ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2005
In association with Development Policy and Practice
and the International Development Centre at the Open University
Milton Keynes, UK
7th-9th September 2005
Connecting people
and places: challenges and opportunities for development
INFORMATION, TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT PARALLEL
SESSIONS
ABSTRACTS
There will be papers on this theme in all the parallel sessions
in the conference. Click on the title to download the papers (Word or
Acrobat) or presentations (Powerpoint) - not all abstracts have related
papers as yet.
SESSION A
The emerging network of global production and consumption is driven by
information and communication technologies (ICTs) and information systems
can play a key role of in overcoming the so-called Digital Divide. This
paper argues that the digital divide is also a knowledge and capability
divide that can be bridged though local initiatives into the use and development
of information and communication technologies.
A set of recent events have challenged our understanding of the nature
of global connectivity and a new framework is required with which to explore
the relationship between new information technologies, globalisation and
social exclusion
The concept of the springboard story (Denning 2001) is used to encapsulate
a shift in the nature of both access to the infrastructure of the global
economy, and in the governance and metagovernance of that infrastructure.
A short account of the delivery of effective warnings to several communities
in Tamil Nadu affected by the Asian tsunami illustrates the ad-hoc use
of key technologies. The technologies were available for a number of reasons,
including the active presence of an NGO, the support of overseas members
of the community and the management of the flows of the remittances that
funded the construction of the local fishing fleets.
The same technologies also created a new sense of connection between
western tourists and the communities they have visited in the tsunami
affected regions. Public response to the disaster contradicted assumptions
about “compassion fatigue” in part because of a virtual presence
created for outsiders by the powerful images and accounts brought to the
rest of the world by the tourist technologies of digital video cameras
and cell phones.
The partial nature of coverage and connectivity left many areas affected
by the disaster much less visible to the outside world, but collective
logging of events and monitoring of relief and recovery efforts continues
and includes coverage of the less connected areas. Many groups have already
found their own voice on the web, but the new sense of connection allows
the development of mutual support and understanding across the “digital
divide”.
In the past developing new practices and new knowledge has required proximity
or adjacency to others who hold a relevant set of skills and interests.
The Open Software Development paradigm has demonstrated that this adjacency
can increasingly be delivered electronically. However, sufficient skills
for effective use of the Internet in support of advocacy and communication
can be acquired relatively simply. The process of skilling can draw on
extensive experience with electronically supported distance education
and the pragmatic experience of diasporic communities.
Key technological changes, such as satellite communication and open source
software, are providing a basis on which the necessary co-development
and co-adoption can take place. The paper discusses the successful bridging
of socio-cultural divides in order to access benefits from ICTs.
Exploring the connection of people and places in the context of ICT debates
raises two broad sets of concerns. The spread of information and communication
technologies has contributed significantly to the emergence of knowledge-based
societies and opened up space for greater networking across geographically
distanced groups. This has led to efforts to explore how developing economies
can benefit from inclusion in the ‘information society’, such
as the discussions raised by the World Summit on the Information Society
in 2003. Yet, recognition of the burgeoning ‘digital divide’
within and between countries highlights the need for continued engagement
with socio-political and economic dynamics of how ICT development and
use are promoted in specific contexts.
This paper explores the Janus-faced nature of the spread of ICTs in more
remote regions through a focus on language politics and the spread of
computer and Internet access in Nepal. Over the past decade there has
been a dramatic increase in the level of access to computing facilities
in urban centres and, increasingly, in district headquarters throughout
the country. This has opened new opportunities for communication and access
to diverse information sources. At the local level there has been an emergence
of new relationships and networks to mediate access to computing and Internet
facilities, through shared computers, e-mail addresses, etc. However,
English is the only language in which access is readily available, a situation
that militates against any widespread use of ICTs in business, administration
and education that takes place in Nepali and other national languages.
The starting point for the paper is thus a set of technological as well
as socio-political challenges. How easy is it to enable technologies for
minor languages? Will this contribute to the revitalising of such languages?
And will it serve to challenge existing patterns of ethnic and language-based
exclusion and marginalisation?
The paper draws on the experience of the Nepali Language Resources and
Localisation for Education and Communication project (NeLRaLEC), an initiative
that aims to enhance Nepali medium access to information technology through
support for software localisation and language engineering. It begins
by exploring the technological challenges faced. These are then considered
in relation to the broader context of the history of language politics
in Nepal. It concludes by considering the challenges faced by the NeLRaLEC
project, and ICT and development policy-makers and practitioners more
generally, as they seek to promote broad-based inclusion in the information
society.
