[kictanet] Article on Digital Villages in the Daily Nation

[warigia bowman]

Dear Harry

You are quite right. In the US, CTCs, digital villages, or whatever you want
to call them, are PPP initiatives.

Further, in the very small, rural town I am from, which is in a poor state,
in the remote mountains, you can actually find our CTC in the neighborhood
library.

Finally, I would also like to point out that sustainability is a real threat
the world over. we have successful entrepreneurs out there doing this work,
but for them to succeed, they need lower tariffs, and more training.

I also want to applaud the team of Kwame Shiroya and Helen Cheruiyot at the
ICT Board, but they need more support and more staff. Patrick Mule is also
doing his best at Safaricom, but again, he needs more support, and more
staff, and for the company to make this a priority.

Getting the USF fund going could really help with us. By the way, Uganda is
really kicking Kenya's gizutza in this area, as is, of course, Rwanda.

Yours, Rigia

On Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 2:45 PM, Harry Delano <harry at comtelsys.net> wrote:

> **
> Dear Rigia,
>
> Thanks so much for your initiative to conduct this study on DV's. From the
> case study in the Americas, I pick out the following:-
>
> Community Technology Centers (CTCs) came to the fore in the late 1990s
> through an *activist nonprofit* sector combined with federal
> government and *private sector* funding.
>
> I suppose and urge that, if any meaningful progress/achievement is to
> be realised on this front to bring our communities into the ICT realm and
> bridge the digital divide, then let's all roll up our sleeves and get down
> to work to augument the efforts underway. The end result of  well thought
> and structured PPP initiatives can never be underestimated...
>
> It is a call to arms, to equip, empower and grow, and the digital age is
> our current frontier.
>
> Regards,
> Harry
>
>
>  ------------------------------
> *From:* kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke[mailto:
> kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of
> *warigia bowman
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 01, 2011 1:34 PM
> *To:* harry at comtelsys.co.ke
> *Cc:* dv-project at googlegroups.com; Wachira Kang’aru; Patrick Mule
> Mbithuka; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions; KK
>
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] Article on Digital Villages in the Daily Nation
>
>  Dear colleagues
>
> Here is an article I had written many years ago. I did not think it was
> worth much, but it seems very relevant to the discussion we are having on
> digital villages. The PDF is available free online here.
>
> This is what digital villages COULD BE.
>
> http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1621502&show=html
>
> The promise of public access: Lessons from the American experience
> ------------------------------
> The Authors Warigia Bowman, *Harvard University, USA*
> Arifa Khandwalla, *University of Massachusetts, USA* Abstract
>
> This essay surveys and synthesizes the academic literature, archival
> sources and interviews with key policy makers regarding the emergence of
> community technology centers in the US. Community Technology Centers (CTCs)
> came to the fore in the late 1990s through an activist nonprofit sector
> combined with federal government and private sector funding. Federal data
> indicates that CTCs now represent the most important access points to
> information communications technology for the poor in the US. This essay
> reviews the latest arguments for and against continued investment in CTCs
> and public access in general. In addition to providing access, which is
> often used beneficially for employment and education related purposes, CTCs
> appear to contribute to social capital as they become social gathering
> points. This paper concludes, that both government and nonprofits play a
> vital role in ensuring public access for the poor and that continued
> investment in CTCs is warranted.
> Article Type:
>
> Literature review
> Keyword(s):
>
> Access; ICT; Community; Technology centres; Government.
> Journal:
>
> Journal of Information, Communication & Ethics in Society
> Volume:
>
> 1
> Number:
>
> 2
> Year:
>
> 2003
> pp:
>
> 87-98
> Copyright ©
>
> MCB UP Ltd
> ISSN:1477-996X
>
> On Wed, Aug 31, 2011 at 5:00 PM, warigia bowman <warigia at aucegypt.edu>wrote:
>
>>  Dear colleagues
>>
>> Here is an article I wrote which appeared in Smart Company in the Daily
>> Nation on Tuesday. Victor Gathara and I will be writing a more comprehensive
>> report in the coming months. I had put in some compliments to the ICT Board
>> staff and the Safaricom staff, but those were edited out by the nation.
>>
>> Yours, Rigia
>>
>> BY WARIGIA BOWMAN
