Re: [GKD] DG Special Coverage on Community Telecenters

[Lishan Adam]

Oleg Petrov <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote,

> We have prepared for you a special coverage on community telecenters,
> in particular, on the issues of sustainability and effectiveness.

I found the focus on telecenters sustainability quite useful and timely.
The "telecenter movement" (at least in Africa) has now entered its
second phase - from popularisation to analysis of the impact of
different models. A wider discussion on the subject would therefore be
useful.


> Can community telecentres be sustainable?

It depends on what we mean by "sustainability" and how much we (the
experts promoting telecentres) really understand communities and how far
the intended recipients understand the role of ICT to their development.
Aligning technologies with community needs and with their cultural,
political, social and technical reality/context is a time consuming
effort (we are still in the process of learning from efforts and
mistakes of ICT and development). But history has shown again and again
that the level of demand for specific ICT services determines their
sustainability. For example, private sector driven cyber cafes targeting
small businesses and urban users in need of information and
communications have been successful all over Africa (the level of
success varies from place to place, but there is strong viability of the
commercial telecentre/teleshop/cyber-cafe models).

What about rural or the disenfranchised people? Observation in Africa
shows that most telecentre experiments for rural/semi urban people have
not been that successful. Why?  Because a) most telecentre experiments
were highly technology driven with good intention to bridge the digital
divide -  "let us build a telecentre with ten computers here and help
the people to use it" approach in the middle of heavily organic
information processing culture and for people whose priorities are
mainly - food, shelter, education, health, better administrators, etc.
(luckily information and communication are now moving up in the priority
lists) b) ignoring the aspirations, resilience, social capital and
creativity of intended recipients. Some initiatives failed to
acknowledge the capacity of local people and that securing participation
of these people is a long-term process. c) The low status accorded to
content and community conversation - simple but useful tools such as
books, reading rooms, space for interaction and telephones that would
have stimulated use of advanced technologies were uncared for. Of course
there are other reasons for the ups and downs of individual telecentres
such as quality of local telecentre management, level of infrastructure
and other local specifics.  Nevertheless, the experiments were useful
and timely and have provided insights on what works and what doesn't.


> Is there a universally applicable model of sustainability?

There is no universally sustainable model for communities in rural areas
yet (perhaps there will be a couple for urban areas) - a mix and match
approach that a) recognizes technology's enabling role b) builds a
vibrant civil society movement around telecenters sustainability (e.g.
cross-subsidization, multiple income generation techniques, etc.) c)
upholds the centrality of information/content that meet the actual needs
of communities as critical to sustainability and d) builds on full
involvement and systematic participation of the communities would be
useful.


> What are the key success stories and lessons learned in terms of
> impact and sustainability?

The key lesson is that the deployment of telecentres (at least in
Africa) is not as easy as was originally thought, so there is a need for
more fundamental/action research and experimenting to evolve with tens
of models for thousands of different communities in our region.


Lishan Adam, Independent Consultant

[EMAIL PROTECTED]





***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization***
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
Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at:

[GKD] Making Computers, Software, Bandwidth Affordable (India)

[Frederick Noronha]

Low cost computers, affordable software, bandwidth = India 3.0?

By Frederick Noronha

Rajesh Jain hit the headlines when he sold his IndiaWorld site for a few
thousand million rupees. Today, his focus has shifted -- to taking
computing to the commonman.

"Most technology has been priced in dollars, putting it beyond the reach
of a large number of businesses and consumers in emerging markets like
India. The computer, which is the lynch-pin of an economy, is still seen
as a luxury by many," he argues.

But, Jain believes his lateral thinking and innovative solutions could
battle the stumbling blocks. "We're working on something that could
really make a difference," Jain told this correspondent.

Currently, he argues that India needs "computers for Rs 5,000 (rpt five
thousand) so that there can be one in every home and office; ubiquitous
and cheap high-speed wireless communication; and software as a service
for Rs 250 per month so that it is affordable".

This, says Jain, would create a mass-market for the adoption of
technology in India.

No, these are not pipe-dreams for the managing director of Netcore
Solutions who earlier founded IndiaWorld Communications, that grew into
one of the largest collection of India-centric websites (comprising
Samachar.com, Khel.com, Khoj.com and Bawarchi.com -- portals dealing
with news, sports, Indian search-engines and food).

Jain, who made history in Indian cyberspace when his earlier firm was
acquired by Satyam Infoway in November 1999, says his goals are entirely
feasible.