ICT POVERTY
IN THE SADC REGION
Maxwell Mthembu, Cardiff University, School of Journalism, Media &
Cultural Studies
The paper examines the impediments to the adoption of ICTs in the Southern
African Development Community (SADC). ICTs, it has been argued, could
play a significant role in the development of the Third World. The paper
seeks to discuss the socio-political and economic factors that have hampered
the adoption of ICTs in the region such as the prevailing drought, HIV/AIDS
and poverty among others. Further, it will discuss how the prevailing
conditions have tended to shift focus from empowering people with information
to instead making them largely dependant on donor food, which promotes
underdevelopment.
The paper seeks to argue that years of marginalisation of ordinary citizens
in accessing mainstream media and having a voice has resulted in multitudes
not understanding that information is power. Ordinary citizens are under
the impression that accessing information is the preserve of a few, journalists
and government officials. This arrangement has made it impossible for
people to seek information dealing with poverty and HIV/AIDS but rather
expect that information is to be handed down to them.
The paper also examines the difference in approach to the adoption of
ICTs within the Community with some countries taking a giant leap whereas
others take a snail pace. This has culminated to a regional digital divide.
The digital divide is likely to be exacerbated by the differences in policy,
lack of infrastructure, equipment and knowledge. Other factors to be examined
include language barriers, illiteracy and cost of accessing these facilities.
Further, the paper seeks to argue that the divide is also within nation
states in the SADC and continues unabated between the have and the have-nots.
One of the advantages unique to the region prevailing in this region
is that most countries share a common history which could be mobilised
to their advantage in dealing with the issue of language, ICTs and development.
It also seeks to highlight why some ICTs such as mobile phones have had
a major impact with both rural and urban communities alike in the region
as opposed to computers and the internet. The paper argues that such adoption
is evidence of the thirst for information by the SADC populace. The paper
also brings in a gender dimension to the use of ICTs in the region.
SESSION B
The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of change agents
in the promotion of e-commerce among SMEs in low-income developing countries,
an area where there is little research coverage. The paper argues that
both SMEs and change agents in developing countries face unique challenges
that call into question the applicability of conventional theory of change
agency and enterprise-led e-commerce adoption. Using preliminary data
collected from Uganda and the theoretical lenses of change agency and
motivation-ability theory, a framework is presented that explains how
change agents can fulfil an effective role in assisting SMEs to benefit
from e-commerce.
A five point criteria categorises and classifies the change agents identified
through field research, which are then assessed according to a four-stage
SME and change agency-profiling framework. On this basis the paper proposes
a role-based change agency intervention model that assesses the potential
of SMEs in developing countries to benefit from e-commerce adoption. The
paper makes an original contribution to theory of e-commerce adoption,
as well as providing a usable assessment framework to assist practitioners
in their work to formulate intervention strategies and to assist both
SMEs’ and agencies’ e-commerce initiatives. The paper concludes
by highlighting some of the lessons that emerged from the Ugandan experience
and outlines future research intentions.
Increasingly e-business is becoming a driver for economic growth in the
small to medium enterprises (SME) sectors in developing countries and
ICTs are playing a role in enhancing sustainable development. The borderless
nature of e-business provides greater opportunities for SME’s in
the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) to expand their markets, engage in
global trade of goods and services while at the same time improving their
local communities.
Programs aiming to strengthen ties and increase trade and development
across the GMS region are supporting private sector development in order
to drive growth. In balance to this donors and NGOs recognize the role
social entrepreneurship can play in development. Partnerships between
entrepreneurs and social-enterprises are the nexus that brings employment
creation and allows communities in developing countries to develop sustainable
livelihoods.
The importance of social entrepreneurship for sustainable development
is illustrated by SMEs increased role in reducing poverty and improving
livelihoods. According to the Social Enterprise Alliance, ‘social
entrepreneurship is the art of persistently and creatively leveraging
resources to capitalize upon marketplace opportunities in order to achieve
sustainable social change.’ As a way forward in building sustainable
communities social enterprises generate revenue to support their social
mission.
The focus of this research is on how social-enterprises are using ICTs
for their comparative advantage and embracing the benefits of e-business.
Through case studies of two social-enterprises this paper aims to share
lessons learned for other SMEs to use ICT to benefit their communities.
Threads of Yunnan is a project designed to raise the standard of living
of countryside women in Yunnan Province, China, while raising their self-esteem
and helping to preserve their traditional handicrafts through selling
them online. Digital Divide Data (DDD) in Cambodia & Lao PDR provides
employment opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged young people delivering
data entry services for international clients. It is through the example
of such social-enterprises that this paper demonstrates the opportunity
to address social issues through business initiatives.
