty equipment in the first week of December, 2007 in Jaipur. Students enrolled in a diploma course in beauty culture would run the unique project. Starting with one bus, which can accommodate up to 10 trainers at a time, the government is planning to allow more such mobile beauty schools in rural areas. An estimated cost of bus is around INR 2 million equipped with all the facilities, including cosmetics and threading, manicure and pedicure equipments. The state government is also going ahead with computer education on wheels. The state government has taken initial steps towards bringing ICT in education to empower students and enhance the quality of education in the state with the support of global and local partners.
‘New movement’ in education Students at the DePaul University’s College of Commerce are doing their daily work through podcasts and vodcast (podcast with video). Students often have no Internet access when they travel, so they use podcast service, which is downloadable on their telephone, iPod or a computer. The University is producing podcasts and vodcasts for students to watch before signing up for classes to learn about professors and coursework. Kelly Richmond Pope, assistant professor in the college’s School of Accountancy and Management Information Systems is using podcasting to communicate with her students in Taiwan. While at some colleges and universities, students produce their own podcasts as part of their assignments. Students at Duke University in Durham, have been assigned to demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language via a podcast and create short movies showing scenes they imagine from a Jane Austen novel.
Health Programme brings medical services to children The Danville Pittsylvania Community S e r v i c e s B o a rd ( D P C S B ) i s u s i n g videoconferencing technology to provide services to children, and adolescents in need of psychiatric help. The agency has received US$ 24,087 grant from the Virginia Health Care Foundation to purchase a new equipment, which allows children to meet with their doctor from Charlottesville via a television connection. Jim Bebeau, the Director of Mental Health Services started the programme 1 and ½ year ago by working eight hours per week. So far, around 120 children have been treated through telemedicine in 756 visits. The programme covers mental health issues like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiance disorder and depression. The agency is the first of the state’s 40 community service boards to use this technology to help solve the severe shortage of mental health providers in the area. The staff also provides the telemedicine service for children at W.W. Moore Detention Home, if the staff their feels the service is needed.
ADB aid to Indonesia’s poorest The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$400 million financial assistance package for Indonesia to improve education and healthcare services of the country’s poorest families. ADB’s assistance package will support Indonesia’s ongoing efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and targets on poverty reduction, health, i4d | December 2007
The i4d News education and gender equity. Under this initiative, the programme will expand public health sector and education expenditures and help government in improving and effectiveness of this additional expenditure. The primary beneficiaries of ADB support will help women and children from poor households who currently lack sufficient access to quality education and health services. ADB’s financial assistance package conforms with Indonesia’s medium-term development plan, and will help the government implement ongoing reforms that are needed to improve the quality and effectiveness of the country’s social services. The ADB support will help children to survive in their earliest years of life, save life of more people affected by HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, help more women remain healthy during pregnancy, help more children go to school, and reduce regional and socioeconomic differences in social service delivery.
m-Serve Singapore, Bangalore show top mobile-readiness
Bangalore and Singapore are the AsiaPacific’s two leading cities in mobility readiness, according to the findings of a study commissioned by Nokia. The study was conducted among 300 IT decision makers and another 300 business users in Bangalore, Mumbai, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to assess companies and users’ adoption and awareness of business mobility. The mobile readiness was based on the scores of the IT decision makers surveyed. According to the study, Singapore overtook Bangalore in the list for 2007, ranking at the top with a score of 213, compared to Bangalore’s 197. A large part of Singapore’s score came from its high usage of mobility applications, such as e-Mail or Internet access on the go, as well as VPN (virtual private network) readiness, wireless LAN availability, and adoption of security policies. In terms of business users, Bangalore topped the chart, ahead of Mumbai and Hong Kong which ranked second and third, respectively.
Livelihoods Working Group on Poverty Elimination, India Given the successful poverty alleviation efforts made by the states of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, the Working Group on Poverty Elimination, Government of India has recommended the initiatives of the three Governments as the model for poverty eradication. While Andhra P radesh has been eulogised for effectively addressing the problem of poverty through self-help groups (SHGs), Kerala’s Kudumbashree model has
December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
eTuktuk project uses mobile connectivity for accessibility eTUKTUK, a mobile telecentre/radio broadcasting unit, which currently operates at the Kothmale Community Multimedia Centre (CMC) in Sri Lanka is now exploring new technologies, including mobile connectivity and mixed media to improve access of information and knowledge in the developing world. eTUKTUK project is utilising the mobile CDMA Internet connection, which can effectively bring telecentre service to communities living in remote and non-service areas. The equipment is located within an auto-rickshaw, which is a three wheeled motorcycle and favored form of transport throughout much of South and South East Asia. The vehicle acts as an extension to an existing fixed telecentre, utilising its wireless Internet connection, loudspeakers and multimedia projector. In order to address this issue of isolation, the station organises a gathering at the nearby Knapathiwaththa tea estate. The eTUKTUK preceded the gathering announcing the event via the loudspeakers. The eTUKTUK project is a joint initiative from the Kothmale Internet Listeners Club with support from UNESCO, Pan Asia Networking ICT R&D Grant, Suntel Ltd., Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, Information Communications Technology Agency of Sri Lanka, the MJF Charitable Foundation. also been found to be equally effective. The Working Group has appreciated Gujarat Government’s efforts to target the poorest among poor on priority basis to eliminate poverty. Among the three models, though each of them having own distinct merits, the scale seems to be heavily tilted in favour of Andhra Pradesh. As per an estimate, the poverty level has declined by 0.64 per cent per annum in the last decade and the rate of poverty alleviation thus has been very slow as compared to the earlier decade. Kudumbashree model of Kerala focuses on building organisation of the poor under the umbrella of the local selfGovernment. It is a three-tier organisation, namely, neighbourhood groups, area development societies and community based organisations. The individual household model of Gujarat takes into account the multidimensional nature of poverty. It has used 13 score-based socio-economic parametres for assessing the poverty level of each household. Then, it groups them into poor and very poor, and prioritises the poverty alleviation programmes by putting the poorest at the top. Unlike other states, Andhra Pradesh is fighting out the menace of poverty through AP District Poverty Initiatives Project (APDPIP), a INR 600 crore World Bank supported poverty elimination project implemented in six most backward districts.
Technology India enters into the race of supercomputers A computer system designed in India and named ‘EKA’ (=one), has made it into top ten of the world’s fastest supercomputers. India has also entered the exclusive list for the first time with a Hewlett-Packard designed system that has a performance of 117.9 teraflops. Codenamed EKA - Sanskrit
for number one - it is installed at the Computational Research Laboratories in Pune. ‘EKA’ made it into fourth place. It is now the fastest supercomputer in Asia. Computer giant IBM continues to dominate the list. Its Blue Gene/L supercomputer - used to ensure the US nuclear weapons stockpile remains safe and reliable - comes out at number one. The world’s fastest supercomputer - BlueGene/L - has been significantly upgraded in the last six months. It can now deliver a sustained performance of 478 trillion calculations per second (478 teraflops), nearly three times faster than any other machine on the list. The second place went to another IBM system - a newer version of BlueGene/ L known as BlueGene/P. The system, introduced in June, 2007 is the first in a batch of IBM machines designed to operate at a petaflop and beyond. The third place went to a new supercomputing centre based in New Mexico. The fifth place went to another Hewlett-Packard system installed at a Swedish government agency.
Canadian invents computer to ‘last a lifetime’ A 54 year old former teacher from Canada, Gerry Morgan has claimed that he has invented a laptop computer for lifetime usage. The laptop, called the InkMedia, uses a Freescale processor with 512 megabytes of RAM and the Linux operating system. The InkMedia has 8.6in SVGA screen, which is capable of displaying 800X600 pixel True Colour graphics and comes with four USB ports. It also has a WiFi port for wireless Internet access. The laptop also supports Wi-Fi capability for wireless Internet access. Based on the Freescale processor and Linux operating system, the InkMedia is free for anyone to use and contribute to the lower price of the laptop.
23
The i4d News
10 million citizens to get wireless Internet by 2008 More than 10 million Kenyans who still lack access to the Internet now stand to benefit from the planned wireless Internet connection to public payphones by June, 2008. TelKom Kenya is targeting to provide Internet services to 90 percent of Kenya’s population by January, 2008. The company has urged the government to gazette bans on the trade in copper and aluminium as a way of stemming the vandalism of Telkom wires across the country. Through a broadband video streaming service, Telkom Kenya also plans to provide television services through its wireless technology in the near future. Africa Online, subsidiary of TelKom will launch its Africa Online ICT in Schools, a CSI initiative, which aims to make a contribution to the communities in which they operate. During the launch, Africa Online will announce its adopted school to which it will donate computers worth R70 000.
Open Source Open Source Software policy for South Africa The Government of South Africa is planning to adopt a Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) policy, which is a significant boost for the industry according to new analysis from Frost & Sullivan. According to new analysis from Frost & Sullivan, both the public and private sectors will be benefited from the expansion of OSS. This will encourage to start up the new businesses as well as allow the government to channel resources to much needed areas such as healthcare and education. OSS will provide an alternative option to South Africa against proprietary softwares. The collaboration between the government and OSS developers will encourage open source market. This in turn will result in the development of applications uniquely suited to the South African environment.
SME RIM launches software aimed at smaller firms BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd would be rolling out a professional software package aimed at small and medium businesses with up to 30 wireless users. The BlackBerry software will let small or midsized companies have secure wireless access to e-Mail, as well as Internet and intranet applications, while meeting the need for an in-house solution that is affordable, simple to install and easy to manage. The new software package is based on the same software that RIM has been offering to governments and large corporations. The package comes at a price of US$ 499 for five users and US$ 849 for 10 users. Either option can support up to 30 users if additional licenses are purchased.
24
Telecentre TERI sets up solar powered ICT knowledge centre in rural Gurgaon, India Treading ahead with initiatives towards nurturing and building capacities amongst village communities, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) gave rural Gurgaon its first ever Solar Powered ICT Knowledge Centre. The TERI Solar powered Knowledge Centre was inaugurated at Gual Pahari, Gurgaon by Shri Rakesh Gupta, Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon (Haryana). In his speech, Mr Gupta outlined the use of Information and Communication Technology as a tool for development of the villages. He mentioned that this centre will be particularly useful in-terms of accessing e-Government services like land-record, accessing government forms, accessing procedures, etc. This village youth driven initiative is one of its kind and the Dy Commissioner promised support for 50 such initiatives in the district. He appreciated TERI’s efforts in designing a environmentally sound model, which uses solar power solution to run the centre. Mr Gupta emphasised that this knowledge centre will be a boon for children education, nurturing their levels of understanding in the fast moving world. The Dy. Commissioner also stressed the need for information leading to Knowledge Management which needs to be properly utilised by the people. The TERI Solar powered Knowledge Centre will be the hub of development for Gual Pahari and the adjoining villages. Run by a local entrepreneur, this knowledge centre will provide various fee and non-fee based services to the local rural population using the power of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) as a tool. The IT Knowledge Centre will provide services
like computer education, Internet services, Desk Top Publishing, library, Spoken English and agricultural information to the local rural population in and around the vicinity. The uniqueness of this solar powered centre lies in the fact that it pulls the community towards itself by offering services like water testing solution, sale of culinary herbs and solar products (torches and lantern), natural resource management and a small library for children. The centre will also be a meeting ground for the farmers for information on agriculture produces and also exchange ideas and knowledge with the TERI experts on a wide range of subjects. TERI is aiming to set-up more of these centres in different geographies and serve the population around the catchment area of the geography with its expertise knowledge and services, especially in renewable energy. This solar powered hybrid battery technology has been piloted at a few locations across the length and breadth of India, and has been found to successfully provide an average backup of 4-6 hrs in the absence of electricity. It is useful for rural ICT initiatives as well as for other applications, which depend critically on reliable power supply such as rural banking, health clinics, water purification etc. Through the various knowledge centres, TERI aims to use ‘pull’ mechanisms (capacity building, local services, vocational training, etc.) - which pull the people to the knowledge centre rather than ‘push’ mechanism (sale of insurance, mobile cards, etc.) which are services that strive more on sales. The highlight of the IT Knowledge Centre is its capacity of providing clean and reliable power solutions to a variety of rural applications, through a Hybrid Universal Solar Power Pack developed by TERI that uses solar energy to charge batteries and provide reliable power for appliances like computers etc.