"Fulfilling the list (of what Indian needs) may seem like a tall order.
But the interesting thing is that the building blocks to put the
solutions together already exist," argues Jain.

Netcore, his current firm, is working to lower the cost to make
computing affordable. To reduce computer prices, Jain suggests we go
away from the "treadmill of enforced obsolence".

New software is driving hardware upgrades every 3-4 years, he says.

Thin Client-Thick Server Computing. That's Jain's new mantra.

The solution, he believes, lies in making the computers discarded by the
developed markets into thin clients. These clients don't need a hard
disk or CD-ROM drive, they just need the bare minimum processing power
and memory to run a windowing server (like the X Server).

Essentially, the recycled PCs become graphical terminals, which connect
to "thick servers". All computing and storage happens on these servers.
The 'thick server' can actually be the latest desktop system, with
enhanced memory and processing power.

While the Indian market is pushing out slightly older models of
computers, Jain suggests the large-scale use of recycled computers from
developed markets. The US itself is disposing -- read, upgrading --
computers at the rate of more than 25 million each year.

Netcore is working on a thin client-thick server solution. This means
older, lower-configuration PCs would work off more powerful new
computers.

"The Rs 5000 computer can provide all the functionalities that users are
accustomed to seeing on a computer in the corporate environment The
next 500 million users across the digital divde are just as hungry as we
(in universities) were a decade ago," he argues.

Says Jain: "Technology is essential to bridge the digital divide. Yet,
most technology has been priced in dollars, putting it beyond the reach
of a large number of businesses and consumers in emerging markets like
India.

"The computer which is the lynch-pin of an economy, is still seen as a
luxury by many. What can be done to create mass-market adoption of
technology? What can be done to ensure that there is affordable and
ubiquitous access to Internet-connected computers in developing
countries like India?"

The first India, argues Jain, built on its Independence to become
agriculturally self-sufficient and feed its own people. The second India
produces more software engineers than any other country and is a force
to reckon with in the world of outsourced technology services. And yet,
the technology revolution has touched but a handful.

Yet much of India still remains "frozen in time". For India to progress,
Indians have to progress. For Indians to progress, technology has to
become a utility for the masses.

Jain points to some interesting figures: The installed base of computers
is 7 million for a population of 1 billion. Annual computer sales are
stagnating at between 1.5-2 million since 2000. New computers still cost
more than Rs 25,000, with the basic additional software (MS-Windows,
MS-Office and anti-virus) costing an additional Rs 25,000. There are
only about 6 million Internet connections in India, even as an hour of
connectivity  could still cost more than Rs 30.

In a word: India is a great concept, but with poor execution.

Interestingly, Jain is suggesting a switch-over to the Free/Libre and
Open Source Software (FLOSS) solutions based on GNU/Linux.

Says he: "The total cost of these applications: zero. At a conservat

[GKD] AIDSWEB: HIV/AIDS and ICT Update (Winter 2003)

[Anthony Bloome]

AIDSWEB: HIV/AIDS and ICT Project Update (Winter 2003)
ICT for Education Program
World Bank Institute Human Development Division (WBIHD)

Dear GKD Members,

We wanted to provide you with a summary of some of the most recent
AIDSWEB: HIV/AIDS Education and ICT-related activities for your
information.

Background

The AIDSWEB project was launched in 1998 as an initiative of the World
Bank Institute's ICT for Education program (formerly the World Links for
Development Program) to explore linkages about the use of information
and communications technology for use in HIV/AIDS educational and peer
outreach related activities. Project activities to date have included an
e-mail based collaborative project, teacher exchange visits, adaptation
of HIV/AIDS educational material for ICT platforms, and HIV/AIDS and ICT
workshops (for schools, policymakers and NGOs) and material development.
For further background about the project, please see "Fighting the
Insidious Killer: African Teenagers Battle HIV/AIDS Through ICT" in the
Fall 2002 issue of the Development Outreach
 or contacting the author,
Anthony Bloome, at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.

In this project update:

Upcoming HIV/AIDS and ICT Brown Bag: Print, Radio, Television/Video and
Internet (Thursday, February 6th: 12 - 1:30 pm., J1-050)
AIDSWEB Project Evaluation
Development Gateway Feature Site
Kids DevNews
World Space Broadcast
African Studies Association Presentation
HIV/AIDS, ICTs and School-Based Telecenters Workshop (Kampala- September
2002) Exhibit at AFTQK (NEPAD) Knowlege Fair (January 2003)


1) Upcoming HIV/AIDS and ICT Brown Bag: Print, Radio, Television and
Internet project examples

On Thursday, February 6th from 12:00 - 1:30 p.m., J1-050, the AIDSWEB
project organized a brown bag session on Using ICTs to fight HIV/AIDS.

