ICT4D: Democracy ICT for Development (ICT4D) in Democracy, Education and Health 12 13 September 2012 Sida Partnership Forum, Härnösand
Presentation Outline ICT in Development Factors for ICT uptake Status of ICT in selected countries Opportunities for ICT and Democracy Challenges for ICT and Democracy Examples: Methods and Tools Concluding Remarks
ICT for Development (ICT4D) There is a long history of the use in ICT for Development Radio and Television, the traditional ICTs The rise of the Internet and its potential revived use of ICT4D ICTs have been recognized as key in addressing the Millennium Development Goals
Women voicing their concerns to leaders in Radio Apac studio Radio remains a key ICT tool
ICT4D /2 Three key initiatives raised the flag for ICT4D particularly the Internet The World Bank s World Development Report 1998/99 recognized that knowledge made the difference between poverty and wealth The establishment of the Digital Opportunities Task Force by the G8 countries to develop an agenda for ICTD The World Summits on the Information Society in Geneva in 2003 and Tunis 2005 (Source: UN-APCICT/ESCAP)
ICT4D /3 Key conclusion from WSIS summits: Multi-stakeholder approach essential for successful deployment for ICT4D Government, the Private Sector and Civil Society all have role to play Civil Society includes Academia, NGOs, and the Citizens at large
ICT4D /4 Government Create enabling environment through ICT polices to spur infrastructure, access, reach and availability Avail public funding such as universal access grants or subsidies Potential as heavy user of ICT services and applications Private sector Provide investment and innovation in ICT infrastructure and services Civil society Key providers of accessible and relevant ICT applications that spur citizen utilisation and hence demand for ICTs Such demand key since ICT infrastructure and service development primarily private-sector led
ICT4D /5 User centre of focus even in multistakeholder approach (Source : UN-APCICT/ESCAP)
Factors for ICT uptake Adaptability The extent to which it can be adapted to a range of tasks Leverage How well it makes a difficult task easier the more capable it is of producing change Ease of mastery How easy it is for broad audiences to understand how to adopt and adapt it Accessibility How easy it is to obtain and access
Factors for ICT uptake /2 Affordability How much it costs Participatory How much it engages it users and is interactive with them Transferability How easily its use can be transferred to others Generative capacity How easily it enables the user to create and build on its features for his/her own benefit and use
Factors for ICT uptake /3 Clear evidence of linkage between ICTs and economic growth World Bank (2009) showed an increase of 1.3 percentage points for every 10 percentage points increase in broadband Challenge with measuring impact of ICTs in development (especially social development)
Status of ICT in selected countries Africa s ICT development largely attributed to: Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants International Internet Bandwidth per Internet User Northern Africa (e.g. Egypt, Tunisia) and South Africa lead in ICT development Flurry of activity for international bandwidth along Africa s coastline in recent years
Status of ICT /2 A number of undersea cables span Africa s coastline Increased International Bandwidth potential for Africa s users
Status of ICT /3 35 Fixed broadband Internet subscribers (per 100 people) 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Burundi Ethiopia Tanzania Kenya Rwanda Zambia Uganda SSA (all income levels) SSA(developing only) South Africa Egypt Sweden
Status of ICT /4 70 Telephone lines (per 100 people) 60 50 40 30 20 10 Rwanda Burundi Tanzania Zambia Kenya Uganda Ethiopia SSA (developing only) SSA (all income levels) South Africa Egypt Sweden 0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Status of ICT /5 140 Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Ethiopia Burundi Rwanda Uganda Zambia SSA (developing only) SSA (all income levels) Tanzania Kenya Egypt South Africa Sweden 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Status of ICT /6 100 Internet users (per 100 people) 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Ethiopia Burundi Zambia Tanzania SSA (all income levels) SSA (developing only) South Africa Uganda Rwanda Kenya Egypt Sweden 0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Status of ICT /7 etransform Africa identifies best practice in the use of ICTs in key sectors of the African economy etransform Africa is produced by World Bank and African Development Bank with support of the African Union Under the theme Transformation Ready, etransform Africa presents the growing contribution of ICTs to: Agriculture Climate Change Adaptation Education Financial Services Government Services Health Enhancing African regional trade and integration etransform Africa also highlights need to build a competitive ICT industry To promote innovation, job creation and the export potential of African companies