>>
>> warigia at aucegypt.edu
>>
>>
>>
>> Plans are afoot to improve access to computing and Internet
>> infrastructure in rural Kenya, thanks to an initiative between the
>> government and the private sector.   In April 2010, the ICT Board, which
>> is part of the Ministry of Information and Communication, promised to
>> connect each constituency by setting up a digital centre, complete with five
>> computers and Internet connectivity, under the Pasha Centres programme.
>>
>> Kupasha is Kiswahili for “to inform”. The Pasha Centre project is being
>> supported by $4 million (about Sh36 million) in revolving World Bank funds
>> administered by Family Bank.
>>
>> Indeed, the Kenya Communication Amendment Act 2009 stipulates that the
>> Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) should levy telecoms operators a
>> universal access fund of one per cent of their total revenue to be used for
>> rural connectivity.
>>
>> Access to portals
>>
>> According to the regulator, 90 per cent of Kenya’s 6.4 million Internet
>> users (2010) are in Nairobi and Mombasa. Both the digital villages and the
>> pasha centres are to offer services such as access to government portals
>> like NSSF, identity and driver licensing services, Teacher Service
>> Commission information, HELB loans and information on farming, as well as
>> access to e-health and e-learning.
>>
>> This all sounds fantastic and exciting... on paper. Unfortunately, the
>> reality on the ground is different. A multi-sectoral group of academics,
>> private sector consultants and civil society activists have visited 20 per
>> cent of all pasha centres in Kenya, as well as 15 digital villages, over the
>> past two months.
>>
>> What the group found is a matter of concern to anyone interested in rural
>> connectivity in Africa.
>>
>> The number of digital villages and pasha centres that are actually open
>> for business is only a fraction of the reported total. The ICT Board
>> provided the research team with the list of all approved centres.
>>
>> Only 37 have actually been approved, although each of Kenya’s 210
>> constituencies is entitled to one. Of these, only two in the sample of 10
>> had actually received all of the money awarded to them and had opened for
>> business.
>>
>> In addition, Safaricom provided the research team with a list of 147
>> digital villages, not 500. On the list of 147, the identifying information
>> was incomplete and vague.
>>
>> The team visited pashas and digital villages in Malindi, Embu, Meru,
>> Muranga, Maragwa, Nyeri, Isiolo, Samburu, Oloitoktok, Machakos, Wote and
>> Mbumbuni. It was, however, yet to visit and evaluate pashas in Western,
>> Kisii and Nyanza regions.
>>
>> Overall, the conditions in the ICT Board run pashas were better than those
>> in the Safaricom-run digital villages, although the pashas also needed
>> improvements.
>>
>> Owners were, on the whole, fairly well educated IT experts, good
>> businesspeople and visionaries. The two pashas (Mbumbuni and Maragwa) that
>> had actually opened offered a range of services, including photocopying,
>> printing, typesetting, printing photos, browsing and IT training.
>>
>> Most of the centres had heard of  e-health and e-learning, but did not
>> really know what these terms meant and had received no training from the ICT
>> Board in these areas, although the topics were mentioned at one training the
>> pasha owners received in late May.
>>
>> Further, owners had little knowledge of what government services they
>> could offer other than the registration of KRA pin details and downloading
>> of police abstracts.  Most had received little or no support regarding
>> branding and marketing, and one of the open facilities was making a serious
>> financial loss.
>>
>> However, it is easy to criticise and hard to build. In that spirit, here
>> are some constructive suggestions.
>>
>> First, the MOIC, CCK and ICT Board should work together to implement the
>> tax of one per cent on all telecommunications operators this year.
>>
>> Based on a quick back of the envelope calculation, this will amount to
>> approximately Sh4 billion per year. Part of this money should support extra
>> staff on the pasha centre project.Right now, there are only two people
>> working on the pasha project at the ICT Board.
>>
>> Second, tariffs must come down. Every pasha owner and digital village
>> operator we spoke to said tariffs were too high. Indeed, the ICT Board had
>> promised pasha operators free connectivity for a year.
>>
>> Regardless, operators and digital village operators must be given highly
>> preferential rates by telecommunications operators.
>>
>> In addition, pasha owners and digital village operators need support and
>> training in  marketing, branding, and proper use of government portals.
>>
>> