Vol. II No. 9
The first monthly magazine on ICT4D
September 2004
A window to the world Banikoara Multimedia Community Centre, Benin Information for development
ISSN 0972 - 804X
COMMUNITY MULTIMEDIA CENTRES / TELECENTRES
www.i4donline.net
New directions in multimedia Tansen CMC
Darjeeling Himalayan Internet Railway Insight
April 2004 | www.i4donline.net
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Contents
i4d Vol. II No. 9
September 2004
Features
Mailbox Mail
info@i4donline.net
21 News 28 Mission 2007 in India
Every village a knowledge centre Geeta Sharma
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Accelerating community development Divya Jain
Banikoara Multimedia Commuinity Centre, Benin A window to the world Hezekiel Dlamini
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Telecentres in Africa
Tansen CMC New directions in multimedia Ian Pringle, Utpal and Anuradha Bajracharya
41 What’s on 42 In fact
Telling more about telecentres and kiosks
Rendezvous
empowering the 25 WCI community Awakening rural India through CICs
Sunita Roy, Charkha, India sunitabroy@yahoo.co.uk
Maganti J. Muthukumaraswamy
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A Draft Proposal The alternative e-Gov plan for the nation
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2nd i4d seminar report Is Asia ready for the challenge?
Satish Jha and Ashok Khosla
34 Highway Africa 2004
Media workshop for more coverage on ICTs
40 ICT and Education Tel (e) Learning centres
Interview Wijayananda Jayaweera
15 Insight
Darjeeling Himalayan Internet railway Karma Tshering Bhutia
19 Drishtee
A successful franchising business moel for CMC Alok Sharma
Greetings from Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC). I was deeply impressed by the form, style and content of the i4dThe first monthly magazine on ICT4D. I congratulate everyone of i4d family responsible for the publication, for the novel, trend setting and path breaking printing and smart presentation, which immediately captures attention and provide excellent reading. AHM Bazlur Rahman Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication info@bnnrc.net
Columns
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Greetings from Charkha! Many thanks for publishing our article in i4d. The article was done very effectively and we hope that we will be able to send you some more features by rural writers for publication. The way you have carried the different aspect of Community radio in India and in other countries is impressive and informative. A suggestion may be you can devote some issue on Communication - visual form like film/ documentaries/ and one on ICTs exploring the traditional media. The unique way rural communities are still using those for sharing information, in different states.
i4donline.net
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.i4donline.net/elearn.asp Print edition The past issues of the magazine is available online www.i4donline.net/archive/archive.htm
In the article of ICT and education ‘role of community radio’ in the last issue, the example of challenges faced in Birbhum by the residents is an eye opener. The most economical technology here would be CR. It can take care of all education need through lessons and personal needs by broadcasting messages in that area. Mahesh Acharya, CKS, India radio_active@myrealbox.com
Editorial Information for development
Telecentres! Are they really in the centre of ICT4D?
www.i4donline.net
Advisory Board M P Narayanan, Chairman, i4d Amitabha Pande Department of Science and Technology, Government of India Chin Saik Yoon Southbound Publications, Malaysia Ichiro Tambo OECD, France Karl Harmsen Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific, India Kenneth Keniston Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Mohammed Yunus Grameen Bank, Bangladesh Nagy Hanna Information Solutions Group, World Bank, USA 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, Digital Partners Fredrick Noronha, Bytesforall Editor Ravi Gupta Editorial Consultant Jayalakshmi Chittoor Research Associates Anuradha Dhar, Gautam Navin, Saswati Paik Design Deepak Kumar
Accessibility of telecommunications and digital world requires infrastructure development, but also keeping in mind that the poor are often the most marginalized and distant from the hub of development. Scalability and sustainability of info-kiosks, community multimedia centres (CMCs), knowledge centers or telecentres, whatever be the terminology that is used, are the most critical aspects of ICT4D policy planning. In our research we came across both success stories and also imminent failures once the supporters of a project completed their tenure of the support. The corporate models and entrepreneurship models that have also been practiced successfully in some countries gives us an idea of a different business model for telecentres to reach rural communities. Much has been written about this topic. ICT4D projects have been assessed, albeit briefly for their impact. Many donor agencies focusing on reducing poverty have been a big supporter of telecentres around the world and have promoted research, documentation and learning from various models around the world. There are many telecentre initiatives in developing countries across all continents, which have focused on local social empowerment through local content and knowledge. But the jury is still out on their programmatic and economic sustainability of these centres in rural areas. We would like the readers to see the potential upscalability plan that has been proposed in India, by none other than Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, who is considered as the man behind India’s green revolution. This initiative, termed as ‘Mission 2007’ by the proponents, aims to build on existing strengths and building alliances, collaborations and partnerships have been identified as the route to achieve a miraculous target.
Business Executive Neeraj Budhari 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.i4donline.net Contact us in Singapore 25 International Business Park, #4-103F, German Centre, Singapore - 609916 Phone +65-65627983 Fax +65-656227984 Printed at Yashi Media Works Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, India
UNESCO has taken an important step of building up CMCs in Africa, which is introducing innovative ideas like radio browsing to overcome the problems of connectivity. There have been many other innovations in telecentres across several geographic regions and a glimpse of them can be found in this issue. We see this issue of the magazine only as the beginning. We seek your comments and insights about other experiments that can be classified as a best practice or success story, but one that has not been much reported or publicized. i4d is a forum for enabling small but successful efforts to find space as much as large-scale and mega-projects. We hope to carry out much more information and debate on telecentres through the portal www.i4donline.net. Don’t forget to write to us!
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.
Ravi Gupta Ravi.Gupta@i4donline.net
© Centre for Spatial Database Management and Solutions, 2004
February 2004 | www.i4donline.net
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B ANIKOARA M ULTIMEDIA C OMMUNITY C ENTRE , B ENIN
A window to the world “The added value of the CMC derives from the unbroken continuum of information and communication that it establishes: between the literate and the illiterate, between the local, national and international languages, between the spoken and the written word.”
Hezekiel Dlamini Communication and Information Advisor for West Africa, UNESCO h.dlamini@unesco.org
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The Banikoara Community Multimedia Centre (CMC) was first established as a community radio in March 1994, under the name “Radio Banigansé de Banikoara à la croisée des chemins” (loosely meaning “Banikoara Baniganse Radio at the cross road”). The community radio was created with the support of l’Agence de la Francophonie as part of a project that had been launched in 1989 by Heads of States and Governments of French-speaking countries. The project also provided assistance to existing and/or new community radios in Burkina Faso, Congo, Benin, Central African Republic, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Cameroon. Each assisted radio signed an agreement with l’Agence de la Francophonie: • To allow a real involvement of the populations in the programming and in the production of the radio content • To encourage the transfer of technologies and facilitate the complete emergence of organisational structures and administration of the media well adapted to the local realities • To offer a service better adapted to the local specificities
Management A local management committee of 19 members directs the radio. The members of the committee are elected by a local General Assembly for a two-year mandate. The General Assembly consists of representatives from each of the 10 townships of Banikoara and oversees the political as well as administrative functions of the local authorities headed by a Mayor. The committee meets thrice a year. Within the local Management Committee there is a Control Commission for the CMC. This Commission conducts periodic checks on the operations of the CMC. The CMC manager reports to the Management Committee on daily operations of the centre and on the management of human, material and financial resources.
Infrastructure The first Community Radio building was built with financial support from the Banikoara Co-operative Association for Farming Development(ACOODER) and the Union of Cotton Producers. Later, an annex building was constructed with funding from the community, consisting of 2 acoustically fitted radio studios. Today the CMC has a public bar, a community meeting hall, 2 semi-professional radio studios (one used for on-air broadcasting and the other for production) and two 100watts transmitters (one used as a relay transmitter). In addition the centre has : a computer training centre equipped with 13 personal computers (PCs) (3 other PCs are in the studios and offices), printers and scanners all in a local area network (LAN); a centre for photocopying and document binding; a solar panel system; a 24 hour maize-mill electricity generator; offices and a library. The Deutche Welle Corporation donated a satellite TV and radio receiver. UNESCO provided the start-up support for the establishment of the computer centre, by contributing four PCs, printers, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), a scanner and a digital camera. UNESCO also provided essential training for the staff and management. In August 2004, Banikoara CMC commissioned its newly installed VSAT with 18 months initial subscription, a local area network(LAN) and a server, all provided by UNESCO. The installation of the 16 kbps
i4d | September 2004
uplink/64 kbps downlink VSAT has created the town’s first Internet access point, which is currently the only reliable means of communication in the area. The most important development at the Banikoara CMC has been the installation of a maize-mill electricity generator, which is fully assembled locally (in Benin) and costs around $3000. The idea of a maize-mill generator was explored when the solar panel system provided in 1994, at the commencement of the Community Radio, started to breakdown frequently and became increasingly expensive to maintain. In Africa, many CMCs do not have dependable sources of electricity supply because of their location. These maize-mills are widely available and are used all over Africa to grind maize, but what had not been widely known is that a little adaptation turns them into powerful generators of electric energy. The Banikoara CMC has 2 of these generators, with a smaller 10kVA generator serving as standby. The main 20kVA generator can provide enough power to supply two residential houses, and at the Banikoara CMC, it supplies enough power for 16 PCs, 2 semi-professional radio studios, 2 photocopiers, a scanner, a satellite TV and Radio receiver as well as office equipment and now a VSAT link. It provides an essential service given that the diesel engine driven municipal electricity generator is switched off during most of the day hours, and switched on from late afternoon. Maize-mill electricity generator is a model that could easily be replicated in other parts of Africa.
Audience The radio covers Banikoara, parts of Kandi, Kérou and Gogounou along the North-Western boarder of Benin. The population reached by the radio is estimated at close to 256,000 inhabitants. However, the radio focuses on the Banikoara listeners, which comprise 3 main local language groups: Bariba, Peul and Dendi. Hence 90 per cent of the programmes are produced in these local languages. Nonetheless, French language is also used to cater to the large community of administrative workers, traders and NGO personnel in the covered areas who do not understand the local languages. In the past once every year, the radio undertook a survey of its listeners, which was used to improve programme content and presentation, thus enabling the radio to remain relevant to its audience. Then in 2002, the radio created listeners’ societies in 50 villages of Banikoara. These societies monitor feedback from listeners and bring it to the attention of the radio producers in a continuous manner. The Banikoara community radio has proven to be very popular in the area and enjoys great support from the local population.
The programming To guide its radio programmes production, the radio has always endeavored to “know its listeners, their tastes, their expectations”, to be able to produce the programmes that are going to give them satisfaction. The programme grid includes: debates, interviews, live presentations, music, round table discussions, news, etc. The radio earned respect and loyalty from listeners by, among other things, strictly following the programme grid, keeping programme time according to the schedule. Due to limited resources, the radio started broadcasting on modest and realistic basis, between 4 to 5 hours each evening and has progressively increased the broadcast time as September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
demand grew. Currently the radio broadcasts between 6-9 in the morning and 6-12 at night. To help the producers in their daily tasks, the station subscribed to several magazines and bulletins. In addition the radio receives international TV and radio broadcasts through a satellite receiver which was donated by Deutche Welle Corporation. The programme themes over the last five years included: health, schooling, protection of the environment, agricultural production, husbandry, women issues, road security, culture, literacy, civic education, etc. One of the more successful programmes on education of the girl child was a contest, supported by the national Ministry of Education and UNICEF, to reward a school that had admitted the highest number of girls in the district. Regarding culture, the radio organised several contests of music production on cassettes of local orchestras.
The staff Currently there are 11 personnel. Most of the staff members were recruited as volunteers from the community and were trained on the job through workshops. However, to obtain commitment and loyalty from staff they were put on the payroll of the CMC. Staff members are encouraged to function in a multidisciplinary manner. To complement staff input the radio invites local associations, cooperatives and other groupings to provide content, and where possible send a representative to produce and/or present the programme.
Sustainability After receiving the initial equipment the Banikoara Community Radio had to start broadcasting with practically no capital. It turned to the community for support. Contributions came from listeners, livestock tradesmen, the management committee, the local hospital, church organisations, associations and co-operatives, etc. organisational contributions were tied to contractual arrangements for airtime slots for advertisements and for broadcasting public information. In 2001, the revenue from these contracts exceeded 7 million FCFA (approximately $14,000). Encouraged by his success, the manager of the radio station approached every Government Ministry by sending mails, proposing to them the services of the radio to fulfill their objectives in the Banikoara region. These additional contracts were so successful that the revenue generated
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Difficulties and perspectives Difficulties The first difficulty emanated from the local branches of political parties in 2000, these parties made financial contributions to the community radio, and later demanded that they should have airtime for their political campaigns. The contributions had been made through the local Management Committee and hence the management could not identify the contributors. They also wanted to infiltrate the management committee with their militants, but the General Assembly stood firm against these conspiracies. However, the radio station and its management were thereafter threatened with hate letters. The other problems include zones within the district that do not receive the radio signal and lack of transport for producers to reach all villages to collect information and put into practice the principle of community participation in the development of programmes.
provided the much-needed financial stability to the radio station. In addition the station sought sponsorships from non-governmental organisations (NGO) for programme production in thematic areas that were of interest to them. With the opening of the computertraining centre in 2002, the CMC’s annual revenue reached 45 million FCFA (approximately USD 90,000) in 2003. Radio has generated the highest revenue at the centre over the years and in 2003 contributed 38 million FCFA. Worth noting is the fact that the Listeners’ Societies also mobilise the community at village level to make financial and/or in-kind contributions to the CMC when necessary, however, this has not been substantial enough to fund large scale projects. Hence, assistance from development agencies has remained important for the expansion of CMC services at Banikoara. The recent installation of the VSAT Internet link is expected to significantly extend the range of services at the CMC and increase its client base. It is particularly expected to attract the community of private and public sector employees as well as NGO personnel, but UNESCO is also working with the CMC to initiate an eLearning programme for teachers in the surrounding educational institutions. There are quite a number of educational institutions around Banikoara ranging from primary schools to vocational training colleges, therefore the e-Learning programme will endeavor to introduce teachers from these institutions to web-based online resources with the view to improving the quality of future training methods and materials.
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Perspectives The bad quality of the telephone network links has been an impediment to CMC’s desire to take full advantage of the new information and communication technologies (ICT). However, the installation of the VSAT has alleviated that problem and will now provide new possibilities for accessing global resources through the Internet and also share local indigenous knowledge with the world. UNESCO is already initiating a “Radio-Browsing” training programme for the radio producers on how to use Internet resources to enhance local programme production. The radio attaches a lot of importance to its communal function and will continue to promote the production and distribution of local music and cultural heritage. To ensure its sustainability and financial independence, the CMC still places a lot of emphasis on intensive marketing, especially targeting private sector, public sector institutional clients and NGOs. The CMC is conscious of the fact that as the years go by, competitions will start to emerge, and to cope with that situation, it intends to carry out a market survey for advertising by sector, to better respond to listeners’ tastes and client expectations.
