ICT and evolution process : January 2006 Issue by i4d magazine

Vol. IV No. 1

The first monthly magazine on ICT4D

January 2006

Kali, creator and destroyer A recollection on Media Lab Asia

Information for development

www.i4d.csdms.in

Mobalising computers for rural empowerment Computers on Wheels

Technology prospect in farm sector

ISSN 0972 - 804X

ICT and evolution process

ASHA

April 2004 | www.i4donline.net

knowledge for change

Asian Telecentre Forum

25-28 April 2006 Rama Gardens Hotel and Resort Bangkok, Thailand

Telecentres are increasingly being looked at as an important interface for bringing social and economic development in rural communities worldwide. They are known to the world as information centres, knowledge centres, info-kiosks, community services centres, etc. aiming to bridge the access and knowledge divides between the haves and the have-nots. The increased interest in telecentres in many developing countries, at a stage when the world is moving towards becoming a knowledge society, provides an opportunity for different stakeholders to exchange knowledge and learn from success stories. In Asia, several models of telecentres exist and have been tried and tested. They vary in their scope and reach, and there are many success stories to share. Yet, the community is neither cohesive nor built as a network of practitioners. They are also important tools for testing alternatives and solutions in the new and emerging markets zone for software and information and communications technologies (ICTs). A two-day conference and workshop programme has been conceptualised to bring the Asian practitioners in a platform for learning and sharing the experiences, and to address critical issues of content, collaboration, sustainability and up-scaling. Further, issues relating to monitoring projects that have been steered by external financial support, be it from the international development agencies, or from governments in Asia, require close assessment. We invite stakeholders from various sectors, viz., NGOs, Governments, Private sector, Donors, and Development agencies, Academic researchers etc. to participate in this workshop. Please provide a brief outline (abstract of not more than 500 words) of your work and perspectives that you wish to share. You will have an opportunity to showcase your work, share your experiences in presentation sessions and/or share case stories. The format of the workshop will be participatory, and will be facilitated. Last date for submission of abstracts:

For more details log on to www.asiantelecentreforum.net Conference Secretariat Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies G-4, Sector 39, Noida U.P. 201 301, India Tel: +91-120-2502180 to 87; Fax: +91-120-2500060

February 28, 2006

Confirmation of acceptance of participation:

March 05, 2006

Last date for receiving full presentations:

March 30, 2006

For more details: Contact: Anuradha Dhar, anuradha@csdms.in

Organisers

Media partners

ov knowledge for change

w w w. i 4 d . c s d m s . i n

Contents

Vol. IV No. 1

January 2006

Mailbox

info@i4donline.net

Features

A personal recollection on Media Lab Asia Kali, creator and destroyer

27 News Columns

Michael L. Best

ICT4D - An overview

Ajitha Saravanan

History of Internet

Dr William D Dar

On the verge of 50 years Saswati Paik

Computers on wheels (COW) Mobilising computers for rural empowerment Edward Crompton

Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP)

41 42 45 46

Books received

Bytes for All Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on In Fact Assessing

Access to VoIP in its urgency Gordon Feller

19 20 31

I have been receiving these magazines on a regular basis. I am impressed with the contents. These are really informative. Daman Dev Sood Tata Consultancy Services Limited daman.sood@tcs.com

Empowering rural people the F R Sheriff, S. Gnanalakshmi

ICT in rural development e-Extension way

Interview

ICT diffusion for socio-economic transformation

Rendezvous

ICT in Education ICT makes a difference Maithri Jansz

Tunis consensus for an information society

ICT in marketing Media for rural marketing S. Gopalakrishnan Iyer

23 egov Asia and DL Asia 2006 Preview

ASHA Technology prospect in farm sector

i4donline.net

newsletter

News Search ICT4D news by date in the sectors of governance, health, education, agriculture and so on. E-mail Subscribe to daily, weekly, monthly newsletters online or send request to info@i4donline.net Research e-Learning projects from India. www.i4d.csdms.in/elearn.asp Learn more about FLOSS www.i4d.csdms.in/floss/introduction.asp www.csdms.org/floss-portal Print edition The past issues of the magazine are available online www.i4d.csdms.in/archive/archive.htm

Cover image credit: Maithri Jansz, ICT Agency, Sri Lanka

Dr.M.Ariz Ahammed IAS Addl. Secretary to the Govt.of Assam & CEO Assam SFAC; arizahmed@nic.in

As for i4d, the December issue it pretty interesting. Its just wonderful to get to know so many young people being involved in development and community awareness projects. Also its great to see their hard work getting some recognition through i4d. Have you ever thought of extending i4d to other countries as well, i mean i4d being publised from those countries like i4d India, i4d Pakistan, i4d Bangladesh etc.... Farah Mehmood, Pakistan

Dr Saurabh Gupta, Diganta Barman

35 ICTD project

Thanks for sending copies of I4d magazine to me regularly. I find the magazine very illuminating. Definitely you are spreading the message of right to communication and access.

I am writing to you from The London School of Economics with a request for permission to use the following pages from a I4D article: ICTs and MDGs: On the Wrong track. The pages will be reproduced 50 times for inclusion in a study pack for the course entitled: I.T and Development, and taught by Dr. Shirin Madon. The course is a Postgraduate course, and the pack will be used for the lent term (beginning Jan 2006). Ben Showers B.J.Showers@lse.ac.uk

Editorial Information for development

www.i4d.csdms.in

ADVISORY BOARD M P Narayanan, Chairman, i4d Amitabha Pande Indian Administrative Service Chin Saik Yoon Southbound Publications, Malaysia Ichiro Tambo OECD, France 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, Canada S Ramani Research Director, H.P.Labs, India Walter Fust Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Switzerland Wijayananda Jayaweera UNESCO, France EDITORIAL BOARD Akhtar Badshah, Frederick Noronha EDITORIAL TEAM Editor Ravi Gupta Editorial Consultant Jayalakshmi Chittoor Sr Assistant Editor Saswati Paik Sr Research Associate Manjushree Reddy Designer Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Web Programmer Zia Salahuddin Group Directors Maneesh Prasad, Sanjay Kumar i4d G-4 Sector 39, NOIDA, UP, 201 301, India Phone +91 120 250 2180-87 Fax +91 120 250 0060 Email info@i4donline.net Web www.i4d.csdms.in 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 CommnicationTechnologies 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.

cc Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies, 2005

(Re)solution in new year With ICT, physical borders dissipate as information move freely through the digital medium that is less controlled as compared to other existing mass media. This is a stride towards social advancement. This revolution goes under the name of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Social Softwareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, and it is the element that elevates the Internet from a simple tool into an interpersonal phenomenon, connecting people in a meaningful way. Importantly, social software encourages collaboration. Today we experience that developments and applications of ICT have stretched beyond imagination. Social, economic and technological systems are highly interconnected. Together with the rapid development and innovation in telecommunication technology and the Internet, this evolution has ushered in many new business models and applications. And it is now well accepted that ICT is robust, it can be harnessed in many ways, and its true potential is limited only to the human mind. The technology that began as a faster way to process data and compute statistics has today become pervasive in almost all spheres of our life. Now, globalisation is said to accelerate and enabled by ICT, making markets bigger and more accessible by business with strong capital, management and technology. Business or e-Commerce has started to be done virtually and transaction occurs at a click of a mouse anytime, anywhere. ICT is stated by service providers as a critical source of new revenue; it is particularly important as the more traditional revenue streams continue to decline. Scientific findings churn faster and newer discoveries and inventions as journals and reports are made available through ICT. This issue of i4d will highlight some of the major issues which are most relevant in terms of ICT implementation and socioeconomic development. The President of India, Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, while outlining a holistic model of development, aimed at transforming India to a developed nation by 2020, stressed on bringing the ICT sector to rural areas. This applies not just to India, but to every developing nation around. This year i4d will make a special attempt to explore how service providers can expand into the market and create value for their enterprise customers, it will focus on the next key-trends that will give a competitive advantage to an Enterprise in its chosen markets. At the same time, we will provide a platform to share different views from all corners of the globe about the potential of ICT that can provide support to all sorts of developmental efforts. Here is the beginning for 2006.

i4d is supported by:

Ravi Gupta Ravi.Gupta@csdms.in

January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

‘i’ Opener A P ERSONAL R ECOLLECTION

M EDIA L AB A SIA

Kali, creator and destroyer The author argues that lack of early attention to the institutional and political sustainability of the project, along with fundamental flaws in the underlying structure of the entity, led to its ultimate failure. The author is currently Assistant Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Michael L. Best Assistant Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology mikeb@cc.gatech.edu

From this year, i4d is introducing a new section named as ‘i opener’. The critical views of the authors/readers regarding any particular aspect in the field of ICT application will be published in this setion Media Lab Asia endeavored to be the world’s largest university research laboratory for ICT’s and international development. With it routinely described as a “billion dollar” facility in pollyannish anticipation of huge fundraising successes – the optimism of the Lab was staggering. And it certainly was the highest profile, and perhaps most interesting, South/North university collaboration in the ICT for development arena, bringing together two of the globe’s biggest academic heavyweights: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). The vision of the Lab was for a unique public-private-academic partnership focused on innovation and world class research; a sort of organization never before seen. But after twelve months of operation under a formal relationship between MIT and the Government of India (GoI), the connection to MIT was severed, the Lab’s expectations were downsized, and now it continues on as a strictly GoI operation still struggling to define its mission. The inability to sustain the MIT/MLAsia connection was due mainly to two critical failures. First, the Lab was structurally unsound; it sowed seeds of failure in the contracts and framework of the Lab itself. Second, and most critically, the Lab went forward with a number of shotgun marriages; it relied on various self-interested relationships that, lacking the trust that comes from time and effort, were never strong enough to maintain the collaboration. Said another way, MLAsia

ultimately fell victim to its inability to establish political and institutional sustainability.

Love at first demo The genesis of MLAsia came in a visit to the MIT Media Lab, in 2000, by then Indian IT Minister Pramod Mahajan. The Media Lab had recently launched a new program focused on technologies for the developing world and had also been looking at opportunities for international expansion. Driven by the leadership of Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chair of the Media Lab, and Alex (Sandy) Pentland, a senior member of the faculty, the Media Lab worked to develop a program in India. A joint task force was put in place to study the feasibility of such a lab but the committee’s final report was a foregone conclusion – strongly supporting its creation. In June 2001, MIT and the GoI entered into a formal agreement to create the Laboratory with the GoI committing 13 million dollars for the Lab’s first year of operation. Of this, l.2 million went to MIT to support its activities related to the Lab and the rest, a considerable research allotment for the first year, was to be spent in country. A Board was created, with Mahajan at the helm, and CEO-like authorities were vested in a Management Committee comprised of Sandy Pentland; Sanjay Dhande, who was then a senior IIT Kanpur professor and is now head of that institution; S. Ramakrishnan, a senior bureaucrat from the Ministry of IT; and this author. i4d | January 2006

The formal launch of MLAsia was a grand event hosted at Mumbai’s Oberoi Hotel on June 24, 2001, complete with laser shows and dance numbers. In the front row of the ballroom was the future president of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, sitting next to India’s godman of IT, Infosys primo Naryana Murthy. On the dais sat Pramod Mahajan and representing the MIT Media Lab, Sandy Pentland. The Lab’s future looked exciting indeed and the optimism jumped off of the page of the Lab’s initial prospectus: “Media Lab Asia is the world’s largest academic research program dedicated to bringing the benefits of new technologies to everyone, with a special focus on meeting the grand challenges in learning, health, and economic development.”

research integrity. One result was that MLAsia itself was not directly strengthened by these outsourced activities; instead, the collaborating institutions used the resources to further develop their own programs. Moreover, in the rush toward immediate outputs MLAsia assembled what was, in the words of one senior Lab officer, “a motley collection of shitty-little projects.” While there were some high-quality exceptions to this, especially in the work from the core IIT collaborators at Kanpur and Chennai, too many of the projects were weak. This dramatically eroded the substantive value that MIT could offer to this North/South collaboration: namely, deliberative, robust, rigorous research direction. Instead, the Laboratory was running around managing (or neglecting to manage) mostly unimportant (at best) and specious (at worst) Weak structure creates weak substance projects. Within days of the launch, however, it was clear that the Lab’s The second structural flaw of MLAsia was that it failed to institutional architecture put it at risk. The initial structure of the immediately systematize positive relationships outside of the GoI Lab, including its relationship with MIT, was flawed and led to and MIT – and, indeed, outside of the specific personalities of failures in substance as well as the Pramod Mahajan and the MIT Media Lab. disenfranchisement of a number of This was reflected in the initial board and stakeholder communities. First and foremost, management composition. The Board of the Lab was launched on an initial trial year Directors was chaired by Pramod Mahajan basis. MIT was the proponent of the trial himself and included the principal government year structure, a twelve-month escape clause bureaucrat from Mahajan’s home state of that was insisted upon by the MIT’s upper Maharashtra. From the MIT Media Lab side, management and not by the Media Lab Nicholas Negroponte and Sandy Pentland sat leadership. on the board with Negroponte as co-Chair. The idea of a one-year trial might have This lack of inclusive reach was also true of been a good one if it had been properly most of the Lab’s immediate senior Indian defined as a stepping stone to longer term management, some of whom were selected sustainability. MIT and the GoI could have explicitly because it was thought that they spent the year ensuring the Lab’s feasibility, could be easily controlled. developing a shared vision and strategy, While a later attempt was made to expand identifying strong management and research the Board to include private sector principals, personnel, and most critically, cultivating the including Naryana Murthy, it was already too range of stakeholders that would be essential late. Even though the three major Indian IT to success: the private sector, the Indian corporations were, ultimately, represented on academic community, and relevant members Source http://www.medialabasia.org/ the Board, not one of these companies ever of civil society and the development became a true partner to the Laboratory or a community. Instead, the Lab was mandated to realize immediate dues paying member. Further, there was no apparent attempt to research successes. An evaluation committee was empanelled and broaden the political base of the Lab or its Board. metrics were designed, including the number of patents applied for and number of published papers. In other words, the structure Weak structure creates weak relationships demanded mature research outputs from this initial year. This was As argued above, the initial structure of the Lab had left it in addition to the nitty-gritty activities such as leasing office space systemically weak – politically over-reliant on Mahajan, with alienated stakeholders, supportive of a number of questionable and putting in place a basic administration. Honestly realizing immediate quality research successes would projects, and undermined by weak and shotgun relationships. But the presence of so many relationships of urgency was not be impossible for anyone, so alternative approaches had to be identified and exploited. One approach (which is fairly standard in wholly an outcome of the structure of the one-year trial period, but the broader academic community and is not particularly also (perhaps primarily) due to the personalities and culture of the reprehensible in my opinion) is to double-count existing activities. MIT Media Lab leadership. Indians will often question the speed Anything that smelled remotely of a MLAsia project, and had some with which North Americans are willing to jump into a relationship. loose connection to MIT or other related institutions, was co-opted The Indians, perhaps thanks to their ancient culture and practical sense of caution, are slow to commit to partnerships. However, once into the MLAsia family. Fair enough. The second approach, which was the source of a lot of the Lab’s the link is there it is something that can be relied on. In contrast, the problems, was to outsource the majority of research activities to pre- MIT Media Lab team seemed willing to enter into a Memorandum existing institutions often without sufficient regard to quality or of Understanding with an Indian party after a single positive January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

meeting. And an MOU with MLAsia always came with some funds flowing to the external party; in other words, there was plenty of incentive, and few down sides, for others to line up for these relationships. MOU’s were signed with the Delhi, Kharagpur, and Mumbai campuses of the Indian Institute of Technology, before adequate connections with relevant researchers and administrators were established. These were in addition to two MOU’s with the IIT campuses in Chennai and Kanpur that were based on long-term and trusted relationships. The result of these MOU’s, which included placing laboratory facilities on the IIT campuses themselves, created an appearance, and often reality, that MLAsia was a research facility of the IIT’s and not an independent R&D program. That notwithstanding, three (and later four) of these IIT’s had little appreciation for or tie to MLAsia or to the MIT Media Lab. In the end, when they were asked: “What has MIT done for you?” they were quick to answer “Nothing”. Perhaps another example of a hasty relationship was represented in the appointment of the initial CEO, Bimal Sareen, who joined in June 2002. Sareen was the first individual interviewed for the job by the Media Lab leadership and was then hired to replace the Management Committee. To be fair, the Media Lab team interviewed other candidates and was quick to point out how unlikely it was that they hired the first person they met. All that notwithstanding, it is hard to imagine a worse choice. Sareen had to be hired over the objections of the private sector and Government of India Board members who did not approve of his substantial salary base. The concerns of the Board quickly became manifest as Sareen succeeded to alienate or outright infuriate all of the existing members of MLAsia’s management and support team and most everyone from the Government of India. Indeed, fifty percent of the Mumbai professional staff resigned within the first months of Sareen’s appointment. Sareen was such a failure that one has to wonder how he sneaked past the due diligence process of the executive hiring firm, Heidrick and Struggles, who was responsible for the search. Indeed, some of Sareen’s former colleagues posited that they must not have done a reference check with his past employers or they never would have suggested him for the job. So much hope and optimism had been placed in the new CEO; he was going to fix all the Lab’s problems. It was horribly demoralizing that he was so clearly wrong for the job.

