Bridging the Digital Divide and Creating A Digital Opportunity Ecosystem for Rural Areas in Taiwan Meili Hsiao Institute for Information Industry Sept. 12 th 2017 1 第 1 頁
2 Institute for Information Industry (III) has been one of the major planners and facilitators for Taiwan s ICT industry. III realized that its effort may worsen the digital divide in Taiwan. Then bridging digital divide become our team s mandate.
3 Challenges & Demands People in rural areas Connectivity & hardware Digital skill capacity building Skills Better income and profit Social care SMEs in rural areas In-time digital service Skillful human resource Promotion
4 Started the Used PC Recycling, Reassembling and Donation in 1999 Assembled and donated 7,148 PCs from 1999 to 2010 More than 12,000 Pcs donated in Taiwan Free repair 600+ PCs for community residents each year 1999 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2017 How to use the PC? 4 used pc assembling lines in Taiwan, assembled and donated 400 PCs each year Not affordable for an Internet access How many trainers III needs? I worry about the cost of electricity Infrastructure and PC hardware are not enough
Established 15 DOCs (2004 2017) Assisted ICT enabled clusters (2010-2017) 5 III invest 3 M USD self funding to support the project in the past 13 years. III also leverage more than 10M to develop a methodology to bridge the digital divide in rural areas Set up the first DOC in Chung Liao, Nanto County in 2004 Started ICT enabled local industry cluster, funded by SMEA, MOEA to now Developed the methodology for theme based local industry cluster 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2017 III was assigned as the National BDD Project Coordination Office in 2004 to 2005 Set up 8 DOCs 921 earthquake disaster area Set up another 8 DOCs in Taina, Yuling and Hwalien County
6 Lesson Learnt We understand the community needs and community languages. We have learnt to listen to the local. We provide tools to the community. We also want to create a culture with practical implementation in order to bridging the digital divide, bridging the social divide and bridging the economic divide based on our methodology that can be duplicated.
7 Methodology at a Glance Role transition Recipients of help and assistance Giver of help and assistance Local demands Trainers Trainers Trainers stay support Community industry managers Community industry managers Local social enterprises Local seeded teachers were trained across Taichung County, Nantou County, Tainan County and Chiayi County to achieve mutual support and experience sharing. Training of talent for course instructors and community industry managers such as Yang Hsin-Min, Feng Kuei- Fang, Chen Chi-Ching, Hsieh Wei-Hwa, Tu Pei-Wen, Sung Neng-Wu, Chin Hui-Yu, Feng Kuei-Lien, Chou Yuan-Yuan and Liao Yi-An The talent would be familiar with local cultures, understand local needs and be able to take an active stance with love for their hometown to use their digital competence in serving their communities and facilitating community industry development while reducing specific social issues
8 Output 16 DOCs and 72 mobile DOCs in rural communities and aboriginal tribes, as the local centers of PC repairing computer training center local products promotion center. 62 local seed trainers 10,000 + people benefited 62,800 PC repaired $ 3.2 USD million local product revenue
9 Achievement (2016 2017) Second-hand computer donation to provide 3C hardware Create digital opportunities in remote rural area Local industries Cluster counselling. Trained DOC 10 local engineers to repair second handed computer, conducted second-hand computer repair and donation. Donate 480 computers to 65 social welfare institutions and schools in remote area from 2016 to 2017... Assisted operations and transformations of 15 DOCs in 7 cities and counties. Assisted DOC work team to establish 5 social enterprises. Cultivated 62 local seeded iteachers, 10 of whom became regional innovation leaders.. Introduced guidance system for innovative products and branding establishment. Apply multiple technologies to improve operating efficiency and income among 36 industries in Shui Li Mei clusters.. Develop and promote the cultural products of the communities and tribes, including the Tsou Tribe, Burun Tribe, Saisiat Tribe and Atayal Tribe.
10 Newly Developed since 2016 Social enterprises Those been helped become helpers to help others Help NPO becomes e- Business Make NPO stronger through ICT Develop ICT applications for disadvantage group ICT enabling and empowerment Ssocial enterprises entreprenuers NPO, NGO Alliance Local social enterprise s NPO & DOC III Provide e-commerce training to 136 micro-enterprises and NPOs and assist them sell products via virtual and physical channels. Organized e-commence courses for disabled, provided guidance to open 5 online shops. Introduced 12 NPOs to use NPO CRM. The total amount of people who received services has reached 33,865.
