I'm posting this for Jeff Mowatt, who was having trouble with the list
software... -ac
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Sizing the Digital Divide...
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 00:20:17 +0000
From: Jeff Mowatt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: digitaldivide@mailman.edc.org
CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
At 12:31 PM 2/13/2006, Jim Smith wrote:
Hello to all...I'm an MBA student at Wharton conducting research on
the digital divide...I'm looking to make a business case for why
businesses (in particular the private sector) should invest their
resources (time, money, human capital, etc.) in programs that bring
those
currently outside the digital revolution into the fold. My
focus is to develop a true value proposition that is based on
economics vs. social responsibility / equity.
I'd like the thoughts of this group relative to existing research or
data on this topic, if it exists, or minimally any reactions to the
following line of thinking (and more importantly, extensions with
points I've yet to consider):
Hi Jim,
People-Centered Economic Development has recently completed and
published a strategic proposal for bridging the digital divide in
Ukraine. This report, resulting from a 3 year evaluation conducted
within Ukraine, is based upon founder Terry Hallman's original 1996
thesis of a people-centred economic strategy toward ending poverty
followed by his pioneering hands-on experience in developing the
proposal for the US-Russian regional initiative in Tomsk, Siberia. In
more recent times this strategy has become better know as social capitalism.
The Tomsk experience demonstrated that the application of solidarity
group micro-credit can achieve repayment rates of around 99% with over
80% of the many thousands of beneficiaries being women.
The Ukraine proposal now takes this to a national level combining three
primary components – 1) broadband internet deployment for both urban and
rural locations in each of Ukraine's 25 regions or oblasts, 2) A
nationwide solidarity group micro-credit scheme and 3) the dissolution
of orphan warehouses, know as Detsky Doms to return children to their
own families or family-type group care homes.
The proposal projects an annual return on investment of 25% for the
internet component, seed funding repaid in full over 4 years, new
employment and empowerment measured in millions rather than thousands
and a reduction in welfare costs of 50% with $125 million being made
available for this purpose during the first 4 years.
From year 4 onward, continued return on investment is made available to
source further social investment, demonstrating that a triple bottom
line is both achievable and realistic.
To the prospective funder we also make the case that not only is this a
win-win financial outcome but that in a country which has recently come
to be regarded as a fulcrum for relations between East and West, that in
doing so, we also secure their transition toward establishing true
democracy.
Best regards,
Jeff Mowatt
P-CED (UK)
--
------------------------------
Andy Carvin
acarvin (at) edc . org
andycarvin (at) yahoo . com
http://www.digitaldivide.net
http://www.andycarvin.com
------------------------------
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