Conclusion The example of the Banikoara CMC brings to the fore some important lessons for existing and future CMC practioners. Firstly, the management and ownership structures need to be grounded on broad community participation, for instance the General Assembly in the case of Banikoara. This helps when individuals attempt to use these community facilities for selfish purposes. The other lesson that can be drawn is the aggressive marketing approach that the staff must adopt. It is evident that revenues generated by service contracts have financed the growth of the Banikoara CMC. The installation of locally manufactured maize-mill generator as an alternative reliable source of energy has to be highlighted as the major contribution that the Banikoara CMC has made to the CMC movement, especially in Africa, and this should go a long way in making CMCs more sustainable. Although one case does not prove the sustainability of the CMCs as a concept, it can be concluded that CMCs must be run as small businesses, while maintaining the communal functions. i4d | September 2004
Interview
UNESCO’s experience with CMC In an interview to i4d, Wijayananda Jayaweera discussed various aspects of CMC in the development. He has longstanding experience with projects using ICTs for development. He developed the CMC concept with the first pilot project implemented in 1997 and led the recently concluded two year research project on ICTs and poverty reduction. Mr. Wijayananda Jayaweera, Director, Division of Communication Development, Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO, Paris What were the reasons and circumstances that inspired UNESCO to initiate the CMCs globally? Let us say that the CMC is a model developed by UNESCO over a period of time, since the beginning of 1997, when we initiated the first project in Sri Lanka called Kothmale Community Radio Internet project. Why was this model developed? From the beginning, on the one hand, we have had the possibility of using new information and communication technologies (NICT) for development, on the other, we have had to overcome barriers when using these ICTs for development. These barriers concern a lack of awareness concerning the benefits of NICTS, the high cost and lack of access to computers and connectivity, as well as the language barriers that prevent the use of Internet based information. There is also the issue of content. While the content creation of the traditional media such as radio, television and press, September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
incorporated the known and familiar forms of content, in the new media content, creation requires special skills which have to be acquired. Under these circumstances, we thought that a combination of different technologies, from both traditional and new (technologies), in the form of CMC could be a solution to overcome some of these problems. Therefore in the CMCs we use radio, the most penetrating medium as the interface, between people and internet. The pilot sites implemented in 15 courtiers have proved that our assumptions were correct. What are the advantages of CMCs over other models like telecentres? Firstly, CMCs are based on a simple methodology. The idea is to use community broadcasters as intermediaries between people and internet. They can interpret the information in the local language and people can have indirect access to cyberspace, through the radio, by directing their queries to the trained broadcasters, who not only obtain relevant information but also contextualise it thereby creating new knowledge. This process is very important because information itself cannot create
knowledge unless it is discussed and moulded to the local context. Community radio is an efficient tool for this contextualisation process. Secondly, costs are reduced considerably by having community access rather than individual access. In addition this access enables community radio stations to create a social space for interaction within and between communities. Thirdly, by combining these facilities, it becomes possible to ensure sustainability as radio is a sustainable operation. You just add new ICTs. You have then simply provided an added value and have made it all the more sustainable. the connectivity cost is still a factor. But the investment has immediate returns because internet information enriches the broadcast programme content and radio has the possibility to provide information otherwise inaccessible without internet embedded information. In this model community members become more aware of what one can do with internet. Moreover, the radio station also functions as a public access point for internet. As in any telecenter, people can come and access information with the guidance of trained
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volunteers on a cost recovery basis. There are some CMCs which maintain e-mail accounts for community members and inform the recipient over the radio, to come and collect the e-mail from the station. This differs from the telecentre approach. With telecenters you need to establish everything from the very beginning and one is not sure of the sustainability in rural areas, when depending solely on the access fee. In a way, the combination of radio and the internet subsidises the access cost because interfacing the internet provides opportunities for the radio to increase its income. Telecenters or internet cafés provide very little or no opportunities for communities to discuss internet derived content in local language. It is of course a business model that can be used by small entrepreneurs, mostly located in urban areas where people often use them to send e-mails. Internet cafés are less used by rural people for internet access, unless access costs are underwritten through some project fund. This is why most pilot telecenter projects continue to require disproportionate funds to sustain their operations. How are UNESCO perspectives reflected in the projects? The most important thing is that you should look at the whole issue of CMCs, not from the viewpoint of technology dissemination, but rather as a means of using technologies and a media mix to expand the existing social networks and creating new networks. CMCs are hubs for social networks. The participation in CMCs builds the necessary confidence and skills to deal with new situations and opportunities. This is the perspective that is generally reflected in the Community Multimedia Centres. It is a social space where people can gather. Can you outline some of the limitations of CMCs? Most of the tools are available for familiar information processing (for example the web browsers), they are useful but they have limitations. Unless, you know where to go, you have to spend a lot of time searching for information. In the pilot phase of the CMC, UNESCO together with the Indian national informatics centre developed a tool, which not only helps to manage and package the information, but also provides a one stop tool known as eNRICH for social networking, where people can participate in community voting, the production of content and communicating within and between the different communities. What ever limitations we now have are not necessarily related to technologies. They are related more to the traditional vertical orientation of the development and governmental agencies working at the grassroots level. They could partner with the CMCs to make their services more efficient, if they are wiling to establish horizontal linkages with the communities through the space and networks provided by CMC. What are your views on present scale-up CMC projects? To simplify the concept of scale up, let me illustrate an example. If you have 50-60 CMCs in a small country or a province, we could create a large social network capable of mainstreaming ICTs for various developmental issues such as education, health, telemedicine, and administrative transparency. The availability of a critical mass of CMCs encourages governmental and development agencies to use them for development. However, there has been a great deal of talk about using ICTs for distance education or telemedicine, it is
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not likely that any policy will be implemented to that effect without the adequate number of access points in the rural areas. To give a concrete example, if we want to encourage a country to develop a programme for teachers’ training, based on ICTS, we may develop a programme but how are we going to deliver the programme unless we have a sufficient network of delivery points ? Therefore, the scale-up is important. Scale-up has to be based/ implemented on the national level. One important aim is to provide an opportunity for the main agencies at the national level dealing with education, health, agriculture, marketing etc to use the scale up as a spring board to provide their services more efficiently to the communities, while the overreaching aim is to widen the social network for knowledge creation and sharing. Therefore, the potentials are very much there. We have just started CMC scale ups in three African countries. In order to prepare for the scale up, several studies and research were carried out, on how ICTs can be utilised for poverty reduction. The most recent two year study conducted in South Asia confirmed that strong links between social and technological networks emerge as being highly important for community based ICT initiatives which aim to improve the conditions of the poor and the marginalised. The findings also show that local content creation at the CMCs is an important means of engaging people with ICTs, enabling them to have a voice, and to harness and circulate locally relevant knowledge. ICTs lend themselves to group work and projects, so that developing social and technical skills are interrelated in the CMCs. There is a capacity in ICT interventions both to enlist and expand existing networks, and to bring diverse and excluded people to overcome gender, caste and other such boundaries. This can expand the flow of information and communication as well the individual’s confidence and capacity to benefit from wider social networks. For sustainability, both technological and social, issues need to be addressed as a priority, and we are confident that with partnerships both at the national and community levels, we will be able to ensure the operational sustainability of the scale up. Amongst young people, there is huge potential to build on their involvement and enthusiasm for participation in ICTs initiatives, which is often strongly supported by their families and communities. Technical support and backup and local capacity are crucial issues, especially when there are limited resources. We have envisaged to develop supporting resource centers at provincial/national levels. Many development partners have gone through the piloting phase of the individual ICT initiatives and have learnt a great deal. It is high time to work seriously on national level scale up of successful projects. We should overcome the everlasting pilot syndrome, and donor branding of pilot projects. Let us mobilize our resources for scale up and its national ownership. It may be a necessary risk we should all take in order to make real widespread impact of ICTs for Development. It is our moral obligation to bring the benefits of ICTs to those who are marginalized. UNESCO is working with the Governments of Mali, Mozambique and Senegal to build a multi stake holder partnership with other development agencies, community and civil society organisations, the private sector and donors to implant a successful scale up. i4d | September 2004
T ANSEN CMC
New directions in multimedia The goal is to explore ways that Tansen can use ICTs as dynamic development tools: to bring more voices and cultural forms, ideas and issues into the community’s media space, and to provide poor, marginalised youth with new skills and opportunities.
Ian Pringle Media ICT Specialist Communication and Information Sector i.pringle@unesco.org With Utpal Bajracharya and Anuradha Bajracharya Researchers, Tansen CMC research@tansenpalpa.net
September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
Tansen’s main bazaar as photographed from Shreenagar park Courtesy: New Photo Concern Studio, Tansen
The Tansen Community Multimedia Centre (CMC) initiative in Nepal is part of a regional innovation and research project initiated by UNESCO to study the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for poverty reduction. The project is looking for ways to use ICTs as a tool to empower and strengthen the voices of the poor. Community multimedia centres are an extension of UNESCO’s long-standing work with community radio, inspired by the increasingly important role played by new digital technologies. CMCs like the one in Tansen combine traditional community media - in Tansen’s case video, cable TV and print - with new media tools like computers and Internet. The goal is to explore ways that Tansen can use ICT as dynamic development tool: to bring more voices and cultural forms, ideas and issues into the community’s media space, and to provide poor, marginalised youth with new skills and opportunities. The combination of established local media, like community TV with new
technologies like Internet, opens up great possibilities to link small, comparatively inaccessible towns and villages like Tansen to new global networks. New media are not only powerful tools for producing content, they are also gateways to ever expanding information and knowledge resources.
Life in the hills Tansen is a hill town some 300 kms by road, west of Kathmandu. Once the seat of the Sen Dynasty, it is now the headquarters of Palpa district in western Nepal. Perched on the rim of a fertile valley, Tansen is about 30 kms into the Himalayan foothills and 60 kms from Nepal’s border with India. The population of the Tansen municipality is about 25,000, made up of a mix of ethnic communities and traditional caste groupings. Like the rest of Nepal and much of South Asia, a majority of the population are youth below the age of 18 years. The townspeople are predominantly Newar Buddhists and Brahmin and Magar Hindus. Though officially a thing of the past, traditional caste,
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were recruited and trained in video, multimedia and computer skills. A high percentage among them now contribute as volunteers to a range of local media: a weekly TV show called The Local Programme, a local community website and as of 2004, an online version of a local community-oriented newspaper called Deurali. “The main criterion to get entry in this centre is poverty. I mean the poor and marginalised young people could only get opportunity in the centre. So being poor, it has given me the opportunity to be the student of the centre. I came to know that the centre was built for the poor people. The centre is helping students to an extent to be able to work in society.” Interview with Tansen CMC participant.
Anjanali doing the layout of Gaaule Deurali, a weekly newspaper Courtesy: Ian Pringle
trade and ethnic groupings are still a very strong part of Tansen’s social fabric. Historically a regional centre, like many hill towns in the Himalayan belt, Tansen is increasingly isolated from the plains where growth, trade and mobility are higher. Palpa also faces the pressures of migrating labour and instability due to ongoing conflict between Nepal’s government and Maoist insurgents. There are few local jobs or business opportunities through which young people can hope to make a decent living and the situation is worse for the poor, women and people from marginalised castes.
A centre for media innovation Tansen has an unusually wide range of local media for a relatively small and isolated hill town. Tansen’s media mix includes three local FM radios in the town itself (all established in mid-2004), one from nearby Madanpokhara village as well as a weekly communityoriented paper, two cable networks, a local television producer and the CMC. Cable TV started in Tansen in the early 1990s with the emergence of satellite and cable technology in South Asia, a combination that was to dramatically change the region’s media environment and give rise to thousands of small, local cable operations. In Tansen, video production and cable distribution grew in response to the absence of either Nepali language or local content programming available via satellite in the early 90s. In the following years, local musicians and media enthusiasts using basic equipment and volunteer labour created one of South Asia’s only local television programmes, running more or less uninterrupted for over ten years.
Community multimedia for youth With support from UNESCO, the Tansen TV group expanded their set-up in early 2003, adding a computer network and basic digital production facilities. Over the course of the first year, some 175 youth participants, most between the age of 16 to 20 years,
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The CMC emphasises the participation of girls, achieving a roughly 65:35 ratio with boys, and has proactively recruited youth from poor families and marginalised caste groups. Approximately 15 per cent of youth trained in the first year are from so called low caste groups. The youth are trained together in batches of 30-40 learning both computing and media production skills. They plan and produce their own multimedia programming, using digitial video cameras and production software like Microsoft Moviemaker and Adobe Premiere. Their video productions end up as part of The Local Programme cablecast Saturday nights 7-8 pm to some 1200 households in the municipality and adjoining rural areas. The idea is to enable and amplify the voice of marginalised local youth, to improve both the quantity and quality of local media programming and to introduce new formats that actively combine Tansen’s various media: TV, radio, print and websites. In the process the CMC hopes to foster a sense of community ownership that will support an increasingly wide range of local media. After one year of youth training programmes, the CMC began designing new training programmes for specific groups, e.g. housewives, campus MA lecturers, etc.
Facility For ICT training and public access there are 10 networked computers and a server and a printer/scanner. For video production there are 3 computers, 2 computers for training and student work, 2 video cards and 4 video cameras. Audio production equipments include 2 computers, an audio mixer, and 3 digital audio recorders. For Internet connectivity, there is a radio modem access point and two radio modems.
Skills and empowerment Although the link between poverty and media training and production is not immediately clear to many observers, the CMC’s work with poor local youth does several things that are important in reducing poverty: develops skills, builds confidence and inspires self-expression and participation in wider community spaces. A good example is the story of the Hitangas: “Som and Manoj Hitanga are cousins from the traditional shoemaker caste, which because of the association with feet and with animal hide has traditionally been considered as ‘untouchable caste’. Recruited in the first batch, Som and Manoj are two of the CMC’s most promising trainees. They quickly mastered the computing and i4d | September 2004
video production skills taught in the basic curriculum and have gone on to learn advanced digital production applications like Adobe Premiere. They have contributed a number of features to The Local Programme and since Som took over the regular feature on community activities, townspeople regularly come to knock on the door of his home to inform him of local happenings and events. Some time back, the owner of a cable network in India recruited and offered both Som and Manoj jobs to help start up and produce a local cable programme in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Although they went to Gorakhpur, they returned back to Tansen after less than a week as they were not happy in a big Indian city in the plains.” Notes from field visit to Tansen.
Housewives taking a computer course at the CMC in Tansen Courtesy: Ian Pringle
While the CMC facilitators are aware that not all students will find employment through their new skills, the handful that have found employment – shooting and editing wedding videos, as camera operators and in the new radio stations, are a positive example for the rest, inspiring them to look for new opportunities with new skills and confidence.
Self-expression and advocacy The CMC’s flagship production is The Local Programme, a weekly one-hour show having a 15 minute student feature, an entertainment segment that alternates between folk and pop music and a round-up of community events, meetings and different programmes. Features and the community activities are the exclusive responsibility of the CMC’s youth participants and they collaborate with CMC staff for the entertainment segments. Participants are given a free hand in choosing topics and formats for the student features, however common themes of advocacy, awareness and self-expression have emerged. Two girls with promising skills have started an interesting series of programmes called Path of Life, featuring episodes on different local professions, most of them part of traditionally low-caste trades such as shoemakers, metalworkers, carpenters, barbers and tailors. “Today is a very important day in my life because today our programme will be telecasted through local TV . We had worked very hard to make the programme entitled “Jeevanko Goreto” (Path of Life). It is an informative programme, giving information about the different skills, which people are using to earn their livelihood. Our Mahesh Sir has told us that this programme will be telecasted on Saturday at 6.00 pm. I was very excited to see the programme on TV, so at 6.00 pm, I switched on the TV and called all my family members to watch the programme. After a while the programme was started. When I saw our programme on TV, I was so happy that I could not express it. I had never thought that I will be able to make such a programme and I will be seen on TV. When the programme was being shown, there were many guests in my home. They also watched the programme and they were very much surprised to see me on screen. They began to ask many more questions to me. They were very much interested to know how it was possible. I told them every thing about CMC, our trainings and about local T.V. They September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
became very happy to know all the things and they praised me for this and wished for my success”. Excerpt from a participant’s diary Similar features have been done on local street hawkers and the changing nature of tailoring as a result of TV-influenced fashion. Other programmes have looked at the state of the municipality’s roads, explored different aspects of local culture, featured ideas for income generating activities and advocated on behalf of the local environment through programmes on garbage, pollution and preserving local fresh water springs. In addition to student productions, volunteers had produced some fifteen 10-15-minute features between May and August 2004.
Information and innovation With a more reliable Internet connection in 2004, the Tansen CMC now started to explore ways to bring information through Internet into their local media channels. Rochak Prasanga, meaning interesting facts, features just that by exploring and searching the Internet and then presenting a regular short feature for The Local Programme. Direct access to the Internet is also opening up new ideas and spaces for exploration. After a computer training programme for 30 housewives, a handful of women have started using email to keep in touch with family members abroad and searching the Internet for new recipes and hair styles to put to use in small businesses and their homes. To address the lack of good materials available in masterslevel programmes, the CMC is introducing a specialised course in searching and using Internet for local campus lecturers. The CMC is also developing a new programme called TV Browsing in which local youth invite guest experts to surf the web with them on camera, simultaneously translating and interpreting Internet-sourced information and showing local viewers-the vast
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The small size of the project, in terms of number of participants, the town Courtesy: Mahesh Shakya environment, and the close-knit nature of the local team, has contributed to research playing an important role in the project and has fed naturally back into the process of planning and implementing. Research has helped the project team to understand the nature of poverty in Tansen, particularly the role played by caste, marginalisation and powerlessness and the lack of opportunities for self-expression. Practically, the research approach has been used to identify poor students, taking into account a range of factors, more than simply economic status. Continuous interaction and a high degree of engagement with participants allowed the local team to both refine and adapt curricula for successive batches of students, creating specialised courses to meet the needs of learners.