Wireless Proposal to encourage Wi-Fi development in China The Chinese Government will work with ICT companies to formulate a proposal encouraging the development of WiFi applications for leveraging on the Government’s free Wi-Fi services. The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Frederick Ma stated that more than 60 bureaux and departments have deployed wireless-mobile technologies in about 200 IT systems. The Government will continue to leverage Web 2.0 technologies to enhance interaction with and receive feedback from the public. The government is encouraging bureaux and departments to follow the Web 2.0 development and make use of the applicable technologies to engage the public and improve public service delivery in their specific policy areas. i4d | December 2007
Story telling for knowledge sharing
Local content for development initiatives in African and Latin American countries Presenting a series of locally written articles with Southern perspectives on the impact and the use of ICTs for Development. The iConnect series is in its third year of collaboartion. We are pleased to share stories from Africa and Latin America on local content development initiatives written by Southern journalists.
In collaboration with:
www.iConnect-online.org is a platform for sharing knowledge on the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in sustainable development. iConnect draws content from its partners, links resources and expertise and encourages collaboration. For the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), the host of iConnect, this is a way to share experiences, lessons learned and ideas, and interact with communities and people with an interest in development and the applications of ICTs. These experiences can lead to a better understanding of the actual benefits of ICTs for Development (ICT4D). A series of locally written articles on the impact and the use of ICTs for development forms the core of iConnect. The articles have a strong focus on fact finding; objective information on ICT4D practices from a Southern perspective: Southern content written by Southern journalists. i4d is the iConnect partner for Asia, disseminating the articles to their readers. For the full text of the articles, please visit www.iConnect-online.org
Local content makes it to the web through Burkina-NTIC By Ramata Soré In Burkina Faso there are many local initiatives occupied with the extension and popularisation of ICTs. Among all these initiatives, there is one in particular that can be regarded as a very dynamic platform that is also in the public eye; Burkina-NTIC (www.burkina-ntic.net and www.burkina-ntic.org). It focuses on local content by permanently updating the activities performed by the different local communities in the area. On the website it is possible to watch videos of the most successful TV programme in the country dealing with issues concerning the agricultural world, you can read articles about the evolution that rural areas are undergoing as well as information concerning local innovations, for instance the extension of electricity supply in rural areas and its use mainly in the informal sector in the area of Bobo-Dioulasso. The initiative has been sponsored by the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) and it is managed by the African Institute for Rural Bioeconomy (Institut Africain de Bio-Économie Rurale (IABER) in Burkina Faso. With regard to education and teaching, there are many articles that discuss the advantages offered by e-Education and cyber classrooms. This new form of education allows, for example, defending a master’s thesis by means of a videoconference, and consequently obtaining a professional master diploma in distant learning engineering. The site also provides information concerning the impact of ‘L’œil des parents’ (the eye of parents), a website which is actually a new way of establishing bonds among the
December 2007 | www.i4donline.net December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
students´ parents and the different High Schools in Ouagadougou. These contents about ICTs and the educational system in Burkina Faso (TIC EDUC), agriculture or information centres, gender issues, governance or computer security, are the result of the efforts of many working groups that belong to the association BurkinaNTIC. According to its coordinator, Mr. Sylvestre Ouédraogo, “these groups are the best stopping places to work in specific fields and to produce content. To carry on their activities these groups base their work on the achievements attained by the projects supported by IICD in Burkina Faso. In this way, their most important mission is to capitalise the accomplishments of all these projects.” Virtual exchanges are very important for the production of content and the access to this kind of content is easier for thematic groups working with gender issues, with good governance or with computer security, since they are located in environments where connectivity is available. On the other hand there are other groups, like the one working with agriculture, that have to overcome important hindrances with regard to connectivity, as Internet access is virtually non existent in many rural areas. In order to overcome these obstacles, face to face meetings are organised by the members of the working team, as a way to facilitate knowledge exchanges. This continuous production of content calls for a wide range of permanent activities. About this, Douamba Korotimi, the Communications Officer of the Professional Federation of Small Agricultural
25
the expectations of the different communities in Burkina Faso. These contents are also of great help for countries in the South to overcome one of the obstacles that hinder the use of the Internet as a development tool. The activities of the Burkina-NTIC network have always been focused on two main central points: the creation and updating of an Internet site especially devoted to ICTs in Burkina Faso and, at the same time, the decision to always look for an opening-up to the world. The network has a quarterly newsletter dealing with ICTs in Burkina Faso. It also organises meetings and exchange and training seminars about the phenomenon of ICTs in Burkina and in the rest of the world. Individual contributions are also welcome.
Searching for performance
Producers of Sissili, assures “for the correct updating of knowledge it is absolutely necessary to guarantee the availability of permanent training activities; it is important to smooth the progress of new ideas in order to keep a constant motivation for learning among the peasants and to facilitate the permanent updating of the focus of attention”. Faced with this prospect, IICD periodically organises training sessions concerning the production of content, emphasises François Laureys, in charge of the National Programme in Burkina Faso and Mali.
After several years of existence, accompanying the structures of civil society and producing ICT content, the Burkina-NTIC network keeps searching for performance. The website is undergoing its fourth make-over. Even if the site is pretty well structured, the evolution of the network and new technological changes, such as blogs, videos, images, RSS feeds, keep asking for a permanent updating of the site when it is no longer able to meet the new requirements. This was a matter of discussion in order to make the site more straightforward, more users friendly and more interactive (for instance, giving the members the possibility to blog and to post images and videos). The publication of a directory of websites in Burkina Faso is another innovation that is being introduced, in order to provide dynamism to the websites of the government and organisations of civil society. According to Sylvestre Ouédraogo, the network was born “because computer science and the Internet are considered as essential resources to help and accelerate development all over the world, particularly in developing countries. The multiplicity of interventions, the innovations and all the experiences in favour of the installation of new technologies in our countries, demand us to coordinate all our efforts in order to be more efficient. The field of application of these new technologies is so huge that better than to consider other initiatives as competitors it is to think about them as complementary efforts and as a support for
Content stemming exclusively from Burkina Faso The Burkina-NTIC network has been able to consolidate its capacities for the production of content by being on the alert for every single ICT event in Burkina. Interviews made in rural areas are very useful to understand the real situation of the country. The statistics available in the network show an average of 300400 visits a day. The website contains more than 800 articles with interviews, statements, publications and videos. The Burkinabé contents available on the website correspond with communities that share a unique cultural, geographic and linguistic environment. On the Internet this fact helps to bridge the gap existing in the global information society between the poor and the rich. These local contents are the thread of all the actions and are invaluable to help field activities to meet
26
i4d | December 2007
creation of a content coming exclusively from Burkina. As it has been asserted by UNESCO, “The production of local content is essential to persuade people that the Internet can play a very important role in development as another pubic service provided by society”.
Known all over the world
the different initiatives appearing here and there”. In this way, the coordinator thinks that a bundling of actions would be very useful and would allow for more visibility. This efficacy is closely connected with the creation of local content, that is to say, the
Through the production of different goods such as bronze statuettes, batiks, postcards, computer casings made of local materials, and documentary films, the network tries to establish bonds between ICTs and the local environment. All these handicraft outputs are also considered as a production of local content. The actions undertaken to promote the network, such as paid for consultancy services and training activities, are also a source of income. Income coming from different sales is used to strengthen the material aspect of the network. Sometimes, the network itself is entrusted with the drawing up and management of content; evidence that the network is able to produce quality work. For more information contact iConnect coordinator: Sylvestre Ouédraogo, sylvestre.ouedraogo@gmail.com
Local content for the management of ecological agriculture By Giovanna Tipan Barrera “We are very interested in the development of local content as, usually, information is created somewhere else and it does not necessarily satisfy the needs created by our local conditions”, affirms José Rivadeneira, executive coordinator of Coordinadora Ecuatoriana de Agroecología, CEA (www.ecuanex.net.ec/cea/). In 2003, CEA started creating its own local content. Regional coordinator Benjamín Macas reveals that they started by making a diagnosis in several regional and national organisations in order to identify their potential to provide agro-ecological information to the communities. This was the birth of the project ‘Communication for the Management of Agro-ecological Productive Systems’, supported by the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD). The results of the diagnosis where used as a starting point for the selection of the contents to be created. This diagnosis was also useful to identify the better way to distribute information. Julio de la Torre, coordinator of the project, says that ecological agriculture is the “recovery of our ancient knowledge”, and he adds that it is very different from organic agriculture as the latter does not take into consideration monoculture or diversification and that organic farms even look forward to integrating short and long cycle plants in the same crop or to incorporating cattle raising activities. Julio adds that “CEA is a network formed by approximately 50 organisations and 30 personal memberships that work to boost the initiative of agro-ecological farming.” José Rivadeneira points out that for the creation of content “the procedure is based on dialogues and on face to face meetings with the farmers in order to become familiar with local practices, with the real situation of the area and with the problems that December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
producers have to face. This process relies on the principles of agro-ecology and is based on observation. It uses a system of horizontal communication with agricultural producers in order to provide answers in keeping with local socioeconomic conditions. This process aims to help farmers in the area to remove obstacles and find the adequate solutions to their problems.” These contents can only be originated in local knowledge in combination with scientific occidental knowledge. This is the reason why CEA is based on the methods ‘Research and Action’ and ‘Learning by doing’. Even if CEA works on the basis of horizontal communication and permanent dialogue, José acknowledges that “we still need to
27
systematise the process and to create documents of a better quality for the distribution of our practices.” Nevertheless, he considers that “the best part are the visits” as nothing is so helpful to really understand things than to live them as an experience. “We have gathered information and now we want to disseminate it by means of newsletters and through the information centres.”
Creating content in the information centres According to José Rivadeneira “one of the problems a peasant has to face when the time comes to make a decision is the lack of information”. This fact drove CEA to “consider the information centres as a possibility for small agricultural producers to gain access to information”, mainly for young people living and working in rural areas. “The Internet has been identified as a potential tool to redress this situation, as it is the current way for people to access information and knowledge”. Benjamín is persuaded that “using the Internet is not difficult, that the investment it demands is not so high, that the installation is relatively quick and that there is a great possibility to develop a network of information centres to foster agro-ecology at the national level.” The choice of the Internet was based on all these reasons.
Julio de la Torre adds that “the project has installed information centres in four towns of the Sierra area in the provinces of Imbabura, Chimborazo, Azuay and Loja. In these information centres the agro ecological practices of the farmer families in the region are documented, classified and systematised. Moreover, these centres are now processing information downloaded from the net and producing other publications. The content, arranged according to specific criteria is then disseminated through the web page or handed out in CDs for those organisations that do not have connectivity.” These technological spaces have to be adapted to “new situations that permanently arise in the country” so, “dialogue is necessary, not only among the farmers but also between them and the actors in the community”, maintains José Rivadeneira. “The whole process consists in the systematisation of the information,
28
the appropriate documentation of the experiences and the communication among the sectors”, he adds. According to the promoter in the area of Chimborazo, Pablo Galarza, the most important benefit created by the information centres has been “that we can now download the information we need and, by means of the Internet, send our own experiences to the rest of the information centres. We also boost the use of the Internet tool by letting people know that they have a community centre at hand, where they can have access to information and become aware about experiences in other provinces. Later on, successful experiences can be replicated in their own farms.” Verónica Peña, the administrator of the information centre in Azuay, tells us that ever since she was a little girl, she has been interested in agriculture because she has lived in the countryside all her life. According to Verónica, one of the most important subjects for the farmers is “the plagues that attack corn and apple crops. Lately, the farmers have been very concerned about a fly that has devastated their crops.” She affirms that “the information centre has been of great help for the farmers and that this help was possible because the connectivity to Internet is of a very good quality”.
Integrating technologies to create content Benjamín adds “we are interested in those agro-ecological practices that have already been validated, and we have documented them in texts, photographs and videos.” To disseminate local content, the information centres of CEA have been using several technologies. For instance, they have integrated video as a tool to systematise information. “During the initial phase we worked hard to acquire the knowledge and skills that we needed and we learned to handle the new technological tools. We have learned to use the cameras to re-create our experience in images, something that is absolutely different from just producing a written document”, says Benjamín Macas. And he adds “thanks to the training, we have realised that if we are not clear about the type of material we want to collect, why we are collecting it and what we are going to do with it, it is no use to waste our time collecting other people’s experiences.” Benjamín is an agronomist but, after spending so much time, camera in hand, shooting experiences and creating learning events, he has turned into an expert handling words like spot, script, web or Internet. All these words are now part of his every day vocabulary. “We have created a lot of content, now the challenge is to turn all that learning into images and to create concrete and clear messages” he affirms. Benjamín adds that the creation of content is not a centralised activity. He stresses the fact that their purpose for the creation of content is to help people with concrete solutions and to pass on these solutions to other people all over the country. He considers that one of the most important elements in this process is to come into contact with each one of the experiences. In the videos, the farmers tell us about their experience and their usual practices. In this way they are developing their own content, “we believe that these testimonies are the element that really passes on the experience; these testimonies have helped communities in the process of appropriation of agro-ecology.” Therefore, they have i4d | December 2007
put special emphasis on trying not to neglect the human and personal aspect as, according to the words of Félix Morocho, coordinator of the information centre in Azuay, “one of our sources of information are our visits to the farms because there we are able to really see and understand the farmers practices, how they use
organic fertilisers, which are their most successful recipes, etc.” This reflection makes us think that first of all, it is necessary to see in practice the way in which knowledge operates. This learning system of our own acknowledges the value of information coming from the communities and then captures all this in a digital or electronic format. Benjamín and Roberto Gortaire, coordinator of the information centre in Chimborazo, both affirm that whenever they show the videos in the communities, people identify their environment, their experience and their knowledge in images and sounds. These videos have demonstrated how the promotion of local content can increase self confidence and strengthen the importance of personal knowledge. “By means of these contents that respond to the needs and interests of the communities, we are helping to overcome one of the biggest obstacles that are currently hindering the use of the Internet as a tool for development in the countries of the South: the lack of local content”, affirms Roberto Gortaire. For more information contact iConnect coordinator: Diana Andrade, dandrade@infodesarrollo.ec
UNDP supports development of local content in Ghana By Emily Nyarko Information they say is power and can make or unmake a people or individuals depending on the uses to which they apply the information. But for rural communities everywhere it is difficult to access - let lone to apply - information for development. Now more than ever, people everywhere are realising the importance of information and its ability to empower them democratically and economically for development. The United Nations as a lead world body is urging governments to build an informed society as part of efforts to develop and halve the world’s poor through the implementation of key development strategies including the application of ICTs to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. For Ghana, the need to create an informed society that can be part of nation building is not new, having an information services department that used methods such as public address systems with mobile vans to spread information to especially the remotest parts of the country. This mode of disseminating is still used to inform people about government programmes on immunisation, constitutional and other public educational campaigns. However, the world has changed so fast and the mode of disseminating information has also undergone a revolution towards the use of all forms of information and communication technology (ICT) to empower the various segments of the population. The UNDP, the UN’s global development network in the country, admits that the traditional methods of presentation and the spread of information were outmoded and required certain reforms to make them more effective. Under a UNDP ICT support to the Ministry of Information and National Orientation (MINO) project, the former is collaborating with the latter to train information officers of Community Information Centres (CICs) under the Ministry of Communications to develop local content for use at all levels of the December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
society. The implementing agency of the CICs under the Ministry of Communications is the Ghana Fund for Telecommunications Operators (GIFTEL). About USD 240,000 is being spent in 2007 alone on training, capacity building, the development of the government’s portal, the development of local content of all kinds of information for dissemination to the varied sectors of society and also to aid in the government’s e-Governance project in a cost sharing agreement between the MINO and the UNDP. Under this project, the UNDP is supporting MINO to develop the ICT capacity of District Information Officers (DIOs) and other officers within the ministry to enable them to develop and disseminate local content effectively. The content includes national governmental policies, programmes through community based socio-economic activities and information, to feedbacks from the citizenry to the government. The project is basically to cover all areas of information needs of the country. Some information officers have already been trained under the project to manage and disseminate information gathered at the central level for the national portal, while others would also help disseminate similar information at the local level for effective spread of the development agenda. The DIOs are expected to develop offline information packages and disseminate them to communities without Internet facilities. More than 40 CICs are currently operating out of the 230 centres being established throughout the country.
Tailor made community content The most unique aspect of this programme is the development of content tailored to suit individual communities. For instance, while content on the Ghana portal is general and is designed for all citizens and audiences outside of the country, specific content has been developed for districts in Saltpond and Dodowa in the Mfantsiman and Dangme West Districts of the Central and the
29
Greater Accra Regions on a pilot basis. While Dodowa is a purely farming community, Saltpond is a fishing community and the developers of the content acknowledge that the two communities have different needs, economic potentials and different occupation that require different solutions to empower them economically. The information gathered and developed into local content is also tailored to expose the tourism potentials of the communities and aims to enable citizens to add value to local tourist packages and commercialise them for visitors. In Bolga in the Bolgatanga district of the Upper East Region for instance, the three partners (UNDP, MINO and GIFTEL) are devising means to develop story telling into a commercial venture for the people. Apart from the development of the Ghana portal and the implementation of the two pilot projects at Dodowa and Saltpond, there has been an ICT Train-the-Trainer workshop in Microsoft Unlimited Potential for 22 information officers selected from all the 10 regions of Ghana. There has also been an ICT capacity building workshop for 30 selected DIOs facilitated by 5 ICT trainers from the MINO under the supervision of CIC coordinators. The UNDP has supported MINO with 20 computers, 30 pen-drives, 25 headsets, and other multimedia equipment for the DIOs to enable them to build their competences in using the computer for information gathering, development and dissemination through the CICs. The project is currently supporting the MINO to develop a state-of-the art Local Area Network at its head office and also earmarked a two-week Train-the-Trainer workshop for 40 selected Journalists in e-Journalism in October 2007.
Voice instead of vans As part of its objectives, the project is expected to allow people at the grassroots level to have a voice in nation building rather than wait for mobile information vans to move round with public address systems to just give information on newly introduced programmes by the government. And by this collaboration the
implementing agency, the GIFTEL, is able to make the CICs more functional and also to integrate other uses of the centres such as training of local people in ICTs and the day-to-day application of the facilities to include the development and use of local content, especially information on tourism, farming, health and education. According to the UNDP the overall objective of this project is in pursuance of its agenda to advocate for change and connect countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. Truth Lumor, UNDP’s official in charge of the programme, says the sponsors believe that through the development and dissemination of information, the citizens of Ghana would be linked to knowledge, sharing of experiences and also resources. ‘This strategic intervention from the UNDP is also geared towards creating knowledge based societies to facilitate the implementation of the Government of Ghana’s eGovernance project.’ Mr Lumor says “there is no specific time frame for the project and since local content is needed as far as there is information to be communicated - either from the government to the public and from the citizenry to the government - the project aims to develop a capable team of DIOs to ensure continuity and sustainability of local content development as part of its goals.” Mr Lumor, however, acknowledges that Ghana had made inroads in the development of local content but also notes there is a lot to be done in getting information to the very rural folks. ‘The traditional methodologies employed posed numerous bottle necks and made the packaging and dissemination of information very difficult in terms of resource mobilisation and sustainability. UNDP acknowledges MINO’s effort to drift from these traditional methodologies of information dissemination to more effective, efficient and sustainable ICT driven methodologies that would ensure timely availability of relevant socio-economic information.’ For more information contact iConnect coordinator: John Yarney, john_yarney@yahoo.co.uk
Local content in Mali: In times of abundance, operation abilities are still limited By Abdoul M. Thiam and Filifing Diakite Mali is a country where culture is described as being mainly oral. A priori, this situation is not in favour of the written production of cultural goods. The holders of local knowledge are people considered by the communities as a resource in charge of passing on this knowledge according to tradition. In spite of this de facto situation, there are many initiatives of change developing here and there. According to this new approach, local content is produced by institutions or commercial organisms, by civil society and – mainly - by the media. Most of the production is due to civil society. In the areas of health, we can point out the Medical Portal of Mali, the medical e-Magazine and a bibliographical database that gathers the thesis about health that have been written in Mali, among others. In the area of culture, there are several websites belonging to internationally well known artists as well as several journals written in French, such as the national daily newspaper
30
l’Essor. In the area of Linguistics, the site of the African Academy of Languages (Académie Africaine des Langues) and the web site of the Fondation Karanta. Finally, in the area of basic research in computational linguistics, the most important achievement has been the creation of course ware in national languages by Prof. Emile Camara and, in the area of applied computer science, the creation of the software Makdas Multifunction entirely in Bamanan language by Prof. Doucouré. It is also important to highlight the historic fact that all these steps forward are being developed thanks to the accompanying measures of a democratic environment.
The era of democracy and freedom of the press In the 90s, with the arrival of democracy, a process of liberalisation i4d | December 2007
of the media was started, in written and audiovisual press. In such an environment, many free radio stations were created all over the country. Nowadays, there are near to 200. One of the expectations created by this liberalisation was that it would foster the circulation of local knowledge, by means of technologies like the radio, which is very accessible and, what is more important, that takes into account linguistic concerns. Today, we can affirm that the impact attained by radio is considerable, as they have been the real vectors for the distribution of local information. The Jamana Cooperative e.g. is a network of radio stations of all over the country. Information collected and distributed in the rural environments was recorded in cassettes or CDs in order to allow people to consult this material in the libraries. Furthermore, the Cooperative has a printing office and makes many publications. In 1996, Mali was finally connected to the global network. Since then, the Internet has been very helpful for the distribution of local content. The network Jamana has entered in a frame of partnership with UNESCO in order to create a website for its journal published in the national language, Bamanan, and called Jèkabaara. From that moment on, the journal has been available online for literate people. Since the year 2000, the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) has been supporting the web site mali-ntic.com. This site is in fact a means for the dissemination of local and national information regarding the different possible uses of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Among other advantages, the existence of the site increases the standing of the different initiatives for the creation of local content on the Internet. Since the year 2000, the authorities of Mali have been making efforts to provide Internet connectivity to all the parishes in Mali. In order to meet this objective, many information centres have been set up all over the country, thanks to the support of partners such as IICD, UNESCO, USAID, etc. The impact of such initiatives, mostly aimed at fostering the appreciation of local content, is highly noticeable. Many multimedia community centres have been created inside the local radio stations. UNESCO and USAID have provided financial support for more than twenty of them. The couple radio-Internet has produced a convergence of media that has facilitated the creation of a database, fit for distribution and easy to consult online over a long period of time. Previously, radio by itself did not have the means for the storage and processing of all the collected and distributed content.
CLICs are at their peak Local Information and Communication Centres (CLICs) represent another form of communication centres. At the very core of this project, financially supported by USAID, is the need to supply people with services and value added contents. Precedence is given to local information to be shared with the rest of the CLICs in the network. The content is organised in different fields such as health, education, agriculture, entrepreneurial management, local governance, art, culture and any other subjects related to local development. December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
The CLIC Project is addressed to local, national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to community organisations, to public services, and others with the idea of providing them with valuable information covering many areas: case studies, reports, educational brochures, posters, booklets, etc. All this can be produced in different formats such as hard copies, analogue or digital images and audio, CD-ROM, DVD, HTML and other electronic means. The total amount of the information collected by the partners of USAID is handled and processed and made available for all the USAID partners. The staff of the project also works in collaboration with each one of the CLICs. They work together in the collection, processing and distribution of local information.
The gender approach The project CLIC-Mali has put a special emphasis on gender equity, by making sure that women have the same opportunities to participate in the management and animation of any CLIC, just as men do. Communities also participate actively in the development of the content that is later distributed in the network formed by the CLICs. The information produced at this level is perfectly harmonised with the needs and aspirations of local people. IICD supports a website that covers all the current situation of ICTs for development in Mali. The site contains several sections, among which there is one devoted to the guest of the month. Moreover, and always as part of the programme of knowledge sharing in partnership with the national network ToguNet, other tools have been developed, such as a quarterly newsletter. Also, a film showing the process of drying of onions has been produced, starting from the experiences of women in the AGVF Association in Bandiagara (in the region of Mopti). The film is highly appreciated any time that an information centre takes the initiative to show it in a public performance on a big projection screen.
Problems posed by the gathering and appreciation of local content in Mali What is hard to find in Mali is not content. The country lacks time, energy and the appropriate skills to find and process this content. And this situation is valid for the media. We are speaking about the capacity of the media to use the content that is at stake. It is extremely difficult for the state in Mali to get involved and try to help, as its actions are strongly restricted by lack of resources. We must also say that there is no evidence whatsoever that the state really wants the development of the press in the country. One thing is to support civil society and a completely different thing is to support the press. Civil society starts up projects that last from one to five years while the work of the press is constant. This is, in fact, a matter of education, something that has to be built in the long term.
Axe formation, a structure oriented towards the creation of content The Axe network has produced different kinds of information. Studies about decentralisation have been conducted there, as well as about local governance, about the management of natural resources and about real estate conflicts. This resulted in very
31
good quality products, showing a careful meditation on the subjects and accompanied by many references. The information gathered has been published on the website ‘Penser pour agir’ (Think and then act). The network also publishes a quarterly newsletter informing about the common activities in their area of competence. Usually activities on the subject of development, training activities, workshops or even an inventory or a programme ready to start. Often, there are also postings that show the development of different activities. All these publications are useful pieces of information that have been processed by the staff, in order to be entered on the website ‘Initiatives Mali’. Axe formation has also developed a website dealing with the subject of the Law of Agricultural Guidance. For this, and during several months, the team has kept up with the process of rural agreements, prior to the drafting of the law. Information was released as they got over the different stages of evolution of the works. This is another kind of experience, which deals with exclusively one subject by means of several publications,
in this case, the subject of agriculture and the development of rural areas in Mali. Once more, it is important to bear in mind that all these initiatives must not make us forget that the production of local content is faced with very serious problems, such as the lack of communication infrastructure, the lack of means for the production of content (Internet access and hardware), absence of good quality training, lack of normalisation for the written code of almost all the local languages (Unicode, ASCII and HTML) and, finally, a very high rate of illiteracy, not only formal but also technological. In conclusion, the production of local content is a major challenge for the identity of a community as it helps to translate global knowledge and to make it relevant for the local situation. It is also the best way to promote the distribution of local and traditional knowledge, taking into account all the social and cultural determinants of the community. For more information contact iConnect coordinator: Filifing Diakite, filifing@journalist.com
Zambia still lagging in local content production By Tovin Ngombe Zambia is among the first African countries to be hooked to the Internet, though its long presence in the usage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), has failed to improve the production of local content. Many ICTs experts attribute the poor production of local content to limited access to computers and to Internet usage. The lack of understanding of the value of adding services and products on the Internet has contributed to the country’s lagging behind in producing local content that is suitable to the local users. Hence most Zambians have resorted to having access to foreign information which at times may not be suitable for them. Despite the country having seven main languages, including English as the official language, ICT expert and consultant Millner Makuni says there is no Zambian local language content to be found on the Internet. Mr. Makuni, who is also a member of E-brain Forum Secretariat, says the Internet usage in Zambia is still low - estimated at about 500,000 users - and about 16500 Internet subscribers from the 10 Internet service providers that the country have. About 50 percent of subscribers are still on dial up, hence the usage is more for sending and receiving mail than for contributing to the presence of local content for the benefit of Zambians. “The cost of computers, telecommunication equipment, and taxation of ICT equipment is still prohibitive with limited ICT infrastructure, and the country is still below average in local content production”, Mr. Makuni explained. “Local content is vital for people to have information and knowledge that is relevant to their livelihood and to empower citizens to develop, while at the same time becoming part of the global world.” Zambia National Farmer’s Union (ZANFU) Communication Manager Kunda Mwila says most Zambian content is produced from websites that were hosted outside the country. He says there was an improvement in the people hosting their websites, but there was a gap in the production of local content to be
32
updated. “The policy should have measures to ensure that content from rural areas finds its presence on the Internet, and content on the websites to be translated into the local languages.” Mr. Kunda says the country’s Communication Authority should structure regulatory mechanism that could see to it that more people set up Internet connection in the rural areas and hence trigger more interest among the people to be producing local content. Content Manager and ICT expert for Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMSESA) under the Regional Customs Transit Gallant (RCTG) Michael Zulu says most people setting up websites fail to update their content timely. “Most of the websites in the country are static and have no impact because the owners fail to update them and people would not want to visit a site that has the same information for many months.” Mr. Zulu says it was only the Media websites that were updated with information while for most of the websites it is a sad story. He further pointed out that the failure to have webmasters was the major hindrance to the production of local content as most organisations fail to have people to be updating their information. “You find a site has been in existence for a year but the information is still the same, an indication to the surfers that the organisation only wants to have presence on Internet but fail to use it as tool to showcase their services or products,” he says. Kasonde Kasolo, an ICT expert, says the country has to go back to the drawing board to chat the way forward to address the disparate in the production of local content. “Production of local content is crucial for any country’s development and the key lies in providing ICT training to gain skills and education, while government should provide an enabling environment for local content production.” For more information contact iConnect coordinator: Tovin Ngombe, tngombe@yahoo.co.uk i4d | December 2007
December 2007
ICTD Project Newsletter
ICTs - A Catalyst for Inclusion “The goal of the development process must be to include every last member of our society, particularly those who are at the margins. This not only broadens the support base for development, it also strengthens the government’s ability to perform its core developmental role.” Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s address at the Conference on Democracy, Development and Social Inclusion, Dec 2005
W
ith 1.1 billion people, a smorgasbord of cultures, religions, and languages and a vibrant and healthy democracy, India is progressing on a scale that is unprecedented in history. It is today one of the world’s fastest growing economies with a growth rate of 7 percent during the 10th Plan Period (2002-2007) and is the fourth largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity. India has emerged as a global player in information t e c h n o l o g y, b i o t e c h n o l o g y, business/knowledge process outsourcing, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals. Though the threat of large-scale famines has been banished and absolute poverty reduced by more than half, yet substantial disparities remain: child malnutrition is a shocking 47 percent while the under-5 mortality is as high as 87 per 1,000 children. Female literacy hovers around 50 percent while 70 percent of the population does not have access to improved sanitation facilities. Endemic malnutrition continues to sap the resources and strength of
more than half of our population t h u s p r e ve n t i n g t h e m f r o m realising their full potential.
Social inclusion On one hand there are the disparities in the growth process noted above, while on the other there are disparities across regions and across groups and communities. While Hyderabad – the fast growing IT hub and the capital of Andhra Pradesh – is the cynosure of all eyes, farmers elsewhere in Andhra Pradesh are committing suicides in large numbers due to repeated crop failures, inability to meet the rising cost of cultivation and indebtedness. The same story is repeated in Karnataka – which has Bangalore as the IT capital of India – and Maharashtra – with Mumbai as the financial capital of India. Disadvantaged groups like Dalits, women, disabled, peasants, workers, etc., and minority groups like Muslims have not been able to take full advantage of the economic opportunities that have opened up. According to the Sachar Committee Report which was set up to go into
the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India, less than 4 per cent of Muslims are graduates or diploma holders, while majority of Muslim boys and girls fail in their Matriculation exam or drop out before that. Schools beyond primary level are very few in Muslim localities while schools for girls are fewer. Participation of Muslim workers is very low in professional, technical and managerial work and they are by and large engaged in the unorganised sector. The economic reforms of the 1990s were accompanied by a visible rise in income inequality. While the services sector booms with highpaying jobs for skilled workers, around 90 per cent of India’s labour force is trapped in low productivity informal sector jobs. Disparities between skilled and low-skilled workers, urban and rural areas and prosperous and lagging states have widened. Inequality extracts huge social costs. The exclusion of the poor from participation in and access to opportunities and activities is a major dimension of poverty that also needs to be recognised and addressed. Social
Make ICTs Work for People
exclusion is both a cause and a consequence of poverty. Ensuring that all regions of India and all sections and communities of society are participants in the booming economy and can partake of the benefits is a Herculean task facing the government. The various inequities that are present in the system have led to uneven development patterns and social exclusion of certain groups. The challenge before the government is to promote social inclusion so that the disadvantaged and marginalised groups can join mainstream development.
Inclusive growth The Approach Paper to the 11th Plan is entitled ‘Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth’. It is heartening to note that the operative word is ‘inclusive growth’. In light of the impressive achievements of India at the global level and the 7 per cent rate of growth which was achieved during the 10th Plan Period – the highest for any Plan period – the document goes on to say, “While this performance reflects the strength of the economy in many areas, it is also true that large parts of our population are still to experience a decisive improvement in their standard of living. The percentage of population below the poverty line is declining, but only at a modest pace. Far too many people still lack access to basic services such as health, education, clean drinking water and sanitation facilities without which they cannot be empowered to claim their share in the benefits of growth. These problems are more severe in some states than in others, and in general
34
they are especially severe in rural areas.” The high rates of economic growth present the challenge on how to mesh governance and human development with economic freedom. The challenge is to widen the inclusive characteristics of this growth. The report goes on to say: “Even if we succeed in achieving broad based and inclusive growth, there are many groups that may still be marginalised. These include primitive tribal groups, adolescent girls, children in the age group 0 to 3, and others who do not have strong lobbies to ensure that their rights are guaranteed. The 11th Plan must pay special attention to the needs of these groups.” Thus it is amply clear that the focus of the Government of India is on social inclusion i.e. ensuring that all sections of society are included in the growth process; they experience a rise in their standard of living along with the growth in the macro economy and are able to realise their fullest potential as citizens of this country. This can be achieved by reorienting the planning approach and clearly defining social goals. GDP growth should be considered as a means to expand employment, alleviate poverty and improve social sector indicators rather than being viewed as an objective in itself. The ‘strategic initiatives for inclusive development’ in the spheres of education, health and rural infrastructure contained in the Approach Paper are in the right direction. The thrust on improving the quality of public services, increasing the number of teachers and doctors and making them more accountable through the supervision of Panchayati Raj Institutions are indeed laudable.
Social inclusion is a necessary but not sufficient condition to ensure full participation in the modern economy. Having access to credit, insurance facilities, banking facilities, is a pre-condition for a citizen to be able to take advantage of the economic growth. Financial inclusion is another thrust area of the government.
Financial inclusion Though the banking industry has shown tremendous growth in volume and complexity during the last few decades there are concerns that banks have not been able to reach out to vast segments to the population, especially the underprivileged sections of society and bring them into the fold of basic banking services. The Annual Policy of the Reserve Bank of India for 2004-05 states: “There has been expansion, greater competition and diversification of ownership of banks leading to both enhanced efficiency and systemic resilience in the banking sector. However, there are legitimate concerns in regard to the banking practices that tend to exclude rather than attract vast sections of population, in particular pensioners, self-employed and those employed in unorganised sectors. While commercial considerations are no doubt important, the banks have been bestowed with several privileges, especially of seeking public deposits on a highly leveraged basis, and consequently they should be obliged to provide banking services to all segments of the population, on equitable basis.” Access to affordable financial
As outlined by Shri V Leeladhar, Deputy Governor, RBI, “Financial inclusion is delivery of banking services at an affordable cost to the vast sections of disadvantaged and low-income groups. Unrestrained access to public goods and services is the sine qua non of an open and efficient society. As banking services are in the nature of public good, it is essential that availability of banking and payment services to the entire population without discrimination is the prime objective of the public policy.” There are two sides to financial exclusion. One is exclusion from the payments system i.e. not having access to a bank account. The second type of exclusion is from formal credit markets, requiring the excluded to approach informal and exploitative markets. One of the benchmarks to assess the degree of reach of financial services is the quantum of deposit accounts (current and savings) held as a ratio to the adult population. In the Indian context, taking into account the Census of 2001, the ratio of deposit accounts to the total adult population was only 59 per cent. Within the country, there is a wide variation across states. For instance, the ratio for the state of Kerala is as high as 89 per cent while Bihar is marked by a low coverage of 33 per cent. In the North-eastern states like Nagaland and Manipur, the
coverage was a meager 21 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively. The northern region, comprising the states of Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, has a high coverage ratio of 84 per cent. Compared to the developed world, the coverage of our financial services is quite low. For instance, as per a recent survey commissioned by British Bankers’ Association, around 94 per cent of the population of UK has either a current or a savings bank account. The extent of exclusion from credit markets is much more, as the number of loan accounts constituted only 14 per cent of adult population. In rural areas, the coverage is 9.5 per cent against 14 per cent in urban areas. Regional differences are significant with the credit coverage at 25 percent for the Southern Region and as low as 7, 8 and 9 per cent respectively in North Eastern, Eastern and Central Regions. As is clear from the foregoing discussion a large chunk of our population is outside the fold of mainstream banking, credit and financial institutions. This mandates that banking and financial institutions make all-out efforts to eradicate financial exclusion using a mix of pragmatic policy measures, innovative strategies and with some help from modern Information and Communications Technology.