With the rise of ethical trade to balance the effects of globalization,
customers and companies choose to work with social-enterprises because
they want to support disadvantaged communities. These SMEs lead by example
by combining the social mission and ethical business practices, proving
it is possible to be a good corporate citizen in developing countries.
The social mission drives business development and the commercial needs
of the market are met within an ethical framework. This is the strength
that both DDD and Threads of Yunnan build on.
This focus on the social-entrepreneurial spirit is what enables these
businesses to deliver their dual mission. The impact on the communities
they work within provides the inspiration to keep striving to meet their
social mission. It is hoped that learning from their experience provides
motivation for other social entrepreneurs to take up the challenge and
create opportunities for their local communities to break the poverty
cycle.
Development research focused on Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) in India has tended to centre around one of two issues : the success
of India’s dynamic, export-oriented software and business process
outsourcing (BPO) industries; and the importance of bringing these wider
IT gains to the grassroots, with a plethora of village internet, e-governance
and related ‘ICT 4 Development’ (ICT4D) initiatives. Whilst
these are certainly valid avenues of research, little attention has been
directed towards the means by which the majority of Indian people are
gaining access to global networks of knowledge and communication; the
street-corner cybercafés which are now well established throughout
the larger, and even smaller, urban centres of India.
Based upon ethnographic research in south India and focusing particularly
on Bangalore, this paper attempts to describe the different types of cybercafés
available in a relatively large and well connected city like Bangalore
and the types of uses to which the internet is being put. Internet cafés
can be found throughout the urban landscape of Bangalore, whether in its
opulent suburbs or its poorer peripheries. They cater to a range of users,
from software engineers to lower-middle class college students, to the
semi-literate consumer of pornography. Whilst cybercafés may not
be the best way of enabling ICT access for the urban and rural poor; the
relatively low cost of this model (from as little as 10 rs / hour), means
that it can no longer be dismissed as the preserve of the elites. Like
the humble ‘STD’ telephone kiosk, cybercafés may well
be the means by which a large proportion of the Indian population will
be accessing the internet in the future and, given their already wide
uptake, are indicative of the uses to which ICTs are put when made accessible
to the broader Indian public.
Despite the often hyberbolic claims being made about the potential of
ICTs to bring about rapid social and economic change, ICT use in this
case is oriented towards more humble ends; more often than not, for communication
via email and internet relay chat (IRC). For the young middle class residents
of Bangalore who form the focus of this study, however, ICT use, which
is engrained within the social and cultural fabric of growing-up in Bangalore,
has enabled a familiarity with ICTs which can be drawn on as valuable
skills in the increasingly IT-oriented job market. Cybercafés may
thus play a role in encouraging a culture of IT literacy upon which India
can continue to draw in its bid to become, in the words of its president,
a ‘global knowledge superpower’.
HARNESSING ICT FOR DEVELOPMENT IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA:
REALITIES, CHALLENGES AND IMPLICATIONS OF DONOR-SUPPORTED AND TRANSFERRED
ICT PROJECTS
Mary Otieno, Research Student/Tutor, Middlesex University
This paper presents part of research in progress that is investigating
the challenges facing ICT projects for development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
It examines organisational and national challenges facing donor-supported
or transferred ICT projects in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper
aims to develop some key insights towards a better understanding of the
challenges and implications to implementation, use and sustainability
of ICT systems. Amongst other strategies, there is growing evidence that
new technologies can be used in poorest parts of the world to boost economic,
social and political development. The past decade has seen an increased
interest by the international community especially non-governmental agencies
and some foreign government agencies focusing their efforts in supporting
development and implementation of ICT projects in African countries. The
projects are aimed at educating people, improving healthcare, promoting
good governance, empowering local communities and delivering efficient
services to citizens. Most of these donor-supported or transferred ICT
projects have been known to fail or under-perform for various reasons.
A lot has been written about failures or under-performance of such projects,
and not so much has been done by the donor agencies and local communities
in African countries to ensure success, good use and sustainability of
these projects.
SESSION C
Economic thinking on the relationship between telecommunications (telecoms)
and development implicitly assumes that individual use of telecommunications
triggers the occurrence of various benefits that result in measurable
development outcomes. In addition to this, the assumption is also made
that where a telecom infrastructure exists, individuals automatically
have access to it and that this infrastructure is appropriate for the
individual’s (developmental) needs. Such assumptions result in a
predominately deterministic interpretation of the telecom-development
relationship, in which the mere presence of telecommunication induces
development, and presupposes an indiscriminate demand for telecommunications.