Youth participantslearn to edit audio
majority of whom have never heard of the Internet, let alone seen, it – what these new technologies are all about. Viewers can request the CMC to feature particular topics and websites allowing them to surf the Internet on their televisions.
A window to the world To some extent, the Tansen CMC counters the inaccessibility of mountain towns, and as cable penetration increases, semi rural suburbs and larger villages as well. The CMC increases local capacity to create programming and use media tools while simultaneously starting and supporting new means through which to showcase the outputs. By linking media like Internet with local radio and TV, the CMC connects Tansen to the outside world, from markets on the plains to education opportunities in the capital, just as it now links absent students and migrants with their families back home. The CMC provides hundreds with direct access to ICTs and through cable TV, radio and print, thousands more with some degree of mediated access which also provides for translation and contextualisation, not to mention overcoming barriers like literacy and the affordability of computers.
Built-in research Like other sites in the UNESCO regional project network, the Tansen CMC has used an integrated research methodology developed in conjunction with Queensland University of Technology and London School of Economics. The approach employs full time researchers as part of the local project team who use ethnographic research tools, including field notes, diaries and a range of interview methods to explore both what poverty means in Tansen and how it relates to what the research approach calls the local ‘communicative ecology’, essentially the complete range of communication media and information flows in a given community. The research places ICTs (radio, computers, mobile phones, print media and so on) in the context of all the ways of communicating, that are important locally, including face-toface interaction.
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Sustainability With over a year of operations under their belt and a history of local production dating back more than 10 years, the Tansen CMC has many creative ideas for how to sustain their operations and provide employment and income generating opportunities for poor local youth. The CMC is introducing a membership system through which community members and volunteers are able to use the computer and Internet facilities. The team plans to expand the hours of cablecast programming to increase viewership and hopefully community support. The Local Programme has started to carry some small advertising with spots made by youth volunteers. The CMC offers paid video and production services for local weddings and other ceremonies. Youth who do the video shooting split the NPR 2000 fee (about USD 25) with the centre. The CMC charges NPR 750 to mix wedding video footage. The centre has started to offer limited paid, low cost training programmes; for example, 30 housewives are paying average of NPR 900 (about USD 12) for a three-month course covering basic computers, word processing and Internet. The CMC is also planning to introduce on-demand music and video features for cable subscribers. As new information and communication technologies continue to develop, the CMC sees its multimedia approach having greater and greater potential to offer innovative, relevant and paid services. With three new FM radios broadcasting from Tansen, at least another four FM stations in the area as well as five TV stations in the capital, the Tansen CMC organisers feel that they are in a unique position to provide both skilled human resources as well as high quality audio and video programme productions. The full version of this article will appear in the journal ‘Mountain Research and Development’ in November 2004. www.mrd-journal.org i4d | September 2004
I NSIGHT
Darjeeling Himalayan Internet railway This paper describes the DHIR project’s development over 12 months…some of their activities, the community reaction, the successes and the failures.
Karma Tshering Bhutia Research Coordinator and Organiser, Nepal CMC karmatsheringb@yahoo.com
September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
The technological innovation of the 19th century ‘toy train’ provided a 21st century link between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centres in the small hill district of Darjeeling in the state of West Bengal, in the north eastern part of India. As per 2001 census, the total population of Darjeeling was 1,605,900 (826,334 male and 779,566 female). Immigrants from the neighbouring countries and states dominate the population of Darjeeling. The Nepalese community forms the majority of the immigrant population. Nepalese is the official and most used language in the hill parts of the Darjeeling district. It is a land of mixed cultures and religions. Residents of Darjeeling feel that the district is often overlooked by the government and by mainstream development programmes. Many believe that we are now in an ‘information age’ and are part of a global ‘knowledge economy’. In such an age, access to ICTs to share knowledge, information and ideas seems paramount for social and economic development. Can ICTs play a key role in development and poverty reduction? Can ICTs promote the delivery of basic services, and enhance local development opportunities? Can they also make it easier to make the voices of the poor heard in the decisions that shape their lives? This paper describes the Darjeeling Himalayan Internet Railway (DHIR) project’s development over 12 months, from March 2003. It describes some of their activities, the community reaction, the successes and the failures. It concludes with a discussion of the closure of the centres, which this paper proposes as organisational failures. The closure of the centres, once they had become established and valued by local communities is a sad reflection of the lack of organisational sustainability and the inability
of those in positions of power to recognise community participation and to listen to their voices and opinions.
The initiative DHIR was a pilot project initiated by UNESCO under its ICTs for Poverty Reduction Project in partnership with the Northern Frontier Railway. There was a tripartite agreement for implementation of the project between UNESCO, the Railways (Government) and COSMOS (a local non-government organisation). The local stakeholders/project management team (PMT) representing the local community was set up to oversee, manage and administer the project with the implementing NGO. DHIR centres were set up in four of the world heritage stations along the heritage railway line. The four centres along the heritage railway line were Sukna, Kurseong, Ghoom and Darjeeling. The distance between the first and the last centre is about 70 Km. Sukna and Kurseong centres were established year ago. Darjeeling centre was set up in August 2003. Ghoom Centre was set up in end of November 2003. Sukna is the only centre that is situated in the foothill and rest of the centres are situated in the hills. The objective was to offer secure, central and easy computer and Internet access to people living below the poverty line in communities living close to the railway stations. The access to ICTs was also intended to bridge the information gap for these people. DHIR centres, despite their limited resources, were able to provide many relevant local services. Each centre had two computers with dial up connection, telephone and printer/photocopy machine. The four centres in a period of 10 months were able to work with over 600 people. DHIR is one project within a larger
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UNESCO project, ICTs for Poverty Reduction. Within this wider project, individual projects cover a range of poor individuals and communities with a variety of technology mixes. Each one is developing different social and technological access models that address both the root causes of poverty and key barriers to ICT usage by the poor. Working with parallel UNESCO initiatives, nine project sites have been established (in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan) in partnership with NGOs, governments, universities, private companies, media and technology groups as well as poor women, youth and their families.
At the community level When the ICT centres were introduced the local people said, “How can ICTs help combat poverty and promote development?” One of the community members reacted strongly: “ What will poor people do by learning computers? If we go to learn computers, who will feed our stomach? Poor people spend their life as a labourer. None of us here has time for computer. Will starve if we don’t work for a day. Anyway what is the use of learning computers? Hey Nima let’s go for work, why do we need to waste our time here? We are not going to benefit anything out of it. It’s the same old thing, they simply document, nothing will happen practically...” Experiments using ICTs to combat poverty started with community participation. The centre site coordinators understood that community participation and involvement are central to community development. These site coordinators started to mobilize the community and at the same time worked to identify target beneficiaries. Target beneficiaries were identified in accordance with the “Below Poverty Line” classification. But defining poverty in this way was challenging as the official poverty classification and people’s declarations of their economic situation were found not to be a reliable guide. Household interviews, door-to-door visit and participant observation were some of the methods used to assess poverty. Poverty was found to be difficult to measure and difficult to define as it could be seen as economic and social. “Poverty is difficult to assess. Different people will have different views. But people work very hard to make their decent living. There are very few people who really associate themselves to be poor. If there are benefits that can come their way by putting themselves under “Below Poverty Line”, they will not have a second thought for that. So it all depends on the situations and circumstances. For
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example, people in order to take free service from ICT would always like to say that they are from poor family” said the site coordinator of Ghoom centre. The innovations, creativeness and ideas of the community built up as the project developed. The community who had initially doubted the usefulness of ICTs later embraced them. The physical space of the ICT centres became a meeting place for children, women, youth and elders in the community. The centre started with free basic computing facilities for the target beneficiaries. The non-target beneficiaries’ who became members contributed a nominal fee. With strong participation from the community, ideas started flowing about how the centres could be most effective and the kinds of services that should be developed. With this strong participation from the community the centres were able to start needs assessment study of the community. The community became the source of developing local content. The local content further drew the attention of the community.
Information People started looking towards the centres as information hub where ideas and knowledge were exchanged and valued the centres as places where information could be accessed and exchanged through numerous channels- face to face communication, print media (local news dailies, employment news, magazines, etc), computers, telephones, physical display boards for the public notices and eNRICH (a local web portal and database developed by the National Informatics Centre of the Department of Information Technology, Government of India). Information was sourced from the Internet and locally. In this way locally relevant information like health care, educational facilities, phone numbers of all the doctors, schools, colleges, police stations, tourist info, timings of the trains, news piece from users, and job application forms became available within the centres. This information was available through eNRICH as well as on the public display boards. eNRICH was useful for the community as they could share and voice their opinion, post jokes and local messages, for example, local business advertisements and announcements of the events such as local football matches. The centre became a distribution platform for the community and thus empowering in a range of ways. For the beginner, eNRICH became a gateway to the Internet. eNRICH was commissioned by UNESCO and used in each of its ICTs for Poverty Reduction projects. In Darjeeling, as elsewhere, eNRICH was found to have limitations and it often frustrated the users, but it helped us to think carefully about knowledge management and ways of sharing appropriate information. eNRICH is being further developed to iron out the glitches and explore the use of open source. Even with its limitations, eNRICH and other knowledge sharing activities were valued by users and provided a range of useful information. Another initiative developed by the site coordinators and the users was the Basic English speaking classes. The idea was to empower people in accessing the Internet for emailing and searching the relevant sites, as English is a dominant language on the Internet. A free medical camp in partnership with the local clinic was organised by one of the centres for blood check ups. The first beneficiary in this camp was the local Panchayat Pradhan (Chief i4d | September 2004
elected representative of the village local governance body). Over 60 people turned up for a free check up. This activity, along with others, set a good example of centres working in partnership with other local organisations and service providers. On World AIDS Day, Kurseong centre organised a rally in partnership with local communities, NGOs and a local governing body to bring awareness of AIDS and HIV+ amongst the local community. Over 200 local people attended the rally. There was a social gathering in front of the railway station and experts like doctors, social and health workers made people aware of this threatening and deadly disease. Placards and notices were put up around the town. Many people were made conscious and aware of the disease. No such event had taken place in the past. It was the first of its kind that happened in the small town of Kurseong. Local media channels came forward for the cause and broadcasted the event the same evening. The idea of organizing such an event came from members of the ICT centre, even though initially they doubted whether they could take up such a big challenge.
Social network Social networking in the community improved as the project developed with initiative from the users. The impact of the ICT centres became stronger as users started disseminating information at the community level. The services of the centres reached many local people in this way. For example, the centre became the easiest access point for services like application forms for jobs, especially for recent graduates. The application forms are not only easily available (people no longer have to go to Darjeeling town for the application forms) but the centres also helped applicants to fill in the forms. The services of the centre meant that people were able to apply for government jobs, which are regarded as the most respectful and are the first choice of the people living in the hills. The activities in some centres attracted non-users from the community. The centres, which consist of spaces of about 12 ft by 12 ft, were often full and unable to accommodate all the participants. The centre in Ghoom often used to have children playing on the platform of the railway stations. The centre started video and computer games once a week for these enthusiastic children. The ICT facilities became embedded into family life as the parents of these children encouraged their children to become members of the centre. The children organised a one act play with their own script during the winter festive season. “Computer” was the most popular word amongst the children during their winter break.
Some centres organised a picnic to bring the community together. Though this kind of activity can simply be considered for fun and entertaining but it also served to bring the community closer to participate in ICTs. Awareness programmes in partnership with government organisations like the Central Board of Workers Education (they support rural and urban development) were perhaps the highlight of the initiatives of the centres. The centres, with the support of these organisations often organised awareness programmes in rural and urban areas. The programmes were attended by experts from different areas like banking, health, social workers, teachers and self-help group members. The ICT centres helped in the formation of self-help groups amongst local youth. The community participated and put traditional ideas into practice through the intervention of ICTs and the centres. The technology introduced has created many indirect impacts in the life of the local people. The experience from DHIR project shows that ICTs can be an agent of social change.
Sustainability It is necessary for community-based projects like DHIR to become sustainable. That is to say, the four centres have to survive after initial support from the donor organisations. When the project started it was clear that all the centres would have to work towards sustaining themselves after a year. Some centres started late, such as the Ghoom centre and therefore had to come up with ideas to sustain itself after just four months of operation. Sustainability from the wider perspective goes beyond financial autonomy, which is only one of many elements. Sustainability depends on social, financial and institutional viability. Let’s look at these three components in detail. Social sustainability Social sustainability is a crucial part of sustainability in that it indicates the social relevance of the project. If social sustainability can be achieved then the project is playing an appropriate role in the community. It is therefore an initial process when planning for sustainability in the centres. The importance of community participation and involvement is central in sustaining the centre. The process of planning and implementation starts at the community level. The initiative of the community and the centre in charge can lead to “Community Ownership”. Not all the centres
September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
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Current expenses, revenue and deficit in the Ghoom Centre: Salary of the staff
Rs 5000
Internet ISP
Rs 799
Telephone
Rs 1500
Cartridges
Rs 800
A/4 Paper
Rs 150
Floppy and CDs
Rs 100
Misc. Expenses(newspapers and others) Rs 400
achieved the same degree of community participation but across the centres it was clear that with high degrees of community participation the centres could understand the community needs and were able to work more effectively to provide and circulate locally relevant and locally sourced information. The increasing inflow of users in centres was an indicator of the ownership process. The facilities and the growing awareness of the usefulness of ICTs generated interest amongst local communities. The initiative of users and site coordinators developed into strong social networks at the community level. People and organisations started to work together to support one another – there are a range of examples where from one community based organisation came forward to assist the centre. “My impression for this centre was that I can learn computer at RS 10 (USD 0.25) per month. Now I am aware that it is not about the Rs 10 but about how I as an individual can learn and support in running the centre�, said John. Financial sustainability Income generating activities and financial sustainability is crucial for the survival of the centres and development of the centres according to community needs. From the experience of the Darjeeling project it was clear that the financial part was very important as all the centres were running in deficit. With the strong participation of the community and network at the community level, some of the centres were able to draw up a social business plan with users and community people. The brief outline of the social business plan was drawn up from Ghoom Centre through a participatory approach with the community:
Ideas to generate revenue Target 200 members to be enrolled every quarter. Membership fee for 200 members @ Rs 170/- Rs Monthly income will be Rs Expenditure so far monthly Rs Profit in a month Rs
34,000 11,333.333 8,749 2584.333
Institutional sustainability A stable institutional structure is crucial. From the beginning the situation was complex, confusing and unclear. The institutional
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Average Total Expenses in a month
Rs 8749
Average Revenue generated in a month
Rs 2042
Average Total deficit in a month
Rs 6707
team lacked proper planning and there was no clear vision and strategy for the project. With no clear understanding amongst the institutional team, the project lacked coordination within the team and at the community level. Having no community participation at the organisational level, the project lacked an understanding of the needs of the community. Institutional support was necessary to make the centres socially and financially sustainable. The plan for social and economic sustainability was forged at the community level but doubt always remained at the organisational level, and there was little recognition of the community efforts. The project at the grass root level got very little or no support from the organisations. The institutional support looked good only on paper but when it came to project implementation there was very little one could say about their support to the communities who had begun to take social ownership and responsibility of the centres. This was a huge step forward that was never recognised by the Northern Frontier Railway (NFR) who ultimately had the power to close the centres. The experience of the Darjeeling Project suggests that community participation and commitment is the fundamental condition of sustainability. But, in fact this was ignored at the institutional level. All the Centres in Darjeeling have been shut down since 1st April 2004. The decision came the day after members of the centres came up with their sustainability plan. Today, decision on reopening the centre lies in the hands of the authority and the community initiators and users are in complete darkness.
Conclusions DHIR is a story of successes and challenges. It achieved a lot despite management lackness. The lesson learnt from the Darjeeling project is that clear and transparent management structures must be in place to enable project development at the community level to flourish. It is also clear that once the communities took social ownership of the centres they were the best placed to take on the actual management of the centres and plan for their futures, how ever difficult it may be. It would also have benefitted from clearer vision (which was only present at the community level) and simpler organisational structure, as evident in other UNESCO project which desire to promote community ownership and management. i4d | September 2004
D RISHTEE
A successful franchising business model for CMC Drishtee is an India-based organisational platform for rural networking that provides ITenabled services to rural and semiurban populations. Through a tiered franchise and partnership model, Drishtee facilitates the creation of a rural networking infrastructure. With nodes at the village, district, state and national level, Drishtee enables access to worldwide information and local services using its proprietary state-of-the-art software. Through a network of village kiosks, Drishtee and the local entrepreneurs deliver ICT based services to the rural population, providing users enhanced access to e-Governance, education, health, insurance and local services. As the ICT centre (kiosk/telecentre) is owned and operated by a local villager, the model supports wealth creation by developing entrepreneurs within the village community. With time, Drishtee developed its business model to create a sustainable, scaleable platform of entrepreneurship for enabling the development of rural economy and society by the use of Information and Communication Technologies.