The presentation included representatives from various ICT-based
initiatives --Internet (WBIHD's ICT for Education AIDSWEB project),
digital radio (World Space Foundation), television/video (Discovery
Channel Global Education Fund) and one targetting journalists (WBITP's
Strategic Communications course) -- talking about their projects using
ICTs for HIV/AIDS awareness raising, peer education, and promoting
positive school-community prevention activities. About 60 participants
attended from the Bank and other international NGOs interested in the
workshop.


2) AIDSWEB Project Evaluation

We just got back a really exciting independent evaluation about the
AIDSWEB: HIV/AIDS and ICT online project and its impact on teachers and
student knowledge of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. Among other
findings, AIDSWEB project participants were twice as likely to
accurately quess the four leading methods (transmission) and mode
(prevention) as those not participating in the project!

We've included a few paragraphs from the Executive Summary below.

"In brief, AIDSWEB occupies a unique niche, spanning the entire African
continent and offering secondary-school students training and access to
technology, accurate information about HIV/AIDS, and hope that they can
initiate and sustain action to combat the disease through national and
cross-national partnerships.

Students appreciated the international exchange, the knowledge gained,
and the youth involvement they experience through  AIDSWEB. Teachers
applaud the project both for its contribution to HIV/AIDS response and
for its innovation and self-help strategy through technology.

AIDSWEB currently serves approximately 500 youth in 70 schools in 8
African countries. From the outset, AIDSWEB has grown directly out of
the expressed need to reach youth in effective and direct ways, to
enable them to obtain information in a non-threatening and private
manner (through the Internet), and to support their involvement in
community action through youth partnerships and teacher mentorship.

AIDSWEB has proven particularly resourceful in stretching resources by
training motivated teachers to leadership roles as national and
school-level AIDSWEB coordinators, and through partnerships with
existing sources of relevant information and dialogue about 
HIV/AIDS?e.g., the AIDSWEB electronic adaptation of the Auntie Stella
web site (www.auntiestella.org)."


3) Development Gateway - AIDSWEB Featured Topic

The AIDSWEB website/project is the topic feature on this month's
Development Gateway HIV/AIDS page . From
here visitors can link directly to the AIDSWEB website 
and also visit several of the youth-developed HIV/AIDS in our
Communities websites developed as part of the AIDSWEB Social Action
website design competition last year (with support from AFTQK). Last
year, 60 sixty schools from six African countries (Botswana, Ghana,
South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe) and the U.S. participated in the
competition.


4) Kids DevNews  - AIDSWEB project citation

The AIDSWEB project and website was prominently featured in the first
Kids DevNews (WB's External Affairs Department) D

Re: [GKD] DG Special Coverage on Community Telecenters

[Margaret Grieco]

Gender, rural inclusion and information communication technology.

This toolkit on the state of the art in respect of telecenter
development is a useful development and I will certainly include it on
my own web sites.  However, it would be useful to have an explicit
gender and rural development perspective on the opportunities/challenges
of telecenters. Women's gender roles often constrain their mobility and
the accessibility of key resources is low for many rural women. 
Information communication technologies can help redress traditional
constraints imposed upon women by the interaction of over-tasking,
under-powering and under-resourcing in the health and transport
environment amongst others.

Developments in Pondicherry and with the Grameen bank demonstrate the
importance of rural access to information communication technologies -
the grameen field phone being a best practice example.  For further
insight into these issues go to

This presentation was made at the 2003 World Bank Transport Forum and
has been developed as a form of toolkit to assist exploration of the
issue of gender and rural infrastructure provision within a social
inclusion framework.

Cheers,
Margaret
-- 
Margaret Grieco, D.Phil.(Oxon.)MCIT
Professor of Transport and Society
Napier University
Edinburgh EH10 5BR
web site treats: http://www.geocities.com/transport_and_society/routine.html

http://www.geocities.com/transport_and_society/hopping.html

and

Research Affiliate
Centre for Social Policy Studies
University of Ghana Legon
Accra, Ghana




***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization***
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
Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: