ICT for Development: Who’s Doing What?

Thomas Kalil September 10, 2003 1

Who is doing what on ICT4D? (1)  Huge variety of actors  International organizations     Developed and developing country governments Multinationals and local (developing country) firms Foundations, non-governmental organizations, “social enterprises” Research community, higher education 2

Who is doing what on ICT4D? (2)     What are the capabilities, agendas, and limitations of these different organizations?

What is their level and duration of commitment to ICT4D What is the right “division of labor”?

Possible partnerships between different actors 3

UN ICT Task Force (1)   Developing country participation in setting ICT policy  Shortage of experts Low-cost connectivity   Free or reduced cost access from satellites and int’l cables National and regional Internet exchange points 4

UN ICT Task Force (2)    Support for developing country entrepreneurship Human resource development National and regional e-strategies 5

World Bank (1)      U.N. specialized agency Mission is to reduce global poverty In 2002 – provided $19.5 billion, mostly in loans 1,800 projects in more than 100 countries 10,000 staff 6

World Bank as knowledge bank (2)  Vision:     Capture and organize knowledge and experience from staff, clients, partners Share that information as widely as possible Put knowledge on par with money Become the first resource anyone would contact for information on development 7

World Bank (3)      ~ 100 thematic “communities of practice” to increase knowledge sharing Advisory services Support for external initiatives such as Latin American Urban Network Development Gateway Capturing and sharing “indigenous knowledge” 8

World Bank (4)  Critique of Development Gateway:     May undermine other efforts with richer and more diverse content Overly ambitious Reflects biases of the Bank and its shareholders Bank not serious about consultation with NGOs 9

World Health Organization     Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative 28 publishers, over 2,000 journals Free access to public institutions in countries w. under $1,000 GNP/capita Reduced price for $1,000 - $3,000 GNP/capita 10

National “e-strategies” (1)    Telecom and IT infrastructure Human capacity  IT workforce   Local entrepreneurs Users Public policy  Competition in telecom & Internet services 11

National e-strategies (2)   Environment for private sector    Access to credit and finance Property rights, commercial law Access to local and global markets Content and applications  Local language content 12

Mozambique (1)  Profile:  ~ 2X size of California with 17.5 million people   Life expectancy at birth of 31.3 years Civil war from 1977-92    GDP/capita of $1,000 81 percent of labor force in agriculture Gov’t budget of $1 billion – foreign aid of $632 million 13

Mozambique (2)  Telecom/Internet:     0.44 fixed line penetration 0.84 percent mobile penetration 60,000 Internet users – 80 percent of which are in Maputo (capital city) Higher education produces 30-40 graduates with IT skills 14

Mozambique (3)  Elements of ICT strategy – examples:       National Transmission Network VSAT stations Information systems for HIV/AIDS ICT for fighting illiteracy Youth Program for Content Development Telecom policy reform 15

Chile – universal access (1)      “Reverse auction” to provide rural access for minimum subsidy Multiple geographic licenses One stop process Licenses for rural areas combined with other attractive opportunities Good market research and demand analysis 16

Chile – universal access (2)     Supported payphone service to 6,000 villages with 2.2 million people (1995 – 2000) Reduced population without any access to basic voice from 15% to 1% Over 6:1 leverage Subsidy only 0.3% of telecom revenue 17

HP – e-inclusion efforts (1)   E-inclusion: allow everyone to access the opportunities of the digital age Motivation:    New markets, revenue, profit growth Establish HP as a leader in an area that also demonstrates HP’s character Global showcase for HP’s capabilities in devices, infrastructure, and services 18

HP Labs – India (2)  Research thrusts:      Novel solutions for networking, esp. rural Affordable access devices Language technologies and simpler interfaces Sustainable business ecologies Contextual design 19

HP i-community in Kuppam, India (3)     Access to technology for literacy, income generation, expanded access to gov’t services, education, health care Kuppam as “living lab” for unearthing customer needs Ecosystem of partners (e.g. women’s organization for digital photography) 3-year project to create “bias for action” 20

ITC Ltd. “e-Choupal” (1)     Agribusiness selling soybeans, coffee, shrimp, wheat Has network of Internet kiosks (e-Choupals) in rural India that reach 12,000 villages Operated by literate farmer elected locally “Supply chain” more efficient – results in quality and cost savings shared with farmer 21

E-Choupal (2)   Services  Price information     Risk management tools Weather information Best practices on farming, aquaculture Soil testing services Long-term goal is to reach 10 million farmers in 100,000 villages 22

Infocentros – El Salvador (1)   Current access in El Salvador:  Fewer than 2 PCs for 100 inhabitants  Less than 1% of the population uses the Internet Goal of Infocentros:    Build, operate, franchise 100 telecenters Provide access for 1/3 of population Make centers profitable in ~ 2yrs 23

Infocentros (2)  Services:     Able to negotiate volume discounts on hardware, software, connectivity Web hosting, financing, accounting, billing for small and medium-sized business 8 hrs of computer/Internet training for students (Ministry of Education) Generation of local content 24