Business model The person operating the kiosk is a local matriculate (high school graduate) operator, entrepreneur, and only needs basic maintenance and numeric data entry skills, as most of the Drishtee portal is menu-driven. He bears the operating costs and pays a flat fee each month to Drishtee for providing ongoing technical and marketing support and also maintenance and upkeep of the portal. This is a financially sustainable and profitable model offering profits at all levels of the hierarchy. This is a model that creates wealth. Drishtee is facilitating access to various services through a highly scaleable software platform, as other service providers can use the existing network by just plugging their services into the Drishtee software and start providing services to villagers with minimal cost and effort. The villagers are able to access a wide range of online services such as e-Governance and non-governmental services like market related information, auction sites and matrimonial services. Drishtee is also providing localised content for educational and health services.
Social impacts • Strengthening the rural economy by creating employment opportunities, reversing the tide of rural migration, and improving access to information and knowledge September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
• Use of IT as a tool for basic education. • Creation of a new generation of IT literate people with reasonable to high earnings who become role models for the younger generation • Removal of functional barriers between government and citizen: prompt, transparent, accessible and effective governance, which not only benefits the citizen but also the government by effectively making the citizen a partner in the process of governance. • Empowerment of the poor through their mobilisation and better knowledge of their rights • Providing the necessary infrastructure for provision of a range of (non-government) social services and commercial opportunities either directly by Drishtee or through partnerships with third party service providers. The Social Return on Investment Analysis shows that for every US$1 of social cost incurred, US$20 of social benefit is generated.
Services provided Drishtee has so far partnered with district administration under various states, as well as large and small names in the corporate sector. These include: • ICICI for insurance and Escorts for health services • Pustak Mahal for e-Shopping
e-Government services Framed in partnership with the district administration, the aim here is to provide rural citizens doorstep access to several services for which they initially used to spend a lot of time and money to travel and get the job done. Examples are: driving license, land records, online grievances, etc. A set of e-Government services may vary across different regions according to inputs given by the local administration.
Private services Drishtee itself, with no partner involvement, conceives these services. Several localised offerings such as: online marketplace (Gram Haat), email service, agricultural forum, (Krishi Prashan), etc.
Commercial services These are implemented in partnership with corporate institutions covering rural employment, computer education, insurance, digital photography, agricultural inputs, e-Commerce, etc. In addition to Drishtee’ services, kiosk owner may decide to offer any number of
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these services plus his own services (eg. typing) to tailor his kiosk’s provisions to the unique community needs
Growth of operations Over the many years of experience, Drishtee has developed a comprehensive set of operational documentation. This includes operational procedures, forms, and process guidelines. Drishtee’s entry into new markets follows a systematic process and enables 40 new kiosks to be launched just 90 days after entering a new district. This is significant in terms best practice propagation and implementation – lessons learnt are quickly disseminated throughout the Drishtee network – at the kiosk and at all administrative levels. It is now active in six districts in six states of India, (Sirsa in Haryana, Jaipur in Rajasthan, Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, Trichy in Tamil Nadu, Sonitpur in Assam and Madhubani in Bihar), and has licenced 309 kiosks for operations.
Technonology Kiosk Kiosk connects to Drishtee’s web portal through dial-up to a local ISP. All portal services have been designed to minimize online process time. The kiosk owner, at a total cost of approximately US$1000, has procured the hardware. Basic equipment package includes a computer, modem, printer, and and a 4-hour battery.
Web Server The Web Server acts at the main administrator of the complete system. It coordinates communication between districts and administers the performance of districts and kiosks. It also acts as national level content provider. District office Staff at the district office act as local content providers, entering data like market prices, local employment listings, etc. Software Drishtee has developed the software to run the portal and various services. It is very simple and menu-driven, which requires minimum data entry at the client end. The software is in Hindi language, Tamil and Assamese and can be customised as per requirements. Connectivity Almost all Drishtee kiosks have dial-up connections. In one district (Jaipur), optic fiber connection has been used for connectivity due to the high volume of transactions at kiosks, thus being economically viable. Where the existing telephone connections are not existent or are of inferior quality, Drishtee is also investigating cellular connections for connectivity and negotiates with the service provider to provide improved telephone connections. Alok Sharma, Assistant Manager, Drishtee Dot Com Ltd. alok.s@drishtee.com
IDRC documents CMCs experiences of Uganda and Senegal Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is a public corporation created by the Parliament of Canada in 1970 to help developing countries use science and technology to find practical, long-term solutions to the social, economic, environmental problem they face. Support is directed toward developing an indigenous research capacity to sustain policies and technologies developing countries need to build healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous societies. To help bridge the divide between the information rich and information poor, IDRC is exploring how developing countries can accelerate their participation in the information economy. One mechanism for this is the community telecentre. Through its Acacia and PAN initiatives, IDRC has supported the establishment of telecentres and telecentre- related research in Africa, Asia and the America. Two videos in a CDROM format covering Senegal and Uganda telecentre experiences were produced with financial support from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the World Bank Institute. These videos reflect that dissemination of information through videos is one of the most effective tools for bridging the digital divide. As it goes that ‘images speak in volumes’, it is easy to understand what live images can do? Described below are the ‘life stories’ covered in this CDROM.
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UGANDA The two CMCs in these communities represents very different segments of Ugandan society. One is in the rural community of Nakaseke; the other is based in a school in the capital city of Kampala. The people in both areas, however, faced similar challenges in understanding and adopting CMC services. Nakaseke endured considerable horror and upheaval during Uganda’s civil strife of 1970s and 80s. It is now now looking beyond its tragic history to the future and has embraced the new CMC. Community spirit is equally strong in Kampala where, after six years of operation, parents have shown a willingness to underwrite the CMC’s cost.
SENEGAL The adoption and integration of telecentres can follow an established pattern, whether it is in a school for academically gifted girls or in a community development organisation working with the poor. Through video, IDRC highlights the common elements in the introduction and use of telecentres services in a relatively elite school in Goree Island and Baraka, an impoverished neighbourhood in Dakar. In both cases community support is shown as essential to the telecentre’s successs. In Baraka, telecentre outreach activities Have not only helped to bridge a digital divide but also overcome socio economic divisions. For obtaining copies of the CDROMs, write to acacia@idrc.ca i4d | September 2004
Vol. II No. 9
September 2004
Information for development www.i4donline.net
Telecentre New online discussion list on telecentres A new WSIS Telecentres working group has been launched this month to offer inputs to the WSIS 2005 to be held in Tunisia. This group would discuss issues on telecentres and other public technology initiatives, including community technology centres, telecottages, public computing centers at schools and libraries, community wireless networks and other initiatives that seek to offer Internet access, ICT training and related community services to the public. Participants will be encouraged to volunteer and coordinate various aspects of the working group, from organising events, writing position papers. For detail contact Telecentres-request@wsis-cs.org.
ICT centre to be built for Liberian refugees The Gomoa District Assembly Unit Committee has donated a tract of land for the construction of approximately $11million Information Communication and Technology (ICT) centre for Liberian refugees in Ghana. The centre, is being build with the support of the Association for the Reconstruction of Liberia in collaboration with Modern Age Technologies (ARLMAT), an NGO operating in Ghana towards the reconstruction of Liberia. About 60% of 42,000 Liberian refugees in the Gomoa district of Buduburam are expected to be covered by the project and be given quality education in order to equip them with the necessary experience and expertise that is needed to reconstruct Liberia. The Liberian refugees would be able to access the centre freely but non-Liberian refugees would have to pay a token to get access. http://www.accra-mail.com September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
Rural Internet information centres in China China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are engaged in an effort to provide information services to rural poor in China. In the pilot initiative five counties are being covered where the most sought-after information includes market prices, new agricultural technologies, health information, educational data to help with schoolwork or applications, and job searches. Every project town has two village centres that provide training and services to local villagers. Most of the centres also have an external bulletin board for regular posting of useful information retrieved from the Internet. http://www.comminit.com
Technology, the key to e-Srilanka The Bank development project towards e-Srilanka will use information communication technology (ICT) as a key enabler of country development strategy. It is hoped that the project will be a catalyst for e-Development of Sri Lanka, and a model for other developing countries. e-Srilanka’s vision involves leveraging ICT to improve public service delivery, increasing private sector competitiveness, promoting new sources of growth, accelerating social development, bridging the digital divide, and promoting peace. The project proposes to create an e-Society to connect and empower the most vulnerable groups in Sri Lanka, and particularly assist in closing gaps between urban and rural areas and integrating post-conflict regions. About 200 telecentres will be established in rural areas to serve the local population consisting of farmers, students,
small and medium enterprises (SMEs), women and youth. With the use of the telecentres, farmers in villages will be able to find out the best prices for their crops via the Internet and successfully negotiate with buyers. http://web.worldbank.org
Philippine farmers go high-tech The Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture is to provide farmers with online web-based services as part of the government bid to modernize the Philippine agriculture. Under the program, the Philippine farmers could diagnose crop pests by accessing the Internet, or share news with peers anywhere in the country by electronic mail. They are also planning to put up Internet kiosks in selected farming villages where local agricultural information could be beamed upon especially designed websites. Recently two more government institutions had joined the program, the Isabela State University (ISU) and the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology (Philscat). http://www.abs-cbcnews.com
Free Internet access through telecentres in Jamaica Less than 5 percent of Jamaica’s 2.6 million people use the Internet, partly because user fees are expensive compared to other countries. Under the “e-Jamaica” initiative, 60 Internet centres will be established across the country Jamaica by 2010, mostly in post offices to provide free access to Internet for the poor communities. The project will be funded by the government and the Inter-American Development Bank. It also includes Internet training scholarships for 900 people. Jamaica’s
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The i4d News
Mobile PCO scheme for handicapped As one of the many initiatives that are being planned for welfare of the handicapped by the Delhi Government, it has launched the mobile STD/PCO (Straight Trunk Dialling/ Public Call Office) scheme. Out of 500 red-coloured tricycles fitted with mobile STD/PCO to be distributed this year, Forty two such tricycles have already been distributed among the handicapped. The tricycles are being supplied by a Kanpur-based public sector undertaking and Reliance India PCO is providing the telephone connections for these mobile STD booths. The cost of each PCO is around Rs. 20,000 (approximately USD 400) and the total cost involved in this project is Rupees 10 million (USD 200,000).
can register their interest. Ruralnaukri will also do the matchmaking and recommend the candidates the nearest job locations. http://indev.nic.in
Government school details online Education deparment’s official website in Delhi, India, will soon have all government schools, students and teachers details online. This would enable rationalisation of teacher-student ratio and the continuous project evaluation will make the teachers more accountable. http://www.ptinews.com
http://delhigovt.nic.in/index.asp
government has announced US$5 million for this plan. This would help people eventually to use the centres to conduct online transactions like paying traffic fines and making national insurance payments.
help India to keep its edge as a highly skilled talent pool in highly competitive game. He also highlighted the need to strengthen the relation between industry and education institutions.
http://www.technologyreview.com
http://www.infosys.com
e-Commerce Indian Airlines launches e-Ticketing e-Ticketing was formally launched on 15th August by Indian Airlines (IA) through a service called ‘Netravel’. Netravel is an inhouse developed e-Ticketing process of IA. The passenger has to log on to www.Indianairlines.com and book, buy and print a ticket online for his desired flight. Payment has to be made through the payment gateway using credit card and the passenger can get a print out in the form of a `Ticket Image’. e-Ticketing will allow the passenger to travel without a physical ticket. The passenger’s identity is established with a government issued photo-ID at the time of entry at the airport and check-in. http://www.blonnet.com
Education Infosys’ new initiative to integrate academia in India Infosys has launched a campus connection program to upgrade Indian education standards. They have allocated Rs.100 million for seminars and workshops to align academic curriculum with industry requirements. Infosys chairman N. R. Narayanmurti said that the program will
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Ruralnaukri.com for the educated rural youth In India a program has been launched by ruralnaukri, REAP (Rural Employment Action Programme), to create job opportunities for educated rural youth. The initiative will provide the NGOs with an opportunity to offer jobs to unemployed graduates without paying salary. NGO would be however advised to pay a nominal monthly subsistence allowance. Experience gained through this initiative would provide an opportunity to the employee to shed the ‘no experience-no job’ tag. A special webpage has been created where interested employers and employees
e-Governance India to invest big money for e-Governance The Union Government in India has decided to allocate Rs. 800 crores (USD 1.6m approx.) to help states build the infrastructure for e-Governance, which is seen as the single-largest funding from the central government under the national e-Governance action plan. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), the largest telecom service provider has been urged to offer bandwidth at a concession to the states. Cheaper bandwidth will assist in boosting the demand for e-Governance applications. http://www.ptinews.com
Utility services through SMS In Andhra Pradesh, India, short messaging service (SMS) will soon be used for totally utilitarian purposes-payment of electricity,
e-Administration for e-Governance in India LL2B.COM (Life Line to Business), an ICT organisation in Chennai, has developed “e-Administration”. This is a web enabled, platform independent, paperless office solution developed using open source and implemented with great success in Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT), a government of Tamil Nadu undertaking in Chennai. The tool has helped to transform the organisation from a traditional paper-file based organisation to a paperless electronic organisation. The tool has simplified the office work, enhancing active employee involvement and ownership of their duties and responsibilities. Based on the success of implementation of “e-Administration” in Tamil Nadu, LL2B.COM and ELCOT have jointly bagged an order for implementing a customized, integrated, e-Platform for the Industrial Guidance Bureau of Government of Pondicherry, in South India, linking 18 Departments including local governments, for granting timebound single window clearance for setting-up of industries in the Union Territory of Pondicherry. http://ll2b.blogspot.com i4d | September 2004
The i4d News telephone and water bills. This is a unique initiative of e-Seva, the state government’s G2B service provider. Through the service the customers will be sent a message alert on their dues and will be able to make the payment by SMS, quoting their debit/credit card numbers. Customers will not be charged for availing this service, but instead the concerned utility will pay a nominal fee per transaction.
India’s mobile user base up India’s by 4 percent India’s mobile subscriber base grew by 4 percent in August, as compared to the previous month. The growth in Global System for Mobile (GSM) users was 4.62 per cent, while CDMA-based (Code Division Multiple Access) digital mobile subscribers were up 3 per cent in the same period. Bharti added 2,86,000 subscribers in August, while Hutch and Idea added 1,90,000 and 83,000 subscribers, respectively. Stateowned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) added record 6,28,000 subscribers in one month, the highest-ever monthly addition by a company since the inception of mobile telephony.
http://www.financialexpress.com
Health
http://www.business-standard.com
Steps to improve grim health information system in Delhi The Delhi government health department website has included a grievance redressal facility. A blind copy of every complaint will go to the principal secretary, and the concerned officials would face action if the complaint does not receive a reply within three weeks. The facility is available on the updated health department website, www.health.delhigovt. nic.in. Another website was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which provides all information on hospitals and health-care in Delhi. An interesting feature of the website is a laboratory in which one can count one’s haemoglobin level and know the state of liver and kidney function. http://delhigovt.nic.in
Telecom Amsterdam to have total wi-fi coverage Amsterdam is going to be the first European capital where wi-fi will be available not just in hotels and cafes, but almost everywhere. Startup Hotspot Amsterdam has launched a cheap wireless service and plans to cover all of Amsterdam with just 125 base stations. Seven base stations have already been started. http://www.theregister.co.uk
AP to go for mega broadband project Andhra Pradesh will be the first state in India to provide seamless connectivity across the state at a cost as low as Rs. 100 September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
to Rs. 150 (USD 2-3 approx.) per month. With the estimated cost of the project being Rs. 1,000 crores (USD 2m approx.), the government is trying to collaborate with private sector service providers. It has already invited expressions of interest (EoI) from private service providers to send in their proposals to design, finance, build and operate the project. It is expected that this move will bridge the digital divide by providing high quality, affordable and equitable broadband access to villages and districts in the state. http://apts.gov.in
Open Source
country’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. This will be ranging from modernizing telecommunications to promoting e-Business. A strategic plan will be prepared under the project to reinforce modernization of Egypt’s national communications network, and set up a policy unit to strengthen its capacity of telecommunications regulatory authority. Other elements include support for re-engineering the postal service, IT training for 20,000 government employees annually, preparation of a development plan for technical education and support for establishing a national technical education academy. http://www.undp.org
IBM to open Linux competency centre in SA
ICT charter released in South Africa
IBM South Africa is planning to open Linux competency centre before the end of the year. The competency centre is intended to be both a showcase of existing open source and Linux solutions as well as providing a platform for producing proof of concept solutions for a range of industry sectors. The centre will allow users to see Linux and open source in action in an effort to make customers aware of the possibilities of Linux and open source software.