Digital inclusion The term digital divide simply means imbalance that exists between people who have access to modern ICT tools and others who do not. There are chasms between countries of the world and also within countries between different regions (rural/urban) or between different sections of society (ethnic minorities/ethnic majority groups). For example, country of residence, ethnicity, gender, age, educational attainment, and income levels are all factors of the global aspects of digital divide. In addition, a survey shows that in 15 Western European countries females, manual workers, elderly, and the less educated have less Internet access than males, professional, the young, and the well educated. The digital divide can also refer to the skills people have – the divide between peoples who are at ease using technology to access and analyse information and those who are not. It includes differences in access to technology and hardware and also imbalance in resources and skills needed to effectively participate in the digital world. Digital divide includes access to not only computers but also to
35
Make ICTs Work for People
services - especially credit and insurance - enlarges livelihood opportunities and empowers the poor to take charge of their lives. Such empowerment aids social and political stability.
Make ICTs Work for People
telephones, mobile phones and other digital and information technology. Digital divide can have three dimensions: lack of access to a computer, lack of access to Internet; lack of broadband connectivity. In the Indian context the first dimension is important and applicable in most cases. Once access to a computer is ensured the second step, access to Internet, follows almost automatically, thanks to the telecom boom.
Convergence of social, financial and digital inclusion In order to enable citizens to fully participate in the modern economy and take advantage of the opportunities offered, the interrelated issues of social, financial and digital inclusion have to be addressed in a holistic manner. Technology is at the centre of this convergence. Modern ICT tools enable us to tackle the three dimensions of inclusion in a manner such that fulfilling one enables fulfilling the other two also to a certain extent. One prime example is the national e - g o ve r n a n c e v i s i o n o f t h e government of India. T h e N a t i o n a l e - G o ve r n a n c e Plan (NeGP) aims at improving delivery of Government services to citizens and businesses with the following vision: ‘Make all Government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realise the basic needs of the common man.’
36
This would be enabled by combining a communications backbone with a service delivery point within easy access of every citizen, i.e Common Service Centres (CSCs). It is envisaged to have 100,000 CSCs covering India’s approximately 600,000 villages i.e. one centre for a group of six villages. These CSCs would deliver all government services to citizens. The NeGP lays the foundation for social and digital inclusion at one stroke and ICT implementation strategies for financial inclusion can ride on this platform which is reaching every corner of the country. Alternatively there are other strategies for financial inclusion one of which is outlined below. A pilot scheme for using smart cards for disbursement of social security pensions and NREGS wages is being piloted in Warangal and Karimnagar districts of Andhra Pradesh. The smart card – an encrypted Java smartcard with 32 Kb memory – has a biometric proof (fingerprint) and photograph along with other details about the beneficiary stored on the chip. All beneficiaries have been enrolled, their data captured and a card issued to them. A bank account is also opened for the beneficiary. When the funds have to be released to the beneficiaries, the government issues instructions to the banks authorising payment and the bank in turn credits the individual account of the beneficiary.
Conclusion Inclusive eGovernment is the use of ICT to provide public services that enrich citizen’s lives, stimulate public participation
in the community, strengthen democracy and reach out to people at risk of social, economic or digital exclusion. There are two dimensions to achieving more inclusion through ’eGovernment for All’: •
Ensuring that public services are accessible and usable by everyone. This can be achieved through designing services better (by using eAccessibility standards and using multilingual services), using many different ways to connect with citizens (Internet, mobile phones, kiosks, etc.), enabling citizen’s digital literacy (through formal and informal trainings) and effectively promoting ICT services to increase uptake.
•
Tr a n s f o r m i n g t h e w a y administrations go about creating and implementing policies and services that deliver measurable benefits to all citizens. This approach uses ICT to pro-actively improve inclusion.
ICTs have a vital role to play in realising the grand vision of inclusion for all sections and groups of society. The tool is in our hands, but the question is do we have the vision and foresight to make this happen?
NISG and i4d jointly hold the copyright to the articles printed in the ICTD section of the i4d magazine and website. For permission to reprint the articles please write to the Editor, i4d.
SARAI, CSDS, NEW DELHI
A programme for developing societies Sarai is a programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, (CSDS), one of India’s leading research institute, that encompasses an inter-disciplinary research programme, a platform for critical reflection, a screening space, a convivial context for online and offline conversations, and a media lab. Over the last five years, Sarai has emerged as one of the most prominent and productive platforms for research and reflection on the transformation of urban spaces and contemporary realities, especially with regard to the interface between cities, information, society, technology and culture. Located at Delhi, Sarai sustains a media lab which produces wide range of media, including print, video and web. Sarai mainly researches the urban experience, the city, the publics and practice of old and new media, information society, free and open source software language, digital cultures, the interface between urban transformation, contemporary culture, and development. Sarai is creating a network of independent researchers, practitioners and students all over India through fellowships and stipends. Over the last five years, Sarai has supported more than 400 independent researchers from all over the country. Many of these researchers are from small towns of conflict ridden area like Jammu & Kashmir and the North East. In promoting the FLOSS programme in India, Sarai has announced fellowships for projects related to FLOSS activities. This year, Sarai has partnered with the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) who are providing support for work in the specific area of computing, and localisation in five Indian languages, namely, Assamese, Hindi, Kashmiri, Oriya, and Urdu. Some of the free and open source software developed by Sarai are following: NewsRack: NewsRack (http://newsrack.in/) is a highly customisable tool for tracking December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
news on specific topics and archiving them for long-term use. With the tool, users can specify what news sources, kind of news items to look out for and how the tracked news to be archived. ApnaOpus: ApnaOpus (http://apnaopus. var.cc/) also abbreviated as APNA OPUS (‘Our Own’ OPUS) is a tool specifically designed to facilitate collaborative creation and peer to peer sharing of media data for communities gathered together on a local or enclosed network. APNA OPUS works for any context where people want to collaborate on creative media projects either in one class room or media lab, in a cluster of classrooms or media labs. OPUS: OPUS (www.opuscommons.net) is a tool, which allows users to view, create and exhibit media objects (video, audio, still images, HTML and text) and make modifications on work done by others. With the use of this tool, each media object can be archived, exhibited and it can be made available for transformation within Opus carriers. Sarai boasts of a track record of more than two decades of work in the field of critical pedagogy and community mobilisation in poor neighbourhoods of the city in collaboration with Delhi based non-profit organisation, called ‘Ankur’ Society for Alternatives in Education. Under the project, Cybermohalla (Cyber
Sarai is one of the most prominent and productive online interactive platform for research and reflection
- Neighbourhood) researchers can create digital works, animations and installation, write texts, publish wall magazines and broadsheets, and edit books and maintain discussion lists and blogs in partnership with practitioners and interlocutors in Sarai. In one of its major project, e-Culture, Sarai is integrating Information and Communition Technologies into the primary process of production, presentation, preservation, and re-utilisation of cultural expression. Under this project, Sarai is deeply investing in Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) initiatives. Sarai has an active and ongoing FLOSS research programme that is interested above all in localisation, pedagogy and critical social usage of FLOSS products and processes. e-Culture has taken the shape of an intensive project called ‘Publics and Practices in the History of the Present’ (PPHP), which shows how different media spaces, networks and markets (cinema, cable, telephony, telegraphy and assembled computers) make the urban fabric. In another initiative, Sarai regularly holds screening and discussion of curated programmes of fiction, documentary and experimental films and videos. Sarai creates its own convivial context for online and offline conversations through mailing lists and blogs in English and Hindi. Sarai is also engaged with the Hindi/Hindustani public domain through publications, translation, lists, web content, software localisation, events and workshops. The organisation is also producing media (video, audio, print and web) and contemporary art works, CDs, radios and software, at the Sarai Media Lab. Collated by: Ritu Srivastava, ritu@csdms.in
Reference • •
http://www.sarai.net/about-us/introducingsarai/overview http://www.sarai.net/practices/software
37
es es es es es
for for for for for
All... All... All... All... All...
Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... By
Bytes for All... Bytes for All Discussion Summary for November 2007 Author in town Stephen Joyce who is author of the bestseller : ‘Teaching an Anthill to Fetch: Developing Collaborative Intelligence @ Work’ is to visit India shortly and plans to utilise part of his personal trip for some work. Please see: http://www.AntHillSite com or http://www.StephenJamesJoyce.com)
Webcast on Mobile Government: The New Frontier in Transforming Public Services Global Dialogue on Mobile Government:The New Frontier in Transforming Public Services. The event will take place at 08.30 - 11:00 am ET (13.30 - 16:00 GMT) on November 29, 2007 in Washington D. C. and in New Delhi. As an alternative you can join us via live webcast and online discussion or in one of other participating cities (via videoconference) . The event is co-sponsored by eGovWorld 2007, Mobile Government Consortium International, Development Gateway, e-Gov Monitor, Institute for Information Society - Russia, Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, and many other partners. Mobile services are quickly emerging as the new frontier in transforming government and making it even more accessible and citizen-centric by extending the benefits of remote delivery of government services and information to those who are unable or unwilling to access public services through the Internet or who simply prefer to use mobile devices. In theory, many government services can be now made available on a 24x7x365 basis at any place in the world covered by mobile networks, which today means almost everywhere. A note from Nicholas Negroponte... From now through November 26, the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) non-profit association is offering a unique opportunity to help provide connected laptops to the poorest and most remote children of the world, while receiving an XO laptop for your own child. Please look at www.laptopgiving. org . You have the opportunity to Give One Get One for $399, or give many, if you wish. By popular demand, there are ways to direct 60 or more to your favorite school, as well. OLPC is an education project, not a laptop project. Children are a mission, not a market. After 30+ years of research at the MIT Media Lab, based on Seymour Papert’s theories of constructionism, we have had three years to pilot in primary schools around the world, in Cambodia, India, Nigeria, Brazil, Peru and other places. The XO laptop is now in mass production. It was reviewed recently by the NY Times . If you have a chance, I urge you glance at David Pogue’s video (http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=PM33EEAszHA) as well. Our goal is to reach the poorest and most remote children, in countries where as many as 50% do not even go to school. The long term purpose is to eliminate poverty.
38
Microsoft facilitating hardware to software-based approach The next generation communication tools will be dominated by software driven technology. Moving hardware to software approach will reduce the modern telecommunication costs noticeably. Michel Gambier, General Manager, Information Worker product Group, Microsoft Asia Pacific observed this while he was delivering a key note presentation recently. “Cost is an important issue for adopting better info-tech communication systems. Microsoft’s unified communications solutions are designed for reducing the cost of the VoIP system. With a partnership Microsoft is making rapid advances to enable fundamentally new and improved ways for the efficient businesses communication and collaboration.” The Independent, 16 November
Invitation to participate in Renewable Energy Development Programme Infrastructure Development Company Limited(IDCOL) is a public-private sector institution promoting sustainable economic development in Bangladesh by encouraging private sector investment in infrastructure, renewable energy and other sectors. IDCOL seeks applications from non-government organizations (“NGOs”), micro-finance institutions (“MFIs”), private entities for selection as Participating Organizations (“POs”) under its Renewable Energy Development Programme for installation of Solar Home Systems (SHS) in areas where grid electricity is unlikely to reach in near future. Interested organizations are requested to download complete application packages from IDCOL website www.idcol.org. Application packages may also be collected from IDCOL office at a cost of Taka 500/- (non-refundable) . Completed applications must be submitted to the address mentioned below within three weeks of publication of this advertisement. Infrastructure Development Company Limited, UTC Building (16th Floor), 8 Panthapath, Kawranbazar, Dhaka-1207. Phones: 9114385, 8111235, 8117526, 9143157, Fax: 8116663 Workshop on “Rural Connectivity Bangladesh Perspective” on November 17,2007 at Spectra Convention Center The workshop brought the relevant stakeholders and come up with a set of recommendations to bridge the connectivity gap between rural and urban areas. BTN (Bangladesh Telecenter Network) will forward the recommendations to relevant authorities including BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulator y Commission). Mr. S M Wahid-uz-Zaman, Secretary, MoSICT (The Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology) attended the program as Chief Guest. Organizations involved in connectivity, and other related stakeholders discussed the present scenario and shared their experiences. i4d | December 2007
Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes ytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for
for All... Bytes for All... Bytes for All... Bytes for All... Bytes All... Bytes for
for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All... Bytes for All...Bytes for All...