Unsurprisingly, initiatives emanating from this type of thinking tend
to focus predominately on the supply of telecommunications to developing
country populations. However, neither the supply of, nor demand for telecoms
in developing countries is indiscriminate. The cost of making the technology
available and consequently its affordability determine who has access
to telecoms and the form in which that access is available. Access influences
use, and use is a key mechanism through which telecoms influences socioeconomic
development.
This paper reports on the observed use of telephones in improving the
economic organisation of trade in a Nigerian textile weaving micro-industry
(known as the AsoOkeindustry). This is a fragmented and geographically
dispersed industry with high levels of task specialisation and in which
intermediaries play a significant role. Trade requires people to make
contact with each other, to communicate their wants, and explain what
they offer in return, to negotiate a price and to monitor the fulfilment
of their contracts; the costs of carrying out all these activities (especially
when accentuated by distance) can be reduced through the process of intermediation.
The study (on which the paper is based) identified that the use of telephones
holds benefits for all participants in the industry; however, the manner
in which the technology is made available in the environment was seen
to concentrate/skew these benefits in favour of more affluent intermediaries
(and on occasion) at the expense of significantly less affluent weavers.
In less developed countries, mobile technologies have the capacity to
deliver and enhance learning in ways that are completely different from
mobile learning in countries were mains electricity, computer hardware
and internet connectivity are stable, cheap and abundant. They also have
the capacity to subvert the received wisdom on the development of the
educational uses of IT.
This paper describes work currently under way in Kenya to support in-service
teacher training nationally with a distance learning programme specifically
developed locally to meet the infrastructural and organisational requirements
of an environment dramatically different that of most mobile learning
projects. Alongside audio and video cassettes developed with BBC support
and print material developed with CEL support, the author has been working
to bring together Kenya policy-makers, technologists and educationalists
to develop a targeted bulk SMS system for the 200,000 in-service teacher
participants that will help structure the study programme, address the
isolation of distance learners and deliver learning simply, sustainably
and cost-effectively. The technologies chosen are the most robust, appropriate
and socially inclusive and the development process has been designed to
promote dialogue and capacity across the various local communities of
practice and expertise.
The project has explored both the business case and the pedagogic case
for SMS within the programme. The former has looked at the efficiencies,
costs and alternatives associated with SMS whilst the latter has been
concerned to map a cross-section of educational transactions, ranging
from delivering content to providing study guide material, onto SMS and
evaluate them. Some interesting exploratory work has been done looking
at porting the ideas of conferencing.
The project has revealed the sophistication and agility of the mobile
phone networks in Kenya and the developers of their ‘value-added’
services, and has been exploring the possibility of running much of the
country's schools' statistical returns off SMS. Currently it seems that
schools provide regular statistical returns to District and Provincial
education offices and that these returns place a vital role in the allocation
of resources to individual schools. These returns are currently transmitted
by letter-post, courier or by phone conversation. These are potentially
slow, expensive and error-prone. Further research would be needed to document
the exact nature of the returns, the use to which they are put and the
various ways in which they are submitted. The notion of using SMS as the
main input medium and also the medium for exception-reporting is still
very novel.
The project is supported by DfID, because of its relevance to models
of appropriate mobile learning for the countries of sub-Saharan Africa,
and is intended not only to explore regionally relevant solutions. More
importantly the project is intended to help build capacity locally and
challenge models of ICT rooted in Europe, the Far East and America.
This account is based on research and consultancy taking from place in
the UK and Kenya in the years 2004 and 2005.
Open Knowledge Network (OKN) is an initiative to support the creation
and exchange of local content in local languages across the South, supported
by a wide range of new and traditional information and communication technologies
(ICTs). The programme grew from the G8 DotForce report and has been in
existence for almost two years. Joint projects have been established with
local partners in Kenya, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Mali, Uganda, India, and Sri
Lanka. OKN is designed to enable people in both urban and rural communities
to seek and contribute knowledge
about health, local culture and practices, education, agriculture, government
schemes, jobs and markets. The solutions employed are based on a technical
architecture that assumes limited connectivity, and in conjunction with
UNESCO and the Indian National Informatics Centre is developing an Open
Source platform to support peer-to-peer networking of Knowledge Workers,
using XML based metadata standards and embedding agreed open content copyright
licenses. Attempting to define and establish sustainable business models
adapted to different contexts has been a major priority.
Following a mid-term review the project has undergone a series of changes,
centring on the establishment of an African Governance structure, widening
the range of Communications tools in use and extending the reach of the
Local Content materials and approaches that have been developed. This
paper summarises the practical learning from the project to date, highlighting
successes and failures while exploring tensions inherent in attempting
to marry a focus on Local Content with traditional Development approaches
while at the same time introducing new technologies and attempting to
build a financially sustainable programme. Reviewing the work of a linked
Mobile Telephone project (also in Kenya) the paper also explores whether
there are necessarily different approaches in using ICTs for either economic
or social development and some constraints associated with developing
financially sustainable programmes.
With growing global water crisis posing a threat to the security, stability
and environmental sustainability of a nation, the need for a more people
oriented and integrated approach to water management and development has
become critical. Realizing the need of information/knowledge sharing and
access to reliable and authentic information for effective water resource
management and decision-making, IUCN – The World Conservation Union
launched Pakistan Water Gateway (PWG) in 2003. www.waterinfo.net.pk. To
continue efforts for this sector it was decided to setup a community of
practice for the water sector of Pakistan with a mission to mobilize a
knowledgebase by setting up a community of practice for the water sector
of Pakistan.
Communities of practice (CoPs) are groups that form to share what they
know, and to learn from one another concerning some aspect of their similar
interests. Communities of practice galvanize knowledge sharing and learning.
PWG’s community of practice is a group of virtually bound people
of diverse background interested in water issues of Pakistan. Its aim
is to pursue the shared interests of the group’s members. This PWG’s
CoP will add value by sharing lessons learned, acting as distribution
points for best and emerging practices, providing forums in which issues
and problems can be raised and resolved and, in general, by learning from
each other. The complete paper will further explain the steps involve
in the creation of CoP and assist anyone embarking on the community journey.
The paper will investigate how knowledge management activities are relevant
to water management and how they complement hydro-informatics. In addition
a set of recommendations will also propose for sustaining such learning
network.
SESSION D
This paper builds on the findings of a two-year research project conducted
by ITDG and Cranfield University into the use of information communication
technologies (ICTs) for development. The project was managed as a Knowledge
Transfer Partnership, funded in part by the Department of Trade and Industry
in the UK. The research aimed to answer the question “what is best
practice in connecting the first mile?” through an analysis of the
literature and a case study based on practical experience of an ICT for
development project in Cajamarca, Peru.
Across the globe, development agencies are piloting projects to improve
access to information in developing countries, many of which exploit the
potential of information communication technologies (ICTs). Projects face
the challenge of sharing information with people in remote regions who
have little experience of ICTs, low levels of literacy, little time or
money, and highly contextualised knowledge and language requirements.
This paper characterises this as the challenge of ‘connecting the
first mile’ and highlights lessons for practitioners, based on empirical
data from an ICT for development project in Peru.
Obstacles to connecting the first mile are traditionally seen as being
located in the local and national context (e.g. language, literacy, technological
skills, etc). This paper argues, after Beardon (2004), that the major
obstacles to overcome stem from the approach a project adopts. The approach
adopted by many practitioners is shaped by technological determinism (Heeks
2002), the power of donors (Stoll et al. 2001), and the discourse on information
and knowledge, which separates knowledge from the knower (van der Velden
2002) and privileges exogenous information over local knowledge (Ballantyne
2002; Chapman et al. 2003; Schech 2002).
The case of the Rural-Urban Information System (SIRU) project in Cajamarca,
Peru serves as an example. In rural Cajamarca, the local economy depends
primarily on agricultural and dairy production, extension services have
been disbanded and local producers’ information needs are no longer
met by the state. The SIRU project aims to meet these information needs,
by using ICTs to link local information centres (infocentres) to information
providers such as government bodies and NGOs working in the region. The
paper outlines the project’s successes and the challenges it faces
and highlights instances where adapting the approach would contribute
to best practice.
The overall contribution of the paper is to derive lessons for practitioners,
a framework for best practice and suggestions for further research. Ultimately,
the paper concludes that connecting the first mile goes beyond ‘bridging
the digital divide’ – it requires a detailed understanding
of how information can contribute to development outcomes in the local
context and an approach that facilitates this goal.
CHALLENGES IN PROMOTING ACCESS TO ICTS IN REMOTE REGIONS
– THE CASE OF MONGOLIA
C. A. Johnson and J. J. Britz, School of Information Studies, University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA, and L. Ariunaa, CEO, InTeC Co. Ltd, Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia
This paper focuses on the challenges facing Mongolia in providing access
to ICTs for its citizens, particularly those living in the rural areas.