The South African ICT Charter Working Group and the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) announced that it had reached agreement regarding equity requirements for multinationals in the delayed ICT BEE charter. The process of creating a charter for black economic empowerment in the ICT sector was temporarily derailed after multinational companies with subsidiaries in South Africa objected strongly to the equity equivalent portion of the charter.
http://www.balancingact-africa.com
http://www.tectonic.co.za
Miscellaneous UNDP-Egypt agreement to strengthen ICT UNDP and Egypt have signed an agreement for a major initiative to strengthen the
Landmark achievement in Punjabi software In a landmark achievement in software engineering, which would assist in overcoming most of the obstacles faced by the Punjabi diaspora all over the globe while
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The i4d News
Indian education satellite launched successfully The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched India’s first ever-exclusive educational satellite, EDUSAT by the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from Sriharikota. The Rs.90 crore satellite will revolutionise Indian education scenario by helping in transmission of lectures from virtual classrooms to 100 to 200 classrooms, providing audio and video interactions between teachers and students. The satellite will become operational in 40 days. Initially the rural teachers will be brought in batches to district centres and retrained with the help of programmes transmitted by the EDUSAT. http://www.isro.org
communicating in their native language, an efficient system was developed to convert Gurumukhi script into Shahmukhi and the first ever Optical Character Recoginiton (OCR) for Gurumukhi. These along with other facilities would open new frontiers in information technology and increase usage of computers in the growth and sustenance of Punjabi language, literature and culture. The development is expected to make a major contribution in standardisation of publication techniques. http:/www.hinduonnet.com
Solar power run computers in Indian village A pilot project is coming up in the state of Uttar Pradesh to use solar power to run computers in village schools. This step has been taken keeping in mind the fact that, nearly 80 per cent of houses are estimated to have no power, and many villages suffer from frequent disruption in power supply. It is hoped that the plan will help schools cope with the rural power crisis. As a further 1,000 computers are to be purchased this year for village schools, where no power is available, a scheme to arrange solar energy for these computers was drawn. http://news.bbc.co.uk
Mammoth project to e-Connect Africa The Indian President A.P.J Abdul Kalam has proposed a $50 million project to e-Connect 53 nations of the African continent via satellite and fibre optic network. The effort through this is to support tele-education,
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telemedicine, e-Governance, e-Commerce, infotainment and meteorological services in order to fight poverty and disease both in Africa and India. The project would connect five universities, 53 learning centres, 10 superspeciality hospitals and 53 rural locations. Mr. Kalam told the parliament that the proposed network would give rural connectivity to the entire Pan African Union to use technology to provide democratise access and empowerment. It is expected that participating African nations will be able to reap the benefits within the next three years. http://www.ptinews.com
Rural development through interactive satellite To harness the tools of the space age for rural development through a totally interactive satellite network, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has joined hands with the MSSRF. The ISROMSSRF Village Resource Centre (VRC) project is scheduled for launch this month at Thiruvayaru, Tamil Nadu in India. The network consists of four nodes, the central being located at MSSRF, Chennai. The project seeks to promote a singlewindow delivery of need-based services in the areas of education, health, nutrition, environment, agriculture and livelihoods. These centres will handle both generic and dynamic information to empower rural communities through spatial information infrastructure, including broadband, Internet, telephone and fax. http://www.propoor.org
Suitcase radio combatting locust crisis People in Timbuktu, in Mali, have been battling hordes of locusts that destroy their crops, with the help of a suitcase radio donated by UNESCO in 2001. This mobile radio is taken to the anti-locust operational headquarters and even into the fields to broadcast live from the local communities, to ensure that urgent information reaches all communities. It also allows local people to participate, have their say and share traditional knowledge, which is proving vital at the moment. http://portal.unesco.org
World Bank to promote ICT growth in Ghana The World Bank has expressed its commitment to support Ghana’s efforts to integrate ICT into all sectors of the Ghanaian life to create jobs, increase foreign exchange earnings and helps promote sustainable development. The Government, through the Ministry of Communications and Technology, has resourced the centre with ICT infrastructure and training facilities to attract business in the ICT sector. Ghana is seeking financial assistance from the Bank and other development partners to establish industrial and technology parks in the Free Zones Enclave at Tema and at a site near Madina to facilitate growth of ICT related business. http://www.ghanaweb.com
Nigerian IT website the winner of UN media award A Nigerian website on Information and Communication Technologies, Technology Times (www.techtimesnews.net), was declared the first prize winner in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) African Media Awards 2004. This web portal was unveiled in July 2004 to provide free access to news, views and debates on ICTs in Nigeria. The portal uses the web technology to exchange ICT related knowledge among community members and updates the community members on developments in the Nigerian ICT industry. The discussion space in web encourages the generation or sharing of local knowledge. It uses the official language of Nigeria as a medium of communication. http://www.vanguardngr.com
i4d | September 2004
WCI E MPOWERING T HE C OMMUNITY
Awakening rural India through CICs Two years later, today, I look back with pride about the achievements of these telecentres known more popularly as Community Information Centres. And I also look forward to WCI replicating this success locally and globally.
When the melody from my mobile woke me up one fine morning two years back, with a flashing number from a rural part of Andhra Pradesh, I had this unusual sense of excitement. I have always had this sense of premonition whenever something exciting is about to happen. The call was from World Corps India, (WCI) office located in Kuppam, inviting me to participate in a pilot project establishing telecentres. I should admit that on my way to Kuppam, I was rather sceptical and not entirely convinced about IT being an answer to overcome some of the evils of inequality in our underserved communities. Two years later, today, I look back with pride about the achievements of these telecentres known more popularly as Community Information Centres (CICs). And I also look forward to WCI replicating this success locally and globally. I would like to share with you how this remarkable project has been conceived, designed and implemented, ensuring viability and sustainability.
Introduction to World Corps India Deepa Anandakrishnan and Praveen Kumar Prithvi established World Corps India (WCI) in the year 2000. WCI is a branch of World Corps, Seattle, USA, and an
international non-governmental and nonprofit organisation. The mission of WCI is to identify youth in the age group of 18 to 35, from rural areas and train them “to become effective business and social entrepreneurs, community leaders and global citizens that will help in poverty alleviation, environmental protection and global peace building”. WCI adapted a two-pronged strategy, which provided information to the rural communities while providing gainful employment to rural unemployed youth who own, operate and manage the “Community Information Centres” (CICs)
The need There are “Seven Cs” determining whether the Internet will reach India’s villages and stay. • Current – Alternative power supply in areas without electricity • Communication – Landlines/wireless connectivity to internet and online resources • Content – Information on local specific knowledge and in the local language • Community – Prioritising peoples’ needs for their development • Commerce – Financial sustainability and viability
Maganti J. Muthukumaraswamy HRD, Consultant, World Corps India wcorps@md5.vsnl.net.in
September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
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• Context – The look and feel and design of the site • Capacity building – Building knowledge or skills among the community WCI focuses on the aspect of capacity building.
Information poverty and rural to urban migration With over one billion Indians, the rural poor are the last to get priority information on various subjects, which would enable better access to basic needs, educational and financial resources. Moreover, migration of young people from rural to urban areas in search of opportunities deprives the rural communities of the energies and brain resources of such young people. WCI adapts a two-pronged strategy, which provides information to the rural communities while providing gainful employment to rural unemployed youth who own, operate and manage “Community Information Centres” (CICs). It provides sustainable and affordable ways of getting information to poor communities that are very critical to both an individual’s and a community’s development. Access to information resources also represents new opportunities for agriculture, economic development, education, health and environmental protection in the rural areas. To achieve this, the CIC projects focuses on: • Buildings a Cadre of World Corps Professionals (WCPs) who are provide training in computers and Internet, developmental english, community outreach and development skills, entrepreneurship development, business management, marketing and communication skills, personality enhancement and value education to promising young leaders from the rural areas. • Launching WCPs into CIC business of providing information, communications and other allied services. • Partnering WCPs with existing government agencies, private businesses and community based organisations for effective application of ICTs in underserved communities. • Replicating the CIC model throughout India to reach a larger number of unemployed rural men and women.
The pilot project CIC WCI’s experience in its project in Kuppam, Chittoor district, Andhra
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Pradesh, India provided important lessons for exploring the potentials ICT has for generating employment in the rural areas of India. The model that WCI attempted focused on capacity building of the youth, which enabled them to create a micro-enterprise “Community Information Centres” for their economic sustenance, while meeting the communication and information needs of the communities in small towns, villages and habitations. The CIC is a hybrid model combining the provision of G2C – Government to Citizen services, B2C – Business to Citizen services and C2C – Civil Society Organisations to Citizen services and information and communication services all under one roof. The CIC functions both on behalf of the community, the government and the private agencies in providing information services that caters to the underserved communities by using IT-enabled Communication Technologies. Apart from taking the benefits of ICT to the underserved communities, this project has created an opportunity for sustainable and meaningful employment for the unemployed youth of rural areas. Empowering the youth with the necessary knowledge, skills and awareness has also enabled them to take leadership roles to bring in other value additions to their communities.
Public private partnership model The public-private partnership model in the CICs project is significant because it has pooled resources from public and private agencies and was implemented with core complementary competencies. The result has ‘added value’ to what each sector could have achieved alone. For example, in the CIC project in Kuppam, WCI provided the training and follow-up support to the youth entrepreneurs, while the government department like the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) provided the financial assistance in the form of a loan to the youth entrepreneurs to set up the CIC. Meanwhile one of the leaders of IT industry, Hewlett Packard (HP) has developed web-based e-Governance solutions, which enables the rural people of Kuppam to walk into a CIC and fill applications online and submit them for processing to the concerned government departments. The suite of web-based applications also provides access to information on agriculture, education, employment, health and governance.
“Youth inclusive” project The CICs have provided opportunities for talented young people of the rural areas to have the necessary knowledge and skills to remain, and serve their community while earning a decent livelihood. The importance of putting young people in charge, starting with their input and ensuring that they have a key responsibility for the outcomes have spurred and encouraged rural development, social and economic development of the region thereby contributing to the vision of nation building.
Usage of information technology The usage of ICT has been quite high in providing information and communication services to the community members through the CICs. Through Internet access and computer usage the CICs are able to provide information and communication facilities that i4d | September 2004
are reliable and easily accessible to the rural population. The online information accessed through the Internet provides very useful information pertaining to the various interests of the rural people. The project has proven the value of ICT for development and bridging the digital divide by the following aspects (a) Building the capacity of grassroots level institutions (b) Availability of Government applications, forms and directory services (c) Bridging the digital divide (d) Alleviating information poverty. With the use of ICT the project promoted the following information that was not earlier available instantly. • Government information on schemes for children, youth, women, widows, farmers, senior citizens, tribals, for people below poverty line through downloading of forms and government orders (GOs) • Employment and business opportunities • Online status enquiry of passport registration • Education information – availability of courses for higher education, career guidance and scholarships, examination results • Desktop publishing services to students, teachers, farmers, community workers, women and youth self-help groups • Gathering and transmission of local specific information through the network of CIC at the Mandal (an administrative unit of Government at village level) Headquarters • Weather information, daily news and bulletins • Computer training and education to the community members
Accomplishments of the project Fifteen CICs have been set up in Kuppam constituency catering to the information and communication needs of the people. • Facilities of the CICs are being utilised by government departments, NGOs, self-help groups, farmers, students and poor communities of the rural areas. The CICs have over 60 regular institutional clients and 75 individual clients using the services of ICT • The CICs have created better opportunities for bridging the “digital divide” and alleviating “information poverty” among the people who are always the last to receive information • In bridging the digital divide the CICs have educated and trained 350 people in usage of computers and Internet. Information was provided to 3500 unemployed youth on employment opportunities, 750 students on examination results and admissions into educational institutions, 80 farmers on market information and agricultural practices, 100 people on health and family planning and information on various development schemes of the government to more than 4000 people • Direct self-employment opportunity to 28 unemployed youth and an additional 15 rural unemployed youth were provided employment through the CICs • The CICs have become pioneers in their respective Mandals (village level governing body) to offer such a wide range of services in response to the needs of the community. On an average the number of visitors to each CIC varies from 175 to 200 a week. • The average income earnings of each CIC vary from Indian Rs. 4,500 to Rs. 6,000 (USD 1000 to 1200 approx.) that is sufficient for the beneficiaries and their families living in rural areas September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
• This project laid the road map for faster integration of e-Governance facilities into the rural areas of Kuppam constituency
Place for e-Learning People of all ages from school going children, college students, youth, government employees, teachers and businessmen are playing computer-enabled games. They get familiar with the computer operations and gain keyboard skills by playing games. Through the computer games they are able to overcome their computer phobia. Particularly in the rural areas, rural people are in a mindset that computer work is a skill that is a prerogative of only the urbanbased educated, rich/middle class professionals. But by playing games they realise that playing or doing work with a computer is a skill that could be easily developed through familiarity and practice, regardless of one’s educational, geographic and financial status.
Access to government information WCI began working with Hewlett Packard in promoting online application processing for the citizens of Kuppam at the CIC. Before the launch of the “Yojanaalu – schemes of the Government of Andhra Pradesh” (e-Governance services), the CIC entrepreneurs were given training in the new software application. Be it a Widow Pension Scheme, Old Age Pension Scheme, Girl Child Protection Scheme, Individual Sanitary Latrine Scheme or Ration Card Facility, the people have had this to say. “I have already applied for the Old Age Pension and there is no response for that, so I thought of applying for it again. I came to know about the Yojanalu and doubted whether this is going to fetch me good results, but after coming to the CIC, I got confidence on it.” Mrs. Gowrumma of Boggupalli Village, Kuppam Mandal, working as a daily labourer. “This seems to be a good system and easy. There is a bill given to us and we can follow-up on this with the CIC people.” - Mrs. Jayalakshmi of Vepuru village who had applied for a ration card facility, working as a daily labourer. A ration card would enable her to buy rice, pulses and oil at subsidised rates from the government authorised fair price shops. The potential application of the CIC model for replication in other regions is evident from this Kuppam experience.
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M ISSION 2007
IN
I NDIA
Every village a knowledge centre The mission’s objective is to facilitate and accelerate, through multi-stakeholder collaborations, the provision of knowledge centres in each village.
Geeta Sharma Operation Manager, Mission 2007 geeta.sharma@oneworld.net
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Pradip Baijal, Prof M S Swaminathan, Sam Pitroda, Basheerhamad Shadrach and Sukanya Rath at the launch of Mission 2007
Mission 2007 is a nation-wide initiative launched in New Delhi in July 2004 with an aim to facilitate the setting up of knowledge centres in each of India’s 600,000 villages by 2007, the 60 th anniversary of the country’s Independence. The Mission’s objective is to facilitate and accelerate, through multi-stakeholder collaborations, the provision of knowledge centres in each village. Each of these centres would be a centre for knowledge-based livelihoods and income-generation opportunities for poor peolple, farming communities and all disadvantaged people. The Mission envisages broadband connectivity for rural homes at low and affordable costs with integrated technological applications that are relevant to the day-to-day lives of people. Such a bouquet of applications could well turn the info kiosk of tomorrow into a multi-purpose knowledge centre acting as a communication hub. It could also be a support centre for rural entrepreneurship, a trading outlet
and social empowerment outfit, a support centre for providing health, education and livelihoods information services. Such a knowledge centre can be put together on a sustainable platform through partnerships, bringing together the private sector and the government for infrastructure development, civil society organisations for community participation and capacity building, academia for innovation and research and the private sector for leading on the financing and scalability.