Mahajan leaves and so does MIT The full unraveling of the MIT / MLAsia collaboration began with the ouster of Pramod Mahajan from his position as IT Minister. In January 2003, soon after Sareen had joined MLAsia, Mahajan was unceremoniously removed from the IT Ministry, and the cabinet as a whole, by the most senior party and cabinet members. Replacing Mahajan was Arun Shourie, a man known for his no-nonsense approach to things. Early in Shourie’s tenure as minister he held a series of reviews of MLAsia. He focused his attention on a review of expenditures, projects, team members, and on the relationship with the IIT’s. Money was an important issue, though not as critical as the deeper institutional problems. But from the outset there had been a promise from the MIT Media Lab leadership to raise 80% of

MLAsia’s annual budget, with the GoI putting in the remaining 20%. As Shourie began his review, however, not a single rupee had been raised from any source outside of the GoI. (We should recall that this was the height of the telecom and dot.com bust and the usual funding sources for this type of an endeavor were very limited.) The original vision for MLAsia was that it would not operate as a government lab and would not be constrained by the government’s rules and regulations. However, with 100% government financing it became difficult to consider it as anything but a government lab. An example of this tension was the thorny issue of the Lab’s salary structure: was it paying at international rates, at Indian private sector rates, or at GoI rates. In point of fact, it was paying at all three of these levels, depending on the hiring case. Sareen made an international salary while some GoI officials on secondment to the lab were getting government salaries. When Shourie reviewed these numbers he noted that some MLAsia employees were making ten times or more that of a comparable or more senior employee at one of the few prestigious government research laboratories. Moving on from salaries, he reviewed the various projects and could not help but notice the fairly weak set of outputs from the first year. This was the “motley collection of shitty-little projects” problem. But, while the research value or esthetic could easily be questioned, Shourie and his internal review team went so far as to label some of the outsourced research expenditures as “actionable”. The feeling was that money had flowed to parties who were not then held sufficiently accountable. Shourie examined the research and management team that MLAsia had put in place. Sareen was considered a liability and there were very few positive research assets directly affiliated with the Lab since most of the real work had been outsourced. Certainly all this was quite regrettable, but in my opinion all could have been forgiven. Mahajan, for his part, had told us explicitly that he understood how the dot.com bust years were not the best for fundraising and that twelve months were not enough time to generate solid research outputs. And everyone was sympathetic to the fact that, to speak candidly, institution (and relationship) building in a country as complex as India can be a very difficult and slow process. Sareen could have been sacked, salaries could have been harmonized, projects could have been rationalized, and the reported $5 million requested by MIT to sustain their end of the relationship could have been easily realized. But, in the end, the relationship with MIT was terminated. Recall that much of the outsourcing of the Lab had been to the Indian Institutes of Technology. And in the final analysis, it was the nature of these relationships that proved to be the coup de grâce to the MIT / MLAsia partnership. By this time, four of the five IIT’s had either a neutral or an antagonistic position towards MIT. When asked: “What has MIT done for you?” they answered “Nothing”. Regrettably, the end of the MIT / MLAsia relationship was not pretty. Significant acrimony and vindictive statements were traded between Negroponte and Shourie. Nobody benefited from this quite public argument. But, quickly, things quieted down and the President of MIT issued a private letter of apology to H’ble Minister. At the time of this writing the BJP, the party of Mahajan and Shourie, is sitting in the opposition and Congress is back in control i4d | January 2006

with a new set of politicians in charge. Media Lab Asia continues on as a program of the Ministry fully supported by the Government of India, primarily serving as a funding agency, and strongly linked to the IIT’s.

My role and vision It must be said that I was complicit to many of these failures and responsible for some of them. Furthermore, I hasten to add that I had and continue to have enormous respect and personal regard for many of the stakeholders in the MLAsia experiment including Negroponte, Pentland, many IIT colleagues, and the initial MLAsia senior staff. But my vision was far from what the current reality is – a government research funding agency. My hopes, shared by many, were for a unique public-private-academic collaboration. From MIT, I would have taken the extraordinary ambition and work ethic and the heavy resource levels; from the MIT Media Lab, I would have taken the appreciation for high-risk research and the playful and experimental ethos; from the IIT’s, I would have taken the rigorous capacity for desk research and analytic competencies; from India herself, I would have taken the rich cultural ethic, the seriousness to problems of development, and the diversity of people and thought. I would have started small with one or two carefully chosen facilities, one or two very solid collaborative relationships, one or two grand challenge problems, and the will to hire and foster world class researchers.

Sustainability framework A large part of my research has focused on understanding how ICT and international development interventions can be sustained over the long term. I have been conceptualizing, as have others, a sustainability typology. In my research I have noted the need for: • Economic or financial sustainability – the aspect that probably gets the most attention in the literature. • Technological sustainability – a fairly well appreciated problem especially as we all are routinely victimized by our own technology and its rapid rush to obsolescence. • Social and cultural sustainability – by this I mean, in particular, equity of access issues, gender, caste, community, literacy, language, economic groups, and so forth. • Environmental sustainability – not often directly considered in ICT for development projects, though relevant in terms of ewaste, electric power consumption, and even the carbon reducing promise of the global information infrastructure. And finally, • Political and institutional sustainability – the nexus of relationships between the broad set of stakeholders. Time and time again it is lack of attention to this last category, political and institutional sustainability, which results in the death of a project. In the Hindu pantheon Kali is the black earth mother. She is depicted holding a sword and severed head and wearing a necklace of snakes, skulls and human heads. She sustains the Hindu belief of the never-ending cycles of birth and death. While she is the goddess of death, she lives with an overflowing love for the life of her children. She destroys only to re-create. January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

ICT based programmes in India on HIV/AIDS TREAT Asia and the Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune, India, will launch an online interactive instructional programme to train health-care professionals on the management of HIV/AIDS. The pilot training course, which will begin this autumn, is part of an ongoing effort by TREAT Asia to help close the doctor gap in India and throughout the region. The pilot programme was funded in part by a grant from Stichting AIDS Fonds of the Netherlands. If successful, the online program will further expand the capacity of TREAT Asia to provide quality health-care training. The online training programme will combine computer-based self-study modules, participatory clinical case studies, e-assisted tutoring, on-site workshops, and the creation of peer consultation networks to provide an integrated clinical program. Source: http:// www.amfar.org/cgi-bin/iowa/asia/news/?record=74 Arupa Mission Research Foundation (AMRF) in Orissa is building an ICT based awareness and solution networking programme on HIV and AIDS. AMRF already has experience in developing ICT based knowledge kiosks (touch pads). At present it is in the pilot phase, where the quality of information to be imparted is being tested. The next phase would be developing the Human Computer Interface. For a programme of this magnitude to be a success a wide range of indicators and factors have to be looked into which if adhered to the role of ICTs in combating HIV would be fulfilled. We are at present also looking out for sponsors who would be interested in funding our HIV/ AIDS - ICT venture. In Orissa, as part of a joint UNDP and Government of Orissa initiative, ICT centres are being established in high migration areas of two districts, which have a lot of out-migration and also high prevalence rates of HIV. Activities are currently underway in Ganjam district, and would soon be initiated in the other district. This builds on UNDP’s experience on ICT centres for livelihoods support that started five years ago in Coastal Orissa. Resource Centre for Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS (RCSHA) have developed a Multimedia Resource Pack on Targeted Interventions (TI) which has been designed to provide the information on key aspects of the HIV and AIDS programme in India with special reference to Targeted Interventions.The CD contains detailed information on all the components of TI. If any one is interested to have this Multimedia Resource Pack please get in touch with Aslam at RCSHA, at aslam@shrcindia.org. Another way of using ICT for spreading awareness was done by Heroes Project and Star TV when they launched a first of its kind HIV and AIDS SMS contest. Radio Mirchi to join in for ‘Gain from Gyaan’; to run from 22nd November to 15th January ’06 on 7827. Heroes Project and Star TV Network in association with Radio Mirchi launched an SMS contest titled ‘Gain from Gyaan’ that will run till the end of the year. The contest is a first of its kind in India offering users the facility to access HIV/AIDS information on their cell phones in an exciting format. For more information, visit: http://www.heroesprojectindia.org/misc/ star_care.htm

ICT4D - An overview

ICT diffusion diffusion for socio-economic Development in information and communication technologies (ICTs) during the last quarters of the 20th century has ushered a new era in the history of mankind. Termed as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Information-Ageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the phase has marked a revolutionary transformation of technology from industrial units for production to that of social spheres of development with a thrust on human welfare by widening the economic and productivity base.

The realisation of the Evolutionary impacts of ICT potential impact that ICTs This evolutionary transformation is made possible by the dramatic increase in can make on human computing power ensured by the emergence and rapid revolution of development enabled the microprocessor technology. Thus the growth widespread diffusion of in computing power has triggered a veritable race in developing digital devices that can technology through a exploit the power by offering required peripherals so as to extend capabilities. These vertical and multilevel devices served as aids for recording, organiprocess giving access to the sing, retrieving, displaying and disseminating information at faster phase. Further, technology to the technological changes have reduced the disadvantaged communities cost substantially facilitating the spread of information into all aspects of human life. and individuals. The realisation of the potential impact that ICTs can make on human development enabled the widespread diffusion of technology through a vertical and multilevel process giving access to the technology to disadvantaged communities and individuals. Such diffusion is realised by its connectivity through which the full human development potential of the technology is ensured. It is this access to information and communication technologies that has helped most of the western countries to evolve into a socially and economically self reliant developed nations.

ICTs in rural development The promise that ICT revolution holds for the developing nations is manifold. It is expected to result in the growth and diversification of the ICT sector leading to the rapid expansion of output and employment opportunities. Use of ICTs in

the agriculture, non-ICT manufacturing and service sectors is expected to bring about a fundamental transformation in the nature of production sectors with major implications in terms of labour, productivity, growth and employment. Penetration of ICTs is again expected to reshape the method of work and market systems and the way in which individuals and communities can track and access information and services, leading to changes in the structures of markets, improve the quality of life, deepen the participatory values of democracy and many more major advances in terms of human development indicators. In an agrarian country like India, a lot of ICT initiatives have been made and the nation continues to be a perennial ground for many such practical and sensible innovations to catch the youth afresh for the progress of the country. However, the great tasks of ICTs in raising the living standards of its citizens in the short span of Independence cannot be underestimated. The concern of government at national, state/provincial and local levels to incorporate ICTs into its local levels of development is visible in the large number of e-Governance projects in the county. eGovernance system has been automated to facilitate, use of ICTs to ensure greater information access for the ordinary citizen, to deliver a range of services varying from online submission and complaints to delivery of education and health services and use of ICTs as data gathering and warehousing devices to increase the quality of decision making and governance. ICTs to a certain extent has been successful in generating employment and micro entrepreneurship facilities especially among the women folk, ushering a new confidence in their lives. This has been indirectly playing a catalyst role in combating poverty among the poor and bridging the gender gap among rural women by empowering them with knowledge of ICTs and micro-credit possibilities. i4d | January 2006

ICT4D - An overview

transformation ICTs in food security ICTs have served as tools for enhancing food security also. ICTs can help local farmers in gaining access to international market. eCommerce can help both the seller and the buyer to communicate in less time and use internet to carry out a transaction. Farmers can research on new types of products and search for information on better package of their produce. However, farmers in the first place has to be equipped themselves with some basic education and computer literacy.

ICTs in education Needless to say, the use of ICTs as learning tools in education enhances the capacity building for teachers. As a remote learning system coupled with technical practices ICTs will strengthen the institutional system. Thereby it encourages self-dependence, creative learning and team work spirit.

ICTs in health services ICTs have also come up with innovative solutions for the public health. The use of ICT for health care in industralised countries has had a profound effect. With their capacity to rapidly collect, compile, and disseminate information, with sophisticated tools for data analysis, field workers can easily obtain updated technical or consultation information regarding the prevention and treatment of disease/health conditions. ICT power has also been effectively harnessed to fight for the cause of HIV/ AIDS by multiplying the messages for creating awareness among the masses to make them alert of the invading malady across the nations with the help of youth and community development organisations for enhancing the health care services.

ICTs in disaster management The effectiveness of ICT as a tool for management of natural, human or technology induced disasters has unquestionably been established. Recent experiences during the Tsunami in South and East Asia, earthquake in Pakistan/India, floods in Central America, and the hurricanes January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

in the Mexican Gulf region, have shown that when disasters strike, telecommunications can save lives. ICT applications to disaster reduction can play key role in the early warning of environmental hazards, promoting economic continuity, infrastructure preservation and fostering local social and cultural dynamics.

Fundamental drawbacks In most of the developing countries, the diffusion of technology is yet to take its deeper roots. The use of ICT for human development in India poses a challenge because of the socio-economic characteristics of the country. This limited and uneven diffusion of the new technology seeks attention of the decision makers to priortise it in development agenda. Considerable work is underway to increase its access, so as to permit the realisation of the potential that ICT holds for development. Yet, the principal objectives of such work include cutting the cost of connectivity. It has become inevitable that ICTs has to put to its best use to address many concerns and sectors of human development in poor societies so as to eradicate the poverty, for providing better healthcare systems, education, human resource and environmental management and economic development. The concern towards development of any society and its masses involves in the expansion of peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choices so that they can improve the quality of their lives. The distant reality of self reliance and development has come true with the mass invasion of ICTs. At the cross roads of information age, where the social and economic activities spread far and wide, moulding the society simultaneously for a horizontal and vertical growth, it is hoped that the aspirations of the upcoming generation to have ample employment opportunities, mass production and output and conducive markets may be realised with the Millenium Development Goals (MDG)! Ajitha Saravanan, ajitha@csdms.in

ICT

R URAL D EVELOPMENT

Empowering rural people the e-Extension way Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TNVASU) initiated experimentation on rural e-extension for transfer of technology in seven villages and two urban locations of the State.

More than seventy percent of the population in India is living in the villages. Since independence, the government has implemented several rural development programmes. But they have not made any remarkable improvement in their living conditions. It can be mainly attributed to the non availability of information on the emerging technologies. Therefore, transfer of new technologies to the rural communities has became essential to eradicate the poverty and thereby triggering development. Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TNVASU) initiated experimentation on rural e-extension for transfer of technology in seven villages and two urban locations of the State. Its primary aim was to find out whether the rural people who are the real clients can access information on their felt needs electronically. In the present situation it was thought to be worthwhile to explore the possibility of information access by the rural people on their technological needs and hence nine Village Information Centres at six Districts of Tamil Nadu were established.

Selection of villages

F.R. Sheriff frsheriff@hotmail.com

S.Gnanalakshmi Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences, India sgnanalakshmi@yahoo.com

Initially, three Information Centres one each at Vellore, Tiruchirapalli and Madurai districts were established. Six more centres two each in Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, and Chennai districts were later established. In each of these districts, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University has facilitated a Training and Research Centre or Farmers Training Centre or Krishi Vigyan Kendra. The centre staff were given responsibility of selecting a suitable village. The criteria of selection were: • A remote village with facilities of conveyance • Facility of electricity and phone connection

• The villages should have main occupation of agriculture/animal husbandry/horticulture • Willingness for establishing an information centre by the community • To meet the electricity, telephone charges and provide free space to accommodate the centre • Village to have at least 500 to 1000 families only. Based on the above criteria, each Training and Research Centre has identified 4 to 5 villages. A survey instrument was applied and randomly picked up 10 to 15 men and women in each village to find out the information needs, trust and satisfaction of the information obtained. Their demographic details were also obtained. Based on the interest and the felt needs of the stakeholders villages were selected to establish the village information centres. The Training and Research centres in the district served as hub centres under the overall control of the Directorate of Extension Education of the University.

ICT facilities The hub centres were provided with a computer, printer, web camera, speakers, telephone and internet connectivity. Each Village Information centre was provided with a computer, printer, web camera, digital camera, speakers, telephone, internet connectivity, printed books, journals, newspapers, video compact disc player, television, radio with tape and CD Player. At Madurai and Cuddalore district, three centres were given internet connectivity by CorDect wireless local loop (WLL) technology and other centres were connected by dial up facility. Women did not use information centres effectively as they have been located in community buildings of the villages at i4d | January 2006

Vellore (Chitteri), Madurai (Puthuthamaraipatti), and Triruchirappalli (Kuzhumani). These centres were financially supported by International Development and Research Centre, Canada. Based on the observation that women and girls are not approaching information centres for accessing information, six more centres were established at Varakkalpattu and Kandrakkottai of Cuddalore District (Rural Site) Kancheepuram and Maraimalai Nagar of Kancheepuram District (Semi-Urban site) Pallikaranai and Aminjikarai of Chennai District (Urban Site). These centres were financially supported by UNESCO, New Delhi for a period of two years from 2003 to 2005.

The beginning A steering committee was composed of the local Panchayat leader, progressive farmer, middle level farmer, small farmer, landless labourer, women, youth, bank official, postal employee, trader, business men, self help group animator and the Hub Centre officer as Member Secretary in three of the information centres located in community buildings. Whereas the centres located in Self Help Group women households, the members of the group were allowed to decide on the functioning of the centres in six information centres.

children@varakkalpattu

The demographic details, information needs and educational level were collected from the Nine centres. The Steering Committee/ groups were given the responsibility of managing the centre by taking appropriate decisions. Focus group exercise was done to educate the community/ members of the group on their present status and the ways of improving their knowledge. Based on the decision of the steering Committee/members more than 10 volunteers were given training on basics of computer applications. Audio and Video CDs containing Animal Husbandry Practices, Fishery Products, Value added products were supplied to the village information centres. Based on the felt needs of the villages a Tamil portal was prepared containing District profile, Communication details, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Horticulture, Fisheries, Home Science, education, Government â&#x20AC;&#x201C; departments, marketing places and frequently asked questions and hosted in our university website: www.tanuvas.org/rural. Those who are already aware of computer/internet out of shyness January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

have not tried using it. They felt that the computers are the monopoly of the educated and elite people of the society. Now after providing the information access points (computer with internet connectivity) the community has started using it, which has now motivated them to build capacity for themselves as well as for their children. Children are more curious and have learnt to use computer at a quicker phase than the adults. The self help group women have started applying Information Technology for their own purpose such as letter documentation, saving their files in floppies, recording their accounts in excel option and taking printout. They are in a position even to operate digital camera to take pictures of their centre activities and SHG meetings. These centres are providing health information, literacy programme, prices of commodities, weather information, crop planning and animal husbandry technologies. This information was provided by self-learning compact discs, video and audio packages. Computers are not going to be an alternative but perhaps only instrument for progress and growth, a passport to better life.

Social innovation Mr.V.Gurusamy is a resource poor watchman and aged about 60 years. He is a resident of Puduthamaraipatti village. His son Mr. Narasimhan is doing Ph.D in Niigita University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences, Japan. Mr.V.Gurusamy used to contact his son through letters, which usually takes one month time to get reply from his son. With the help of Senior Research Fellow Dr.S.Gnanlakshmi of Village Information Centre, email id was created to Mr.Gurusamy and subsequently he got trained in internet and sending e-Mail. This made him possible to contact his son and his son too finds it convenient to respond over mail. Now without others help he is capable of sending mail to his son. His family members were very happy by getting immediate reply from their son through Village Information Centre. The SHG women provided with information and communication technology tools are continuously using personal computers for their knowledge building and also teaching other members on its usage, which is likely to be a continuous process. SHG women expressed that they have seen the computer in movies and shops. But they never had an opportunity to use the computer. So they felt proud to have the computer and showed a greater amount of interest to learn the computer operations. Being members of the self help groups, the women, in general and resource poor rural women in particular who are below the poverty line can wield greater advantage in seeking technical information, inputs training etc., for their income generation. Tamil Nadu Government has developed a website www.ruralbazar.tn.nic.in to market the products prepared by SHG women in Tamil Nadu. This group received invitation from District Rural Development Agency officials to participate at SHG products exhibition held in Mumbai. The Indian Bank Manager came forward to give loan to carry on business to this group. Now the group has become more active and the hopes of members are increasing.