All... Bytes for A All... Bytes for A All... Bytes for A All... Bytes for A Bytes for All...B
Bytes for All... Internet Governance Forum held in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil The inaugural ceremony of United Nations second Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was held on Monday, November 12, 2007, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Governments, business entities, and civil society members from around the world were present in the inaugural meeting of the Forum. The forum continued until the 15th of November 2007 following a number of sessions and workshops on the issues around the internet. Mr. Sha Zukang, Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, read out the message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, terming the IGF as a landmark event that deals with the issue of internet governance. He emphasised that the internet has become a fact, a tool in our globalised world which serves to promote peace, security and human rights. The Association for Progressive Communication (APC), recognised as an important stakeholder in the arena, considers the IGF as one of most significant and innovative public spaces. APC sees as the most important challenge and prime topic at the second Internet Governance Forum (IGF): internet for development. This development can be addressed by looking into a set of themes that are all related to digital inclusion: Access; Internet governance; Financing; Human rights; participation in public policy processes; Gender equality; ICTs & sustainable development.
Award for young women journalists for the year 2008. The Award had been set up in the memory of Anupama Jayaraman, a young and promising Bangalore-based journalist who passed away in January 2006. Anupama was not only multi-talented and energetic, but she also demonstrated a keen interest in issues of human rights and social justice. This year the Award has been extended from only English to include two other Indian languages: Kannada (since Anupama was based in Karnataka) and Marathi (since the Award will be presented at an event in Pune). Efforts will be made to add more languages in the coming years. For more information: http://voiceofsouth.org/
Canadian invents computer to ‘last a lifetime KUALA LUMPUR: How much would you pay for a laptop computer which is claimed can last a lifetime, needs no maintenance and doesn’t need to be upgraded? Gerry Morgan, a 54-year-old former teacher from Canada, claims he has invented such a computer, which he is marketing through his company,
Also view the links : www.voicebd.org, http://blog.apc.org
USF - Broadband Inititative for Pakistan In order to spread the benefits of the telecommunications revolution to all corners of Pakistan, a Universal Service Fund has been established. USF aims to promote development of telecommunication services in un-served and under-served areas throughout the length and breadth of the country, in order to make available, affordable voice telephony and basic data services, to progressively greater proportions of the country’s population at their home locations. On the part of execution, a separate company by the name Universal Service Fund has been established, by the Government of Pakistan, under section 42 of the companies ordinance 1984 with the following Goals: USF Co. is to bring the focus of telecommunications operators towards rural population. Through effective and fair utilization of USF, the level of telecommunication penetration will increase significantly in the rural areas. To aim to improve the Broadband penetration in the country. In case, of Broadband the target areas will be the whole of Pakistan, and not just rural areas. To bring significant advances towards enhancement of e-services, both in rural as well as urban areas of the country. www.usf.org. pk
Award for young women journalists The Jayaraman family and the Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) jointly announce the Anupama Jayaraman Memorial December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
Hassle free alterntive: Morgan showing the prototype of his InkMedia laptop.
InkMedia Inc. The laptop, named the InkMedia, uses a Freescale processor with 512 megabytes of RAM (Random Access Memory) and the Linux operating system. It has an 8.6in SVGA screen that is capable of displaying 800X600pixel True Colour graphics and comes with four USB ports. It also has a WiFi port for wireless Internet access. For more information on the laptop, go to www.ink-media. com
Bytes for All: www.bytesforall.org or www.bytesforall.net Bytes for All Readers Discussion: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ bytesforall_readers To subscribe: bytesforall_readers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Bytes for All Discussion summary compiled by: Farah Mahmood, farah.mahmood@gmail.com, Pakistan
39
GLOBAL ACADEMIC CONSCIOUSNESS
The lost sheep of ICT4D research Introduction There are several epistemological shortcomings within Information Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) literature. The literature is overly optimistic, highly western, multidisciplinary, and atheoretical. It fails to draw extensively on a breadth of research in other fields such as media and communications studies. Why something is being researched is as important as what one is researching. Imagine if researchers applied theories from other fields of study to research on African telecentres and mobile telephony. New perspectives surely would emerge. New models should exist beyond qualitative and quantitative analysis in order to understand the impact, benefits, limitations, risks, and goals of implementing ICTs in developing nations. Current ICT4D research investigates areas including telecentres, technological infrastructure, telephone incumbents, VoIP, mobile telephony, digital education, and the digital divide. Social science research methods often involve questionnaires, ethnography, face-to-face interviews, focus groups, or administrative research (Bauer and Gaskell 2000). These tools are proven to be successful, but are they the best methods for research on developing nations? What are the goals of ICT4D research? Does it try to lead toward policy change? Does it seek to inform other academics? Will it affect work by NGOs, the UNDP, or the World Bank? In short, a section of Handel’s Messiah comes to mind: ‘All we like sheep have gone astray!’ ICT4D literature feels like a flock of lost sheep. A multidisciplinary field should have multidiscipline authors. ICT4D represents a multidisciplinary field of study (Warschauer 2003) whose authorship
40
comes from across the social sciences. One problem is that many authors have more knowledge of development literature than of ICT literature. Fundamental questions abound over the consequences and hindrances of deploying ICTs, which is in stark contrast to studying why people use new media (Haddon 2004). After surveying much literature on mobile telephony in sub-Saharan Africa, it is safe to say that much research has little influence from media studies. This should not be the case. There is a wealth of literature on ICTs in everyday life that is often absent in most ICT4D literature. Combining the literature of everyday life is an example of how ICT4D literature could share ideas with its multidisciplinary partners. If changes are to be made, perhaps an approach like that of Peter Golding and Graham Murdock (1978) could work. Their seminal essay trumpeted a change within communication research. They decreed that new research models be employed, that there was an overemphasis on quantitative effects driven research, and that they were tired of reading the same research article using the same research methods yielding the same results. Their Political Economy of Communication and Culture (PECC) led to more active audience studies and ethnographic research. Annabelle Sreberny (2005) and Colin Sparks (2005) have posed a similar call to arms for global media research asking for authors to increase self-reflexivity in their writings. If one reads a dozen articles, on a cursory level it is the same as reading fifty or a hundred. The structure of hypotheses, data, and conclusions creates redundancies. The research indicates some consistent commonalities. People in developing nations who are given access to technologies in developing
nations use them (Hudson 1984; Butcher 1998; Warschauer 2003; Castells et al. 2004; Wilson 2004). The proliferation of mobile telephony exemplifies this (Kibati and Krairit 1999; Mbarika 2002; Hamilton 2003; Donner 2005a, 2005b; Goodman 2005). Over the past decade, the increases in both mobile telephone density and penetration are astounding. This phenomenon is not exclusive to developing countries but is also a global one (Katz 2003; Ling 2004). The mobile phone in sub-Saharan Africa has succeeded where traditional PSTN landline phones failed (Banerjee and Ros 2004; Rouvinen 2004; Panos Institute 2004). Above all though, there is a consumer desire for instant communication (Dholakia and Kshetri 2001; Gamos 2003; King 2004; Donner 2005c). I advocate that a biannual global summit on ICT4D be established in a developing nation to debate the purpose of the literature. The field should be divided into sub sections in the way that media studies has subsets that include media effects research, audience studies, everyday life studies, media power, media democracy, symbolic power, policy, and public opinion. Subdividing ICT4D authorship coupled with substantial multidisciplinary background research and theories would help solidify the purpose in writing academic ICT4D literature.
ICT4D is part of larger puzzle of development ICT4D faces a sizeable limitation in that it acknowledges that it is a piece of a larger puzzle regarding development. Research has discussed how ICT4D can increase education, which is a main goal for development. Hawkins (2002) writes of this for the World Bank in terms of ‘Ten Lessons for ICT and Education i4d | December 2007
in the Developing World.’ The problem with his article is that his recommendations are easier said than done. However, policy changes are necessary to fuse public and private sectors together for ICT4D deployment (Wallsten 2001). The literature typically acknowledges that it is difficult to measure and quantify the influences of ICT4D because few data existed before the conducted research (Hudson 2001). The points of comparison are therefore small. Moreover, there is no ‘magic bullet’ or ‘hypodermic needle’ of ICT4D impact. ICT4D will not provide food, clean water, affordable health care, civil rights, or peace. This is in no way to downplay what I believe to be the significance of media power. Nevertheless, technologies that facilitate communications increase people’s ability to learn and interact. Communication allows information to spread across time and space at faster and faster rates. Marshall McLuhan’s (1994 [1964]) interest in the potential for electronics to lead toward a ‘global village.’ Although ICT4D may not be a cure-all for the needs of developing countries, the literature has well documented its many successes from aiding rural farmers to increasing literacy and facilitating communal communication. But do we want people in developing nations to be connected to this digital grid because it is in their interests to facilitate social uplift, or is the reason so that a global information network can truly be global? In other words, is the ICT4D literature itself benefiting Western scholars?
Who is to blame? The blame does not rest entirely on ICT4D scholarship. Media studies authors are also to blame. Amid recent arguments to ‘deWesternise’ media studies (Curran and Park 2000), the primarily Anglo-American cavalcade of media authors have delved into research on Asia (Lull 1991; Moran and Keane 2004) as well as continuing the tradition of research in South America. Africa, the second-largest continent, is relatively absent from de-Westernising literature. This may be why ICT4D literature draws more upon development studies than upon media studies (Lardner 1993; Wiseman 1995, 1996; Dibie and Agiri 2001; Harrison 2002; Neto, Niang and Ampah 2005; Ukaga 2005). Tertiary education comes from a Western tradition. The social sciences are relatively new compared to other academic areas. Canons of literature arise. Lydia Goehr (1992) put forth these now seminal notions in relation to musicology, but the implications for academic canon formation cut across disciplines. In short, Goehr argues aesthetic judgements based primarily on nineteenth-century rationales define academic canons. ICT4D is in the process of establishing a canon, but the influences of Western research in many ways colonises African studies by imposing Western academic aesthetics on African research. It is for similar reasons that Raul Roman (2004) has questioned the atheoretical nature of ICT4D literature while considering the tradition of grand theories (Peet and Hartwick 1999). The lack of theory in the literature bodes a question: what is the point of the literature? If it is to present scientific inquiry into phenomena in order to build upon a body of literature,then surely the citation and implementation of theories would abound in the literature. If the goal, instead, is to demonstrate how technologies could ‘leapfrog’ past societal limitations (Davidson et al.2000; Steinmueller 2001), theories are not necessarily required. Both political and infrastructural December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
limitations hinder sub-Saharan Africa from being part of the media studies canon of democratisation. As Harrison (2002, 84–86) explains, the lack of privatisation and liberalisation of media and telecommunications has hindered countries from development. In countries such as Togo and Mozambique, the privatisation of media in postcolonial nations is not leading toward democracy. Mass media alone cannot democratise a people if the threats of countering the status quo are so viable that fear controls the populace.
