I agree strongly with Simon Woodside's answers--experimentation, more modern technology, and broadband. But I was also struck by what another contributor said, e.g. "Find successful and sustainable activities. Replicate. Get constraints out of the way. Get funding on the right basis. Let the demand pull what is wanted." I think the aid community should continue experimentation, but also be willing to fund scale-ups of apparently successful models--yes, that would include those that have a business model--even to the point of making equity investments or funding additional training and social networking that leverage a private sector enterprise and its network. There are beginning to be some successful models, many of them driven by the private sector, and some not aimed primarily at connectivity, but at an agricultural solution or a microfinance solution or a health solution. Nonetheless, they will spread access perhaps more rapidly. See our case studies at <www.digitaldividend.org>.
Allen L. Hammond Vice President for Innovation & Special Projects World Resources Institute 10 G Street NE Washington, DC 20002 USA V (202) 729-7777 F (202) 729-7775 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.wri.org www.digitaldividend.org ------------ This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For the GKD database, with past messages: http://www.GKDknowledge.org