Expectations of the family After the establishment of Information Centre and teaching the basics of computer operation the women, men, youth are being

User profile of Self Help Group Information Centres and community Information Centres Details

SHG Rural Site

SHG SemiUrban site

SHG Urban site

Computer basic Learning

332 (2.14%)

245 (1.58%)

219 (1.41%)

796 (5.14%)

3043 (19.66%)

3839 (24.8%)

Playing games

371 (2.39%)

293 (1.89%)

240 (1.55%)

904 (5.83%)

8250 (53.29%)

9154 (59.1%)

Internet access

319 (2.06%)

246 (1.59%)

207 (1.33%)

772 (4.99%)

1717 (11.09%)

2489 (16.1%)

Total

1022 (6.60%)

784 (5.06%)

666 (4.30%)

2472 (15.96%)

13010 (84.04%)

15482

respected by the family members and their morale is boosted. Opening of information centre in their village and leaving it to the care and benefit has marked change in terms of social aspect and self-esteem of the individuals. They feel that their status has improved by possession of the computer centre. The same respect is being extended by local government authorities like municipality and panchayat board for having and accessing computer by the villagers. SHG members are not only interested to learn computer but they also want to give computer education to their children as they are not in a position to send their children to English medium matriculation school. SHG member’s children are studying in Government schools. So centre is the only access point for them. Even though, lots of computer institutions are available in the nearby vicinity, they are not in a position to pay exorbitant fees. The members are not getting adequate skill based training programme for income generation. Women are not only interested on information but also interested in the hands on training, as without it, the information alone will not serve them any purpose. This has motivated us to provide different skill training programme to the members.

Technology adoption Various CDs are given to the members for self-learning. Mrs. Devi was rearing rabbits in her house. She started rearing rabbits as pet at her home. Now she has 20 rabbits in her house. She did not know the method of rearing rabbits scientifically. She kept all rabbits in open terrace of her house. The place became dirty. Once she came to the centre with her daughter and watched the “scientifically rabbit rearing” CD prepared by Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. After that she modified the cage and maintained the area without dirt and waste materials. She prepared feed scientifically for her rabbits according to the formula. Now she wants to make it as a successful business. She has started selling rabbits to her friends, peers, relatives etc., and started earning money. In Melur taluk of Madurai District, computer kiosk centres were established in 40 villages by Dhan Foundation. All the kiosk centres and the Village Information Centre of Puduthamaraipatti of TANUVAS-IDRC were connected to internet through cordect wireless technology. The kiosk operators of nearby villages used to send queries on treatment and husbandry practices to the Village

Total Community Information For Three SHGs Centres(3)

Total

Information Centre of the Puduthamaraipatti since it is managed by two Veterinarians. On 9.10.02 the Village Information Centre of Puduthamaraipatti received a mail from Miss. Suganya, Kiosk Operator of T.Ulagupitchanpatti village stating that six sheep of Mr.Pitchai and two of Mr.Pandi have died due to some disease and around hundred sheep are suffering with diahorrea and other illness. Immediately the Village Information Centre staff contacted the Professor and Head, Veterinary University Training and Research Centre (Hub centre), Madurai and conveyed the message over email and phone. Then the Village Information Centre staff with a specialist (Pathologist) rushed to the spot (T.Ulagupitchanpatti) and inspected the problems of the sheep. Based on the symptoms they came to the conclusion that the sheep were affected by disease called “Enterotoxemia” a bacterial disease. Samples were collected from the affected animals and sent to the lab for confirmative diagnosis. Immediately around 623 (worth Rs.6,23,000) sheep were vaccinated with Enterotoxaemia vaccine. The affected animals recovered completely. All the sheep population of the village was saved by timely information services available at T.Ulagupitchanpatti and Puduthamaraipatti. Useage of information centre at villages during the scheme period and subsequently are as follows:

Lessons learnt Based upon the experience acquired over the project period, a number of useful suggestions have emerged with regard to advising future applications of the information centre model for community development. Information is available on various subjects but to access it, one has to be well versed in English language. Government of Tamil Nadu is continuously developing various websites; the required information is yet to be made available. It is time for the educational institutions and the Government authorities to develop information through CD based updates in local language. 1. The project site should be selected carefully. Nothing can be done successfully without the target people co-operation. 2. Information, which is provided to them, should be need based. 3. Information provided through video and audio were cost effective. 4. Information retrieval should be cost effective. 5. Project should have enough period of time to monitor and analyze the feed back of the project. i4d | January 2006

C OMPUTERS O N W HEELS (COW)

Mobilising computers for rural empowerment Amongst the remote and under developed villages of Andhra Pradesh, motorcyclemounted computer operators are leading a struggle for social and economic change.

Edward Crompton Mahiti Infotech, Bangalore, India edward@mahiti.org

January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

ICT can empower The Computers On Wheels (COW) project explores the use of communication technologies as a catalyst for empowerment and creation of opportunity. The project works in rural areas where social and economic development is stifled by drought, under investment in infrastructure, poor communication and social inequality. COW currently works in 14 villages, each of which is visited once a week by one of two Information Providers (IPs) equipped with a modified motorbike, computer equipment and cell phone internet link. The IP provides a range of services designed to address health, educational and agricultural needs. Each service draws upon the knowledge of many outside experts and well wishers who support the COW project voluntarily or with little remuneration. One of the most pressing issues COW has addressed is that of rural healthcare. A system has been designed to put villagers in touch with a health expert without the need for them to travel many kilometres to a primary health centre A web-based system allows the IP to select options in a questionnaire to describe the patients symptoms accurately without colloquialisms or the need for extended descriptions. Visual symptoms are photographed and posted along with the questionnaires on the Internet. A primary health centre doctor and a visiting doctor in Hyderabad dedicate a few hours a week to log onto a website where they can read and reply to posts from the IP in the field. The system has had some notable successes but it is somewhat impaired by the limited help a doctor can provide remotely. Situations where the service does not eliminate the need to travel to a healthcare centre or where there is little shortterm improvement can leave patients

dissatisfied with the service. However, the COW model holds a great deal of potential for transmitting valuable information in cases of communicable disease outbreaks in animals and humans. In the future COW is hoping to subsidise the medical advice service using revenue from non-essential but popular services such as events photography. The project will also aim to address long term illnesses. Another service has been developed to help womens savings groups to keep electronic and digital records of their accounts and photographs for their group management. Members of these groups pool their financial resources and open a bank account in the local village mandal. The application allows a record of payments and withdrawls by group members. At first group leaders regarded this service with uncertainty perhaps due to the rather unfamiliar nature of the technology involved and maybe in some cases due to reluctance for group accounts to become so unreservedly transparent. However, a direct link to the State Bank of India has since been established. This will allow womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s groups to have access to banking services without the need for journeys of several kilometres to the town or village mandal. Many community members have embraced COWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s educational and training services with almost unreserved enthusiasm. Computer based lessons in schools are made possible by requesting a small contribution from pupils parents in order to cover costs. Some teachers are so committed that they have offered to cover the cost of the service by contributing personally. In other areas adult learners have identified ways in which they can implement the use of computers in enterprising ways and are actively demanding suitable lessons from IPs. One

boy asked for training in graphics and text manipulation saying it would enable him to get a job designing car number plates. On occasion it even seems that the desire to learn takes precedence over the relevance of the material, an IP reported that he had received a request to teach some rather obsolete DOS commands after word spread that they were being taught in a neighbouring village.

The Food for Work Programme The COW project has worked directly with the Andhra Pradesh state government to assess the pilot phase of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Food for Work Programmeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The programme aims to curb unemployment and improve village infrastructure by employing local people to perform manual work such as road building or well construction. Misappropriation of funds can, and does, take place during these construction activities. Information Providers are able to record information about various aspects of the work taking place in the villages and make it available to government officials in Hyderabad via a secure website. IPs also interview manual labourers and make certain testimonial information available on the same website. Although data gathered in this way can never be verified as one hundred percent accurate, it is expected that by cross referencing information from official records and the testimony of workers, anomalies will become more obvious and abuses of the system can be identified more easily. With the help of well wishers of the COW project including members of the Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad and tutors from Jawahalal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, a database system was developed whereby the IP can store large amounts of data on his laptop offline before uploading it quickly onto the Internet when he reaches an area with cell phone coverage.

Role of Information Providers (IPs) IPs take a leading role in the development of the COW enterprise model. They often request training to fill gaps in their expertise or to eliminate the need for outside skills on which they occasionally rely. Information Providers are recruited by COW from amongst the villages the project serves. They are given training not only in the technology they use but also the social needs and problems faced by their communities. Although IPs are paid a fixed monthly wage in the first few months after they are recruited, they are subsequently paid a percentage of the revenue gathered from COW services which will rise as the project scales up. This is a necessary part of the developing COW model that will allow the project to be sustainable and replicable. Of course, the success of the project is ultimately dependent on a genuine match between project aims and values and those of the IP. Any number of well designed services can be produced, but without a strong desire for improvement in the community on the part of the IP, COW cannot hope for successful implementation to address the needs of the poorest community members. When recruiting Information Providers the significance of technical skills or previous community work experience is given a lower weighting than the personal values of the IP. There is no replacement for intuition in long-term assessment of IPs as they

interact with members of the community, but attempts have been made to quantify certain qualities in an IP. With help and advice from Managementor - a professional placement consultancy firm - a narrative was constructed which puts the IP in a variety of social situations and asks them to decide on a course of action. By examining the choices made by the IP it has been possible to identify candidates with skills and sensitivities that compliment the aims of the project.

Hardware and software usage Storage of confidential information in financial systems such as the banking software raises the importance of the integrity and security of the computer systems used by COW. Back up and security are becoming increasingly important as the project grows. Until recently COW has used entirely proprietary software. At the outset of the project there was little incentive to migrate from the Windows system shipped with new laptops. There seemed to be many far more important considerations of project design to concentrate on. As the project has matured and the need for greater security and virus resistance has grown, so has the case for FOSS. Migration to a Telugu Linux distribution would potentially eliminate the struggle IPs and trainees have in navigating an entirely English user interface. The use of FOSS would also ease the growth and replication of the project by eliminating the need for expensive licences. However, much software COW uses has been developed by outside organisations and can only run on a Windows platform. In addition, members of the community demand training in the most widely used software and operating system: Windows. These are barriers that will have to be broken down if the project is to migrate to FOSS. Hardware systems were a very important consideration from the beginning of the project design. A low powered motorbike was chosen as a means of transport for the IP because they are economical to purchase, run and maintain, easy to ride and they cope well with the rough and potholed tracks between villages. The motorbike is modified to carry a laptop, printer, speakers for multimedia presentations and a power source. Experiments were performed with a solar panel mounted on a foldable shelf on the motorbike. However, it has since been found more efficient to mount a larger solar panel on the roof of the IPs house and use this to charge portable car-type batteries. Internet access is via a cell phone. The connection is expensive and signal coverage is limited, but the system is used for short uploads and downloads rather than extended web browsing. The internship I spent with Computers On Wheels was the latest in several hosted by the project. Interns have been a source of technical support but applicants have been judged not simply on what they can contribute in terms of skills. Pingali Rajeswari, the founder of Computers On Wheels, considers internsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; motivation and commitment just as important. She hopes the experience and knowledge that COW gives Information Providers and interns will enable them to become independent of the confines of the project and become part of a larger movement for social empowerment and equality. i4d | January 2006

VOICE

OVER I NTERNET

P ROTOCOL (V O IP)

Access to VoIP in its urgency Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has all feasible features over the other telecommunication systems which seek the attention of policy makers for its implementation in Ghana.

Services provided by VoIP With Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) support for computer-to-telephone calls, telephone-to-computer calls and telephoneto-telephone calls. VoIP represents a significant step toward the integration of voice and data networks. Originally, regarded as a novelty, Internet telephony is attracting more and more users because it offers tremendous cost savings relative to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Users can bypass long-distance carriers and their per-minute usage rates by running voice traffic over the Internet for an Internet-access fee. The expansion of Voice over Network (VoN) would serve to fill the gap in supply of International Direct Dialing (IDD). VoIP telephony allows telephone calls to be made over the Internet. While VoN refers to a standard telephone call utilising VoIP and bypassing all or part of the public switch telephone network. Currently, the availability of affordable and reliable IDD is limited in Ghana. Charges for IDD using a PSTN can cost up to 75 cents per minute to West African countries and up to $1.50 per minute when calling North America. About 45 percent of IDD calls encounter a busy signal, requiring callers to redial several times before achieving a connection. The cost to place calls to countries within the region, using a VoN is 5 to 7 cents per minute and 10 to 15 cents per minute to North America, roughly 10 percent of the cost of IDD using PSTN.

Regulating VoIP in Ghana Gordon Feller Urban Age Institute, USA gordonf20@comcast.net

January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

One of the decisions facing telecommunication policy makers in Ghana is how to regulate VoIP. Government regulation therefore becomes the hurdle that must be overcome to increase the availability

of this cost-saving technology. Currently, more than 30 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer VoIP for internal corporate telephony. These firms operate in a nebulous area of VoIP that is not clearly legal or illegal and risk confrontation with the National Communications Authority (NCA). These ISPs have the requisite technology and expertise to provide VoN on a larger scale. Revenues for this service are estimated at between $8 and $10 million a year and are expected to grow at an annual rate of 5 percent. This clearly demonstrates the viability of this industry. Legalising internal corporate VoIP and VoN would reduce the risks for VoIP suppliers and help to promote the development of Ghanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s telecommunications infrastructure. However, legalising VoN could potentially erode the revenue base of Ghana Telecom (GT), the partially government-owned incumbent telecommunications service provider. Statistics shows that revenue from international calls dropped from $ 42 million in 1998 to $14.4 million in 2002. Some industry experts believe the decrease in IDD revenue was due to the increased use of VoIP, email, international short messaging services (SMS), and instant messaging (IM). The National Communications Authority (NCA), established by Parliamentary Act in 1996 as a central regulatory body to create transparency in the regulation of the telecommunications sector and to promote a stable operating environment for all participants, while promoting fair competition and efficiency, has as a result commissioned a technical team to among other things investigate how some ISPs caused the loss of more than $30 million to Ghana Telecom.

The policy knots There is very little possibility that the NCA can stop the proliferation of VoIP and other technologies - such as IM, SMS, and email - that decrease demand for IDD using PSTN. In addition, the Ghana Telecom (GT) network cannot meet the demand for IDD. The challenge for NCA will be to develop a policy that legalises VoN while providing a new revenue base for GT. If VoN is legalised, one source of revenue for GT will be the leasing of E1’s to VoN providers. Leasing one E1 generates $2,000 in revenue a month. Annual revenue from the leasing of E1s after the legalization of VoN is projected to be between US $5 million and US $10 million. This gain in revenue would offset the future decrease of traditional IDD revenue based on the rate of decline from 1998 to 2002. GT can also utilise wholesale VoIP, which is explicitly legal in Ghana, to decrease its IDD rates and increase its competitiveness. Ghana Internet Service Providers Association (GISPA) has also argued that losses at GT mean lower contributions to the Universal Access Fund. However if the Government were to legalise VOIP, it could tax the operators and get back this revenue and provide an opportunity for Ghana to be the telecom gateway in the sub-region. Here is an outline of the official position of The National Communication Authority (NCA): 1. VoIP is allowed within the corporate VPN setting; 2. Licensed International Gateway operators are free to use whatever technology they choose to terminate/originate their international traffic in or out of the country (including VoIP technology), within the right interconnection agreements with other carriers; 3. ISPs, Internet Cafes are not allowed to terminate international voice traffic on the national PSTN or any other public telephone network, since their license is primarily for data and not voice communications; 4. The NCA however realizes the blurring of the line between data and voice traffic on IP networks, and as such is working on a licensing and regulatory framework to enable qualified operators (ISPs, Internet Cafes) to offer VoIP services to their clients while contributing to the development of the access network and telecom development in the country in general;

5. The New Telecom Policy (NTP) treats this issue under the section on ‘International telecommunications’; 6. It is hoped that by the end of this year (2005) all questions on VoIP operations in Ghana would have been settled with the offering of the licensing and regulatory framework discussed.

Expected trend ahead Ghana has a particularly large VoIP grey market estimated at approximately $15-25 million a year in 2003. In other West African markets the grey market is estimated at somewhat between 1020% of the overall market. ‘Grey’ markets in international VoIP calling have cropped up almost everywhere in Africa because of the large difference between the price charged to the African customer by monopoly incumbent telephone companies and the much cheaper cost at which they buy that call on the international market. Grey market operators like ISPs and cyber-cafes can offer the calls more cheaply and still make a profit. What the benefits / advantages to the average Ghanaian? In a country like Ghana where a large number of people have relatives and friends living outside the country, the legalisation of VoIP technology will make it easier for relatives and friends across continents to stay in touch. Particularly if one considers the fact that the number of households with phones at home is approximately 76 phones per 1000 people. Tele density in 1999 was the same 76 phones per 1000 people. Most people wanting to make calls to relatives outside the country have to queue up for the few working phone booths to make calls with expensive phone cards they purchase and that only give them a few minutes of talking time. With the advent of Internet Cafes, which can be found in most places in Ghana including villages, the next logical step is VoIP so that a cheap reliable means can be provided for people to talk to their relatives outside of the country. VOIP will be legalised in Ghana when policy makers gather the political will to carry it out. GISPA is currently working with the NCA and Government to facilitate the development of a framework for legalising VOIP operations. NCA is hopeful that by the end of this year (2005) the licensing and regulatory framework for VOIP would have been sorted out and implemented.

A silent revolution Glenanore, a tea estate at Haputale in SriLanka, alongside the factory and the living quarters of the plantation workers houses the Glenanore Knowledge Centre. Until last 6 years the poverty ridden estate area was even deprived of the electricity facility. But, now the centre is a hive of activity. Every computer of Knowledge Centre was occupied. Young children were accessing to information, searching for websites in English and in their own language (Tamil) downloading the data information for the projects they were working. It is to the enterprise of an individual like Vengadesh, the Glenanore centre was established in March 2005. Since than it has been hard work for him to promote usage of the Centre among the poor and ignorant estate community. 6 months of his hard work is positively paying off. Business started picking up slowly.