The public sphere and democratisation through ICT4D Habermas’s public sphere (1989 [1962], 1992) seldom appears in the ICT4D literature, although the notion of democratisation in Africa is nearly ubiquitous. It is surprising because technology has been considered a gateway toward a ‘global public sphere.’ Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt (1994) have discussed this in terms of talk shows, and Colin Sparks (1998) has theorised on this in regard to new ICTs. Although both Nancy Fraser (1992) and Craig Calhoun (1992) have gained notoriety for their respective critiques of Habermas, the public sphere reappears in academic rhetoric because it offers a means for citizens to contribute to their governments. Whereas Habermas’s original model of the rational public sphere fetishised the French salons of the early nineteenth century, one can draw similar conclusions about the efficacy of mobile telephony in sub-Saharan Africa. The end goal is that rational debate will lead to political deliberation (Calhoun 1992). To make critical debate rational, Habermas presupposes both education and literacy (Fraser 1992). ICTs in developing nations are positioned as communications tools or education ones. The literature often overlooks why literacy and education are vital. The more educated one is, the better one’s decision-making skills should be. Education has been a hallmark of social uplift in modernity. ICT4D could allow a freer flow of information that could lead to better education. The possibility exists for African telecentres to become sub-Saharan versions of the French salons about which Habermas was nostalgic. Literacy and education become the nexus to social uplift. Amid the hullabaloo over democratisation in sub-Saharan Africa possibly through ICT4D, one must question whether this attempt is not merely an extension of academic and political imperialism. Is democracy an end goal? The majority of the scholarship on democratisation, including the locally produced research like Berger (2002) is rooted in Western academia. ‘To develop’ seems congruent with fostering capitalism and democracy (Wilson 2004). As altruistic as the benefits are for mobile telephony, the ancillary benefits for corporations and stakeholders to developing rural regions of sub-Saharan Africa are to place conduit devices in the hands of as many potential consumers as possible. Does this seem ethical? A shortcoming to both leapfrogging technology and democratising developing nations through new ICTs is that development strides are large and exclude the small steps necessary for adoption (Steinmueller 2001). In the case of diffusion theory (Roman 2003), although it can be difficult enough to garner early adopters to new technologies or products, in the case of ICT4D, skipping over many taken-for-granted aspects of Western
41
industrialisation from the West do not apply in developing nations. The majority of personal mass media people in subSaharan Africa own are radios and televisions. The lack of both landline telephone and Internet density has been documented. Adding new ICTs such as mobile phones potentially creates capitalistic tendencies. ‘Critical junctures’ along the way involving literacy and growing education are skipped. The ICT in everyday life literature has documented some difficulties in solidifying the elderly to adopt mobile phones. If adoption of new ICTs is not uniform even in the West, are such lofty goals for developing nations a bit overzealous?
ICT4D summit needs to be created to solidify the direction of ICT4D research. Someone needs to step to the forefront of the field. Someone needs to be bold and create some grand theories of ICT4D. I envision something like Anthony Giddens’s The Consequences of Modernity (1990). There must be a personal motivation behind the research. The field needs a Beethoven, a Michael Jordan, or a Leonardo Da Vinci. Someone needs to become the shepherd for the lost sheep of ICT4D literature. Such a landmark work would give direction to the field. Coupled with an academic global consciousness that change is necessary and a truer multidisciplinary approach, steps may then move forward to improving ICT4D literature. Gerard C. Raiti The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California Los Angeles, California, GRaiti@alumn.usc.edu
Conclusion What should be done? First off, the aforementioned global
The article is reproduced from ‘Information Technologies and International Development’, Vol. 3, No. 4, Summer 2006 (pg.1-7), The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007
References •
• •
•
•
•
• •
• • •
•
42
Banerjee, A., & Ros, A. J. (2004). Patterns in global fixed and mobile telecommunications development: A cluster analysis. Telecommunications Policy, 28(2), 107–132. Bauer, M. W., & Gaskell, G. (Eds.). (2000). Qualitative Researching with Text, Image, and Sound. London: Sage. Berger, Guy. (2002). Theorizing the media-democracy relationship in southern Africa. Gazette: The International Journal for Communication Studies 64(1), 21–45. Best, Michael. (2003). The Wireless Revolution and Universal Access. In ITU (Ed.), Trends in Telecommunications Reform (pp. 1–24). Geneva: InternationalTelecommunication Union. Butcher, N. (1998). The possibilities and pitfalls of harnessing ICTs to accelerate social development: A South African perspective. Johannesburg:South African Institute for Distance Education,June 1998. Retrieved April 24, 2006 fromwww.saide.org.za/conference/ unrisd.htm Calhoun, Craig. (1992). Introduction: Habermas and the public sphere. In Craig Calhoun (Ed.), Habermas and the public sphere (pp. 1–50).Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Castells, Manuel. (1999) The rise of the network society. Oxford: Blackwell. Castells, M., Fernandez-Ardevol, M., Qiu, J. L., & Sey, A. (2004). The mobile communication society:A cross-cultural analysis of available evidence on the social uses of wireless communication technology. Paper presented at the Wireless Communication Policies and Prospects: A Global Perspective, Los Angeles, University of Southern California, October 7–8. Crossley, Nick, & Roberts, John Michael. (Eds.). (2004). After Habermas: New perspectives on the public sphere. Oxford: Blackwell. Curran, J., & Park, M.-L. (2000). De-Westernizing media studies. London: Routledge. Davidson, R., et al. (2000). Technology leapfrogging in developing countries: An inevitable luxury? EJISDC, 1, Jan. 2000. Retrieved April 24, 2006 from www.unimas.my/ªt/roger/EJISDC/EJISDC.htm Dholakia, N., & Kshetri, N. (2001). Will m-commerce bridge the global digital divide? Retrieved May 15, 2005, from http:// ritim.cba.uri.edu/working%20papers/GlobalDigital-Divide-MCommerce-draft-9%5B1%5D.pdf
•
•
•
•
•
•
• • • •
•
•
•
Dibie, Robert, & Agiri, Babatunde. (2001). Pan Africanism and colonial legacy. In Robert Dibie (Ed.). The politics and policies of SubSaharan Africa. New York: University Press of America. Donner, J. (2005a). The mobile behaviors of Kigali’s microentrepreneurs: Whom they call . . . And why. In K. Nyiri (Ed.). A sense of place: The global and the local in mobile communication (pp. 293–301). Vienna: Passagen Verlag. Donner, J. (2005b). Microentrepreneurs and mobiles: An exploration of the uses of mobile phones by small business owners in Rwanda. Information Technologies and International Development, 2(1), 1–21. Donner, J. (2005c). The social and economic implications of mobile telephony in Rwanda: An ownership/access typology. In P. Glotz, S. Bertschi, and C. Locke (Eds.), Thumb culture. The meaning of mobile phones in society. Transcript, Bielefeld, Germany, pp.89–100. Fraser, Nancy. (1992). Rethinking the public sphere: A contribution to the critique of actually existing democracy. In Craig Calhoun (Ed.). Habermas and the Public Sphere (pp. 109–142). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Galperin, H. (2005). Wireless networks and rural development: Opportunities for Latin America. InformationTechnologies and International Development 2(3), 47–56. Gamos. (2003). Innovative demand models for telecommunications services. Retrieved December 23, 2004, from www.telafrica.org Giddens, Anthony. (1990). The consequences of modernity. London: Polity. Goehr, Lydia. (1992). The imaginary museum of musical works: An essay in the philosophy of music.Oxford: Clarendon Press. Golding, Peter, & Murdock, Graham. (1978). Theories of communication and theories of society. Communication Research 5(3), 339–356. Goodman, J. (2005). Linking mobile phone ownership and use to social capital in rural South Africa and Tanzania. Retrieved March 9, 2005, from www.vodafone.com/assets/ªles/en/AIMP_09032005.pdf Habermas, Jürgen. (1989 [1962]). The structural transformation of the public sphere. Cambridge: Polity. - (1992). “Further Reflections on the Public Sphere.” In Craig Calhoun (Ed.), Habermas and the public sphere (pp. 421–461). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Haddon, Leslie. (2004). Information and communication technologies i4d | December 2007
•
•
•
•
•
•
• •
• • • • •
•
• •
in everyday life. Oxford: Berg. Hamelink, C. J. (1999). ICTs and social development: The global policy context. Discussion Paper No.116, UNRISD, October 1999. Retrieved April 24, 2006 from www.unrisd.org/engindex/publ/list/dp/ dp116/toc.htm Hamilton, Jacqueline. (2003). Are main lines and mobile phones substitutes or complements? Evidence from Africa. Telecommunications Policy 27:109–133. Harrison, Graham. (2002). Issues in the contemporary politics of sub-Saharan Africa: The dynamics of struggle and resistance. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Hawkins, R. J. (2002). Ten lessons for ICT and education in the developing world. In CID (Center for International Development). The Global Information Technology Report 2001–2002: Readiness for the networked world (chap. 4). Oxford:Oxford University Press. Retrieved April 24, 2006 from www.cid.harvard.edu/cr/ gitrr_030202.html Heeks, R. (1999). Information and communication technologies, poverty and development. Development Informatics Working Paper Series, Paper No. 5, June 1999, IDPM, Manchester. Retrieved April 24, 2006 from www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/publications/wp/di/ di_wp05.htm Hudson, H. E. (1984). When telephones reach the village: The role of telecommunications in rural development. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex. - (1997). Global connections: International telecommunications infrastructure and policy. New York: Van Norstrand Reinhold. Retrieved April 24, 2006 from www.addall.com/Browse/ Detail/0471287946.html - (2001). The potential of ICTs for development: Opportunities and obstacles. Telecommunications Management and Policy Program, University of San Francisco. Retrieved. April 24, 2006 from www. usfca.edu/fac-staff/hudson/Katz, J. E. (Ed.). (2003). Machines that become us: The social context of personal communication technology. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers. Kibati, M., & Krairit, D. (1999). The wireless local loop in developing regions. Communications of the ACM, 42(6), 60–66. King, B. M. (2004). Text messaging empowers Kenyan farmers. Retrieved December 2, 2004 from www.interaction.org/ict/success_ text_Kenya.html Lardner, Tunji. (1993). Democratization and forces in the African media. Journal of International Affairs 47(1), 89–93. Ling, R. (2004). The mobile connection: The cell phone’s impact on society. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann. Livingstone, Sonia, & Lunt, Peter. (1994). Talk on television: Audience participation and public debate. London: Routledge. Lull, James. (1991). China turned on: Television, reform, and resistance. London: Routledge. Lush, D., & Rushwaya, H. (Eds.). (2000). Into or out of the digital divide?: Perspectives on ICTs and development in southern Africa. Panos Southern Africa. Retrieved April 24, 2006 from www.panos.org. zm/Into%20the%20Void.htm Mann, Catherine. (2004). Information technologies and international development: Conceptual clarity in the search for commonality and diversity. Information Technologies and International Development 1(2), 67–79. Mansell, Robin. (2002). From digital divides to digital entitlements in knowledge societies. Current Sociology 50(3), 407–426. Mbarika, V. W. (2002). Re-thinking information and communications
December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
• •
•
• • •
• • •
•
•
•
• • • •
•
• • •
•
technology policy focus on Internet versus teledensity diffusion for Africa’s least developed countries. Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries, 9(1), 1–13. McLuhan, Marshall. (1994 [1964]). Understanding media: The extensions of man. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Moran, Albert, & Keane, Michael (Eds.). (2004). Televisionacross Asia: Television industries, programme formats and globalization. London:Routledge. Neto, Isabel, Niang, Cecile, & Ampah, Mavis. (2005). Fostering procompetitive regional connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Washington, D.C.: Global ICT Group, World Bank. Panos Institute. (2004). Completing the revolution: The challenge of rural telephony in Africa No. 48, 2. London: Panos Institute. Peet, Richard, & Hartwick, Elaine. (1999). Theories of development. New York: Guilford Press. Pigato, M. A. (2001). Information and communication technology, poverty, and development in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Africa Region Working Paper Series No. 20, August 2001. Washington, D.C.: World Bank. Retrieved April 20, 2006 from www. worldbank.org/afr/wps/wp20.h Rist, Gilbert. (1997). The history of development: From Western origins to global faith. Patrick Camiller (trans.). New York: Zed Books. Roman, R. (2003). Diffusion of innovations as a theoretical framework for telecenters. Information. Technologies and International Development, 1(2), 55–68. Roman, R. (2004). The place of theory in development communication: Retrospect and prospects. Communication Yearbook 29, 311–331. Rouvinen, P. (2004). Diffusion of digital mobile telephony: Are developing countries different? Helsinki: World Institute for Development Economics Research. Sparks, Colin. (1998). Is there a global public sphere? In D. Thussu (Ed.), Electronic empires: Global media and local resistance. (pp. 108–124). London: Arnold. Sparks, Colin. (2005). The problem of globalization. Global Media and Communication 1(1), 20–23. Sreberny, Annabelle. (2005). Contradictions of the globalizing movement. Global Media and Communication 1(1), 11–15. Steinmueller, E. (2001). ICTs and the possibilities for leapfrogging by developing countries. International Labor Review 140(2), 193–210. Ukaga, Okechukwu. (2005). General introduction: Sustainable development in Africa: A multifaceted challenge. In Okechukwu Ukaga and Osita G. Afoaku (Eds.). Sustainable development in Africa: A multifaceted challenge. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press. Wallsten, S. J. (2001). Competition, privatization and regulation in telecommunications markets in developing countries: An econometric analysis of reforms in Africa and Latin America. Journal of Industrial Economics, 49(1), 1–19. Warschauer, Mark. (2003). Technology and social inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Wilson, Ernest J. (2004). The information revolution and developing countries. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Wiseman, John A. (1995). Introduction: The movement towards democracy: Global, continental, and state perspectives. In John A. Wiseman (Ed.), Democracy and political change in sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 1–10). New York: Routledge. Wiseman, John A. (1996). The new struggle for democracy in Africa. Brookªeld, Vt.: Avebury.