In the first part of the paper we argue that access to modern ICTs does
not only provide better access to communication, but also that these technologies
have become the backbone of the modern economic paradigm of advanced capitalism
and globalization. Driven by modern ICTs it has become a dematerialized
and weightless economy. We make a case that, without access to these kinds
of technologies, communities are marginalized and even excluded from most
economic activities. Because of this, access to modern ICTs has become
imperative.
Mongolia is a large country, with a sparse rural population and a poor
information infrastructure. While the capital city Ulaanbaatar is quite
highly connected with Internet access, mobile telephones and cable television
available for those who can afford them, small county villages and herder
communities have almost no ICT access. Rural areas are characterized by
poor or non-existent roads, unstable electricity supply and often only
single telephone landlines into the main towns and villages. Information
needs in the countryside, however, are intense and diverse. Herders need
information about weather, markets and animal husbandry. All residents
need health and government related information and systems to provide
access to educational and training opportunities and to facilitate financial
transactions. The vast distances and poor transportation infrastructure
make traveling to the main towns and capital city to access these services
extremely time-consuming. Several strategies have been tried throughout
the years to improve access to ICTs and other information delivery systems
in rural Mongolia. Many of these strategies have fallen short of expectations.
This paper will explore several ICT projects and evaluate their effectiveness
in improving access to information.
The following paper is based on extended research (2004/5) conducted
at the e-Pabelan ICT4PR (information communication technologies for poverty
reduction) pilot project in the village of Pabelan, Central Java, Indonesia.
e-Pabelan was established in May 2004 following the signing of a memorandum
of understanding between Pondok Pesantren Pabelan (a respected Islamic
boarding school) and BAPPENAS (the Indonesian Development Planning Agency).
The project is the first of a total of seven projects planned under the
Partnerships for e-Prosperity for the Poor (Pe-PP) programme of BAPPENAS
and UNDP, Indonesia
The stated aim of e-Pabelan is to reduce poverty in a largely agricultural
community. This aim is to be achieved through a participatory and ‘pro-poor’
process that empowers and creates opportunities through providing access
to timely and relevant information. The mechanism through which this is
to be realised is through a community based telecentre providing Internet
connectivity to the World Wide Web. Poverty estimates vary, but suggest
that between thirty to fifty percent of the Pabelan community are living
in poverty.
At the end of its first year, the e-Pabelan project can not be said to
have achieved its aim. As initial funding draws to an end and despite
a number of management interventions participation in the project by target
groups remains woefully low. This paper proposes that many of the problems
faced by e-Pabelan can be explained through a re-examination of distance
in relation to ICT for development (ICT4D) interventions. Specifically,
rather than adopting a ‘death of distance’ hypothesis that
prioritises connectivity to an externalised network the ICT4D community
needs to more fully engage with existing localised networks and the influences
of these networks upon and within communities.
Taking distance and connectivity as its theme the paper examines relations,
conceptualisations and expectations within the three main groups of e-Pabelan
stakeholders. Firstly, the implementing agencies; secondly, the local
management team and finally the local community and intended beneficiaries
themselves. Problems relating to social and physical distance, and a lack
of connectivity, are traced from the conceptualisation of the project
to the project’s implementation and ongoing development. The paper
argues that the failure of the project to take into account the way information
and resources flow to and within the Pabelan community underlies many
of the issues the project faces in its current form. The paper makes particular
reference to the role of localised institutions and their relationship
to perceptions of exclusion within the poor community.
The paper concludes with stressing the need to rethink our notions of
distance in ICT4D. Drawing upon the experience of e-Pabelan the paper
suggests the need to more fully incorporate, and take into account, existing
networks within communities in the planning and implementation of future
ICT4D interventions.
top
SESSION E
In 2003, The Asia Foundation launched a project to create a network of
22 Community Information Centers (CICs) around Cambodia to provide access
to information for people around the country. The CICs are based on the
concept of the use of appropriate information and communication technology
(ICT) as part of an integrated development strategy with two overriding
aims:
1. The promotion of free and fair elections in Cambodia, and
2. The strengthening of Cambodian civil society to increase civic participation
in policy affairs
The CICs are equipped with computers, internet connection and a print
library, and are staffed by 2-3 individuals who provide basic computer
lessons.
