Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Improving Access to e-Government Through Online Forums
On 5/26/05, Tshepo Thlaku [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: ...People would rather walk several kilometers to visit a relative and talk face-to-face rather than chatting online. I have been working with the communities and organisations to encourage/stimulate use of ICTs. I know that people use the tools because: *they know how to use them *the tools are convenient *the tools serve a critical purpose effectively - they simplify life *the tools are affordable The use of cell-phones is not an accident. The technology embodies all the above and more. People would not just walk to talk to a relative several kilometres away if there was an effective, affordable and accessible means meeting the need. We must appreciate that ICTs have not yet been appropriated in many spheres of life - education, health, business, governance. Therefore ICTs remain just tools whose purpose has not been largely defined in the current circumstancewe cannot blame a headmaster of a school who would rather buy flower gardens for the school compound than buy toner for the school lab printer. The job is not yet done _it's still the task to be accomplished_ by the knowledgeable info champions. Meddie 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 past messages, see: http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html
Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Is Profitability Essential for Sustainability?
On 11/3/04, Andy Lieberman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: While I feel comfortable with the above-stated model at the local level, I am struggling a bit with the ethics and reality of whether a mid-sized local NGO should build its sustainability off end users. For example, some people have suggested that our NGO could create a franchise scheme where our partner centers could pay us a fee for which we would provide ongoing technical and administrative support. It is certainly solid as a business plan, although I wonder about our capacity to provide quality services at a low enough cost. Regarding ethics, I would not feel comfortable knowing that my salary is coming directly from the pockets of the rural poor we are trying to help. Yet, if we are not able to offer those services, the telecenters end up paying private companies for that assistance. So, maybe I am wrong in my thinking and that this scheme would really be a win-win. Our NGO is doing its best to be transparent, so that any profits obtained should truly be channeled back to our target population. I would welcome testimony from anyone or any organization that has gone through these types of growing pains. Andy, I would understand your feeling against feeding from the poor's hands. I think the most important issue here is the service you will offer and how it fits into the larger community aspirations. I have worked with setting up School-Based Telecenters (SBTs) in Uganda and Zimbabwe under the World Bank Institute program. In Uganda alone there are over 15 SBTs. The strength of the SBT is as much in the networking and sharing of resources. They can negotiate fair prices and services etc., as a block. Therefore if you can make your services available to help organise common interests around a need - for instance PC servicing and repairs, training etc, that would be great. They can in turn pay some fees at a price deemed necessary for the service. In case there is a doubt - take it that if you don't help, someone else will, but might require higher fees than what you might be willing to do the same job for. I think its all a WIN-WIN situation if you help and charge less than the market cost - if you can get a good service for that amount. I would be happy to know how you get through on this. Regards, Meddie This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by USAID's dot-ORG Cooperative Agreement with AED, in partnership with World Resources Institute's Digital Dividend Project, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org and http://www.digitaldividend.org provide 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 Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html
Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Is Profitability Essential for Sustainability?
Dear Colleagues, Whether profit is essential on not for successful ICT for Development activities depends on the nature and over all mission of the activity under question. Profits are certainly necessary for financial sustainability. As far as I know, however, the profit is not the problem/issue at all -- the issue should be probably what is the price mark-up on the ICT for Development activities -- which activities/services are charged for profit? We may recall that one of the reasons why rural communities can not use ICT to improve livelihood is cost and availability of ICT resources. It's not an either or situation; once ICT tools are made available (e.g., Telecenters) they should be affordable. You also notice that affordability is relative to community economics. On the other hand, it's OK for an ICT for Devlopment initiative to seek profits to ensure that services are available the next day. Detailed planning would have to be made to decide upon which services to charge for and which will be essential for fostering development - where profit-motivated charges could kill interest for the service. A strategy that I have found useful is to identify a few core services that businesses would charge less for (e.g., cost recovery fees) for their community development impact, and leave others on a full cost basis to support sustainability. This would ensure that poor people are not neglected for services in pursuit of profits. The rush for profit (in the extreme) is an engine for promoting the digital divide and growing the gap between the rich and poor. I understand it is the bedrock of the growth of civil society organisations to balance up effects of private sector led development around the world. There is also such a thing as cost-recovery which can be applied to critical services selectively. Regards, Meddie Mayanja This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by USAID's dot-ORG Cooperative Agreement with AED, in partnership with World Resources Institute's Digital Dividend Project, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org and http://www.digitaldividend.org provide 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 Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html
[GKD-DOTCOM] How Much Bandwidth is Necessary?
Dear All, I am Meddie Mayanja, working for the World Bank Institute. I wanted to contribute to the debate in the context of my experience in the ICTs for Development and my current position. 1. Are high-bandwidth connections necessary, or even important, to making a real impact on development? Or are the costs and problems inherent in establishing such connectivity too high--and unsustainable--for underserved areas? The question seems to put the horse infront of the cart. In development work we do not need to put technology before the services/development objectives we aim to serve. Its not fair to discuss whether high-bandwidth connections are necessary if we have no specific service under review. Take a case of a basic telecenter in a rural community, high bandwidth will be a waste if they want to use e-mail, internet. However if we are considering telemedicine, with high-quality image transfer between a hospital and a health center in the community, then high bandwidth is a necessity. I would add that the cost is secondary to the function and appropriateness. If we need high bandwidth for a health service as described above, that's it---we can find the money. 3. Can information distribution centers (e.g., public access telecenters) offer a viable economic solution to a community's information needs, by, in effect, sharing a single high-bandwidth connection among many users, and thus spreading the cost? We are working with a School-Based Telecenter Model for access to ICTs in underserved rural communities. In the program that has 15 centers around the country - Uganda. We had until recently one C-band VSAT terminal that was shared by 4 School-Based Telecenters (SBTs) via wireless bridge and access point--spread spectrum technology. The model helped to share bandwidth that terminated at one VSAT as well as costs for its maintanance. The SBTs have now switched on to KU-band. Visit www.schooltelecenters.org for more information about the School-Based Telecenters. Meddie Meddie Mayanja ICT Community Development Specialist ICT for Education Program World Bank Institute Tel: 256 77 502 288 [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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
[GKD] An Innovative Strategy for Rural Access to ICTs
As we continue to seek new and innovative ways of taking ICTs to rural areas, World Links seems to have found the missing link. World Links started a nation-wide school-based telecenter program in Uganda that addresses issues of infrastructure for connectivity, management and sustainability of the access centers. If you have been following the global movement on Community Multi-purpose Telecenters, then you need to know about this new approach as much. See the July-September 2002 Issue of TechKnowLogia http://www.TechknowLogia.org.Uganda School-based Telecenter: An approach to Rural Access to ICTs Meddie Mayanja ICT Community Development Specialist World Links ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, an NGO that is a GKP member*** 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: http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/
Re: [GKD] Literacy - a forgotten ICT?
In a message dated 6/17/2002, Tapan S. Parikh [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: If we cannot succeed in bridging even this first step in the knowledge divide, that of carbon and lead and ink and paper, how well will we bridge the one of bits and chips, monitors and keyboards? Is that even the best investment now, or do we need to look much deeper at the source of the problem and the nature of our response? I dont know. I don't think we have to choose between ICTs and bridging the Knowledge divide. THAT SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE. ICTs for rural development must be viewed as a tool for delivery of much needed resources for moving communities forward. In that case, it doesn't matter whether such communities are on the positive or negative side of the digital divide. What matters is whether appropriate effort has been taken to naturalise the ICTs as tools other than making them the end in themselves. This is where things go wrong! ICTs are delivered and expections rise about development--what content/services relevant to the community have been planned, it should always be asked! Meddie Mayanja ICT Community Development Specialist World Links -- The UgaBYTES Initiative P.O Box 6081 Kampala, Uganda E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ugabytesinitiative.org ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, an NGO that is a GKP member*** 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: http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/