The estate kids were charged only a nominal fee. Vengadesh is also encouraging enough not be strict with the timings, allowing them to work freely when the computers are not occupied. The Centre also provides different services, like government forms which, can be downloaded from the web. Vengadesh now had a host of customers other than the estate community. In a sense the Centre has built a bridge between a once marginalised community with the rest of society. With the access to the ICTs, the estate community has received the power to change their destiny. For the enthusiasm instilled by Vengadesh, it is hoped that it will take the community a long way in taking control of their own lives, changing the environment and building the future.

i4d | January 2006

ICT

E DUCATION

ICT makes a difference Maithri Jansz ICT Agency of Sri Lanka maithri@icta.lk

This story begins in a very remote village in Sri Lanka. The actors are a school principal, a marginalised community and a personal computer. Kandurupitiya is a small village under the purview of the Mahavillachichia Divisional Secretariat within the Anuradapuara District. Miles into nowhere, surrounded by the dense jungle, marginalised from the rest of the country and yet home to about 200 families, this village had nothing significant to talk about – until now. Founded in 1958, Kandurupitiya Kudathamnnawa Viduhala serves two villages in the region offering education up to the 5th grade. Children travel as far as 6 km to reach the school. When they complete the 5th grade they must enter other schools located outside the village some 15- 40 km away. This leads to a situation where over 50 per cent of children drop out of school as there is no local transport – at least none

ICT Agency plans to work with the school to make it a part of its e-Village Project and soon the school will receive more computers and also connectivity. January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

worth talking about. Although Sri Lanka boasts of a 92 per cent literacy, the literacy amongst these villagers is appalling. Many are illiterate. Over 70 per cent of the adults do not even posses a birth certificate. H.A.Wickremasinghe took up his post as principal of Kudathamnnawa Viduhala in January 2004. At this time, 64 pupils were on roll, out of which 27 were totally illiterate; added to this, only 10-15 pupils were on regular attendance. His challenge was to convince students - and more so their parents that their children need to attend school. Mr Wickremasinha tried every trick in the book gentle persuasion, enticement, threats, but none of them had any real effect. Then arrived to the school a computer along with a load of material. At the time, no one in the school had any knowledge of computers, but the English teacher took it upon himself to read the books that came with it and gradually started conducting classes. The popularity of these lessons soon went beyond the imagination of everyone involved; students not only were coming to school, they were staying back after school, till late hours, to be able to use the computer. Today Mr Wickremasinha proudly states that he has on regular attendance 90 per cent of the children on roll; he has a computer lab to which he has added 3 more computers (donated by the Horizons school, Mahavilachichia); he has a volunteer teacher who teaches the children computer basics and what is more, with the setting up of the computer lab he was able to convince authorities to allow the school to increase its reach to the 6th grade and is presently lobbing for it to be increased to the 9th Grade. The significance of this is that all those

children, who dropped out of school because it was too far for them to travel to the nearest upper school, will now be able to continue their studies. In fact, parents have now come to realise that their children are receiving greater attention here at their own village school than at the secondary schools they travel out to. At the same time, the enthusiasm to teach and learn has also

increased with other subjects like English receiving much attention. Kids, who were once illiterate are enthusiastically speaking English due to their new English curriculum. Such has been the revolution – for there is no other word for it – that has taken place in this small village. The ICT Agency discovered this diamond in September, 2005. ICT Agency plans to work with the school to make it a part of its e-Village Project and soon the school will receive more computers and also connectivity. The story started with an unconnected community that discovered what technology can do for them. Their dream is to break free from the ignorance that ties them down and prevents them from achieving greatness. Where it will end, we do not know, but we do know that ICT can make that difference; and we wish them heights greater than they dream.

ICT

M ARKETING

Media for rural marketing Media Rural marketing uses both kinds of media i.e. the traditional media as well as the modern media. Rural marketing requires the understanding of the complexities and this article reviews some of the key issues.

S.Gopalakrishnan Iyer India gopal@ei-india.com

Indian agricultural industry has been growing at a tremendous pace in the last few decades. The rural areas are consuming a large number of industrial and urban manufactured products. The rural agricultural production and consumption process plays a predominant role in developing the Indian economy. This has designed a new way for understanding a new process called Rural Marketing. The concept of rural marketing has to be distinguished from Agricultural marketing. Marketing is the process of identifying and satisfying customers needs and providing them with adequate after sales service. Rural marketing is different from agricultural marketing, which signifies marketing of rural products to the urban consumer or institutional markets. Rural marketing basically deals with delivering manufactured or processed inputs or services to rural producers, the demand for which is basically a derived outcome. Rural marketing scientists also term it as developmental marketing, as the process of rural marketing involves an urban to rural activity, which in turn is characterised by various peculiarities in terms of nature of market, products and processes. Rural marketing differs from agricultural or consumer products marketing in terms of the nature of transactions, which includes participants, products, modalities, norms and outcomes. The participants in case of Rural Marketing would also be different they include input manufacturers, dealers, farmers, opinion makers, government agencies and traders. The existing approach to the rural markets has viewed the markets as a homogeneous one, but in practice, there are significant buyer and user differences across regions as well as within that requires a differential treatment of the marketing problems. These differences could be in terms of the type of farmers, type of crops and other agro-climatic conditions. One has to understand the market norms in agricultural input so as to devise good

marketing strategies and to avoid unethical practices, which distort the marketing environment. Many of the inputs used for production process have implications for food, health and environmental sectors. Rural marketing needs to combine concerns for profit with a concern for the society, besides being titled towards profit. Rural market for agricultural inputs is a case of market pull and not market push. Most of the jobs of marketing and selling is left to the local dealers and retailers. The market for input gets interlocked with other markets like output, consumer goods, money and labour. The importance of rural marketing can be understood from the fact that today modern inputs i.e. diesel, electricity, fertilisers, pesticides, seeds account for as much as 70% of the total cash costs and 23% of the total costs incurred by the farmers in the Green Revolution areas. Further the percentages were higher at 81% and 38% for small; farmers owning 1.85 hectares of land.

Strategic aspects Rural marketing in India is not much developed there are many hindrances in the area of market, product design and positioning, pricing, distribution and promotion. Companies need to understand rural marketing in a broader manner not only to survive and grow in their business, but also a means to the development of the rural economy. One has to have a strategic view of the rural markets so as to know and understand the markets well. In the context of rural marketing one has to understand the manipulation of marketing mix has to be properly understood in terms of product usage. Product usage is central to price, distribution, promotion, branding, company image and more important farmer economics, thus any strategy in rural marketing should be given due attention and importance by understanding the product usage, all elements of marketing mix can be better organised and managed. i4d | January 2006

NanaSala Vouchers The ‘NanaSala Dahasak’ (1000 NanaSalas) Project of ICT Agency which is being implemented under the patronage of H.E. the President, is well under way with 150 Centers already operational. The ICTA nevertheless understands that the subject of Information Communication Technology is new to most of Sri Lanka’s population, especially in the rural areas, and that they may not be fully aware of the benefits of ICTs. They may even be un-informed of the services offered at the NanaSala centres. Even for the segment of population that understand these benefits, and also know where the closest NanaSala is, the affordability factor may dissuade them from using these services. In order to address this affordability gap, the ICT Agency has begun an innovative voucher program, which is currently being administered by Pricewaterhouse Coopers Sri Lanka. Customers can visit the NanaSala, ask for a Rs. 50 voucher and use a computer or the Internet for the exchange of this voucher. The owner is then reimbursed by ICTA for the cost of the voucher, also providing a source of income for the owners. Currently, the awareness and voucher programmes are in operation the NanaSala: Rural Knowledge Centres in 3 districts, Hambantota, Moneragala and Badulla, and will be extended to the rest in the near future. ICTA has also obtained the services of SEEDS - an institution with extensive experience in communicating complex concepts in rural areas - to create awareness of this voucher programme. SEEDS are currently running outdoor advertising campaigns with village meetings in areas near the NanaSala centres.

Already in its short existence, the voucher programme has made positive impacts on the people in the target areas. In Moneragala, the Nanasala owners speak of people from the community doing CAD drawings and chatting with relatives who are in foreign countries. In Badulla, NanaSala owners help people find jobs through the government’s JobsNet website and receive e-Learning in certain A and O level subjects. In Hambantota, people come to the NanaSala to learn English through e-Learning software, access government services through the web, access market prices and do typesetting and desktop publishing. NanaSala owners, who understand their communities better than any outsider, are coming up with creative and innovative ways to popularise the centres by mobilising segments of their communities through ICT-learning groups called ‘e-societies’, visiting nearby schools and giving free/ low-cost computer classes at the centres. The ‘digital divide’ between the rural areas and urban areas, the poor areas and affluent areas is striking in most countries, both developing and developed. This divide leads to an opportunity gap where rural populaces are denied some of the prospects that are available to those in urban areas and many a concept has been proposed and actioned to bridge these gaps. The ICT Agency is executing some of the more promising ideas - with the voucher programme being the front runner among them - to ensure that the digital divide, in Sri Lanka at least, becomes a thing of the past, and every student, entrepreneur or any citizen, regardless of location, gets an opportunity to reach their fullest potential. Source: ICTA, Sri Lanka

Client and location specific promotion Increasing specialisation in the farming sector has marketers to this strategy. The marketer under this strategy has to design location and carry out farmer specific promotional campaigns. Recommending the use of the products at micro level would result in increasing productivity of the input and thereby increasing the image and the sales of the product can raise the input demand for rural markets. Joint or co-operative promotion A personalised approach is required under this strategy of rural marketing. Under this approach there is a greater scope for private sector and farmer organisation to get into input supply and especially into retail distribution, as it is a low risk activity.

Bundling of inputs In order to reap the benefits of, the economies of the scale a rural marketer has to resort to bundling of inputs. ‘Bundling of Inputs’ is the process by which the marketer would provide a bundle of products to the retailer so that he can meet the requirements of the farmers in one place. The village level co-operatives and other agencies can play an effective role in the distribution of inputs. Establishing linkages with financial agencies and other input sellers can help greatly as the bank credit plays an important role by making the purchase possible. Management of Demand A marketer apart from maintaining good supplies in terms of quality and quantity also has to focus on the demand side of the operations also. Continuous January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

market research should be undertaken to assess the buyer’s needs and problems so that continuous improvements and innovations can be undertaken for a sustainable market performance.

Developmental marketing Developmental marketing refers to taking up marketing programmes keeping the development objective in mind and using various managerial and other inputs of marketing to achieve these objectives. A prerequisite for developmental marketing is Development Market Research, which can be termed as the application of marketing research tools and techniques to the problems of development. The research tools of marketing like product testing tests marketing, concept testing and media testing or message test and focus groups are used in this work. Developmental marketing has started to find its roots in India where researchers are using focus groups and products tests to learn more about rural markets and products needs and USPs (Unique Selling Proposition) can be tried out. Media rural marketing uses both kinds of media i.e. the traditional media as well as the modern media. The traditional media includes puppetry, drama, folk theatre e.g. tamsaha (role play of different characters by one or two persons), nautanki (short skits with songs and poetry), street plays, folk songs, wall paintings and proverbs. Marketer uses traditional media as it is more accessible, personalised, familiar and carries a high potential for change. The modern media includes the print media, the television and the radio USPs.

Some of the USPs of the companies engaged in rural marketing are given below. Mahindra Tractors- ‘Mera Desh Mera Gaon’ (My country my village) Tafe Tractors-‘Grameen Bharat ki Dhadkan’ Tafe ka Massey Ferguson(The heart beat of rural India its Tafe’s Massey Ferguson) Swaraj Tractors- ‘Pragati aur Khush-hali ke liye’ (For development and happiness) Escorts- ‘Nayi technique ke sath, Bharosa Jeevan bhar Ka’ (A life long trust with new techniques) Eicher-‘Ghazab ki takat, ghazab ki shaan’ (Incredible strength, Incredible pride) Sun Seeds- ‘Grow with Sun’ ICI Karate Insecticide‘Keedon ka Maha-kaal, Phasal Ka Pehredaar’ (Insects enemy protector of the crops). Pesticide India- ‘Desh ke liye Phasal Anek, Keedon ke Naash ke liye Foratox Sirf Ek’ (Numerous crops for the country but only for destroying pests i.e. Foratox). Thus the companies use different formats to influence the target audience in order to produce the desired results. Extension Services. There are several limitations of rural marketing in the Indian context, this leads to the need for extension services to supplement the efforts of the firms engaged in rural marketing. The various extension services could include credit facilities, competitions among the farmers, educating the farmers regarding the appropriate agricultural practices, etc. Extension services would thus play a crucial role in the development of rural marketing in India.

Ethics in Business Ethics occupies a special place in rural marketing, and has been at the heart of all the transactions whether cash or kind. In order to make a lasting impact on the rural clients, the firms need to built a trustful relationship and that is possible by no other means but only by ethical conduct.

Partnership for sustainability There is a need to build partnership with rural clients for a sustainable business relationship and sustainable marketing relationship. There should be a long-term relationship between the firms and farmers for agro business projects, which are risky, long drawn and technical in nature. Partnership is required in rural marketing business so as to award distributorship to local groups and individuals employing locals, staff secondment in local projects, preferential purchase of local product, training to locals and discount on product supplies in some areas. Rural marketing firms can work with NGOs also because NGOs have better linkages and understanding of the local communities and their problems. Nagarjuna fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd has set up an agro output division which is known as FMS (Farm Management Service) which provides packages to the farmers right form soil testing to post harvest stage of the crop system. The FMS aims at enhancing farm productivity optimising cost of production, improving economic returns to farmers and enhancing the cost of production and enhancing the produce quality.

Conclusion Rural marketing in India has still a long way to go, rural marketers have to understand the fact that rural marketing in India has a tremendous potential in our country. Rural marketers should understand this fact and try to tap the huge untapped potential in our country.

NepaLinux NepaLinux is a Debian and Morphix based GNU/Linux distribution focused for Desktop usage in Nepali language computing. It contains applications for Desktop users like: OpenOffice.org, Nepali Gnome Desktop, Nepali input systems etc. Since January 2004, Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya, the principal archive of books and periodicals in the Nepali language, undertook the Nepal component of the 30-month long PAN Localisation Project (www.PANL10n.net), a multi-nation localisation project being conducted in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, with the support of International Development and Research Centre (IDRC), Canada. This project includes a Nepali GNU/Linux distribution ‘NepaLinux’ comprising of localised GNOME, OpenOffice.org, Mozilla suite, and other utilities that include Nepali Spellchecker, Thesaurus, Nepali Unicode support, etc. This distribution can be used in Nepali as well in English environment. Though NepaLinux is basically a live CD it can also be installed in the computer. The work for the installation process has been facilitated through the European Commission supported Bhasha Sanchar Project (www.bhashasanchar.org) which is led by the Open University (UK). NepaLinux is a Free/Open Source Software (FOSS), in which the source code is open and the users have the freedom to use, study, modify according to one’s needs and redistribute it. NepaLinux, being a Free/Open Source Software, does not charge for its software unlike proprietary software, which cost a lot and also do not allow the users to study, modify, or redistribute. The official website for NepaLinux is www.nepalinux.org. Other available places to look for assistance are: Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya support forum (www.mpp.org.np/ forum), NepaLinux Mailing List (www.nepalinux.org/lists), NepaLinux Wiki (www.nepalinux.org/wiki), IRC for realtime queries (#nepalinux on irc.freenode.net). The web space for the hosting of NepaLinux for the users inside Nepal has been provided by Everest Net. Information regarding the download of NepaLinux for users outside Nepal is available on the website.

Digital cinema – Virtual multiplexes When UFO (United Film Organizers) Digital Cinema Systems was launched, they had promised that their systems will provide scheduling flexibility to their Exhibitors. The exact implication of this statement is now been reflected in theatres. With zero investment in print costs, distributors are using UFO Digital Cinema System to convert single screen cinemas into virtual multiplexes. In a manner similar to multiplexes where multiple films are exhibited on a single screen. Single cinema screens like Central Plaza in Mumbai, Mahalaxmi in Surendranagar and Vinay in Adipur are getting released with simultaneous screening of Ek Ajnabee and Kalyug. Similarly Kalyug and Apharan are being released simultaneously in Bangbasi in Howrah, Central Plaza in Mumbai, Durgapur in Durgapur, Manoj in Asansol, Paradise in Porbandar and Rakhi in Salkia. This is possible solely due to UFO Digital Cinema’s unique capability of hosting 8 to 10 films at a time on their servers for exhibition in their theatres. More information can be found at www.ufomoviez.com

i4d | January 2006

The Asian conference on e-Government

The Asian conference on ICT and Education

April 25 - 28, 2006 Rama Gardens Hotels and Resorts Bangkok,Thailand

Organisers

Co-organiser

Media partners

Supporting partners

Institutional partner

Technical Sessions •

e-Government Country Plans

•

Policy and Technology Framework in e-Government

•

Funding and Financing Mechanisms in e-Government projects

April 25 - 28, 2006 Introduction

•

Content Management, Data Standardisation and GUI

•

Public-Private Partnerships and Service Level Agreement

•

Emerging trends in Mobile Government

•

Government Process Re-engineering and Change Management

Asian countries are witnessing a dramatic change in their

•

Project Monitoring, Evaluation and Auditing Mechanisms

economy. So is the scene of e-Governance! Some countries are

•

e-Democracy through e-Government

already topping the international charts of e-Governance, some

•

e-Security and Cyber Laws for efficient Governance

have just begun their journey, while there are a few others

•

ICTs and Rural e-Governance

who are yet to step into the e-Governance arena. The scope for these countries to learn from their advanced Asian

Exhibition

neighbours is immense and opportunities are unbound.

egov Asia 2006 will have an elaborate exhibition of latest e-

The present need is to create a common ground of equitable

Government products, solutions suites, services, initiatives and

learning which facilitates a process of overall development of

case studies from all across Asia and beyond. Professional service

the region.

providers, IT vendors, consulting firms, government agencies

The Event egov Asia 2006 - the international conference on e-Government,

and national/international development organisations involved in the e-Government domain are encouraged to participate in the exhibition.

aims to provide a knowledge-sharing platform and a forum for policymakers, practitioners, industry sleaders and

Call for Papers

academicians of Asia-Pacific nations to carry forward the

Abstract Submission:

February 28 , 2006

e-Government vision of the region and consolidate them into

Abstract Acceptance:

March 05 , 2006

actionable programme, through collaborative learning and

Full Paper Submission:

March 30, 2006

partnerships.

Keynote Sessions Eminent experts and senior government officers from various parts of Asia and outside Asia will discuss the e-Government developments in their respective countries. The discussion will include but not limit to the following topics: •

e-Government trends in Asia

•

e-Government strategies of Asian countries

•

Leadership reflections in e-Government

www.egovasia.net

Important Contacts Registration:

registration@egovasia.net

Papers:

papers@egovasia.net

For Sponsorship:

sponsorship@egovasia.net

For Exhibition:

exhibition@egovasia.net

For General Information:

info@egovasia.net

Submit abstract online at www.egovasia.net/abstractonline.asp

Keynote sessions Eminent experts from the education system and senior government officials from various part of Asia and outside will discuss debate the current policies and trends in ICT in education in their respective countries. This discussion will include the following broad themes

National ICT and Education strategies

ICT in Education trends in Asian countries

Best Practices in ICT in Education in Asia

Sessions The conference will focus on the following board thematic sessions-

April 25 - 28, 2006 Education and training are the foundation of global competitiveness. There is increasing evidence that education and skill levels of human resource are significant determinants of success or failure of human resource-led strategy of a knowledge society in a globalised world. In recent years, several countries in East and Southeast Asia have embarked on creation of globally competetive human resource through national education strategies with a focus on integrating ICT in education at all levels. However countries are still in different stages of this integration, coping with challenges of infrastructure and implementation.