Beyond the technical challenges of delivering internet connections in
remote areas, the project tackled the limited amount of Khmer language
content relevant to rural Cambodians. The project established a Khmer
language website www.cambodiacic.org republishing news stories from Cambodia
newspapers and public service information from NGOs. An election specific
website www.bohchnout.info was also developed which provided a comprehensive
source of election related information including news, campaign schedules,
party platforms and voter education materials. This was followed a year
later by the development of a set of provincial websites www.khetkrong.info,
with cooperation from regional government and NGOs.
This paper reviews the challenges of establishing such services and the
importance of relevant content to make a meaningful difference to local
communities. The paper describes the results of surveys of users of the
centers, focus groups, an analysis of the most frequently accessed content
and interviews with NGOs who have taken advantage of the service.
We have concluded that while the CICs did not establish themselves as
key providers of information-related information via the election website,
they provided indirect support of the democratic process. The regional
websites have enhanced the generation and collection of provincial and
national information and increased communication activities within Cambodia.
Finally regional NGOs and individuals have taken advantage of the CICs
to conduct activities that have materially enhanced civil society in Cambodia.
ICTS AND THE MDGS:
ON THE WRONG TRACK?
Richard Heeks, Development Informatics Group, IDPM, SED, University of
Manchester, UK
The purpose of this paper is to prompt some questioning of current "e-development"
priorities. We have too readily assumed the Millennium Development Goals
must be the priority for application of ICTs. Yet the MDGs themselves
can be challenged, as can the relevance of applying ICTs to those goals.
This paper will argue that we ought at least to be considering some different
priorities if we want to make most effective use of the opportunities
that new technology affords.
The global drive to e-government is being enthusiastically supported
by national and international investment funds. In the latter case, this
is primarily through project-based loans from the international financing
institutions to the governments of those countries that qualify for development
assistance. Networks of international and national officials, each with
their own base of knowledge and ideas, are formed to design and allocate
finance to these interventions and further networks of users, suppliers,
technology and capital are created to implement them.
This paper examines how the global networks of project designers attempt
to ensure that their funds are being used as intended when the local networks
are implementing the e-government projects. The monitoring tools used
on these projects are examined and evaluation reports from a sample of
projects summarised. The conclusion is drawn that, although these projects
are being measured against the standard industry profile of success in
terms of delivering on time, within budget and to the specified technical
requirement, the wider development objectives of e-government are not
being considered adequately.
To inform the debate, the paper draws on case study material from Sri
Lanka to examine the interplay between the two networks on a Public Expenditure
Management Systems project that was designed to support the "good
governance" agenda of the international financing institutions through
ICT-enabled improvements in accountability and transparency. An actor
network perspective is adopted to trace the dynamics of the power relationships
using Callon's translation model (1986) and, although presented only briefly
in the paper, the case study does provide industry and policy practitioners
with a clear sense of the forces at play in e-government implementation
in developing countries that are not captured by the formal monitoring
and evaluation tools. A sense of priorities, and of what actions need
to be taken to assure the delivery of an e-government project that meets
wider development objectives and not just those of time and cost, are
drawn from the case study.
SESSION F
The paper is divided in three sections whereby the first section describes
how different business models of both closed and open source software
differ. Also, it summarises potential benefits from free and open source
software (FOSS) for public and private sectors in developing countries
in their quest to bridge the digital divide. Examples of highly matured
open source software ranging from operating system to various applications
are provided to demonstrate the success of the open source business model.
Section two discusses potential benefits FOSS to developing countries.
Among the benefits include the local human capacity development which
proprietary software does not directly support and lowering software licensing
costs (if one is not using pirated software). In addition, section two
provides an account of several challenges that limit the effective utilization
of FOSS in Africa using Tanzania as an example. Using empirical findings
from a research carried in Tanzania by the one of authors, the paper demonstrate
that despite the potential benefits from FOSS only 6% of the surveyed
307 public and private organisations and businesses in tourism industry
use FOSS in business operations. The tourism industry was selected for
the research because various studies have indicated that it leads others
industries in Tanzania in the use of new information and communication
technologies, particularly, the computers. The research revealed only
the operating system (Linux of various versions and distributions) was
being used and the use of FOSS applications was inexistence.
Section three narrates and makes a brief evaluation of a Kiswahili-Linux
localization project that has been implemented in Tanzania. Using direct
observation and interview methods, it is revealed that there is little
awareness on FOSS in the country despite the fact that Jambo Office (Kiswahili
version of OpenOffice.org) had been released for almost six months earlier
when the research was conducted. Finally, the paper makes some recommendations
on how to over come some of the challenges so as to increase the participation
of African countries in the global knowledge economy.
