[GKD] Does the computer have a heart... (case studies from India)
DOES THE COMPUTER HAVE A HEART? Programs that put people and development before profits... By Frederick Noronha Here comes the big surprise: IT and computers are showing their other face. No longer are these potent forces merely tools for profit, but in varying experiments across India they're proving to be useful allies in seeking to give the commonman a better life. Work in the city of Pune is showing how computers can effectively be used for Indian language computing. Plans are in an advanced stage to make computing devices (like the Simputer) which cost below $200. These could make computing accessible to the rural millions. From the eastern city of Hyderabad, machine-translation systems will help Indian languages translate into each other. Wireless-in-Local-Loop is a technology from Chennai city's IIT-Madras that can take telephones across to the distant, rural millions at a cheaper rate. In the former French colony of Pondicherry, initiatives show how the commonman can really benefit from accessing relevant information. Fishermen get weather details from a de-commissioned US spy satellite, over loudspeakers. Digging up all these details is an idealistic, Bangalore-based research scholar who traces his roots to North India but has studied in the University of Chicago. Without building unnecessary hype, Aditya Dev Sood points to the rich potential of such efforts. In the long term, social investment in rural ICT (information and communications technology) could prove to be one of th most effective means of driving change, believes this author of a recent 'Guide to ICTs for Development'. Sood points to the potential of these technologies to ensure equal access to dispriviledged groups. They could also have a strong economic impact, by creating new kinds of work and financial transactions, he argues. In addition, politically too, such technologies could improve the quality, speed and sensitivity of the state apparatus to the needs of local citizen-consumers. Over the past year-and-half, Sood has carefully documented such initiatives across the country. By pointing to their potential, he has helped build snowballing interest in this field. The computer, as he points out, can indeed play a key contributing role in development. Sood studied architecture at his graduate level and sociology for his post-graduation. My work currently lies in between sociology and design. I'm doing it by looking at the impact IT is having on society, says he, with a smile. It was only in early 2000 -- roughly a year-and-half ago -- that he began his work on this front seriously. Bangalore's environment has stimulated me to work in this area. Looking at things from a predominantly IT and ICT (information and communication technology) environment is the effect of being in Bangalore, he says. So, he's going ahead in marrying the priorities of this Silicon Valley of India, with those of a city also known as the NGO-capital of the country. Computing and developmental-concerns can mix. Over the past months, Sood has been closely studying the successful and inspiring projects from across India on the ICT front. iStation is another tool that could take e-mail access to the masses who otherwise couldn't afford it. The Warana Wired Village Project in Maharashtra, and the Gyandoot Project in Dhar are creating new levels of service to the rural citizen-consumer. SARI in Madurai hopes to wire up all 1000 villages in the district using low-cost WiLL technology, developed in India. Meanwhile, Tarahaat.com is a company seeking to build branded computer kiosks in relatively prosperous rural areas. Recently making it to the headlines, experiments undertaken by computer training institute NIIT's Dr Sugata Mitra from Delhi have shown how simple slum-children can learn basic computing themselves, if given the opportunity. Computing can also enter micro-finance. In this field, computer-based records could save time and effort, and offer better account-keeping. The Swayam Krishi Sangam records information on optical ID cards for micro-finance. Nearby in South Asia, Dr Mohammed Yunus of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh has launched the Gremeen Telecom, to provide mobile telephones to rural consumers. In Karnataka, the Asian Centre for Entrepreneurial Initiatives is trying to introduce CAD/CAM technologies to rural artisans making leather footwear near the city of Belgaum. In Tamil Nadu, the George Foundation is experimenting with an expert diagnostic software. Other efforts aim at promoting education through IT. What is amazing is the diversity of the projects being reported from across India. In his own way, Sood is helping to put the magic of IT together, by giving a comprehensive picture of the developments happening on various fronts. And the big-picture is indeed heart-warming. Sood is pleasantly surprised with the results of his work. Originally, my ~interest was far more academic. But then one got opportunities to study how
[GKD] Gateway independence: only skin deep?
Gateway independence: only skin deep? New documents and anti-corruption claim cast doubts on World Bank's new foundation. The World Bank has made much of the fact that its Development Gateway internet project will be 'independent'. Because of the sensitive nature of the issues it will cover, and its claims to represent all views including those of civil society groups the Bank has repeatedly said it is establishing an independent Foundation to run the Gateway and will not be running it in-house. This was first announced last July to civil society organisations discussing a possible committee to help steer the creation of the Gateway (this never materialised), and then restated to the e-consultation on this list. The World Bank President stated on this list that the Bank would create: a new structure in which the Gateway will be financed and controlled in a public-private partnership outside the World Bank and with a separate and totally independent Editorial Board with broad representation from all sections of the development community. It has been known for some time that the only certain way to get onto the Gateway Foundation's board was to contribute 5 million dollars. But leaked Bank documents prepared for today's Board meeting demonstrate that the Gateway Foundation is merely an appendix of the World Bank. These are the words used in an anti-corruption claim filed yesterday by two prominent Uruguayan civil society members. The claim, filed to the Bank's Fraud and Corruption Hotline, alleges serious irregularities in the way the Gateway Foundation has been established. It points out that the World Bank will provide up to three directors to the Foundation, and that the Foundation will contract straight back to the Bank the running of the internet portal, its main output. As the Foundation will be situated in the Bank, was entirely designed by the Bank and the Bank has made the key outside appointments, the claimants argue that donors and perhaps even the American authorities that granted it legal status as a non-profit organization, may have been deceived in their good faith to accept a non-existing independence. The Bank's documents recognise that conflicts of interest exist, but proposes two very insufficient measures to deal with them. It will: establish a timetable to phase out the management contracts, and in the course of the first year will locate the Foundation Secretariat outside of Bank premises. Nothing about competitive tendering for the services or proper separation of functions. The claim was filed by Roberto Bissio, coordinator of Social Watch (www.socialwatch.org ) and Latin American secretary of Third World Network and Dr Carlos Abin, Executive Director of the Instituto del Tercer Mundo (www.item.org.uy). They are both closely involved with a number of internet initiatives, and have clearly stated during consultations that the Gateway appears to represent unwarranted competition with existing country- and topic- focussed portals which are genuinely independent. Their claim mentions the case of www.uruguaytotal.com They, as others involved in such existing initiatives, will be probably be outraged by some of the claims in the Gateway team's June 2001 report to the Bank's Board. The Gateway Business Plan (28 June 2001) mentions other initiatives and organisations in the field, such as the DOT Force, ECOSOC's ICT Taskforce, IICD, Bellanet, Benton Foundation, Eldis and Oneworld. Then it goes on to claim that The Foundation adds the following unique and complementary elements in the fight to bridge the digital divide: 1) Independence. As a non-profit organization with broad stakeholder representation, the Foundation will maintain its independence and act as an honest broker in the development community. 2) Global reach with local roots. 3) Catalytic approach. 4) Inclusiveness. It is hard to see that the Gateway is really richer in these qualities than many other schemes. Or that it is the next logical step in the efforts of the private and public donor community to organize and coordinate on ICT for development issues. This certainly is not clear from what has been argued on this list. It seems then that the Bank is not content with keeping control of the initial site design, staffing and appointment of outside editors for the site. It wants to maintain a tight grip of its day to day management. One person working with the Gateway commented to the Bretton Woods Project yesterday: the Foundation is a nice idea, but it does seem like a front for Bank employees to keep their Bank jobs with all the traditional trappings. It seems ironic that a site which will cover topics including good governance and corruption is built on such shaky foundations. Once this is more widely known, the Gateway will have an even harder time drumming up civil society engagement in the scheme. For the anti-corruption claim (which raises
[GKD] Corruption claim against GDG
World Bank Fraud and Corruption Investigations Hotline P.O. Box. PMB 137 4736 Sharon Road, Suite W Charlotte, NC 28210 USA Montevideo, 18th July 2001 Dear Sirs, Please consider the following Appeal for investigation on Development Gateway for misuse of Bank funds or positions Summary We believe that in the formation of the World Bank's Development Gateway internet initiative several irregularities have been committed that should be reported and investigated. These include a misuse of Bank funds and positions, gross waste of Bank funds, cost mischarging or defective pricing and perhaps even fraud and misleading of public opinion. The Bank has allocated around $7 million to this scheme, creating a website which is shortly to be transferred to be managed by a new foundation. We are concerned that Bank funds are being spent without proportion to the expected results to create a website intended as a public relations tool. While it is a legitimate activity for the Bank to defend itself from criticism, it is a clear misuse of funds to divert to public relations monies intended to combat poverty. Further, it is a gross violation of editorial ethics to misrepresent a propaganda operation as a genuine independent Internet portal about development in the Internet. Potential donors are being misled to make grants to a supposedly independent Foundation that in fact is just an appendix of the Bank. The Gateway was not requested by any of the Bank's intended beneficiaries and will only benefit a private entity created by the Bank and whose governance is still largely unknown. That entity, formally a US foundation, is using Bank monies to contract services from the Bank without any bidding process like those the Bank usually requires from its grant recipients. We are also concerned that senior World Bank managers, especially the Bank's President James Wolfensohn and the former Vice President for Human Resources, Richard Stern, have used their positions at the Bank to create a new organisation in which they will hold positions and presumably extract private benefits, distracting time from their core tasks and using the diplomatic energy of their positions at the Bank to promote the initiative and raise funds for it. This appears to contradict the guidelines on misuse of Bank funds or positions. The document called Ethical Guide For Bank Staff Handling Procurement Matters In Bank- Financed Projects states that: In dealing with procurement matters, Bank staff shall [...] avoid strictly any conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict of interest in any matter related to the performance of the staff member's duties; [and ...] disqualify him/herself from outside employment or activities, including dealings with former or future employers and employment after separation, that conflict with his/her Bank duties and responsibilities. Whilst the Development Gateway is not a classical Bank procurement situation, the same standards should surely apply to the Global Development Gateway but this has not been the case in practice according to the evidence we offer below. No similarly detailed definition is offered by the Bank of the concepts of waste of funds, cost mischarging and defective pricing, probably because they are obvious. In this case, 7 million dollars have already been spent and some 30 million dollars a year are budgeted for a website that will not be sustainable even if the declared targets are met. The money already spent and the sums requested to continue the activity are disproportionate with the product they are supposedly paying for. It is obvious that many public-interest or educationally oriented activities may require permanent subsidies. But in this case it should be taken into account that no external actor has demanded the creation of such a site, that two regional consultations with civil society organizations (in Africa and Latin America) failed to support the proposed Gateway and that solid criticism was raised and never properly answered during lengthy on-line consultations. Many international websites on development already have been created by multilateral agencies and NGOs. In all countries where the Development Gateway plans to establish national gateways Internet portals already exist, as can easily be found by looking in the Yahoo directory. Instead of contributing to develop national capacities, the Development Gateway plans to establish subsidized state-run media operations that will compete unfairly with existing efforts. There is already solid criticism against the Bank (an intergovernmental body) engaging in media activities. Through this new Gateway further state control of the media is promoted, contradicting the Bank's declared policies. Further details 1. In his Memorandum to the Executive Directors, dated June 27, 2001, The World Bank's president James Wolfensohn, informs that the World Bank Group is considering contributing [to the Development Gateway] an