National Alliance: Mission 2007 to empower people The launch of Mission 2007 at the National Policy Makers’ Workshop on July 9-10, 2004 was the first milestone of the National Alliance on ICTs for Basic Human Needs. The Alliance, formed under the aegis of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai in May 2004, takes forward the vision of Prof Swaminathan to turn the ongoing ICT endeavours in the country into i4d | September 2004
The march towards Mission 2007 Highlights of online discussion on info kiosks An online discussion on setting up information kiosks in every village by 2007 was carried out during May – June 2004. This was as a joint initiative of OWSA and MSSRF. The main subthemes for the discussion were Scalability, Sustainability and Collaboration. The following emerged as major concerns and solutions: • Connectivity is critical for enabling scalability • A reality check of hardware and software components is required in order to propose a menu of software applications • Scalability would depend upon the availability of information in local languages • Technology should be customised to the needs of the local population. • Telecom regulatory issues caused by the reluctance of the telecom players to allow WLL in rural areas need to be resolved urgently • Sustainability requires a reliable power supply, either through conventional or renewable energy sources • Need to explore options for proposing simpler info-kiosk models and developing alternative revenue based info-kiosk models. Also it is important to conduct cost-benefit analysis before infokiosks are installed in a region/locality, where both social and private costs and benefits must be estimated • Resource availability is crucial in ensuring the sustainability of info-kiosks in every village • Build collaboration and alliances in providing complete solutions to the farmers – both in terms of technology and content • State to be a major player. Public agencies such as the post offices may be used for increasing the pace of info-kiosk movement in India • Need for a national movement to accelerate the knowledge a national strategy to take the benefits of this technology to every village. Prof. Swaminathan is the Chairman of the Alliance. Sukanya Rath, Executive Director of NASSCOM Foundation, is the Secretary General. Basheerhamad Shadrach, Director, OneWorld South Asia, and Prof. Subbiah Arunachalam, Distinguished Fellow and Senthil Kumaran, MSSRF, are the three secretaries. The Alliance, founded with 41 organisations initially, now has over 100 members drawn from the civil society, government, private and academic institutions. The founding members of the Alliance include Development Alternatives, National Informatics Centre, Azim Premji Foundation, ICRISAT, IIT Madras, IGNOU, ISRO and ITC, DIT in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and Netaji Subhash Open University. The Alliance will act as a catalyst for technology innovation for rural ICT applications and connectivity. It will work to bring the private sector and the academia together with strong support from civil society organisations for experimenting every innovation among the target communities. Seven task forces have been set up under September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
Kapil Sibal along with other Participants listining to the speaker
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revolution, and take IT to the masses. Improve literacy levels in rural areas An increased emphasis on comparative studies. Build an empirical information base of the successes and failures of various infokiosk interventions in India so far. Assess the needs and perceptions of target groups and beneficiaries. This would be important in ‘humanising the technology’ — a critical sufficiency condition for the success of info-kiosk movement in India Formulating policy for affirmative action and a coordinated set of mechanisms for channelling market forces towards delivering the empowerment of socially and economically disadvantaged groups Using multi-media offline methods to attract people to info-kiosks Build capacities of local facilitators/ambassadors to sustain the movement
Log on to www.dgroups.org/groups/infokiosks/ for viewing the complete discussions.
the Alliance on Connectivity, Content, Policy, Space Applications, Capacity Building, Resource Mobilisation, Organisation and Management and Programme Design. Active partners of the Alliance are the convenors. The Alliance is being supported in its work by a small secretariat, currently being hosted by OneWorld South Asia (OWSA). The secretariat will showcase and share information on the Mission activities, through a website on Mission 2007, to be launched in October. OWSA along with its partners is involved developing a nation-wide support system on content and applications to serve the 600,000 village knowledge centres that are to be set up under the Mission umbrella.
National Policy Maker’s Workshop: Multistakeholder partnerships The National Policy Makers’ Workshop on “Mission 2007: Every Village a Knowledge Centre – A Road Map” was essentially a civil society-led initiative organised by MSSRF and OWSA, with support from the Nasscom Foundation, SDC and CIDA and IDRC.
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Voices from policy makers’ workshop on Mission 2007 • If there is a good technology, there should be no regulations at the policy level. Every project should be cleared within a week. The government should invest in such initiatives because these can help achieve its goals. The government departments should go for 50-50 partnership with private companies. The technology is there. It is the policymaker who is far behind. No effort will be left at my end to push these things in a big way. Kapil Sibal, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Science and Technology
• The growing rural-urban divide is not in the interest of the country. A country should value its human resources over material resources. We have the right concept for giving a new deal to rural India and we need to translate that into action. All of us have to be links in a fast moving vehicle. Prof M S Swaminathan, Chairman, National Alliance for Mission 2007
• Given the focus of the new government, we should be able to get some movement in policy issues. You can count on our support. I look forward to seeing the workshop document and will be happy to discuss it with you, and to see where the government can help. While the central government can play an important role, I hope this initiative will also be carried to the state governments. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairperson, Planning Commission
• Information and knowledge are the basic entitlements of the rural people and it is our duty to build the enabling framework for them to access and use knowledge for social and economic empowerment. The civil society can have a much more meaningful role when the government as well as market fail to deliver. One of the key things for the success of Mission 2007 is to start small, and scale it up rapidly. The IT industry, on the basis of its experience in the last decade, can provide some useful inputs. Kiran Karnik, President, NASSCOM
• The Mission 2007 initiative is timely because there is an emphasis on the overall development of villages in the government’s Common Minimum Programme. The Ministry of Communications and IT too has an initiative to induct ICTs for all the major works identified by the Mission 2007 taskforces. I assure that the Ministry will pay attention to the decisions reached at the policymakers’ workshop. K K Jaswal, Secretary, Ministry of Communications and IT
• Mission 2007 is not just a great vision but essential if we want India to truly shine. India is home to the highest number of disadvantaged people, but at the same time we have the technology and the tools to correct this imbalance. I assure that Mission 2007 has the full support of the IT industry. Saurabh Srivastava, Founding Trustee, NASSCOM Foundation
• The spectrum in rural areas is under government control. It should be delicensed. The government has to become a change agent. It has put down impossible conditions that have to be
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removed. TRAI has made some recommendations accordingly. Pradip Baijal, Chairman, TRAI
• The Mission 2007 policymakers’ workshop is a milestone because it is for the first time being led by the civil society organisations. The idea is that the civil society actors come together under the Mission umbrella, in a collaborative manner for sustaining and scaling up the speed of the rural knowledge movement throughout India. Dr Basheerhamad Shadrach, Director, OneWorld South Asia
• Mission 2007 is about preserving knowledge and traditions that we have in our society and culture. Sukanya Rath, Executive Director, NASSCOM Foundation
• Existing and traditional technologies should not be ignored if they are effective. The process of assessing the affordability, accessibility and availability of technology is long. People’s capabilities should be recognised and they should be trained to understand the village as an income-generation group. Namrata Bali, SEWA
• It is easier to make a kiosk sustainable if it offers multiple services. There could be IT-enabled services from rural areas catering to the needs of the urban population. Monitoring is important in terms of scalability. Too many failed projects are harmful. Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, IIT Madras
• There is a need to re-haul the structure of research and evaluation in the ICT for development sector. There are several studies of successes but an evaluation of what works in South Asia is close to absent. There should be a comparative understanding of the innovative work being done in India. Kenneth Keniston, Director of MIT India Programme
• Knowledge is expensive. But not having knowledge is far more costly. ICTs must benefit the life of every individual. Dr Ashok Khosla, Development Alternatives
• The Common Minimum Programme of the government gives key pointers to Mission 2007. It addresses issues of the farmers, unemployment and rural development. We need to ensure that the services are affordable because Indians cannot buy unaffordable services. We need a business model for it. Sam Pitroda, Chairman, World Tel
• The transfer of technology is crucial. The leading R&D institutions should improve the processes by which technology is transferred to the rural industries and made affordable. Delivery would be the key in achieving Mission 2007, and the Department of Space can provide the much-needed connectivity for delivery to those not reached. R Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor, GoI
• India’s problems can be solved through partnerships across nations, people and technologies. Eric Brewer, University of California
• The knowledge centres should have a business model. The government at the rural level should sub contract all work to these centres. Dr D C Misra, Former Chairman, Task Force for IT policy, Delhi Government
i4d | September 2004
Mission 2007 Roadmap Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala, IIT Madras, makes a point
The National alliance will work to achieve Mission 2007 by: • Connectivity Mission 2007 will undertake to connect a targeted 25,000 villages in the first year by pooling in resources from various states, government agencies and corporates and using affordable and accessible technology. • Content generation, dissemination and application development Mission 2007 will initiate formation of consortia of content developers to provide content and ensure that local livelihood needs are met and available content resources are pooled for achieving the common goal. • Spatial applications for rural prosperity The endevaour will be to make it possible for local communities to collect, access and use data on their livelihoods assets using these applications for local, regional and national planning. • Policy issues on content, connectivity and costs Efforts will be made to influence policy issues such as low tariff
and de-licensing of last mile ICT applications, especially wireless spectrum and community media. • Resource mobilisation Efforts will be made to harness financial resources available with government agencies, through corporate social responsibility funds, international donor agencies and academic and technical institutions for Mission 2007 and its roadmap. • Training and capacity building of village entrepreneurs Operators of knowledge centres will be trained by a number of community-based capacity building organisations to operate knowledge centres as an information entrepreneurship activity. • Organisation, evaluation and monitoring Community-based organisations, Panchayati Raj (local selfgovernment) institutions, self-help groups and postal network will be encouraged to function as knowledge centres at the village level. Peer-to-peer learning and sharing of knowledge will be encouraged at village level.
The multi-centric event that took place in over six venues in four cities brought together more than 300 people, representing the government, corporate sector, academic institutions, civil society and donor organisations. Participants who helped chalk out the roadmap to achieve Mission 2007. (See box on Voices from Policy Makers’ Workshop on Mission 2007) In addition to the main event, held at the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) in Delhi and the valedictory function at India Habitat Centre, a videoconference was organised in collaboration with the British Council. This video conference-based consultation connected audience in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkatta and Mumbai through British Council’s Knowledge and Learning Centres. The outcome of an online discussion on info kiosks was also presented at the workshop. (See box on Highlights of online discussions on info kiosks) A joint action framework to achieve the goals of Mission 2007
was agreed upon by professional/academia, governmental and civil society organisations, private sector and the media. (See box on Mission 2007 Roadmap). These include decisions that the task forces serving the National Alliance would continue their functions. A complimentary structure to that of the national level structure would be formed at the state and district levels. It was decided that the Alliance would work to facilitate the process of connecting 25,000 villages this year and pool in resources from various quarters.
September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
The National Alliance on Mission 2007 invites organisations working on ICTs for Development to join in its endeavour to achieve the Mission. For joining details, contact: Mission 2007 Secretariat OneWorld South Asia C2/6, Safdarjung Development Area, New Delhi 110016, India Email: geeta.sharma@oneworld.net Ph: + 91 11 51756975, Fax: +91 11 51756976
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Rendezvous 2 ND i4d S EMINAR 27-29 A UGUST 2004, B EIJING , C HINA
Is Asia ready for the challenge?
The 2nd i4d seminar was held at Beijing, China in conjunction with Map Asia 2004. Participants included eminent ICT4D practitioners from Asia and Africa. The seminar, which lasted for three days, included a workshop session at the end on building online communities and focused on knowledge sharing amongst practitioners. This was the second in the series of annual seminar being organized by i4d. The first seminar was held on 14th of October, 2003 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Proceedings and papers presented in the first seminar are archived in www.i4donline.net. The series aims at providing a face-to-face platform for ICT4D practitioners’ to meet, share their experiences and learn about other projects. It is also a forum for networking and building alliances. The second seminar held as parallel event of Map Asia 2004 provided an Afro Asian perspective of the developments and challenges in implementing projects in developing countries. Case studies were presented from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, China, Hong Kong, South Africa, Egypt and Mauritius. Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) provided travel fellowships to enable ten participants to present their work. Unfortunately, the complex travel conditions for delegates from Brazil and Uganda to reach China made it difficult for them to participate. It was felt that the global South had a characteristic and complex travel routing, even though air links to Europe seems to be better planned. The theme of the 2nd i4d seminar was ‘Is Asia ready for the challenge?’ The papers were presented in four technical sessions addressing ICT and Applications, Capacity Building, Knowledge Sharing and Policy/Governance.
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While speaking in the first session, which was on ‘ICT and Application’, Sana Gul from Pakistan said that there are two inherent problems that restrict mass utilisation of localized applications even in the era when technological infrastructure is available for local language computing in many Asian countries. She said that at first user centric local language content has to be created for the ICTs with mass training programs conducted to guide layman to use these applications and secondly, a cultural change has to be induced within the society that facilitates the usage of localized devices. Emphasizing the need of local content she said that there are 2197 local languages spoken in Asia and only 10-20 per cent Asians can communicate in English, which is the major web language. Prof. Lutfor Rahman from Bangladesh, in his presentation said that despite tremendous growth in the last decade, the impact of ICTs on health sector is lagging behind in developing countries including Bangladesh. Describing the importance of Telemedicine he sited how proper training is important in providing proper service to the people. In the theme of the second session ‘Capacity Building’; Ahmed El-Sobky from Egypt mentioned challenges and opportunity towards emerging e-Learning in developing countries. He said that the successful web-enabled learning, or ‘e-Learning’ depends on building a strategy that optimizes the technology within the culture of a nation that is ready and willing to use it. He also said that developing countries need to lower the overall costs of creating a workforce that performs faster and better competition, and they need to do this 24/7 for their people specially the ones located in rural areas. In his presentation, Chanuka Wattegama from Sri Lanka analysed the reasons why five key projects, namely the Kothmale Internet Radio, Village PDA, Govi Gnana Seva, Vishva Gnana Kendra and Sarvodaya Telecenters failed to meet the initial anticipations, in spite of the relatively higher education level and higher living status of the beneficiaries. Prof. YEI Oi-mao from China University of Agriculture stressed the need of land management especially in rural China where rapid urbanisation is taking place. Advocating villager’s capacity building through the implementation of GIS technology, he stressed to bring out the revolutionary advantages of the GIS map system to rural China by providing a number of feasible alternatives and investigating the necessary elements of supporting the GIS data system, and to draw policy implications for implementing such system in rural China. The second day of the seminar started in the forenoon of 28th August and the first session was on ‘Knowledge Sharing’. While i4d | September 2004
speaking in this session, Dr Percy KWOK Lai Yin from The Chinese University, Hong Kong given an overview of socio-cognitive aspects of most prevalent collaborative web-based learning communities or learning ecologies and a three-dimensional conceptual framework for their classification. Citing the role of technology in learning, he said, “Technology in communities is essentially a means of creating fluidity between knowledge and connecting people in learning communities”. Tracey Naughton, Chair, WSIS Civil Society Media Caucus expressed her concerned over the role of WSIS in the field of local language and local content on Internet. She said, “The WSIS process (by which I mean the sum of official and parallel activities) has identified the problematic issues in global communication, indicated the range of views on how to deal with them, provided various blueprints of what should and could be possible in the way of solutions, and gingerly explored ways of dealing with these questions in the future”. Other distinguished speakers who enlighten the seminar with their opinion and experiences were Prof. Philip Hui Kwok Fai, Cameron Richards and LI Kam Cheong from Honk Kong, Mahendranath Busgopual from Mauritius, Christopher B. Faris from Bhutan, Ajay K. Gupta and Amitabh Saxena from India.
Recommendations of the 2nd i4d seminar: • This group feels that i4d participants should continue the discussions to share our knowledge into a discussion group. This can be one of the ways to continue the dialogue. As was evidenced by the Pakistan’s experience of setting up an online discussion group after a face-to-face meeting, all the seminar delegates, as well as the delegates of the first i4d seminar should be networked in an online group as a follow-up to the face-to-face meeting in Beijing. • The i4d seminar should be an annual event. • The recommendations from this seminar should feed into the WSIS Tunis, Tunisia, in November 2005 • The delegates thanked the SDC for enabling South-South sharing of experiences, especially between Africa and Asia, a unique feature, which must continue, with special efforts to enable participants from not so well connected countries to contribute and learn from this enriching experience. • The delegates will learn and share about the respective countries’ national strategies, and efforts to comment and feed into the national preparatory processes for WSIS. This seminar has provided an opportunity to get a focus and enriched the learning. The delegate from Bangladesh proposed this recommendation. • As in the case of Sri Lanka, which has compiled a report of the status of ICT in 9 countries, from a civil society perspective and used it to advocate to the Government, other countries could use this networking as an advocacy tool. • The Asian delegates will participate in regional consultations for the WSIS preparatory processes. • The organizers and the delegates have to address the challenges for running the list is to keep the interest alive. • The seminar delegates recommended that the discussion list must comprise as a core to all the delegates of the first and second i4d seminar, but must be open to invite others to join. It should have a clear, shared vision and objectives, and focus on providing September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
WSIS inputs, and focus on running it as a limited tenure list, and to review its performance after a period of time. • Other delegates recommended that another approach could be to enrich an existing list. • The list could address the following ideas: - Policies and practices in the Asian countries. (prof Hui) - Contributions to i4d magazine could be an output - PrepCom II : Practical implementation strategies from around the world. - To build a civil society national perspective of ict4d and document success stories. • The delegates recommended that a special issue of the i4d magazine to be produced in time for the February Prep Com. Objectives • Provide ground-up inputs to WSIS. • Share knowledge about ICT practices and policies our own countries. (Also obtain feedback from Governments) • Build and present a South Asian/SE Asian/ African perspective • Policy briefs can be formulated for lobbying with respective countries (especially in those countries that don’t have ICT4D policies, and quoting other countries’ examples) • Afro-Asian i4d or Beijing Consensus, CoP-i4d, or G-i4d were some names suggested for the group. • Look for technology providers from the private sector, which offer solutions. Action items • Assess existing lists and see the possibility of joining them • Bring out another issue of i4d focused on WSIS in February 2004 • Tracey to assist in getting details of the September 2004 Asian WSIS preparatory meeting • Sri Lanka will hold a Ministers of IT conference (25 countries) there may be a chance to do something there!!!! • Include members from the first i4d seminar and also authors of the i4d issues. • To explore the possibility of producing the proceedings of this seminar as a book, to be published by a publishing house and released before the next WSIS meeting. Reported by: Gautam Navin, i4d, gautam@i4donline.net
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20-23 S EPTEMBER 2004, G RAHANSTOWN , S OUTH A FRICA
Media workshop for more coverage on ICTs The Media in Africa still has a long way to go in challenging the implementation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) policies in the economic and social development of the continent. Speaking at the opening of a media workshop organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) at Highway Africa 2004 conference, Aida Opoku-Mensah, Officer in Charge, Development Information Africa Commission said that the media has to champion information as a human right. She observed that only 30 African countries have national information and communication policies, a major improvement from only four in 2000. “Telecom deregulation has occurred in more than 40 countries, compared to five in 1992,” observed Mensah. She pointed out that according to documentary evidence on African media and ICTs for development baseline study, on the state of the media reporting on ICTs and information society issues in Africa, journalists are failing in several areas of reporting on ICTs. Media misses out on follow-ups on reports, and often does not do critical analysis of policies. Media is not a neutral stakeholder, but highly dependent on ICTs. She urged African journalists to look at how this global issue impacts their local communities. Susan Mann, Media Consultant, who introduced the course and defined ICT4D teams, facilitated the media workshop. The workshop was highly attended by over 45 journalists, coming from different African countries.
Journalists interviewed on the subject matter said the following: I think there are number of issues that are affecting the way the media reports on ICTs, that are over looked by the analysts most of the times. Sometimes reporters are not to be blamed as there are gate keepers who have a say on what goes in the news, so at times, reporters are willing to write on the issue but the motivation is not there. ICT stories have not yet reached a level where they are appreciated and given the prominence by media heads. There is need to target editors and find a way of encouraging or persuading them to start embracing ICT issues. This needs efforts from different corners of the media. It is also true to say that the lack of proper understanding of ICTs and how they could influence people’s livelihoods is another obstacle to reporting on the ICT. This creates a problem, because, if the reporter does not understand the idea, it is difficult to take it
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across to the local person. ICTs are many times looked at as only applying to the elite. The media needs to cover human interest in articles in order to attract the people’s attention, and the understanding of ICT’s. It is time to divert the focus of media from politics, just for the sake of achieving mere political mileage, to give the local community a voice. When it comes to reporting on ICTs, good examples of ICT4D projects in the community should be presented in order to enable the public understand the technology and relate to it more easily, and then ICTs will be appreciated. The voice of the marginalised in rural communities must also be represented if we are going to talk about communication for sustainable development. Glory Mushinge- Zambia focal point Media ICT Network for Development (MIND) I think it is a global imperative in building a true world. There has been longstanding lack of interest, which is a set back for the developing world, the media should focus on modern methods, like multimedia, as opposed to traditional ways of reporting. Charles Mangwiro- Mozambique, focal point ICT4D Media Network I think personally that ICT policies are very important with regard to media since nowadays on the Internet we notice that a lot of intellectual property rights are being copied and moreover many companies and websites are just taking information from here and there without considering the serious issue of copyrights. I think that Africa needs ICT policies to move forward since our journalists do not realise what can be copied and what cannot be copied. The point raised by Mensah is very important because only 30 African countries have ICT policies. Nowadays, most communication media are online and our journalists do not have proper realisation about their rights since the continent is lagging behind on ICTs. This is a big problem for each and every government in order to catch up with the ICT world. Each government should be responsible for each country and should put policies in place and should promote ICTs as it is the future of the world. Bravesh Baijnalh, Mauritius, focal point ICT4D focal point It is true that the media was highly dependent on ICTs. Very few journalists have access to mobile phones and the Internet. In Burundi we have a press centre, which has only six computers with full Internet connection and are shared by over 100 journalists. Sadi Niyungeko-Burundi focal point BUJA ICT Network Reported by: Brenda Zulu, Freelance journalist, brendazulu2002@yahoo.co.in i4d | September 2004
A D RAFT P ROPOSAL
The alternative e-Gov plan for the nation ...a multitude of experimental applications, pilots and demonstrations. ...neither an efficient nor scalable basis for the integrated transparent governance structure needed by the citizens of our country
Satish Jha Chairman Digital Partners India satish.jha@gmail.com
Ashok Khosla Chairman, Development Alternatives tara@sdalt.ernet.in September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
A few years ago the Government of India took an important decision instructing all its arms to invest three per cent of their budget in building information and communication technology capacities. That is an investment of several thousand crore rupees in ICT every year, a level of resources that could have created a useful ICT infrastructure by now. However, what we have on ground today are a multitude of experimental applications, pilots and demonstrations. These are neither an efficient nor scalable basis for the integrated transparent governance structure needed by the citizens of our country.
Uncoordinated developments
Too many experiments and pilots
These experiments have their merits and need to be encouraged and allowed to go on at the individual and pilot levels. They show-case successes and bring the developers of similar applications together to learn from each other and can help create some innovative solutions from time to time. However, it also needs to be recognized that existing experiments and their size and stage of development may not be able to add much value because these are linked at best and not adequately linked to organisational structures capable of translating them into something concrete.
Currently there are a large number of initiatives across the nation to use the power of ICTs to transform the citizen-government interface. These have been started at various levels of governance – in districts by enthusiastic collectors, at departmental levels by interested officers, at the state levels by chief ministers and at the central government by some progressive ministers. These developments have been sporadic and uncoordinated, nurtured by a learning-bydoing culture, have lacked a strategic sense or defining leadership, have not been supported by the requisite experience base and have resulted in a large number of experiments that duplicate and remain at a prototype level accomplishing less than, what may have been possible with a well defined strategic framework. The large number of experiments being carried out has created an impression that we are well on our path to using ICTs for modern governance, much ahead of other developing countries. International awards and recognition have added to this feeling.
Development of ICTs in the industrial countries shows that pioneering experiments are an important part of the learning process. They also show that the value of the benefits is commensurate with the level of investments, time and care taken to design and test the systems and the attention devoted to metrics developed to measuring and achieving success. This needs clear roadmaps, organisational structures and an understanding of how these will evolve as the technology changes.
Scattered experience
Consolidate What is needed is to create a national framework to consolidate the gains of these initiatives and to develop a national strategy
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e-Governance processes would yield even greater savings.
Comparing the comparable
for e-Governance followed by a roadmap to reach the goals agreed in an acceptable time frame. This process of developing the national strategy and its follow up should be carried out in parallel with all other experiments going on in the country. Adequate funds will have to be made available to make these happen and to strengthen institutional mechanisms to carry the process forward.
It is generally believed that India can develop information systems at a fraction of the cost of developing them in the industrial economies. There is no reliable data to show that it is indeed the case. The comparisons are usually not valid as the two systems may have entirely different capabilities, robustness, scalability, operability, standards etc. Just as the difference between the price of a product that is satisfactory and the one that is best in any segment is an order of magnitude, the same is generally the case with ICT based solutions. In fact it is the normal rule that what the rest of the world can do after moving up the learning curve may not always be replicable in our environment for any less. If we cannot make cheaper products in any other modern sector, there is no valid reason to believe that we will be able to do so in the area of ICTs. It can be argued that the industrial economies can lower their cost of development, operations and maintenance of ICT based systems. However, that is not quite the same for developing economies as much of the efficiency reside in moving up the experience curve.
Setting standards
Scaling for a billion
Currently, the e-Governance framework in the country includes multiple bodies at various levels with few standards, procedures, guidelines etc to analyze, plan, prioritize, develop, operate and maintain the infrastructure. The National Informatics Centre and the Department of Telecom and various state level Departments of IT complement the Central Department of Information Technology. However, there is no coordinating body that can have a unified view of what e-Governance is or should be, what should be our strategy to connect the citizen and the state in the various interactions the citizen has from cradle to grave. Without that unified view it is unlikely that an efficient organisational and investment structure can be created that can evaluate and monitor the initiatives, measure the benefits thereof and take the country forward to a transparent, low transaction cost delivery of services to the citizens and further strengthen the foundations of governance and democracy.
In a nation of more than a billion people we need to create more than a billion records. Given that from cradle to grave a citizen may have over two hundred points of interface with the state and it may increase with our capacity to look after our citizens better, we need to create a governance infrastructure that can capture more than 200 data types for each citizen. It must also allow for that data to be used at various levels of governance. The same data may be accessible at the village level or the block, sub-division, district, division and the state levels and may be available at the centre for planning as well. In other words, we need to avoid of cost of duplication of data, generally a very high cost, cost of integration across levels and systems, simplify the systems and deliver what is needed.
Justification is easy There are several reasons for embracing ICTs for governance. However, just one, viz. lowering the transaction cost of governance, can alone more than justify any reasonable investment in ICT. It has been demonstrated that even in a rather sub-optimal setting using computerised processes on top of the existing archaic process can reduce the overall transaction cost for the government as well as for the citizen by an order of magnitude. An example frequently cited is delivery of a certificate that is mandated by the state to a citizen using computerised means. Full mechanisation of
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Unified data, multiple applications In other words, there will be one data structure that is common to all. There will be various applications that draw on the same data. They reside in multiple places as mirrored but as a single unified structure. And these run on the hybrid but unified platform of operating systems and networks. Then the result is available much like a utility where the end-users draw as per their need at a given price.
Learning from infrastructure sector While it sounds simple and is eminently doable, it requires a different way of thinking about the issue. Consider that the nation has invested close to a $100 billion dollar in utilities, the replacement cost of our i4d | September 2004
railways infrastructure is about similar, we do not have comparable roads but simply connecting a fraction of the country by expressways is slated to cost over $10 billion and connecting every village by any kind of motorable road will raise it by an order of magnitude. Comparing internationally, investments in utility, telecom, roads and railways to reach every citizen costs nearly in similar order. And these countries have learnt to invest in ICT as well to the same tune. Considering that simply creating a biometric ID system for all travelers and citizens in the US has been allocated a budget of US$ 10 billion should open us to appreciate that managing information has its costs and its only by recognizing that we can achieve the quality that we consider acceptable.
Rs 500 per citizen can do IT Learning from the experience of very large systems that transact several million data per day and store more than 100 million pieces of data with more than 50 entity types in the system, it is reasonable to assume that in very large systems one should plan to invest at the rate of $10 per record of 100 data points and above for creating the application and supporting technology infrastructure. These investments are required over a five year period and will normally incur a maintenance cost at the rate of 15 percent of investments to remain useable in the ways originally intended along with the increasing number of data, technology updation, enhanced security requirements over a period of time. In other words, with a planned investment of approximately USD 10 billion dollar over a five-year period and a maintenance budget for the times to follow the nation can be ready with the following: • A complete data structure representing ALL citizens’ needs of relating to the government from cradle-to-grave • All the applications and modules that will be required from village level to the national level and every level in between • All hardware and networking and operating system needs to support the above • All necessary security – of data integrity as well as protection against its tampering as permitted by the state of the technology at the time • An organisational structure that will be able to maintain and operate this infrastructure • Ability to respond to the needs of governance readily and ability to interface with any future needs • The cost of delivery to the citizens lower than will be the case if they continued to be delivered the way practiced as of now (2004) • The cost of citizens to get the data lower than has been the case so far. • A capacity to assist other developing countries in getting their governance using ICTs right at lower cost • A capacity to plan better, reach the citizens better, greater transparency, a more skilled government workforce • An ability to cut down on developing sub-optimal, duplicate, unusable systems and thereby effect savings that alone can justify investments of this order Once we have accomplished the above, we can plan to maintain and update as well as respond to the new needs that may emerge by September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
virtue of raised expectations and our ability to deliver on them by : • Spending up to 2 percent of GDP on governance- including e-Governance. • Spending up to 2 percent of the budget on e-Governance The beginning though must be made with creating a national strategy for utilising the power of ICT to cut the cost of governance, include every citizen in the governance process, make the system transparent and responsive and strengthen the development infrastructure and decision making process. This draft concept note has been proposed for discussions and comments from the public, and i4d readership. Please send your views, comments, ideas and strategies for implementing this proposal to Mr. Satish Jha.
CMCs global movers and shakers At the start of 2001, there was still only one Community Multimedia Centre prototype - at Kothmale in Sri Lanka, where a small telecentre had been added to the rural radio station. By October of that year, the first African CMC opened its doors in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Today, there are over 40 pilot CMCs in developing countries in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean which have or have had direct UNESCO involvement. Some 75 more are being developed by UNESCO in scale-up projects: 20 each in Mali, Mozambique and Senegal, 15 in Cameroon. Other partners now setting up CMCs include IICD in Burkina Faso and IDRC in Senegal. The German development bank KfW has begun a pilot CMC project in Mali, as the basis for eventual scale-up there. So the solitary prototype has led to the emergence of a widely used generic model in a relatively short time. Many international partners have been involved in this process, most of them within the framework of the Global Knowledge Partnership. The Swiss and Belgian governments, UNDP, ITU and other partners have supported CMC creation. Some partners, including AMARC, OneWorld.Net, APC and Radio for Development, have supported the development of the MultiMedia Training Kit or MMTK, a set of open access, workshop-ready training materials available on CD Rom from UNESCO or on http:// www.itrainonline.org/itrainonline/mmtk/. Others, such as the NIC, have developed software tools such as the community browser eNRICH. Countless partners at the local level keep the CMCs going on a daily basis. All of this illustrates a core truth of ICT4D – no partner can go it alone and the more effective the partnerships, the better the chance of success. UNESCO is keenly aware that the success of its flagship CMC programme is in reality the success of the partnerships it has generated. Stella Hughes CMC programme coordinator UNESCO
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T ELECENTRES
IN
A FRICA
Accelerating community development Since the past few years, there has been a growing interest on part of the governments, private sector, international donors and community organisations towards the use of telecenters to provide access to information and communication technologies (ICTs). In Africa telecenters have been seen as a means of addressing the lack of ICTs and providing universal access, to both telephony and other forms of ICTs. This paper looks at two types of telecenters.
Type A: Small, private sector telecenters These centers started off with offering basic telephone services, but have expanded to provide even fax and Internet services. Operating a telecenter is profitable, as it generates a monthly income of approximately $200 per line. However, the small business centers have been successful in only some countries, and they require a supportive environment consisting of a legal system, taxes and helpful telephone operator. The Senegalese telecenters have performed well as sustainable small businesses with support from Sonatel.
Type B: Donor-Funded projects These are very different and more expensive (up to $250,000) than the aforementioned micro-projects. This involved a partnership between the International Telecommunications Union, UNESCO, and the Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC), and has established major centers in Mali, Uganda, Mozambique and South Africa. These centers offer a range of telephony, computing, Internet and information services. Among these the most well known is the Nakaseke Multipurpose Community Telecenter (MCT) in Uganda, that opened in March 1999 and aims to introduce and test new technologies and applications and to demonstrate the impact of such technologies on development of rural and remote areas. The telecenter has eight computers, two printers, a scanner, a photocopier, a VCR/TV, a video camera, and a projector. In addition to phone, fax, and Internet use, there are a paper and digital library; computer training; and an interesting Indigenous Knowledge program whereby center staff are building a resource of local health and crop experience. However, frequent power cuts are a problem. The center has proved that ICT can be useful for development in a rural area. But what is required is sufficient local involvement, support, training, and finance.