IMPERATIVES
OF FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE IN CUBAN DEVELOPMENT
Dr Amit Mitra, Department of Information Systems, Cranfield University;
Alexeis Garcia, Information Systems Institute, Salford University; and
Alfredo Somoza, Department of Computer Science, University of Havana
Many developing countries around the world are frequently confronted
with a dual challenge of simultaneously developing IT infrastructure as
well as implementing software solutions. Experience of violation of licensing
regulations and rise in viral attacks are likely to indicate that part
of the problem is a consequence of dependencies created by the use of
proprietary software within resource-scarce economies. Recent prominence
of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has conjured up various alternatives
to proprietary software use within countries with limited resources. Cuba
is no exception. However, there is an interesting background to the obtaining
reality of software use within Cuba that makes it unique among several
less developed countries. The present paper firstly delineates some of
this background and then looks at the inherent advantages of using FOSS.
Secondly, the paper analyses existent Cuban infrastructural conditions
within which a limited integration of FOSS is taking place, arguing that
there needs to be stronger political will to reduce gaps between goals
and implementation reality to successfully achieve intrinsic advantages
of FOSS use.
THE GROWTH EMPIRICS OF THE ICT-DRIVEN NEW ECONOMY: A
REVIEW AND SOME EVIDENCE FROM EAST ASIA
Hilda L. Ramos
This paper provides a description of the ICT economy and discusses the
role of ICT on economic development along with some popular debates. The
paper also provides empirical evidence on the impacts of ICT on growth
using cross country regressions of 48 countries and a time series data
of 8 countries in East Asia. The hypothesis tested anchors on investigating
the relationship between economic growth and ICT development.
Several studies have documented the significant impact of ICT investment
on growth and productivity showing that computers do show up in productivity
statistics. Based on the literature surveys, these issues are far more
complex and are not resolved yet in previous related studies. Although
positive impacts are proven in developed countries, no significant impacts
can be concluded for developing countries.
Using the modified Barro model, the empirical results show positive relationship
of ICT and growth. Utilizing a sample of 48 countries, the results show
that domestic investment is still the key factor in economic growth for
the sample countries in both two time periods. ICT influence on growth
is only observed in the latter half of the 1990s (1997-2001) with a small
contribution. For the time series data, the contribution of ICT is clearly
observed in Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia. However, for Philippines,
Singapore, Korea and China, the relationship between ICT and growth are
not clearly observed. From the viewpoint of coefficients of determination,
the level of GDP can be best explained by domestic investment. The result
obtained through this analysis shows that ICT development had a certain
positive effect on growth. However, it can also be observed that countries
in East Asia have a varied state of progress compared with other countries
that have a high rate of ICT progress. Hence a more in-depth country analysis
is recommended to shed some light on the unresolved issues on ICT and
growth.
Globalization can be conceived as a process (or set of processes) which
embodies a transformation in the spatial organization of social relations
and transactions, expressed in transcontinental or interregional flows
and networks of activity, interaction and power (see Held and McGrew,
et al, 1999). Information and communication technology has been perceived
as a medium of globalization by several means such as:
- high speed communication networks that link continents and nations;
- the Internet and World Wide Web architecture;
- shared explicit and implicit information and communication standards;
- technology adoption; and,
- the processes and structures embodied in information systems.
In this paper we examine the last aspect, in particular the cultural
dimensions of information systems and their role in successful implementation
of information systems, through a case.
Public Universities (in Kenya) and their constituent colleges conduct
a joint admission exercise to their universities under a common framework
called the joint admission board (JAB). The main purpose of this system
is to ensure equitable access to university education, based on merit.
Admission is based on parameters including university capacity, programme
capacity, university entry cut-off point, degree programme choice, degree
programme cut-off point, student performance and equity issues (such as
gender and region.) The JAB system has enjoyed a high degree of acceptance
by University administration through a number of changes in University
education, and is an example of successful information technology adoption
in a developing country.
In this paper we argue that information technology acceptance in the
developing world has a cultural as well as a technical aspect by examining
the JAB case. We use a variation of Environment/Strategy model (see Denison,
Mishra, 1995) to analyze the success factors of the JAB system. We will
demonstrate that, although university education is a highly desirable
resource in Kenya and has great capacity to attract graft, the cultural
structures provided within the JAB system help to maintain transparency
while being acceptable to the community. Using this case we develop a
model of culture-sensitive information systems. The findings of this paper
have implications for the globalization of information technology and
the bridging of the digital divide.
Page last updated:
11 October, 2005
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