43
BOOK REVIEW
Bloggers’ paradise Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber Dissidents, September 2005 Publisher: Reporters Without Borders ISBN: 2-915536-36-8 Pages: 87 The handbook suggests that blogging has become a powerful tool of freedom of expression in the midst of other media. Blogs provide people, irrespective of educational or technical background, the opportunity to publish material. The handbook explains the meaning and purpose behind blogging. The handbook has enough resources for journalists who work from countries, under authoritarian regimes. In fact in such countries, bloggers can serve the function of a press. The handbook finds that often blogging is done by real journalists in countries, where the mainstream media is censored or is under pressure. It has been suggested that security is not the main concern for bloggers; rather finding an audience is the problem. But this is not true, of course, since it has been found by the Reporters Without Borders’ Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007 that in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Egypt bloggers were arrested and news websites were closed or made inaccessible during the year 2007. In fact, the present handbook is really worthy to go through, in the midst of the crackdown on democratic institutions (including monks, bloggers, journalists, citizen journalists, students and activists) in Myanmar during 2007. The handbook explains in a layperson’s language the need for choosing the best tool for blogging. The book informs that blog tools are programmes that are installed on a server, using scripts to run the site automatically and a database to store. One important chapter in the handbook is on how to set up and run a blog. Meanings of the terms like: administration log-in, dashboard, posting, trackbacks, RSS syndication etc, are provided in this handbook.. ‘Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber Dissidents’ asks for ethics on the part of journalists who blog. It explains that the standard pillars of journalism are: thoroughness, accuracy, fairness, transparency and independence, which must be kept in mind, while blogging by the journalists. Personal biases, even unconscious one, should be avoided while blogging. In this handbook, one blogger has stated that he closely follows the growth of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and the Creative Commons (CC) licenses. There are
44
separate chapters in the handbook on subject specific issues, which have been written by various bloggers, who are situated in different parts of the world. There is one entire chapter dedicated to Internet censorship, which talks about China and other such nations, where there exists too much censorship and restrictions. This is definitely a bold step, altogether. According to the handbook, China has been one of the repressive regimes where there exist, too many restrictions on the free flow of knowledge, information and news. Unfortunately, the handbook fails to mention that China had been doing so because it wanted to put curbs on pornographic content, and on content which represents (political) dissent against the State (given the various kind of incidents, which took place in modern Chinese history, including the crackdown on students’ uprising in Tiananmen Square, during 1989). Whenever, Western human rights groups have shown cases of human rights abuse in socialist, communist and other such restricted regimes, the counterargument was provided by these countries, that they performed better than countries from South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa in terms of human development index, and even economic growth. According to me, such allegations of human rights abuses are very much imperialistic in nature, which affects sovereignty, according to some. It is extremely difficult at this juncture to judge whether countries (particularly the post-colonial ones, which got freedom and independence from their ‘White masters’ during the 20th century) which are performing better in terms of having democratic media, are also the ones which are performing better in terms of inclusive economic growth, good governance, and in fighting the scourge of poverty. By saying this, one is of course not undermining the importance of the Fourth Estate in a democratic country. In fact, democracy itself is in a nascent stage, and various nations are pursuing various forms of (democratic) governance. By simply saying that democracy is a way of life, one would be underestimating the complexities of democracy itself. Otherwise, not so many books would have been written on the subject ‘Political Science’. Lastly, it can be mentioned that it is indeed a pleasure to (t)read through this handbook! Shambhu Ghatak, shambhu@csdms.in i4d | December 2007
What’s on Africa 6-8 February, 2008 International Conference on e-Education and e-Learning EEEL’08 Cairo, Egypt http://wahss.org/
http://www.pravara.com
http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/biomedasia/
Italy
http://www.nou.edu.ng/noun/acde2008
Malaysia
Australia
11-13 December, 2007 3rd Global Knowledge Conference Kuala Lumpur
29 June, 2008 The 2nd International Workshop on Web Mining for e-Commerce and e-Services (WMEE2008) Melbourne http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~derrick/ WMEE2008/
India 11-12 January, 2008 International Conference on Wireless, Mobile and Multimedia Networks Mumbai http://conferences.theiet.org/wireless/index.htm
21-22 January, 2008 Translating Bharat : Language, Globalisation and the Right to be Read Jaipur, Rajasthan http://www.siyahi.in/events-translating.htm
4-5 February, 2008 Techshare India 2008 India Habitat Centre, New Delhi http://www.barrierbreak.com/conferenceregistration. php
8-9 February, 2008 National Seminar on Information, Communication and Intelligent Systems Cochin, Kerala, http://www.mec.ac.in/news/attached/41150_sem.doc December 2007 | www.i4donline.net
http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/ecommerce/
14-17 April, 2008 Biomedical Asia 2008 Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre
30-31 January, 2008 I Convegno eLearning Point 2008 Cassino
http://www.somerset.qld.edu.au/conflib
9-11 April, 2008 eCommerce Asia Summit 2008 Suntec City
22-24 February, 2008 11th Asian Congress of Agricultural Medicine and Rural Health Aurangabad, Maharashtra
8-11 July, 2008 2nd African Council for Distance Education( ACDE) Conference and General Assembly Lagos, Nigeria
10-11 March, 2008 Somerset Conference for Librarians, Teachers, et al Queensland
Singapore
http://www.elearningpoint.org
http://www.gkpeventsonthefuture.org/gk3/
11-13 December, 2007 ICET 2007 Kuala Lumpur
25-27 April, 2008 Mobile Content World Asia 2008 Suntec International Exhibition and Convention Centre http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/mcw08%5Fsg/
Thailand 27-29 March, 2008 The 2008 International Conference on eEducation Bangkok http://www.e-case.org/e-Education2008/
United States
http://www.icet.unikl.edu.my/
21-22 February, 2008 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum Virginia
Oman
http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum
3-5 March, 2008 International Conference of Educational Technology ICOET2008 Muscat http://www.icoet,.com
Romania 11-12 April, 2008 e-Learning and Software for EducationeLSE 2008 Bucharest http://adl.unap.ro/else/
CSDMS Events 9-10 December, 2007 i4d Film Festival 3rd Global Knowledge Conference Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia http://www.i4donline.net/filmfestival/
11 December, 2007 Emerging People Workshop: India as a Trend Setter 3rd Global Knowledge Conference Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia http://www.gkpeventsonthefuture.org
24-26 October, 2008 The University of Atlanta’s First International Symposium on Online Teaching and Learning Georgia http://www.UofA.edu
United Kingdom 9-12 January, 2008 BETT 2008, Olympia, London http://www.bettshow.com/
12 February, 2008 Achieving Compliance with the EuP Directive Leather head Surrey http://www.aptn.org/Events/802era.htm
25-27 June, 2008 Code Generation 2008 Cambridge http://www.codegeneration.net/conference/index.php
United Arab Emirates 14-17 January, 2008 e-Learning Excellence in the Middle East 2008: Define. Design. Deliver, Dubai http://elexforum.etqm.ae/
45
IN FACT
Worldwide press freedom index Reporters Without Borders for the sixth year in a row has come out with the Worldwide Press Freedom Index. Eritrea was ranked last for the first time, while G8 members, except Russia, recovered lost ground. Eritrea has replaced North Korea at the last place in an index measuring the level of press freedom in 169 countries throughout the world, according to the press release of Reporters Without Borders. It is claimed that the privately-owned press in Eritrea has been banished by the authoritarian President Issaias Afeworki and the few journalists who dare to criticise the regime have been thrown in prison. Of the 20 countries at the bottom of the index, seven are Asian (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Vietnam, China, Burma, and North Korea), five are African (Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Somalia and Eritrea), four are in the Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Palestinian Territories and Iran), three are former Soviet republics (Belarus, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan), and one is in the Americas (Cuba). In the recent years, the Fourth Estate (i.e. the press) which is the symbol of democracy has attracted lot of bashing, censorships, regulations, controls and attacks by the State or the national governments. For e.g. the military junta’s crackdown on the democratic institutions in Myanmar during 2007 has attracted the attention of various national governments, civil society organisations, donor agencies, and most importantly the civilians. All of the European Union member countries made it into the top 50 except Bulgaria (51st) and Poland (56th). After falling steadily in the index for the past three years, the G8 members have recovered a few places. Some non-European countries have made their first appearance in the top 50. They are Mauritania (50th), which has climbed 88 places since 2004, Uruguay (37th) and Nicaragua (47th). Several countries fell in the ranking this year because of serious, repeated violations of the free flow of online news and information. In Malaysia (124th), Thailand (135th), Vietnam (162nd) and Egypt (146th), for example, bloggers were arrested and news websites were closed or made inaccessible. Reporters Without Borders compiled this index by sending a questionnaire to the 15 freedom of expression organisations throughout the world that are its partners, to its network of 130 correspondents, and to journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It contained 50 questions about press freedom in their countries. The index covers 169 nations. Other countries were not included because of lack of data. „
World Press Free Index Rankings in few nations in the year 2006-07 Name of the countries (during 2006)
Name of the countries
Finland
Iceland
1
--
Estonia
3
Czech Republic
Belgium
5
--
Canada
18
Costa Rica
Ghana
29
--
Japan
37
--
United States of America
48
--
Hong Kong
61
Liberia
Brazil
84
--
Indonesia
100
Armenia
Turkey
101
Gabon
Venezuela
114
Venezuela
Tajikistan
115
Uganda
Bhutan
116
Nigeria
India
120
Chad
Malaysia
124
Egypt
Democratic Republic of Congo
133
Bangladesh
Nepal
137
Maldives
Russia
144
Singapore
Egypt
146
Russia
Rwanda
147
Gambia
Zimbabwe
149
--
Ethiopia
150
Belarus
Belarus
151
Libya
Pakistan
152
Iraq
Syria
154
China
China
163
Burma
Burma
164
Cuba
Cuba
165
Eritrea
Iran
166
North Korea
North Korea
168
--
Eritrea
169
Rank
Note: (--) means data not available
Source: Reporters Without Borders, http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24025
46
i4d | December 2007
te r Disas ent gem Mana ICTs using
Security and Cybercrim e
So Net cial wor ks in Inte rnet
Environmental Concerns: eWaste ICT and peace Initiatives
Giving Voices and Assertive R ights: Sexual and Reproductive R ights
The O Move pen ment
HIV/AIDS
Community Radio
ICT Statistics
ICTs for MSMEs
The Fuel Crisis and Climate Change
Learning for Grassroots Innovations
ols 0 t o it y . 2 Web ommun nt e C for owerm p Em
c Civi / l a Ts ion osit and IC p p O itics Pol
g s tin ICT udge ing r B am nde instre e in Gd Ma an
Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation
Ne w g nin Lear ys Wa
ICTs and Food Security
Internet Governance
A new year of i4d is around the corner. A host of issues are to be worked upon Do you work on any of these areas ? Do you have a project that should be covered ? Are you an expert on any of the themes ? Are you interested to collaborate ? Write to us at: prashant@csdms.in
Opportunities for Digital India
29-31 July 2008 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India
Block Your Calender Today!