The conference Digital Learning Asia aims to take stock of the progress of the South and East Asian countries in utilising Information and Communication Technologies to enhance the quality and reach of education with a focus on building a human capital that responds to the needs of a globalised world. The conference will provide a platform for policymakers, practitioners, industry leaders and academicians to showcase best practices, share experience, knowledge and perspective and learn from exploring solutions to meet challenges of integrating technologies in all level of education as well as introducing technology education at all level. The conference will provide a forum for showcasing and learning from best practices, explore solutions to meet challenges and discuss issues and strategies for best utilising the potential of ICT in education.

Public private partnership in ICT in education

Technologies for education and training

Education of informatics and communication technologies

Online teaching and learning

Distance education/learning e-learning in classrooms

Call for Papers Abstract Submission:

February 28 , 2006

Instructional design and elearning content

Abstract Acceptance:

March 05 , 2006

Full Paper Submission:

March 30, 2006

Monitoring and evaluation of ICT in education

Important Contacts

Quality standards in e-content

Future trends in e-learning

We welcome new themes/session ideas.

Exhibition Digital Learning Asia 2006 will have an exhibition of latest e-solutions, services, initiatives and case studies from across Asia and beyond. Professional service providers, IT vendors, consulting firms, government agencies and national/international development organisations involved in the ICT in Education domain are encouraged to participate in the exhibition.

Registration:

registration@DLasia.csdms.in

Papers:

papers@DLasia.csdms.in

Sponsorship:

sponsorship@DLasia.csdms.in

Exhibition:

exhibition@DLasia.csdms.in

General Information:

info@DLasia.csdms.in

Submit abstract online at www.DLasia.csdms.in/abstractonline.asp

www.DLasia.csdms.in

Organizers’ profile Organisers

The Centre for Good Governance

Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) is a leading Asian nongovernmental institution engaged in advocacy, research and community building in e-government, ICT for Development and knowledge management issues through capacity building and media initiatives. www.csdms.in.

GIS Development Pvt. Ltd. GIS Development strives to promote and propagate the usage of geospatial technologies in various areas of development for the community at large. It remains dedicated to foster the growing network of those interested in geo-informatics worldwide and Asia in particular. www.GISdevelopment.net.

Co-Organisers Danish Technological Institute (DTI), Denmark The Danish Technological Institute (DTI) is one of the oldest technological institutes in the world. DTI has successfully carried out a projects like BEEP (Best e-Europe Practices), PRISMA (Providing innovative service models and assessment). www.danishtechnology.dk.

Supporting partners SEAMEO The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) was established on 30 November 1965 as a chartered international organization whose purpose is to promote cooperation in education, science and culture in the Southeast Asian region. The vision is to have a dynamic, self reliant, strategic, policy-driven and internationally recognized regional organization for strengthening regional understanding and cooperation in education, science and culture for a better quality of life. www.seameo.org

The Centre for Good Governance (CGG) was established by the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) in October, 2001 to help it achieve the State’s goal of transforming governance. CGG undertakes action research, provides professional advice to, and conducts change management programmes for government departments and agencies to help them implement their reform agenda successfully. CGG works closely with policy-makers like Ministers, senior officials, management experts, institutions and other stakeholders, especially citizens towards ushering in a caring government centered on the people. http://www.cgg.gov.in

The University of Malaya, Faculty of Economics and Administration UNIVERSITI MALAYA, the first University of the country, was established on 8 October 1949 as a national institution to serve the higher education needs of the Federation of Malaya and Singapore. The University of Malaya grew out of a tradition of service to the society - to help lay the foundations of a new nation by producing a generation of skilled and educated men. The University motto, “Ilmu Punca Kemajuan” (Knowledge is the Key to Success) reflects the philosophy of the University in its constant endeavour to seek knowledge in all fields to produce successful graduates and a successful nation. http://www.um.edu.my/

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA MARA College was officially renamed Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM) on 14 Oktober 1967. Its establishment came as a response to a crucial need in the country of Malaysia for trained manpower in the professional and semiprofessional levels. In August 1999, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad announced the change of name of ITM to Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). With this acknowledgement from the government, a major restructuring exercise was carried out in order to consolidate the University’s resources for optimum productivity. http://www.uitm.edu.my

egov Asia 2006 & DL Asia 2006 Secretariat Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) G - 4, Sector-39, NOIDA - 201 301, India Tel: +91-120-2502180 to 87, Fax: +91-120-2500060 URL: www.egovasia.net, www.DLasia.csdms.in E-mail: info@egovasia,net, info@DLasia.csdms.in

Vol. IV No. 1

January 2006

Information for development w w w . i 4 d . c s d m s . i n

Agriculture e-Farmer call centre launched in Uttar Pradesh ATNC Info-solution Company has launched an e-Farmer call centre for the rural community in western Uttar Pradesh. Supported by NABARD, State Bank of India and others, this initiative is a part of the eFarmer technology project that the company is working on. ATNC, operating in the domains of Agro& Rural- Informatics, provides complete end-to-end IT solutions for rural community addressing the need to build cost-effective, user-friendly, IT-based systems. http://www.efytimes.com

Digital revolution in Agriculture US chipmaker AMD Inc has tied up with National Spot Exchange for Agricultural Produce to provide the latter its Personal Internet Communicators to help connect over 7,500 agricultural produce marketing committees. This tie-up will offer an affordable computing solution, including broadband connectivity and pre-installed software to farmers, sellers, traders and buyers in the nationwide agricultural supply chain. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

Education Online coaching zooming into Indian tutorial market Tutorial centres are now going online as education-service providers such as Career L auncher, Triumphant Institute of Management Education (TIME), Educomp January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

Solutions and Tutor Vista get ready to tap this market. With broadband services getting cheaper and students turning tech savvy, online tutoring is fast turning mainstream, giving the friendly-neighbourhood coaching centres a run for their students. In order to popularise the concept, while institutes such as Career Launcher are collaborating with broadband service providers to expand their reach, others such as the Hyderabad-based TIME institute is going in for direct tie-ups with 800 engineering colleges in the SEC B and C towns to provide coaching for entrance exams such as CAT and GRE. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

10,000 Nigerians to benefit from IT programme Poised to eradicate IT illiteracy in Nigeria, over 10,000 Nigerians are to benefit from NIIT computer training programme in all its centres spread across the country. This number is in addition to over 130,000 Nigerians from all walks of life who have enjoyed such opportunities. Nigeria is joining other countries to train over 500,000 people, which is in continuation of the mission set out by NIIT of bringing people and computers together successfully. http://allafrica.com

Educomp targets 5 lakh students, extends to all Indian Languages Educomp Solutions Ltd, a technology enabled education solution provider, is planning to expand its ‘Smart– Class’ project, an educational infrastructure project with digitilised content, being offered in 10 local languages now, to almost all the other Indian languages too. The company, digital content provider for K12 (Kindergarten to class 12), is also

planning to venture into the US market. It expects 225 schools on an average to have 10 class rooms running Smart–Class. Presently, the company is reaching over 1 lakh students in various states in India. http://www.newindpress.com

Taking ICT to remote schools in Bhutan The department of information technology in Bhutan through a government of India funded programme has started distribution of 300 computers to the 100 selected schools from December 19, enabling hundred remote community, primary and lower secondary schools around the country to learn the basics of computers when the 2006 academic session begins. Each school will get three computers, a printer, free Internet and maintenance for a year. This week 25 teachers from the remote schools around the country completed a 10-day training in basic computer operations in Phuentsholing. Many of them had not touched a computer in their life. http://www.kuenselonline.com

e-Governance 500 Judges get computing skill in Rwanda A total of five hundred provincial judges and court clerks from different provinces of Rwanda recently concluded a two-month basic computing skills course from their respective provincial centres. The officials were taught basic computing skills like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and how to use the Internet. http://allafrica.com

The i4d News

‘SBI Tiny’, the no frills account for rur rural al Indians State Bank of India (SBI) is launching a ‘no frills’ bank account exclusively for rural people in the country. The scheme will enable villagers to start a bank account with deposit amount as low as Rs 50. Termed ‘SBI Tiny’, the account can be maintained with zero balance. This deposit scheme will be available to all daily wage earners or those with monthly income below Rs 5,000. It will carry interest as applicable to savings accounts, which is currently 3.5 per cent. The bank may, at a later date, consider ATM cards based on biometric access, depending on the business volumes. SBI has over 4,000 rural branches across the country. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

Microsoft to push e-Governance in India

Southern Indian police launches Web log

Microsoft is to invest US$1.7 billion in India and also partner the government of India in pushing e-Governance through National Institute for Smart Governance (NISG). Microsoft has signed agreements with the government’s Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and the NISG, the 49 per cent governmentowned non-profit company that promotes e-Governance in India. The e-Governance agreement would enable Microsoft and NISG to create a new class of applications and solutions that focus on optimising the delivery of government services in identified areas. Two new innovation centres, both tie-ups with the NISG in New Delhi and Hyderabad, are also to be set up by Microsoft. Microsoft will conduct pilot projects on workflow automation in government, e-Governance solutions and smart cards in these two centres.

In keeping with the policy of the Karnataka Government in India to implement e-Governance in the day-to-day administration to the maximum extent, the Dakshina Kannada District Police has launched its official Web log (blog). Important matters relating to the district police would be regularly posted on the blog. The blog can be accessed on http:/ /spdk.blogspot.com. With this, authentic and official information of the department can be given to the press and the people swiftly, to which all can easily access. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

e-Commerce/e-Banking New Gen ATMs to auto-clear cheques

World-renowned chipmaker, Intel, has developed community-based computer, which would be used by the Government of India for e-Governance purposes. These special computers are being tested in 20 villages across the country. The local Indian companies like Wipro, Zenith and HCL would act as Intel vendors and provide these community PPPs to the government. The Centre aims to use this computer to expedite land revenue related work and issue license, like e-Seva services in Hyderabad.

In India intelligent deposit of the cheques is just round the corner with which cheques deposited through ATMs would be automatically cleared by the clearing house on the basis of digital image of cheque scanned and transferred by the machine to the respective bank. RBI has agreed to allow it to be implemented in national capital regions of the country during the middle of year 2006. Banks from the public sector and the private sector have given a positive response to new technology expressed keen interest in adopting it. India has over 21,000 ATMs in the field and its growing at an annualised rate of nearly 25 percent. Intelligent deposit of currency note is another new feature that is expected to hit the market next year.

http://www.newkerala.com

http://www.business-standard.com

http://www.newkerala.com

Intel making computer for e-Governance

e-Auction quota of coal gets two time increase The Government of India has doubled the quota of coal for consumers under e-Auction route during the current financial year. The ministry of coal has permitted Coal India Ltd (CIL) to offer another 10 million tonne of coal for consumers under eAuction during the current financial year taking up the total coal released under the new route to 20 mt. http://www.financialexpress.com

Health e-Encyclopedia on Indian traditional medical knowledge With help from software engineers and patent examiners, some 100 doctors, practitioners of ayurveda, unani and siddha, ancient Indian medical systems, are putting together a 30-million-page electronic encyclopaedia of India’s traditional medical knowledge, the first of its kind in the world. The US$2m project, christened Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, will roll out an encyclopedia of the country’s traditional medicine in five languages English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish - in an effort to stop people from claiming them as their own and patenting them. http://news.bbc.co.uk

Livelihood A call centre now for blinds in India The non-governmental organisation, Late Vasantrao Sule Medical and Charitable Trust, is launching a call centre in India that will employ only unemployed visually impaired youths. The call centre will cater to the needs of unemployed youths by providing information about jobs available in Mumbai and Thane. To be called Blindline, it would initially be a placement helpline. This is one of the 50 projects which the charity organisation has undertaken to provide self-employment to the physically challenged youths. It is being launched on December 12 in Mumbai. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com i4d | January 2006

The i4d News Microsoft to add 3,000 professionals over the next 3 yrs in India Global software giant Microsoft will increase its headcount in India by 3,000 over the next three to four years. It has 4,000 professionals in India today, which will be increased to 7,000 over the next three to four years. http://www.hindustantimes.com

HCL to preload regional language interface on PCs In a bid to drive PC usage among non-English speakers, HCL Infosystems would preload Indian language interface across all its PC brands, including Beanstalk, Ezeebee and Busybee. Developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), the offering initially is in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu. Similar efforts are on to develop software tools, utilities and applications in other Indian languages also. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

HCL top ICT employer in UK HCL Technologies Ltd’s offshore arm, HCL Great Britain has been named as one of the top information and communication technology (ICT) employers in the UK by Corporate Research Foundation (CRF). HCL Great Britain is ranked alongside leading ICT companies such as Tesco and Nokia. Within UK shores, HCL owns and operates the Apollo BPO center in Belfast and a delivery center at Armagh, Northern Ireland (UK), making it the only Indian IT company with local investments in facilities. http://www.hindustantimes.com

SA launches database for unemployed graduates Over 20 companies in South Africa have pledged to enroll more than 4 000 graduates next year. This has emerged during government’s launch of the Unemployed Graduate Placement Initiative (UGPI), a database set to link unemployed graduates with possible employers. The database is managed by the Umsobomvu Youth Fund, a youth body that is aimed at promoting job creation and skills development among young South Africans between the ages of 18 and 35.Companies will be able to place advertisements on the Internet portal directly but will have to register first. http://allafrica.com

Technology

acted as a powerful recruiting sergeant for the blogging community. In recent months, the stalwarts of the Ethiopian blogging world, chief among them ethiopundit, have been joined by a whole range of online upstarts, among them Weichegud! ET Politics, Satisfy My Soul (Ego) and Friends of Ethiopia, all of whom use the conveniently free and anonymous Blogger platform for their online musings. One website doing its best to keep track of the new explosion is BlogAfrica, which lists the entries of around 100 of the best-read African blogs from Cairo to Cape Town. http://news.bbc.co.uk

Now chat sessions can also become error-free Chennai-based Aspire Systems can now help keeping the chat sessions error-free by avoiding pitfalls like a spelling or grammar mistake. This will be done with IMSpellCheck, developed recently for a customer who wanted to capitalise on the lack of spell check on commonly used Instant Messenger applications such as MSN Messenger, AOL and Yahoo. This product checks the spelling mistakes and grammatical errors when we type in Instant Messengers and also intelligently corrects them. It can be downloaded from http://www.spellaroo.com. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

Ethiopian bloggers find their voice now

Yahoo Answers for online queries

In the past few months, the Ethiopian blogging scene has started to blossom. While this is partly due to the slow but sure spread of Internet infrastructure across the country, another reason is the number of seismic events that have taken place since the May elections, which have

Yahoo! Inc., seeking to increase the amount of user-generated content on its web sites, is offering Yahoo Answers that lets people pose questions and receive answers from other Yahoo users. Yahoo Answers is designed to provide information that can’t easily be found using

January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

an Internet search engine. Users will be able to vote on which answer is the best for each question. The free service may help Yahoo, the No. 2 Internet search engine behind Google, lure more users and sell more advertising. http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Telecommunication Telcos target rural India Global telecommunication giants are gearing up to take a deep plunge into the domestic rural segment. Handset majors like Motorola and Nokia and infrastructure provider Alcatel, and Indian companies such as Reliance Infocomm and Tata Indicom have already taken the first step to venture into the unchartered territories. India has more than 6.34 lakh villages, of which Uttar Pradesh with over 1.2 lakh villages and Bihar (77,697), Madhya Pradesh (76,220), Orissa(51,057), Maharashtra (43,025) and West Bengal (40,889) are on the top of the strategy for the rural foray. http://www.business-standard.com

Cell phone users on wait list Cellular uptake in India is picking up so rapidly that operators now have a waiting list. While Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has reported over 1.4 million subscribers on its waiting list, private cellular operators admit to not being able to offer connections to everyone for lack of capacity on their network. BSNL’s mobile waiting list is almost as high as its fixed line list, which has 1.6 million users awaiting a connection as on September 2005. There are more than three million new users added by cellular operators across the country. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

The i4d News

74 pc of ICT workforce lack formal education The ‘National ICT Workforce Survey 2005’, carried out by Computer Association of Nepal (CAN), shows that of the total ICT workforce of around 4,000, only around 1,000 have formal ICT education from recognized colleges and universities. Among those with formal ICT education, 77.2 percent were educated in Nepal, 13.6 in India and in countries such as Russia, Australia, China and the US, among others, while the rest have obtained training on computer operation and other readymade software packages from computer institutes. According to the report, only 22.49 percent of the workforce is engaged in real ICT activities such as programming, software and hardware development, networking and animation compared to around 71.28 percent in professions such as teaching, training, secretarial jobs and other ICT related activities. http://www.kantipuronline.com

Grey telecom market players in India make losses Rs 458-cr The department of telecommunications (DoT) figures that Grey market operators in the telecom sector have caused the country losses amounting to Rs 458 crore since 1998. Over 60 per cent of the revenue losses have been reported from Delhi and Maharashtra, with violations to the tune of Rs 290 crore. Grey market frauds of about Rs 60 crore had been registered in Andhra Pradesh, followed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Gujarat at Rs 36 crore, Rs 35 crore and Rs 15 crore respectively. These six states also accounted for over 95 per cent of revenue losses through illegal telecom set-ups. The department has set up dedicated CBI cells in the four metros in addition to Vigilance and Telecom Monitoring cells in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai, to mitigate grey market activities. http://www.business-standard.com

Wireless Nokia releases wireless keyboard Writing text messages, e-Mails, meeting and calendar notes quickly and efficiently on the easy-to-use portable, wireless QWERTY keyboard now makes this the perfect tool for the mobile wireless office. The Nokia Wireless Keyboard connects via Bluetooth to compatible Nokia Series 60 Bluetooth enabled mobile phones, like the Nokia 6600, Nokia 6260, Nokia 6630 and Nokia 7610. Simply pair the two devices, then turn on the keyboard and

connect with the compatible device. Press the messaging key on the keyboard and the messaging window immediately opens on the phone. http://estrategy.co.za

Solar power for better rural cell phone access Siemens Communications has developed a solar-powered base station for cellular network operators operating in remote areas of Africa that lack electricity supplies. The first base station, in Chiringa, Malawi, has been supplied to Celtel, which operates in 13 African countries. Cellular base stations were usually powered from the electricity grid with a diesel-powered generator as a backup in case of power cuts. http://allafrica.com

Now wireless communication for vehicles General Motors demonstrated a vehicleto-vehicle (V2V) wireless communication system that alerts when a collision is imminent. The automaker equipped regular Cadillac STS sedans with wireless and Global Positioning System antennae and computer chips that allow the cars to communicate with other vehicles with similar equipment. The wireless technology in one car detects the presence of the other two Cadillacs and avoids collisions by either alerting the driver of danger or by automatically stopping the vehicle in an emergency.

General Now training schools to beat IT staff crunch With studies projecting a shortage of skilled IT professionals in the not-so-distant future, IT majors have started to take corrective steps. Taking a que from Infosys, IBM is now planning to invest in a captive training school to impart training to thousands of techies expected to join its Indian subsidiary in the near future. This will be first instance of a multinational opening a campus here although it is a common practice for US companies. The Infosys centre at Mysore has facilities to train close to 10,000 employees each year. Though in the drawing board, the IBM school is expected to be large as the company has big plans for its Indian operations. Besides expanding its in-house training, the company has launched a programme to get a greater number of women to join the tech sector. Currently, women constitute 24% of IBM’s global workforce, the company wants to double it in the next 5-10 years. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

IT, BPO exports to earn US$60 bn by 2010 IT and BPO industry representatives have called for creating 10-12 integrated townships like Gurgaon and Pune to keep India’s fast growing achievements from falling in the infrastructure ditch. Releasing the new Nasscom-McKinsey report, they said that IT and BPO sectors would earn $60 billion in exports by March 2010, about 7% of GDP, up from 3% at present. About a million jobs in these sectors are projected to be generated near Tier-I cities (Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai) and about six lakh in other towns across the country. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

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i4d | January 2006

A SHA

Technology prospect in farm sector The provision of agri-business services through CICs has been named as Asha as it has shown a ray of hope to all stakeholders of farm sector.

Dr. Saurabh Gupta State Informatics Officer & Technical Director sio-asm@hub.nic.in

Mr Diganta Barman Technical Director, NIC Assam

January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

Introduction It is due to the lack of knowledge/ information viz., weather, market, schemes, events, State policies and others, most of our farmers are failing to reap the benefit of their hard work in terms of sustainable farm income. Though there is a great demand for these services there is no service provider hither to. Paradox is, the same information/ knowledge is available with different agencies and access and reach to the masses is the problem being faced currently. Looking at the great demand of specified information and services and their impact on farmer’s household incomes and farm economy in general, a web portal http:// www.assamagribusiness.nic.in enriched with useful information/under one umbrella and aimed at marketing farmers, functionaries, scientists, traders and the NGOs on user fees basis to derive benefit from the portal through Community Information Centres (CICs) set up in each block of North Eastern States of India in the partnership of GOI, has been developed. The provision of AgriBusiness services through CICs has been named as Asha as it has shown a ray of hope to all stakeholders of Farm Sector.

Challenges in farm sector in north-east India Agricultural Field Functionaries: • Inadequate access to latest production technology of both traditional crops and about new crops being commercialised, in spite of large investment and initiative from the government for the last fifty years; • Inadequate/lack of access to various schemes/guidelines/project profiles offered by various Government institutions, in spite the initiative from the government;

• Inadequate awareness of various national, state and other expert R & D, training, and other institutions for networking and synergy collectively; • Lack of opportunity to share the success stories/valuable experience. Farmers • Inadequate awareness of latest production practices, technologies available, trainings offered, schemes available etc; • Inadequate awareness of weather and market price information resulting in loss in produce/value; • The cost of contacting the nearest ADO/ VLEW/agriculture functionary every time is becoming costly; • Poor inter personal communication with department functionaries; • Lack of opportunity/right forum to share the success stories/valuable experience; • The problem of spurious inputs – seeds, pesticides etc. are causing great loss to farmers. Scientist • A serious communication gap with the Agriculture Department functionaries on the technology developed by them resulting use of inappropriate technologies by farmers; • Lack of value addition to research and their access to farmers. Traders • Difficulty in direct trading because of lack of information about producers; • Compulsion to depend on middlemen. To meet out the challenges Asha portal is designed for farmers with the goal for improving their farm income on sustainable basis, to make CICs sustainable and to convert them as rural knowledge centre for farmers, government functionaries,

scientists, traders and the corporate sector besides providing a platform for the farmers, traders, government, bank, institution and private/corporate partnership for facilitating agri-business in north-east India. In the first phase, Assam, the state of blue hills and red rivers, has been selected for its implementation. It can be replicated in other states of north-eastern states of India. Objectives of ASHA • Building up of resources; • Capacity building; • Facilitate in establishing direct link between line departments, research institutions, scientist, corporate/private sector with farmers; • Facilitate in establishing direct link between buyers and sellers and reduce time and hassles; • Delivering market services in demand among the farmers; • Developing agro-business sector; • Creation of new livelihood and employment avenues in farming sector; • Bridging the gap between employer and unemployed youth through rural employment exchanges as a part of Asha; • Coverage of informal rural farm and non-farm sector; • Development of entrepreneurship in farming sector; • Improvement of rural economy.

SWOT analysis Strength • Involvement of several competent stakeholders viz. Assam SFAC, NIC ASSC, Director of Industries and Commerce, Managing Director - Assam Infrastructure Development Corporation,

Directorates - Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Fishery and Sericulture; Deputy Commissioners, District officers - Agriculture, Veterinary, Fishery and Sericulture, District Informatics Officer (NIC), community information centres, Agriculture Development Officers, PRIs, VLEWs, NGOs, SHGs etc. • Presence of a highly reliable delivery mechanism viz. community information centre with resources viz. computers, satellite link, uninterrupted power system, infrastructure along with two efficient technical persons. So no need for additional investment. • CICs linkage with National ICT backbone through VSAT based network. The concept of marketing the contents of portal is new. It will create new avenues in entrepreneurship in content marketing and hence will create employment opportunity to rural educated youths in opening up more cyber cafes in villages. The Asha services, comprising knowledge and project profiles, will augment livelihood and employment opportunities in the rural areas. Since there are several stake holders in the exercise, any laxity from any one stakeholder may affect the exercise. In view of the SWOT analysis, a comprehensive structure for services needs to be offered to stakeholders and the model of delivery has been designed.

Services offered using Asha Two types of services are being offered by Asha: telephonic services and walk in services. • Telephonic Services: Service available over telephone on working days are: weather, market, contact numbers, R & D institutions, and training institutions, ask expert, Calendar etc. i4d | January 2006

• Walk-in Service: The web portal offers a wide variety of services viz., weather and market watch, environment issues, all schemes and their guidelines, various training institutes and calendar, names and telephone number of functionaries right from the department to till grass root level. All services are of great demand in rural areas but there is no supply rather no one is catering of these services. It is expected that the web portal will definitely improve capacities and confidence of both the farmers and government functionaries and ignite rural economy.

Delivery mechanism and model The delivery of services will be made to all registered users through CICs. The membership can be availed in prescribed ways. There are some categories of membership and the Fees structure for 200506. For groups (NGOs/PPS/SHG), only the president and secretary of the group are allowed to interact/avail the services. There are special offers such as (1) if an individual member enrolls ten new annual members, his services validity will be increased to one more year; (2) if a group (SHG/NGO/PPS) membership serves, validity will be increased one year for every 50 new annual members enrollment in the CIC. The government functionaries includes agriculture, veterinary, fishery and sericulture department officials of all categories till grassroots level. Free Internet browsing minimum 10 hours per month (maximum can be decided by the Custodian and CIC based on their income and help extended by the functionaries in marketing the Asha services). Actual cost of printing will be decided by CIC operator and DIO on annual basis.

Technology applied Security is the major issue in keeping data safe, thus in Asha portal, MD5 encryption technology has been incorporated for safeguarding the password used for logging into the various dynamic module of it. Many portals use basic authentication with the access files or simple web forms, combined with cookies to authenticate their users and only a few of them use a HTTPS server to send the data. Someone sniffing packets on the network can easily capture the passwords, and use it to gain access to the accounts. The solution to this problem is to create a ‘hash’ of the password before sending it. This hash should not be used again, a ‘seed’ concept is used which results in a different seed each time a user wants to login. A seed is generated, i.e. 12345.67890 and is included in the page where the user is being asked for his password. A copy of the seed is stored in the session object at the server side. When the user submits the page, a javascript calculates the MD5 hash of the seed and the password. The e-mail address and the hash are sent to the server. When the server receives this data, it reads the password for the entered email address from the database, and calculates the hash using the seed which is stored in the session object. Both hashes are compared, and if they match, the user is being granted access to the site. This method is much safer than the ‘.ht access’ method, and that it is strong enough to operate without SSL. However, it can also be used in combination with SSL to increase security. January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

Input validation Mostly security problems begin with input validation. The problem of SQL injection etc can be avoided by proper implementation of input validation. When input validation is performed, many applications implement input checking on the client side through JavaScript and HTML form elements. Client side checks can have more usable interface and can cut down on trips to the server to check for missing or malformed input. There are two basic security problems with client side validation checks. The first is that while they do appear to restrict user input, they actually offer no security benefit at all. All client side checks can be easily bypassed by an attacker. The second issue is that client side checks make it difficult to ensure that server side checks are in place and are implemented correctly. Most testers will be able to exercise the client side checks, but without ‘hacking’ the application, the server side checks may not be tested. The various categories of client side validation checks are: HTML, Design, JavaScript. These checks did help users input the data in a correct format. However, they added no value in terms of security, thus requirement to implement these same checks on the server to enforce the security of the validation checks arises. User input is validated on the browser whenever possible (by client scripts). Browser validation is faster and reduces the server load. The method adopted to validate a form on the server is to post the form to itself, instead of jumping to a different pages and the user gets the error messages on the same page as the form. This makes it easier to discover the error. Asha portal handles various errors as per the coding thus hereby safe guarding the background process from any malicious attackers. This is done by redirecting the erroneous pages to a known page. This concept of making Asha portal, a secured portal made it a portal with difference.

‘Asha’ – the hope Implementation of ASHA services has shown a ray of hope as per title ‘Asha’ to the farmer, functionaries, scientists, bankers and other stake holders of farm sector for improvement in their functions. The farmers are saved of being victims of dubious traders by getting the market information, even of unorganised markets by visiting community information centres. The Asha Services portal has become a unique portal in the country, offering services on five sectors of farming agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries and sericulture under one umbrella. It has become a unique portal, offering modern cultivation/management practices of a number of crops and, at the same time, offering wealth of information for the attention of corporate and to facilitate agri-business. Using Asha services, community information centres are developing as knowledge information centres and are becoming self sustainable. In last four months total enrollment of members is 3746 and revenue earned by these centres is Rs.323647, showing the interest of farmers in this new IT initiative to meet the challenges in farm sector in far flanged area of northeastern India.

I NTERVIEW

“...it is crucial that people have real access to ICT” both at the community level with existing networks and amongst a much wider community, with positive impacts at the household level. Fifthly, physical capital is created by access to markets and market information.

Dr William D Dar Director General, The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) w.dar@cgiar.org

How would you like to define role of ICT in a developing nation? The likelihood that people in developing countries can improve their lives is often limited not only by their lack of access to modern means of communication and sources of information, but also by complex network of constraints ranging from poverty and injustice in their own societies to the structure and dynamics of the global economic system. Access to ICT can make major difference in a developing nation. ICT impacts on human capital development through improved access to education and training via distance learning programmes and education tools and their transfer to remote locations. Secondly, natural capital is enhanced by greater access to institutions dealing with different aspects of natural resource management and sharing of experiences with other individuals and communities to develop local solutions to problems. Thirdly, supporting and strengthening local financial institutions to improve the provision of information on services and facilities available, can lead to better financial capital. Fourthly, social capital accrues with improved ‘networking’

Has ICT proliferated the problem of ‘digital divide’? Can you suggest some solutions? The ‘digital divide’ is a primary indicator of unequal opportunity, separating those who can access and use ICT and those who do not have access to technology or cannot use it. All countries, even the poorest, are increasing their access to and use of ICT. But the ‘information have’ countries are increasing access and use at such an exponential rate that the divide between countries is actually growing. Within countries, all groups are also increasing their access to and use of ICT. Here too, ‘information haves’ are increasing access and use at such an exponential rate that the division within countries is also actually growing. For ICT to have a real impact, it is crucial that people have real access to it. The ‘digital divide’ can be bridged when factors such as physical access, appropriate technology to suit local conditions, affordability, capacity, relevant content, integration, socio-cultural factors, trust, legal and regulatory framework, local economic environment, etc are tackled. There is also the need to build capacity among the local users in making use of ICT to access relevant information. That should be fulfilled as well. Which development sectors have higher potential to apply ICT for its remarkable progress? From a series of studies carried out in India, it emerges that access to information on public services is a key area that will derive maximum advantage. Health-related consultations are known to get a boost.

Marketing of rural produce is known to become more efficient. The area that is likely to derive maximum advantage is capacity strengthening of rural youth and knowledge sharing among local communities, especially in relation to marketing and disease control. Disaster preparedness is another key area. How ICRISAT is encouraging ICT application in development sector? ICRISAT believes that rural communities are better able to cope with drought when they have access to timely information and knowledge. The Virtual Academy for the Semi-Arid Tropics (VASAT) is a strategic information, communication and nonformal distance education coalition hosted by ICRISAT that aims to explore and interface ICTs with open and distance learning (ODL) so that information and knowledge can be shared in innovative and effective ways. To what extent ICT applications are fruitful in relation to the work of your organisation? As an international agricultural research centre, our organisation is mandated to produce and disseminate international public goods, and ICT-based tools and methods have for long been used in my organisation. An example is the information on plant genetic resources held in trust by ICRISAT on behalf of the global community. Information on these resources is effectively disseminated using ICT. Map products and data on village level studies are other examples. Agricultural extension is an important area for improving food security of rural communities in the rainfed areas of the tropics. This sector can derive benefits from emerging ICT applications. Our VASAT programme is an example of how we intend to use ICT to help our ultimate clientele. i4d | January 2006

January 2006

ICTD Project Newsletter

‘i-Governance’- the ‘DRISTI’ way Decentralisation aims at associating people with the government to the maximum possible extent. In India, the Panchayati Raj system enables people to participate in democracy in a more effective way and provides an opportunity for rural people to plan and administer their own affairs. The introduction of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in 1959 is considered to be an instrument of social revolution in India, the idea of which is based on the philosophy of decentralisation. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments (for rural local bodies

(panchayats) and urban local bodies (municipalities)) in 1992 widened the democratic base of the Indian polity. Within a year most of the states passed their own acts in conformity with the amended constitutional provisions. As a result India has moved towards what has been described as ‘multi-level federalism’.

Need for ICT interventions in empowering local bodies Good Governance is a part of the development process and the emergence of new ICTs has all the attributes of enabling this process. e-Governance is

the ICT-enabled route to achieving Good Governance. It may be called as ‘iGovernance’ – integrated governance since it integrates both processing and communication technologies, and also integrates people, processes, information, and technology in the objective of achieving governance objectives. Recently the Right to Information Act has been introduced in India “to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”. But the very basic problem of decentralised self governance is the existence of wide gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. Lack of quality information flow from the upper tiers to the people at Panchayats or vice versa is a major issue in rural development. The Panchayats, thus need to play the role of ‘information provider’. ICT has the potential to contribute to fostering empowerment and participation and making local government processes more efficient and transparent by encouraging communication and information-sharing among people and organizations, and within the government itself. Local needbased information generation, Internet and electronic mail facility for information and knowledge sharing together can create a knowledge base for the rural community. Use of ICT can bring more transparency in the functioning of the government and, at

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the same time, can help people participate in decision-making processes. ICT is expected to give the poor a voice to demand Government support and reform One of the main focuses of UNDP’s Country Programme 2003-2007 is to support capacity building of institutions of local governance for improved service delivery, enhance people’s participation, and ensure greater transparency and accountability. UNDP recognises that access to information and a well-functioning justice system are prerequisites for poverty eradication. Therefore, these two areas run as cross-cutting issues through all of UNDP’s projects in the area of Decentralisation and Participatory Planning.

important feature of the Panchayati Raj System in West Bengal. A two tier system of Gram Sansad and Gram Sabhas was established in 1992. Gram Sansads and Gram Sabhas not only provide opportunities for practicing participatory democracy, they also serve as forums for planning, information dissemination and most importantly for holding the Gram Panchayat leaders to account.

Composition of Gram Panchayats in West Bengal The members of a Gram Panchayat are elected by the voters within a Panchayat

There is one post of Executive Assistant, one post of Secretary, one post of Job Assistant and one post of Assistant (Sahayak) in each Gram Panchayat. Apart from that there are also one/two posts of group D employees, known as ‘Panchayat Karmee’ in each Gram Panchayat. The posts of Job Assistants are being replaced by creating posts of Nirman Sahayak, which are filled up by persons with diploma in civil engineering. At the Panchayat Samiti level there are only three posts. However, all the officers and the staff of the Block

Panchayat system in West Bengal In India, the State of West Bengal has been the role model for grass roots democracy, decentralisation and local governance as it is one of the earliest states to make a serious effort to implement Panchayati Raj. The record of initiatives for rural decentralisation in West Bengal is remarkable. The Government of West Bengal has regularly held Panchayat elections since 1978 and it has devolved considerable powers to PRIs. The State passed Panchayati Raj legislation in 1974. This movement has been sustained even after the enactment of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act. From the very outset and particularly after the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, the Government of West Bengal has been taking several steps to bring about reforms in local governance aimed at ensuring greater participation of people, decentralisation of planning functions, transfer of development schemes to PRIs, increase in fund flow from line departments to PRIs and providing untied funds to PRIs. A system of transparency and accountability appears to be an

area through a secret ballot. The total number of such elected members of a Gram Panchayat is not less than five and not more than thirty. Average number of elected members of a Gram Panchayat is 25. Amongst such elected members, not less than one third will be women and members of SC/ST community are to be elected in the same proportion as their population in that area. The District Magistrate is the exofficio Executive Officer of the Zilla Parishad and the Block Development Officers is the ex-officio Executive officer of the Panchayat Samiti. This arrangement helps in better integration of functioning of the DM and the BDO with that of the Zilla Parishad and the Panchayat Samiti respectively.

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Development office work for the Panchayat Samitis in their ex-officio capacities. There is 1 Upper Division Clerk, 1 Clerk-cum-Typist and 1 Peon. Challenges to the PRIs in West Bengal are associated with the following: (i) improving information delivery, (ii) better identification of opportunities, (iii) corruption-free access to government funding, (iv) professional monitoring of development schemes, (v) minimising time and effort wastage, (vi) improving prosperity and social infrastructure, and (vii) improving health services.

Outline of DRISTI Project With the growth in the scope and span of functioning of the PRIs it is felt that the technique of function of the PRIs

should be modernised to deliver better services to its stakeholders. The ‘citizen as the shareholder’ can now demand information on the functioning of a government and may also provide several inputs to the government’s policy-making process, while the ‘citizen as a customer’ can demand better services from local governments. The DRISTI (Decentralised Rural Information Services & Technology Initiatives) project, being implemented by the West Bengal State Rural Development Agency (WBSRDA) and the Dept. of Panchayat & Rural Development, Government of West Bengal aims to strengthen rural decentralisation, to establish a credible system of fund management and accounting process and to disseminate information for ensuring social audit. Riddhi Management Services Pvt. Ltd., is the partner organisation and will assist in accomplishing the GIS based Decentralised Information Management. The objectives of the project are: • to build up a strong MIS for monitoring the fund management and administrative functions of the three tiers of PRIs as per new Accounts Rules, • to create database on accounts as required for statutory audit by CAG, • to strengthen the delivery of civic services by the PRIs to the rural people, • to establish easy access to financial information and budgetary execution by the PRIs and the civil society, • to promote a decision support system for decentralised people-centred planning process. The entire project has been divided into four components: - Sub project IA, Sub project IB, Sub project II and Sub project III. Sub project 1A: This sub-project is to provide Gram Panchayat Management System (GPMS) at Gram Panchayat (GP) level to enhance the efficiency in functioning of GP through financial

accounts keeping and performing other statutory duties. The statutory duties include participatory implementation and monitoring of various poverty alleviation and social security programmes, birth and death registration and issue of certificates, issue of trade and other certificates, efficient collection and management of resources, and GIS based information bank to build a sound decision support system for people-centred planning process. To start with, the accounting module will be integrated with other modules and testing will be done in 50 selected GPs of Burdwan district. Sub project 1B: This involves creation of GIS maps indicating local resources and gaps for preparation of peoplecentred plans. The objectives are • to create and provide thematic maps according to user’s queries based on the attached database in a userfriendly manner, • to allow instant record display of a particular location, • to allow users to drill down from one map to another related map and scale up and down from district map to village map, • to allow full-fledged database manipulation through its own integrated modules, • to allow users to generate reports of great variations both in graphical and text formats. Sub project II: This sub project targets creation of Integrated Fund Management and Accounting System (IFMAS) at Panchayat Samiti level with the objectives • to computerise the entire fund monitoring of all Panchayat Samitis, • to standardise the accounting system of the two upper tiers of Panchayat System, • to exercise budgetary control, • to ensure financial discipline and promoting transparency and accountability, • to create a database of accounts as recommended by the 11th

Finance Commission and to meet requirements of CAG for audit. Sub project III: This Sub project is to facilitate government-citizen interface. It is browser-based information bank containing government orders, circulars, notifications etc to facilitate Good Governance. The objectives are as follows: • collection and storage of data on fund management of the PRIs at the State server; • tabulation, analysis and dissemination of information in standard formats to be made available for critical appraisal of the civil society; • notifications, circulars, guidelines issued by the department and case studies on best practices related to PRIs, Self Help Groups (SHG), watershed development, sanitation, public health, alternative primary education will be categorised and made available through the department’s website.

Roadmap for project rollout in Burdwan District The Project will be implemented at 20 Panchayat Samitis of Burdwan District and 50 Gram Panchayats under these Panchayat Samitis The GIS based Decentralised Information Management system will be implemented at Galsi-I, ,Galsi-II, Aushgram-II and Aushgram-I Panchayat Samitis covering 32 Gram Panchayats. The Decentralised Information Management Initiative (Sub-Project IB) will be implemented in two phases. During Phase-I (first year), the Executive Officer, Panchayat Samitis and selected members of Panchayat Samitis will be initially trained in computer basics and use of, GIS technology (WhizMap and application of GIS) at Riddhi Management Services Pvt Ltd. Social Sector data at Panchayat Samiti and Block level will be collected and analysed. This analysis will then be compared at the block level in a Monthly Review Meeting and then sent to the District Planning

37 www.nisg.org

Committee as well as to the District Magistrate. During Phase-II (second year), the final maps prepared will then be given out to BDOs/PS members, GP functionaries and job assistants for incorporation of the details of each and every household with a unique number on these maps. Development of GPMS software under Component 1 has already been started. Release of version 1.0.7 (the next version which is now available for field testing) based on feedback received from the users will take place by March 2006. Development and field-testing of regional language version will be finished by April, 2006 and establishment of connectivity will be done by July, 2006. Inclusion of extra modules for citizen centric services such as collection of Panchayat Tax will be done by June, 2006. In Component 1B i.e. GIS component, it is expected that all the GIS maps will be made available for decentralised planning and monitoring at all the 35 Gram Panchayats in four Blocks by July 2006. Regarding Component 3, it has been estimated that the development of webenabled interface will be finished by March, 2006; entry of categorised data (orders, circulars, case studies) will get done by July, 2006 and the system will be made available to the public by September, 2006.

Current status of the project The project DRISTI’ is in the process development phase. A Needs Assessment study was conducted and the results have been incorporated into the project. As the GP and PS officials had been facing difficulties in day-to-day maintenance of accounts, budgetary control, monitoring of various developmental schemes and also delivery of services to the citizens, the initial response to the project was encouraging as the proposed software (as demonstrated to them during

Awareness Building Programmes) appeared to help them reduce time, increase efficiency and satisfy the ultimate beneficiaries through transparent and accountable management system. Following are the modules those have been incorporated as per need assessment: • Income certificate • Residential certificate • Preliminary certificates for identification of castes • Tax module • Birth Certificate • Trade license • Village information bank • Death certificate • BPL list For Sub component-IA, the sites are prepared at 50 Gram Panchayats. Awareness building programmes have been organised for end users. The system study has been completed for the software GPMS (Gram Panchayat Management System) and the migration of this software from English to Bengali is now in progress in association with National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Red Hat Linux. The software would be web-based solution to cater to all the 3345 Gram Panchayat across the State West Bengal. Hardware and application software for GPMS at 35 sites out of a target of 50 have been installed and the rest will be installed soon. Cash books, general ledger, subsidiary cash book, receipt payment accounts, bank reconciliation book, and other related documents are being generated through the software only by entry of Credit and debit vouchers. Under Sub component IB, training of different officials and people’s representatives has been completed. Whiz-maps have been installed in four blocks. Data porting into maps is under progress. This component is being implemented through partner organisation namely Riddhi Management Services Pvt Ltd. The GIS maps of all the four Blocks are now

38 www.nisg.org

available with the Departmental website www.wbprd.nic.in and also at www.trendswestbengal.org/dimi. In Sub component II, the sites are prepared at Panchayat Samiti level. Awareness building programmes have been organised for end users. Hardware and application software for Integrated Fund Monitoring and Accounting System at 15 sites out of target 20 has been installed and the rest will be installed soon. Application software has been developed to integrate the financial system of the upper two tiers of the PRI system in West Bengal. Necessary reports for MIS have been developed and are now at the stage of field-testing. Under Sub component III, data collection of circulars, government orders, and notifications have been completed. Categorisation of the document according to subjects is scheduled to be completed shortly. Some immediate results available from the introduction of the DRISTI system are illustrated through the diagram below: The DRISTI project will provide an IT based solution for all the major functions of Panchayats including micro planning at village level and will provide updated information to all the stakeholders including civil society for promoting transparency and accountability. It is aimed at ushering in ICT-led development in rural West Bengal.

References • http://www.wbprd.nic.in/ • http://kolkata.wb.nic.in/prd • http://www.thp.org/bangladesh/2002/ westbengal.htm • http://persmin.nic.in/RTI/ WebActRTI.htm

NISG and i4d reserve the right to reprint articles produced for the ICTD section of the i4d magazine and website, with due credits to NISG and i4d. Please write to the editor for any request of reprints.

HISTORY

OF I NTERNET

On the verge of 50 years It won’t be an exaggeration if we say that Internet is one of the greatest inventions of our time. The advent and spread of the Internet has transformed our way of life. Internet has become almost indispensable to perform businesses, to communicate, to retrieve information and for for various other services. The early Internet was used by computer experts, engineers, scientists, and librarians. There was nothing friendly about it. There were no home or office personal computers in those days, and anyone who used it, whether a computer professional or an engineer or scientist or librarian, had to learn to use a very complex system.

Netting the info through net Libraries began automating and networking their catalogs in the late 1960s independent from ARPA. The visionary Frederick G. Kilgour of the Ohio College Library Centre led networking of Ohio libraries during the ’60s and ’70s. In the mid 1970s, more regional consortia from New England, the Southwest states, and the Middle Atlantic states, etc joined with Ohio to form a national, later international, network. Ethernet, a protocol for many local networks, appeared in 1974, an outgrowth of Harvard student Bob Metcalfe’s dissertation on ‘Packet Networks’.

Entering into Internet The Internet was the result of some visionary thinking by people in the early 1960s. They saw great potential in allowing computers to share information on research and development, especially in scientific and military fields. It was J.C.R. Licklider of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who first proposed a global network of computers in 1962. He envisioned a globally interconnected set of computers through which everyone could quickly access data and programs from any site. In spirit, the concept was very much like the Internet of today. Licklider was the first head of the computer research programme at DARPA, starting in October 1962. Leonard Kleinrock of MIT and later University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) developed the theory of packet switching, which was to form the basis of Internet connections. Lawrence Roberts of MIT connected a Massachusetts computer with a California computer in 1965 over dial-up telephone lines that showed the feasibility of wide area networking, but, at the same time it showed that the telephone line’s circuit switching was inadequate. Kleinrock’s packet switching theory was confirmed. Roberts moved over to DARPA in 1966 and developed his plan for ARPANET. These visionaries along with many others are the real founders of the Internet. The Internet initially was known as ARPANET. It was brought online in 1969 under a contract let by the renamed Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). Charley Kline at UCLA sent the first packets on ARPANet as he tried to connect to Stanford Research Institute on Oct 29, 1969. e-Mail was adapted for ARPANET by Ray Tomlinson of BBN in 1972. He picked the @ symbol from the available symbols on his teletype to link the username and address. The telnet protocol, enabling logging on to a remote computer, was published as a Request for Comments (RFC) in 1972. RFCs are a means of sharing developmental work throughout community. The File Transfer Protocal (FTP), enabling file transfers between Internet sites, was published as a Request for Comments (RFC) in 1973, and from then on RFCs were available electronically to anyone who used the FTP. January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

Internet, initially known as ARPANET, was brought online in 1969 under a contract let by the renamed Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). The Internet matured in the ’70s as a result of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) architecture which was first proposed by Bob Kahn at BBN and further developed by Kahn and Vint Cerf at Stanford and others throughout the 70s. It was adopted by the Defence Department in 1980 replacing the earlier Network Control Protocol (NCP) and universally adopted by 1983. As the commands for e-mail, FTP, and telnet were standardised, it became a lot easier for non-technical people to learn to use the Internet. The first effort, other than library catalogs, to index the Internet was created in 1989, as Peter Deutsch and his crew at McGill University in Montreal, created an archiver for FTP sites, which they named Archie. This software periodically reached out to all known openly available FTP sites, list their files, and build a searchable index of the software. In 1991, the first really friendly interface to the Internet was developed at the University of Minnesota. In 1989 another significant event took place in making the nets easier to use. Tim Berners-Lee and others at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, more popularly known as CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research), proposed a new protocol for information distribution. This protocol, which became the World Wide Web in 1991, was based on hypertext, a system of embedding links in text to link to other text.

The development in 1993 of the graphical browser Mosaic by Marc Andreessen and his team at the National Centre For Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) gave the protocol its big boost. Later, Andreessen moved to become the brains behind Netscape Corp., which produced the most successful graphical type of browser and server until Microsoft declared war and developed its MicroSoft Internet Explorer. Internet was originally limited to research, education, and government uses. Commercial uses were prohibited unless they directly served the goals of research and education. This policy continued until the early 90s, when independent commercial networks began to grow.

Impacts of Internet During this period of enormous growth, businesses entering the Internet arena scrambled to find economic models that work. Free services, supported by advertising, shifted some of the direct costs away from the consumer temporarily. Services such as free web pages, chat rooms, and message boards for community building, growth of online sales for products – all these facilitated the enormous growth of Internet business. The decline in advertising income spelled doom for many dot.coms, and a major shakeout and search for better business models took place by the survivors. A current trend with major implications for the future is the growth of high speed connections. Wireless has grown rapidly in the past few years, and travellers search for the wi-fi ‘hot spots’ where they can connect while they are away from the home or office. Many airports, coffee bars, hotels and motels now routinely provide these services, some for a fee and some for free. It must be stated that Internet has brought many changes in society and economy all over the world. Today, with the vast knowledge presented on the Internet, anyone can glean great sources of information. Now, people are getting the opportunity of on-line learning through net, at the same time, they are much better informed to discuss their physical problems with doctors and experts taking the support of Internet. Telemedicine which is the transfer of electronic medical data (i.e. high resolution images, sounds, live video, and patient records) from one location to another, is another boon to all. The way people conduct business has vastly changed with the wide use of the Internet. Many businesses have websites that provides opportunity to people to conduct business ‘on line’. This field has huge scope to grow and advance greatly in all regions in the near future. According to an estimate available at http://www. internetworldstats.com/top20.htm, 20.9 per cent Internet users are from US, while 10.6 per cent are from China and 8 per cent from Japan. From the same source, it is found that in Asia the growth of Internet use has increased by 34.5 per cent in last five years (20002005) while rest of the world has shown a growth rate of 65.8 per cent. These figures are encouraging although there is no scope of satisfaction to grow with purposive use of Internet. Internet has made our life easier, faster and more efficient. This boon of ICT may act as a boost to develop further, empowering our knowledge, sharing more information with each other. As with all growth there are pains to be dealt with. Users want

quicker speed connections and wireless connectivity. The demand is heralding a response for these needs and it seems there will be no limit what to ask for. For the next few years, the Internet will almost certainly be content-driven. Although new protocols are always under development, we have barely begun to explore the potential of just the existing ones. Chief among these is the World Wide Web, with its potential for simple on-line access to almost any information imaginable. Yet even as the Internet intrudes into society, remember that over the last two decades “The Net” has developed a culture of its own, one that may collide with society’s. Already business is making its pitch to dominate the Internet. The big questions loom unanswered: How will society change the Internet... and how will the Internet change society?

References: • • • • • •

http://www.walthowe.com/navnet/history.html http://www.sat.lib.tx.us/Displays/itintro.htm http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/ http://www.davesite.com/webstation/net-history.shtml http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/ http://www.freesoft.org/CIE/Topics/57.htm Saswati Paik saswati@csdms.in

GSN Online Shared Learning Awards Global SchoolNet has announced the 2006 GSN Online Shared Learning Awards. These awards recognise exemplary telecollaborating teachers, media specialists, and other school-based educators. Since 1984 the Global SchoolNet Foundation (GSN) has been a leader in demonstrating and promoting online shared (collaborative) learning. GSN’s Online Shared Learning Awards recognize global teaching champions from around the world both new comers and pioneers. The awards seek to promote the effective use of tele-collaboration among different groups of students. This year Global SchoolNet will recognize educators in TWO different categories: • Educators in the U.S.A. who teach within the 50 United States, and • Educators outside the U.S.A. who teach OUTSIDE the 50 United States, including its commonwealth and unincorporated territories (such as Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, etc.) In recognition of their dedication, leadership and hard work, selected educators will each receive a cash award of $2,500 and an all expense paid trip to the National Education Computing Conference (NECC) in San Diego, California (July 2006). The finalists each receive a check for $250 and a special award plaque. If anyone knows an educator who qualifies for Online Shared Learning Award, please take a moment, nominate them by January 27, 2006. Complete details are available at: http:// www.globalschoolnet.org/GSNawards/

i4d | January 2006

Books received Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2005/2006 Publishers: Orbicom, IDRC, UNDP-APDIP Chief Editor: Chin Saik Yoon Pages: 280 ISBN 983-9054449 This publication, the second volume in the series offers valuable analysis by several specialists who work and live in the economies that they report on. While the 2003/2004 edition focused on initiatives to transform the digital divide into digital opportunities in 27 economies and a sub region, this recent edition focuses on the use of ICT for development and in building information society. It includes authoritative reports on how 29 economies are using ICT in business, government and civil society written by senior authors who live and work in the region, under Chief Editor Chin Saik Yoon. Four thematic chapters are included in the publication on various facets of the information society, like Building information societies, Internet Governance, Social, Political and Cultural aspects of ICT and appropriate ICT for Asia Pacific. Four organizations, Pan Asia Networking Progamme (PAN) of International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the AsiaPacific Development Information Programme (APDP) of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communications (Orbicom), collaborating in this initiative as co-publishers. A free CD-ROM containing an electronic version of the 2003/2004 edition is included in the publication. A useful and authoritative source of information on the new infotech among countries, the review will be helpful for the ICT specialists and communication researchers.

From the Digital Divide to Digital Opportunities Measuring information states for development Editor: George Sciadas Pages: 260 ISBN 2-922651-50-3 This joint Orbicom-ITU publication launched in the context of second phase of Tunis in November 2005 contains an overview of the global trends in ICTs produced by the ITU staff. This edition is based on a three-part work plan, like the ICT January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

opportunity index based on the information state framework and model, detailed regional analysis with a policy focus for countries in Africa, Asia and Latin American and the Caribbean and women in the Information society, which incorporates quantitative and qualitative research to study the gender digital divide. The report’s statistical and analytical overview and real life illustrations of use of ICTs and female connectivity, makes it an important instrument in the work and future projects of the ICT policy makers, operators, investors, researchers, statisticians and NGOs.

Understanding Knowledge Societies In twenty questions and answers with the index knowledge societies United Nations publication Pages: 180 ISBN 92-1-109145-4 Today, if some talk about ‘information society’, others speak about ‘knowledge society’. While these specific prefixes give specific directions to society alongwith bringing in confusion between the new technology or ICT and the techniques of knowledge development, the Report has tried to recognise the real tension between the two, attempting to establish how governments can lead and how societies can organize for the transformation towards knowledge society. The Report proposes an index of knowledge societies and makes recommendations for governments and political and economic elites, as well as for the business, civil society, news media and academic communities. Why it is important to understand knowledge society? What are the main drivers of a society that is defined by its ability to develop knowledge? Submitting the detailed analysis on the hot debate on knowledge societies by answering twenty such questions, makes the Report a unique one. While Jerzy Szeremeta, the main author of the Report led the content research, the Report has been finalized under the direction of Guido Bertucci, Director of the United Nations Department of Economcs and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Division for Public Administration and Development Management.

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Bytes for All... It is that time of the year, when the trials and tribulations of the year that went by are chosen to be temporarily forgotten. Old ties are renewed. New ones are strengthened. You make merry with friends, and enemies tend to be overlooked. It’s the beginning of a brand new year. As the world marks the 1st anniversary of the deadly Tsunami that hit South Asia last year, we at Bytes For All look forward to an eventful year and a Tsunami of ideas on our everincreasing and dynamic readers list.