Conclusion However, none of them have shown a model that is sustainable. No major funded telecenter has been able to set aside money for depreciation of equipment, let alone generate money to repay the
38
initial capital. Many of these sites are offering useful services in their communities, though most are so young that their impact is more anecdotal than demonstrable. Source: http://www.isoc.org/oti/articles/1000/benjamin.html
Role of multipurpose community telecentres in accelerating national development in Ghana This paper gives an insight into the development, growth and potential sustainability of small business communication centres in cities in Ghana. It was the expansion of the electrical power grid in the 1990s, that facilitated the expansion of the communication infrastructure (e.g., the telephone system) in Ghana. The Ghanaian telecentres centres provide single-point access to information and services, implying that they provide a narrow range of services, often located in a single room. By combining technology, trainers and users together at one location, these centres expect to reduce the traditional barriers to using any new technology. The expected result then is better performance in work, self-employment, vocational and life-long learning and communication. The idea behind this is actually to replace individual access to new digital tools with community access. Telephone is one of the most basic services, and fax being a popular one. Most people send and receive faxes at telecentres rather than at their offices or homes. Photocopying is done on a small scale with a low-end and slow machine. Another service is video viewing for individuals and groups. Moreover, an increasing number of centres are providing computer-based services such as word processing, spreadsheets and graphics. Drop-in e-mail sending and receipt from a telecentre account is offered on a limited basis. Internet access fees start at US$1.00 per quarter hour. Some of the telecentres have existing contracts with non-governmental agencies to provide basic secretarial services, and some of the more advanced centres such as the cyberc@fes provide services aimed at the urban walk-in user, who seeks personal support rather than support for workrelated activities. There are some others that provide Web site development for businesses and local agencies. Due to poor connectivity, inadequate infrastructure and human resource limitations, most of the centres provide very limited services. Low level of communication infrastructure in the rural areas make it difficult for such areas to be linked electronically. There is a need for the government of Ghana and donors to foster markets for those services where there is a weak commercial demand. The extra attention, pilot programs, assessments, marketing of new services may stimulate awareness and demand. In such a case, later on the i4d | September 2004
private sector could step in and provide the service. However, a fastest method would be to continue the public-private partnerships, such as the post office Internet services, in which public money serves to guide private initiative and resources to meet public purposes. Source: http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_1/owen/index.html
The Gaseleka telecentre, Northern Province, South Africa The Gaseleka telecentre is located in South Africa’s poorest province, Northern Province. The area is very arid, and to go to the telecentre one has to travel along a 15 kms. of a bad road. There are nearly 34 villages surrounding Gaseleka, with a population of about 85,000. Unemployment in the area is about 60 per cent. This telecentre is well networked throughout the area and is owned by the local branch of South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO), which has established a special subcommittee of 15 people to manage the centre. The local chiefs have given their support to the project and have established close links with the local government, to make free phone calls and photocopies. This usage is monitored on a monthly basis and has not been abused so far. This has not only made the telecentre very popular among the key local officials, but it receives its water and electricity free from the local authority. On an average the centre is currently used by 50 people in a day, 60 per cent of whom are women. People come from up to 20 kilometres away to use the centre, and many on foot. Since the telecentre opened, a new RDP (Reconstruction and Development Programme) government housing development has been built nearby. This has brought 300 families closer to the telecentre and means that it has become the de facto community centre, a place to hang out and chat. Many organisations within the area make use of the centre. SANCO, the local schools, Community Policing Forum, Department of Health and Welfare, small businesses and local political groupings such as the African National Congress and the Communist Party, all use the telecentre. The telecentre has invested R4,000 (US$600) in a camera for taking ID photos and makes about R700 (US$105) a month from this service alone. The real success story of the centre has been its computer training provision. The training included use of the operating system, word processing (Ms Word) and spreadsheets (Ms Excel). Gaseleka is one of the very few South African centres making an operating profit and paying a half-decent wage. But it is unable to meet the depreciation costs, nor repay the money invested in it. Yet, Gaseleka is one of the best examples out of more than 60 telecentres set up by the USA (South African Universal Service Ageny), where over half are non-functional for a variety of technical, managerial, competitive and financial reasons. Source: http://www.col.org/telecentres/chapter%2007.pdf
The Nakaseke multipurpose community telecentre in Uganda The Nakaseke Multipurpose Community Telecentre (MCT) project was set up as a test bed for future investment in information and communications technologies (ICTs) for rural development. Uganda has a population of 21 million, of which 88 per cent live in rural September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
areas and largely depend on subsistence farming. Nakaseke MCT serves two administration units, Nakaseke and Kasangombe, and a network of villages with a total population of 31,000 people (1991 census). Within the units there are 23 primary schools, 6 secondary schools, a university and a regional Primary Teachers’ Training College, all of which are dependent on the services of the MCT. The Nakaseke MCT became operational in March 1999, with the aim to provide a centre where the rural community could access ICT resources — print, video, CD-ROM, telephone, fax, e-mail and the Internet/Web. Users are required to register on their first visit, and subsequently can gain access by using their registration cards, ensuring anonymity and simplicity. The MCT staff consists of four people: the Manager, Assistant Manager, Information Officer and the Assistant Information Officer, who are regularly provided with short refresher courses. The community is served by a hydroelectric power system that is very erratic and can be off for up to 78 hours in a week. The MCT also has a back-up system that can be used for up to five hours, depending on the volume of use. To some extent, the MCT has now become mainstream with the general activities and local politics of the community. It has been positively influenced by the: • Zeal and interest of the local leadership in making the MCT a sustainable reality • Fact that it is the only such centre in the entire district, which was a source of pride for the community and gave the MCT a monopoly status • Partnerships that have been forged both at local and international level, bringing in useful experiences and support • Creativity and dedication of the staff and stakeholders However, the MCT has been constrained by the: • Poor telecommunication infrastructure that has particularly affected the telemedicine and other heavy file transfer applications • Erratic electric power supply • High rate of illiteracy in the community • Restricted accommodation for facilities The situation seems quite favourable for the establishment of more telecentres in rural and remote areas of Africa, in the next few years. Source: http://www.col.org/telecentres/chapter%2010.pdf Research by: Divya Jain, i4d, divya@csdms.org
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Virtual Education
Tel (e) Learning centres Learning is a process, never ending and never static by nature. With the time and progress of civilisation, Saswati Paik the contents of i4d, India learning, mode saswati@i4donline.net of learning and sphere of learners are becoming widespread. On-line learning or ‘e-Learning’ has its root inside the concept of distance learning or correspondence course, which made the study materials available for the distant learners, an alternative to the concept of traditional classroom teaching-learning process. In this technology era, it might be explained as ‘virtual education’ with ‘hard copies’ of course materials.
telecommunications networks and provide wide range of electronic services to the community. The concept of ‘telecentres’ is drawn from earlier experiences in Scandanavia and Canada in providing community access to ICT. Telecentres normally provide the facilities of telephone, fax and email services whereas more sophisticated configurations offer full Internet connectivity with specialised information retrieval or distance learning delivery. These have the potential to encompass full range of delivery of both synchronous and asynchronous learning. But because of the low levels of teledensity (per capita telephone lines) and lack of Internet access, e-Learning through telecentres is lagging far behind in the developing nations.
Limit of Internet boom
According to a 2001 report, produced by the research firm eTForecasts, in 2002, more With the progress in the field of Information than 673 million people would use the and Communication Technology (ICT), internet, out of which, 225 million people quality educational services have been would have wireless access. By 2005, there developed in the form of community should be a total of 1.2 billion people on learning centres, telecentres, cybercafes, the Internet with the anticipated 730 million telecottages etc. Although the terms differ wireless users accounting for 62.1% of the from each other, but the motto, mode of total. Now, let us have a look at the figures delivering educational services and showing estimated and projected Internet equipments required are more or less similar. users in selected Asian countries as per the All these services are connected to the data based on the government statistics that represent people Number of estimated and projected Internet users in selected Asian countries: using the Internet Countries Total population Estimated online Projected online more than 2 hours per 1999 (thousands) population 2003 week. (thousands) Bangladesh 127118 7 14 It is clear from the China 1246872 3565 43950 above data that the India 1000849 835 2985 developing countries Indonesia 216108 125 228 of Asia have a long Japan 126182 16500 44750 way to go to achieve Malaysia 21376 725 1075 the state of the Philippines 79346 375 683 developed countries Republic of Korea 46885 1950 5681 of the world. Still, Singapore 3532 835 1240 there is a ray of hope Sri Lanka 19145 16 43 Thailand 60609 265 555 to improve the status Viet Nam 77311 10 335 of Internet use in the
Telecentres in e-Learning
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developing countries with the advancement of technology as well as with the increasing need of professional education through any method other than the traditional one. The distance learning process, introduced by many universities all over world has already paved the way. But there are many factors associated with the development of Internet for educational development of the developing countries, such as (a) accessibility to Internet, (b) availability of resources, (c) attitude of the target groups etc.
The need of the hour The ‘Wall Street Journal of February 4, 2002 reported that 54% of the adults in the United States use the web on a regular basis and 90% of the young people of 15-17 age group are regular web users. Among them, more than 90% might be those citizens interested in taking a formal education course. The main cause behind this interest and popularity of on-line courses is the accessibility of Internet at home or at workplace. This situation is not similar in the other countries which are yet to experience the IT revolution of equal intensity and potential. A number of initiatives have already been launched in the Asia-Pacific region in past few years to address the issues associated with ‘digital divide’. The most essential act needed to reduce this is regional cooperation which can help the developing countries with the constraints associated with finance and infrastructure, to address core issues of ICT infrastructure, improving connectivity and supporting ICT education and financing. References http://cde.athabascau.ca/online-book/ch5.html http://www.unescap.org/esid/psis/publications/ theme2002/chap6.asp http://www.idrc.ca/telecentre/evaluation/html/ 17_Edu.html i4d | September 2004
What’s on Africa 25 - 29 October, 2004 The Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA) Blantyre, MALAWI www.ahila.org
19 November, 2004 Science, Communication and Society: Needs and Challenges in South Asia Habitat Centre, New Delhi www.scidev.net/ms/sagatewaylaunch/
07–09 February, 2005 Map India 2005, New Delhi
Australia
www.mapindia.org
01 - 03 December, 2004 Pacific Telecentre Workshop Brisbane
Kenya
www.connectingislandcommunities.com
04-08 October, 2004 25th African Health Sciences Congress Nairobi
China
www.kemri.org
11-13 October, 2004 Global Mobile Congress Shanghai
Mexico
www.delson.org/3g-4g/main.htm
04-07 October, 2004 Youth Employment Summit, Veracruz www.yesweb.org/mexico
Ethiopia 11-15 October, 2004 ADF 4: Governance for a progressing Africa, Addis Ababa www.uneca.org/adf/adfiv/About.htm
Germany 07-10 November, 2004 19th International CODATA Conference The Information Society: New Horizons for Science, Berlin
16-20 October, 2004 Global Forum for Health Research Mexico City www.globalforumhealth.org/pages/index.asp
16-19 November, 2004 Global Indicators Workshop on Community Access to ICTs Mexico City www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/mexico04/index.html
www.codata.org/04conf/
South Africa
India
02-04 March, 2005 ICTS and Civil Society Conference Johannesburg
13 October, 2004 GKP South Asia Regional Meeting 2004 Chennai www.globalknowledge.org
15 – 22 October, 2004 South-South Exchange Travelling Workshop, Chennai www.globalknowledge.org
http://radio.oneworld.net/article/view/76307/1
Sri Lanka 29-01 December 2004 International Conference on e-Governance (ICEG), Colombo www.iitc.lk
Tanzania 20-22 October, 2004 Women and ICT Arusha http://aitecafrica.com/events/2004/WomenICT/ womens-ict.htm
Thailand 21-24 November, 2004 Libraries - Gateways to Information and Knowledge in the Digital Age Bangkok www.alic2004.org
United States 18-21 October, 2004 eLearning Producer Conference and Expo 2004 Orlando Florida www.elearningguild.com/pbuild linkbuilder.cfm?selection=doc.652
01-05 November, 2004 E-Learn 2004 Washington DC www.aace.org/conf/eLearn/call.htm
02–05 April 2005 12-14 December, 2004 Eradicating Poverty through Profit San Francisco http://povertyprofit.wri.org
02–05 April 2005 e-Learning 2005 Dallas, Texas http://144.162.197.250/ eLearning2005glance.htm
01-05 March 2005 SITE 2005 Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference Phoenix, Arizona http://site.aace.org/conf
Get your event listed here. www.i4donline.net/events September 2004 | www.i4donline.net
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I N F ACT
Telling more about telecentres and kiosks Telecentres are considered as a solution to development problems all over the world as those have the potential to provide urgently needed access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) as well as to narrow the ‘digital divide’ in remote, and disadvantaged communities. Telecentre projects have already been initiated in many developing countries. Many telecentres are still in the planning or pilot stage. At this stage of ICT development, the information about telecentres all over the world are quite interesting, especially for those who are directly or indirectly associated with ICT for development. Here is a collection of some online resources on telecentre and kiosks which may attract you to explore more about it. •
http://idpm.man.ac.uk/publications/wp/di/di_wp10.pdf (History of telecentre development)
•
http://www.mssrf.org/publications/pmw.pdf (Full paper on M.S.Swaminathan Foundation’s project)
•
http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/egov/ifip/dec2001/dec2001.pdf (Information Technology in Developing Countries, Volume 11, No. 3, December 2001. A newsletter of IFIP Working Group 9.4 and Commonwealth Network for Information Technology)
•
http://www.eapf.net/sourcebook/final-09022004.pdf (Pre publication draft of the book Information Communication Technologies for Development, A Comprehensive Guidebook for parliamentarians)
•
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/univ_access/telecentres/ (Website of International Telecommunication Union)
•
http://www.iadb.org/sds/itdev/telecenters/fullrep.pdf (Information about Telecentres for Socioeconomic and Rural Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, by Francisco J. Proenza, Roberto Bastidas-Buch and Guillermo Montero.)
•
•
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http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/univ_access/seminar/buda/ proceedings/Budapest-en.pdf (Complete report of Regional Seminar for Central European Countries on The role of Community Telecentres in fostering universal access and rural development.) http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/univ_access/telecentres/papers/ NTCA_johan.html (Report on First International Conference on Rural Telecommunications in Washington, 30 November - 2 December, 1998 on Universal
Access for Rural Development from Action to Strategies by Johan Ernberg, ITU) •
http://www.idrc.ca/telecentre/evaluation/html/main.html (Link to many papers on telecentres)
•
http://www.idrc.ca/telecentre/evaluation/html/17_Edu.html (Education for All in the Information Age by Laurel Elmer)
•
http://www.irrodl.org/content/v4.1/idrus_review.html (Book review of the book on telecentres)
•
http://www.communitysa.org.za/T2000LitRev.doc (Literature review for the Telecentre 2000 study)
•
http://www.telecentres.wa.gov.au/telecentres/ (Australian website on telecentres)
•
http://www.telecentres.com/ (Telecentre Powys, site of UK)
•
http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/sociosite/topics/telecenters.html (Links to the telecentres of Italy, Canada, USA, UK, Germany and Netherlands)
•
http://www.idrc.ca/telecentre/evaluation/html/main.html (Telecentre evaluation, a global perspective)
•
http://www.connected.org/develop/mohammed-s.html(An informative interview of Mohammed-Sani Abdulai, Lecturer at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Ghana and Chairman of the Education Committee of the Ghana Chapter of the Internet Society on Telecentres)
•
http://www.andrewbibby.com/telework/oz.html (Telecentres in Rural Australia, article by Andrew Bibby)
•
http://www.euforic.org/by_theme/742.htm (Stories on Telecentres in different countries)
•
http://www.bellanet.org/leap/impact/index.cfm? fuseaction=main&cat_id=211 (Different stories related to ICTs, Telecentres and Internet)
•
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/univ_access/telecentres/papers/ guelph.html (Paper entitled ‘Partnerships and Participation in Telecommunications for Rural Development, Exploring What Works and Why’ by Johan Ernberg) http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue5_1/owen/ (Role of Multipurpose Community Telecentres in Accelerating National Development in Ghana by Wilfred Owen, Jr and Osei Darkwa) i4d | September 2004