11 Help to start up 28 social enterprises that donates 5% profit to the ICT mission Contribute 5% to students who repair the 3C products 2nd-hand PC & 3C products donate to NPOs Develop Care-IT- Application with Hwa-Lien New Dawn Care Institute 11
Outcome Digit al servic e capa bility Hsinmin DOC at Minchien Township, Nantou County 6 DOCs in Tainan County Education Longan DOC at Chungliao Township, Nantou County Social Care Social Enterprises Dabang DOC, Alishan Township, Chiayi County Donghe DOC, Nanchuang Township, Miaoli County Economic Chingdong DOC at Dongshi Township, Taichung County Chingyun DOC at Hsinyi Township, Nantou County Cultural Reservation Industrial development capacity Industrial development Digital Service Social Care Industrial development Given the limited scale of the IT market in rural areas, integrated digital capabilities would be needed to satisfy rural areas need for digital services The need for economical and innovative services that are closer to residents lifestyles and would accommodate their needs Pro bono services at present Conflicting points of view between community services and profit making Seniors, foreign spouses, single parent families and grandparenting children are key recipients of services Operating bodies mostly rely on fundraising and governmental subsidies; susceptible to the issue of resource availability Health care, employment and education are priorities in terms of services to recipients in rural areas Businesses in rural areas mostly fall under the category of micro-enterprises that have limited digital demand and application capabilities Suited for infusion of cultural elements to present unique local features The issues of local talent shortage and second-generation heritage
13 Outcome Digital Opportunity To bring the opportunity to reach the outer world via the network for residents in remote rural areas Provided IT skill training for 15,000 people, including teenagers, seniors, aboriginals, new immigrants and disabled persons. Donated 10,052 units of courtesy computers, 208 NPOs, social welfare institutes and remote rural schools. Talent Cultivation To train local talents to get digital service abilities and build DOC working teams Cultivated 62 local seeded teachers, Mutual support among DOCs, Sharing of experiences Trained local computer engineers to perform repair and donation works for second-hand computers. Free repairs for the computers of community residents reaching 62,800 people. Products value added and online Marketing Combined the culture elements between communities in remote area and aboriginal tribes to design and promote valued local cultural products. Assisted 136 micro-enterprises and social welfare institutes to organize online e-commerce shops, mobile sales platform and off-line exhibition and sales activities in order to assist remote rural farmers to expand the diversity of their sales channels. The annual revenue reaches NT 360,850,000 from 2015 to 2016. Social Enterprises entreprenuership Connected DOC and external resources to assist the operations of 25 social enterprises, provided the relevant solutions of innovation services, business operations management, digital technology application, cloud utilization services, multiple sales channels, etc. 2016 revenue increased by 22%, the number of employees increased by 68 people; increase in career opportunities. Assisted DOC work team to establish 5 social enterprises. Social Care via IT Provide NPO digital services, including computer 3C repair and donation, introduction of NPO CRM, number of people served has reached 33,865 people. Organized disabled e-commence courses, provided guidance to open 5 online shops.
14 Impact -- Digital Inclusion, Economical Inclusion and Social Inclusion Stay Connected! Applications Business Opportunity farmers Social Care Devices elders New immigrants disables Network Culture aboriginal Low-income Youth
15 Their Life Stories >Different ethnic groups benefit from it
16 Digital Spot lights in Rural Areas of Taiwan Building social enterprises in hometowns Underpants village head sent 1.6 million boxed meals Nantou County Community Development Expert Zhulong Yang Nantou Country Chungliao Township Community Development Expert Tainan City Syuejia District Rev. Yuanyuan Chou Nantou County Plum Expert Jiamao Wu Tainan City Sinhua District Koupi Church Pastor s Wife Tainan City Huobi District Rev. Su-ya Yang Nantou County Wheelchair Racer Cheng-zhi Lee Tainan City Houbi District Expert Zheng-yi Zhuang Nantou County Cultural and Creative Expert Guolong Lin Nantou e-commerce Expert Guo-qin Wang Teaching Cluster how to organize and share Best Teacher for Cluster Organizational Operations Youth going back to their hometown become DOC leaders Promoting hallmark crafts to social enterprises Nantou County Maintenance Expert Xin-min Yang Nantou County Craft Expert Pei-zhe Chen Tainan City Houbi DistrictRev. Qiu-an Wu Nantou County Film Expert An-qi Yang They care and they contribute They make their home towns become the local innovation hubs Never surrender disease fighter Creating millions of opportunities and changing the lives of many