Cheap computers: real machines or toys? Come 2006 and schoolchildren in Brazil, Thailand, Egypt and Nigeria will begin receiving the first few million textbook style computers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) media lab run by Nicholas Negroponte. These small lap-top style, hand-cranked lime-green devices runs on Open Source software (Linux), can set up their own wireless networks and are intended to bring computer access to areas that lack reliable electricity. Hear about “Open Source” and its bound to spark adverse reactions from the custodians of proprietary software. Craig Barrett chairman of Intel Corp. has called this laptop a “gadget”. He further fuels the debate saying, “Gadgets are not always successful”. Barrett elaborates that; people in developing countries would be looking for a fullfunctionality computer like a regular PC, not gadgets that have to be hand-cranked for power. He said that Intel would work in providing low cost affordable full function PCs, and not handheld devices or gadgets. This sparked off an array of opinions on our readers list. Tom Brough had this to say; the price and capability of a computer does not matter. Cheap computers do not necessarily mean incapable computers. By Intel’s standards then, even our indigenous SIMPUTER would be termed a “gadget”! Does the Microsoft-Intel lobby sense a threat to its market? In Tom’s words its very easy for a multi million-dollar industry representative to trample on the sandcastles of a minuscule non-profit organization trying to think out real solutions for real problems, scaring them with conflicting parameters like price and performance. According to Tom we all started with computers with processing capabilities much, much less than what are available today. A personal computer of today may be equivalent to a super-computer of yester years! What is important is not how pricey or powerful a computer is, but the opportunity that it presents to the user to learn new skills. In that sense a “gadget” too is a powerful machine because it has the ability to tickle the gray cells. Terry King added that obsolete does not necessarily mean “useless”. He gave the example of a version of Linux called UBUNTU, which ran as a complete operating system on even an old PII machine. Satish Jha provided the balancing comments. MIT’s $100 laptop is fine, because it passes the moral test of providing cheap computing power to the developing world. However we do not have to get carried away by morality that “what is cheap is good”. But rather focus on whether “what is free is supported” or not. Guess, the perpetual war between “open source” and “proprietary” is far from over.

Read the story of the $100 laptop at http://news.com.com/ Intel+calls+MITs+100+laptop+a+gadget/2100-1005_35989067.html?tag=sas.email

Power of ICT Our reader, Dipti Kulkarni raised the following interesting questions on the power of ICT. One: if ICT’s all over the world are being installed to strengthened democracy, than is the process of installing ICT’s itself democratic? What she means is whether all stakeholders involved in the process get a fair say or not. Second: What is meant by “lack of information to remote communities”? Does this information represent what the communities actually needed or what the proponents of ICT wanted to provide? Third: How do technocrats justify the astronomical sums of money spent on ICT, when plans to sustain the infrastructure are not clearly laid down? This even includes so-called sustainable technology like communityradio. Fourth: Are technocrats pulling wool over every ones eyes by accepting international funding when they are really not sure whether ICT can eradicate the problems of their societies? Fifth: Whether the questions of digital divide are addressed in the social context of caste, creed and gender discrimination. Dipti feels that ICT implementation would have hugely benefited from a healthy dialogue between technocrats and social scientists, and also from active participation from the communities. These two things are sorely missing in our scheme of plans. Lisa Thurston added to the question mark on ICT saying that we may be investing a little too much optimism in ICT, but at the same time if we focus too much on the negativity of ICT, than we may never be able, to take off. She too seconded Dipti’s question whether there is awareness among ICT implementers for the need for proper consultation with recipients and beneficiaries of ICT’s. Earl Mardle of KeyNet Consultancy had this to reply: He gave the example of the Jhai Foundation, which built a PC to the specifications of the Lao communities. We can as well say that the Lao communities were the designers of the PC, though the technological know how for the same may have come from scientists in the foundation. The foundations approach was based solely on human relationships. This in some way answers Dipti’s fifth question that there does exist in some part of the world communication between technocrats and local communities. Coming to Dipti’s second question: Earl gave the example of the Jhai Foundation’s coffee production and marketing project. Where it involved taking an existing resource and applying new skills and networks to increase its value to the local community. Due to the success of the above two projects of the Jhai Foundation, the local communities came to trust the technocrats. Earl feels that local communities already know their needs, they do not have to be imposed with views on “what they need” by ICT implementers. They require someone who will listen to what they have to say, and genuinely help them technologically to satisfy their “needs”. According to Earl, what ICT implementers need to make their interventions works are, humility, curiosity and a willingness to learn. Without those, we are designing for failure. i4d | January 2006

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Bytes for All... Ananya Guha of IGNOU also concurred with Dipti’s views that there should be a dialogue between technocrats and communities. She opined that that we should not get carried away with operating ICT at the grass root level. She also pointed out at the aspect of “technology appropriateness”. I.e. which technology should be used where? Subbiah Arunachalam of IGNOU opined that some of the key actors in ICT for development are not necessarily techno-savvy. What is required is vision and insight. And there exist organizations like IDRC and SDC who undertake ICT only after careful study. It’s not fair to dismiss all technocrats as too bullish with no knowledge of ground realities! Satish Jha was of the view that unsuccessful ICT projects are seldom because there was no dialogue between social scientists and technocrats. It was more because of “aid” culture practiced by technocrats. Unless technocrats are groomed to market their “product” with value added services for their customers, ICT initiatives may not always succeed. Questions and more questions! For now most of Dipti’s questions remain unanswered. But as Satish Jha put it simply saying it’s difficult to answer the above questions unless one has gone through the evolutionary cycle of ICT implementation oneself.

Have scientific labs in India delivered? Fredrick Noronha of BFA, posted an interesting item on the theme: “Booming Computer sector seen as a Mixed Blessing”. Many senior scientists in India felt that even though IT had prevented “brain drain”, it was now acting as a “brain sink”, i.e. the cream of talent in the country opting for IT based careers, where they were paid exorbitant salaries. Today’s youth no longer wanted to opt for careers in science. Top executives of the IT industry however dismissed this concern as “disguised envy” for the IT sector. This article invited myriad inputs from our readers. One of our readers Mohan Das, seemed to agree with the point of “disguised envy”. He queried whether scientific institutions in post independence India had been addressing the technical issues that the country faced or had they turned into “useless, irrelevant white elephants and ivory towers housing self centered scientists”. Subbiah Arunachalam concurred saying that there was no lab-to-land and land-to-lab flow of knowledge. I.e. there was a communication gap between scientists and communities. We are reminded of the same view echoed in the thread “Power of ICT”. Satish Jha enlightened us with his experiences in interactions with top CSIR executives. About our scientific labs (SL) Jha observes as follows: SL’s do not believe in management. Trained managers do not run SL’s; rather scientists climbing up the ladder run them. SL’s do not work to either national or global benchmarks. SL’s do not have a clearly defined and workable vision that can translate to goals, objectives and strategies that can be corrected accordingly midcourse. SL’s foster the typical bureaucratic culture of “inertia”. They are inward looking and not open to “change” and “judgment by others”. Those within the system who seek change are up against a dead wall, since they do not know where to begin. Bibek Kumar Anand of “SAMPADA” echoed Jha’s views saying; “rule bound organizations are anathema January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

to the propagation of true scientific temper in the society”. Jha concluded saying that, regression in SL’s has to stop because huge investment in R&D is made by the govt. every year. Its time SL’s access where India stands technologically compared to the rest of the world. Chart out a course and march forward. In conclusion one would say, India and any developing nation does not need a white elephant; it needs a scientific laboratory that delivers.

Happenings • Nepal: NepaLinux, a complete Nepali language operating system has been released. It is open source software and is developed and distributed by Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya under the PAN Localization project with the support of IDRC, Canada. For more information visit: http://www.mpp.org.np, http:// www.nepalinux.org • India: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiled an ambitious Rs 1,74,000-crore Bharat Nirman programme; a “specific financing window”, in the National Conference on Bharat Nirman on 16 December in New Delhi. Read more at: http:// www.mission2007.org/new/np170 • Bangladesh: Bill Gates visits Bangladesh and other South Asian countries with a bag of philanthropic goodies, plans for investment galore. Read more at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ bytesforall_readers/message/7244?threaded=1

Announcements • Fellowships: One World South Asia, announces Ek-Duniya Grassroots Innovation Fellowship on Technology (EGIFT). EGIFT will support two fellowships to transform innovative technology ideas to reality - right from their concept stage to design, prototype development, and field-testing. Read more at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/message/7299 • First conference on next generation wireless systems next month: North South University (NSU) will be hosting the first Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) conference in Dhaka next month. Find out more at http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/bytesforall_readers/message/7312 • Telecentre experiences: Calling all telecentre enthusiasts, managers and users. Telecentre.org wants to hear your telecentre stories! Learn more at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ bytesforall_readers/message/7334 Bytes for All: www.bytesforall.net Bytes For All Readers Discussion: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ bytesforall_readers Bytes for All RSS syndication: http://www.bytesforall.net/index_html/ RSS Bytes for All Readers Forum RSS syndication: http://rss.groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers/rss Bytes for All discussion summary compiled by: Archana P. Nagvekar, Bytes for All, India

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Rendezvous C ONFERENCE R EPORT

Tunis consensus for an information society The second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Geneva concluded on 18 Novemeber 2005 after almost a week of intense negotiations with a credit of eight plenary sessions, 308 parallel events organised by 264 organisations and 33 press conferences attracting around 19’000 participants worldwide. Hailed as a resounding success by national delegations from 174 States and participants from more than 800 entities including UN agencies, private sector companies and civil society organisations, the Summit was convened in Tunis to tackle the problem of the ‘digital divide’ and harness the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to boost the drive of economic and social development. The two resultant documents of the Summit are the Tunis Commitment and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society which were endorsed by world leaders at the closing plenary of the Summit. Uniquely enough the WSIS was held in two phases; in developed country and developing country. This has ensured that the full range of issues of the Information Society were addressed at the same time highlighting the critical need to bridge the digital divide.

Global agreement on crucial issues Three key issues dominated the preparatory process leading to the Tunis Summit are (i) Internet governance, (ii) financing strategies, and (iii) implementation mechanisms for the Action Plan developed by the first phase of WSIS in 2003, in Geneva. Internet Governance: The breakthrough agreement on Internet governance brokered in Tunis acknowledges the need for enhanced cooperation to enable governments and is based around a number of newly agreed principles and future mechanisms. The process of moving towards the enhanced cooperation will be initiated by the end of Q1 2006. Another important element of the Tunis output document is the creation of a new Internet Governance Forum (IGF), to be convened by the UN Secretary-General, to foster and enable multi-stakeholder dialogue on public policy and development issues. Financing mechanisms: The WSIS outcome texts reaffirm the Geneva agreements that information and communication technologies are a key tool in national development strategies. For that reason, financing of ICT deployment is vital in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. The document welcomes the creation of the Digital Solidarity Fund. It underlines the importance of providing quality, affordable communication access to all citizens, and notes the inequalities that presently exist.

Follow-up and implementation: Tunis is not the end of the road for WSIS. As the Summit of Solutions, the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society recognises that it is now time to turn principles into actions. For the Tunis phase of the Summit, it has also created a so-called Golden Book listing projects announced during the Summit. More than 200 projects have been included to date, many of which are multi-million dollar undertakings. The eleven Action Lines in the original Geneva Action Plan putforth key elements in the building of the Information Society. The Tunis Agenda now establishes a specific list of possible moderators/facilitators for each of these Action Lines. Through ECOSOC the UN Secretary-General will report to the General Assembly by June 2006 on the modalities of interagency coordination of implementation. At the same meeting, Mr.Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of the Summit, will report on the outcomes.

The Dialogue continues The world of ICTs is characterised by fast-paced and non-stop technological change. The Internet of tomorrow will look very different from the Internet of today, as revealed in ITU’s new report, The Internet of Things, which was released at the Tunis summit. The follow-up process established by WSIS contains several builtin milestones to ensure that policy review and debate continue, so that the outcomes of the Summit can be shaped to changes in the world of ICTs. At the national level, all countries are called upon to develop national e-strategies as an integral part of national development plans and poverty reduction strategies. The deadline for this action is 2015, but many countries have already started to implement such plans. Affordability of access is a critical part of bridging the Digital Divide. As tasked by the Summit, ITU will continue its efforts to study the question of international Internet connectivity as a matter of urgency. The Tunis Agenda calls on ECOSOC to oversee the systemwide follow-up of the Tunis and Geneva outcomes. Consistent with the reform of ECOSOC requested by world leaders at the Summit in September in New York, the Tunis output calls on ECOSOC to review the mandate of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, including the multi-stakeholder approach. Finally, the UN General Assembly is asked to declare 17 May as World Information Society Day. 17 May has traditionally been celebrated as World Telecommunications Day, so ITU will collaborate in this process to give even greater magnitude to that event. i4d | January 2006

What’s on Africa

England

24-29 January, 2006 World Social Forum 2006, Mali

21 February, 2006 Community Development and Health Birmingham

http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/ index.php?cd_language=2

http://shop.btcv.org.uk/shop/level3/554/stock/4664

Australia

Germany

06-07 February, 2006 Open Road 2006 Conference: Challenges and Possibilities, Melbourne

09-11 February, 2006 Digital Inequality and New Spaces of Informal Education for Young People Bielefeld

http://www.openroad.net.au/conferences/2006/

http://www.kib-bielefeld.de/tagung/engl

7-10 March 2006 11th National Conference on Volunteering Melbourne

Ghana

Bangladesh

14-18 March, 2006 Global Summit On HIV/AIDS, Traditional Medicine & Indigenous Knowledge Accra

12-16 February, 2006 Impact of Global Issues on Women and Children, Dhaka

India

www.volunteering2006.com

http://www.ic2006.info/conference.htm

China

Map India 2006 30 January-01 February, 2006 New Delhi http://www.mapindia.org/

13-16 March, 2006 Effective Science Communication in an Era of Globalisation, Beijing http://www.scidev.net/ms/beijingworkshop2006/

Ethiopia

Italy 15-17 March, 2006 1st World Congress on Communication for Development, Rome

www.waterforfood.org/livelihoods/conf.htm

24-27 April, 2006 2nd International Conference and General Assembly Meeting of the African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development Addis Ababa http://www.africomnet.org/downloads/ AFRICOMNET%20Annoncement%20Flier.pdf

20-22 March, 2006 Role of the Media in the Development of Education in Africa http://www.ijnet.org/FE_Article/ newsarticle.asp?UILang=1&CId=303352&CIdLang=1

Qatar 7-15 March, 2006 World Telecommunication Development Conference Doha http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/wtdc/index.html

South Africa 22-24 February, 2006 Conference on Knowledge Management in Higher Education: A Gateway to Excellence and Innovation in Africa Pietermaritzburg http://www.ukzn.ac.za/km/conf.htm

1-3 March, 2006 ICTs for Civil Society Johannesburg http://sangonet.org.za/snsite/index.php?option= content&task=view&id=129&Itemid=55

Thailand 25 - 28 April 2006 egov Asia 2006 & DL Asia Bangkok, Thailand www.egovasia.net, www.DLasia.csdms.in

Kenya

15-17 March, 2006 “Strengthening the Business Fabric with Dynamic ICT” IDC’s Asia/Pacific CIO Summit 2006 Bangkok

23-25 February, 2006 IDLELO2: Achieving Millennium Development Goals through Community Software, Nairobi

UAE

cmorry@comminit.com

23-26 January, 2006 Enhancing Equitable Livelihood Benefits of Dams Using Decision Support, Nazareth

Nigeria

http://www.fossfa.net/idlelo2/

Nepal 20- 25 February, 2006 Good Governance in Civil Society

http://www.idc.com.sg/CIO_Summit2006/ Default.asp

26-29 March, 2006 Map Middle East 2006 Dubai http://www.mapmiddleeast.org/2006/ index.htm

http://www.aidmat.com/idmat/gg.html

Get your event listed here. www.i4d.csdms.in/events January 2006 | www.i4d.csdms.in

I N F ACT

Reaching out to globe WSIS and the goal • In 2003 leaders at the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) agreed that by 2015, more than half the world should be in reach of the net. • The world is still a long way from that goal. • The second part of the summit in November 2005 took stock of how far the world has come. • There are still stark inequalities in access.

Net growth • Emerging and developed economies realise they should exploit the net. • It gives people a global voice, helps businesses, and is key to education. • But there remain concerns over who can exploit the net’s full potential. • The global net population grew from 381m to 872m between 2000-2004. Developing nations’ share of that number grew from 21% to 39%.

• In Romania 73% of broadband subscribers use 3G technology. There are still few fast networks outside the West though.

Fat pipes • When developing nations have net access, there are still gaps in who has broadband. • Broadband means nations can run more efficiently. • But just 20% of the 153m global broadband connections are in developing nations. • China makes up 14% of those as the second largest broadband market. • Western nations have more access to bigger bandwidth too.

Schools online • Fast broadband connections open up possibilities not just for businesses in developing nations, but also for education. • Broadband means that the web becomes a rich multimedia experience rather than a slow, text-based one.

Scratch the surface • It appears the divide between those online and those not is shrinking. • But there are more net users in Seoul than in sub-Saharan Africa. • In fact, the annual growth rate in the number of net users has been dropping since 1998. • This means the WSIS goal of 50% of the globe in reach of the net by 2015 is in danger.

Net in the hand • But the web is not just about PCs plugged into the net. • Many in developing nations are reaping the benefits of access to information and communication via mobiles. Mobile net bypasses costly physical infrastructure.

• Just 38% of developing nation schools are online; only 1% in Africa. • Almost all schools are online in developed countries.

Next steps • Many feel “shock measures” are needed now to take the world towards 2015. • Spreading access to broadband more equitably, particularly wirelessly, is key. • Building high-speed 3G mobile networks on top of existing ones would help. • For this, high 3G licence fees should be eliminated, and regional market competition is needed, say expert Source: BBC News i4d | January 2006

2006

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Connecting Rural Communities

E M E R G I N G T E C H N O LO G I E S A N D B E S T P R A C T I C E S O LU T I O N S T O R U R A L I C T AC C E S S LE MERIDIEN RESORT & CONVENTION CENTRE COCHIN, KERALA, INDIA • 30th JANUARY – 2nd FEBRUARY 2006 ORGANISED BY

HOSTED BY Department of Telecommunications, Government of India

MANAGED BY

A S S O C I AT E O R G A N I S E R

S P E A K E R S W I L L I N C LU D E Hon Shri Dayanidhi Maran, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, India Dr. Eun-Ju Kim, ITU Senior Advisor and Acting Head of the APAC regional office, ITU A. K. Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL Dr. D.P.S. Seth, Member, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Phuthuma Nhleko, CEO, MTN Hamid Farooq, CEO, Warid Telcom, Pakistan Dr. J. S. Sarma, Secretary, Department of Communications, India Prof. M. S. Swaminathan, Chairman, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) Tadashi Kondo, Country Director, Asian Development Bank Prof. Rekha Jain, Professor/Coordinator, Centre for Telecom Policy Studies, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai Bistamam Siru Abdul Rahman, Chairman, Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) Ela Bhatt, Founder, SEWA Erik Aas, Managing Director, Grameen Phone Ltd. G Madhavan Nair, Chairman, India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Mr. Amit Sharma, Cluster President, India, Thailand, Indonesia & Vietnam, Motorola * speakers to be confirmed S U P P O R T I N G O R G A N I S AT I O N S

M E D I A PA R T N E R S