Opportunities for ICT4Democracy Democracy Voice: Citizens have a say in decision making that affects their lives Participation: Citizens can participate directly, or through elected representatives, in politics and in civic life Protection: Human rights of all citizens are protected, and there is rule of law
Women farmers recording their concerns at the Kubere Information Centre (KIC) mini studio in Apac Women s voices can be captured using studios or recorders and shared widely
Opportunities for ICT4Democracy /2 ICTs applied in support of democracy Reinforcing democratic processes Improving government processes and making government more efficient Improved service delivery Increased transparency and accountability Facilitating innovative engagement Empowerment of citizens through increased participation
Opportunities for ICT4Democracy /3 2 1,5 1 0,5 0-0,5-1 -1,5 Voice and Accountability: Estimate 2000200220032004200520062007200820092010 Rwanda Ethiopia Egypt Burundi Uganda Zambia Kenya Tanzania South Africa Sweden States that can be held accountable for their actions are more likely to respond to the different needs and demands of the public. -2
Challenges for ICT and Democracy Challenges for ICT access and use Lack of access to infrastructure Lack of energy sources for ICT infrastructure and users Expensive communications infrastructure High tariffs associated with ICT services and applications Lack of comprehensive government strategies for ICT4D and Democracy Increase of cybercrime (breeding fear in ICT use) Few electronic or mobile apps Limited skills and capacity to develop locally relevant ICT4D applications
Challenges /2 Connections primarily in major cities Most of population lives in rural areas
Examples: Methods and Tools Mobile broadband can offer low cost access to a wealth of information (e.g. compared to SMS) Not all have Internet-enabled phones so SMS and m-applications in general very relevant Low cost access for participation and engagement even from home in local and national affairs relating to different sectors e.g. health, education, governance, business
Examples: /2 Crowdmap combines information from mobile phones, news sources, web, and visualises it on a map or timeline (e.g. for election monitoring) TRAC FM - combines radio, mobile, print, graphic design and online media for public monitoring of service delivery
Examples: /3 Ushahidi combines information from mobile phones, news sources, web, and visualises it on a map (e.g. for monitoring of service delivery) Huduma combines a web and mobile-based platform that aggregates citizens concerns (SMS, voice, video, etc) directly to authorities U-Speak Uganda enables constituents in Uganda to communicate directly with their elected representatives by SMS or by leaving a voicemail on a dedicated line, for free.
Examples: /4 Global Global Voices Online Tactical Tech SPIDER Association for Progressive Communications (APC) Institute for International Cooperation and Development (IICD) Hivos UNICEF U-Reporter Regional UN Economic Commission for Africa (African Women s Rights Observatory) APC Africa Women FEMNET Ministries and regulators of ICT at national level are good starting points to identify ICT organisations
Web 2.0 and Social Media Learning Opportunity at WOUGNET s Community Development through Technology centre (CDTC) The Web 2.0 and Social Media Learning Opportunity training program is developed by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP EU (CTA) Skills building of users and of developers is essential for ICT and Democracy
Concluding Remarks Capitalise on mobile services to increase access, outreach of ICT services and for m/e-democracy Promote low cost, low energy mobile devices Promote use of local wireless networks as last mile solution and as means of reducing internet access costs Capacity building in repackaging of relevant information for dissemination and interaction via mobile services such as podcasts, video tutorials, crowdsourcing, etc. Capacity building in development of relevant applications for ICT and Democracy Policy advocacy for favourable (and affirmative) environment for setup of rural/underserved connectivity
References United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (UN-APCICT/ESCAP), 2011. The Primer Series on ICTD for Youth. Primer 1: An Introduction to ICT for Development. World Bank Databank, 2012. Databases Communications Infrastructure and Governance World Bank, 2009. Information and Communications for Development 2009: Extending Reach and Increasing Impact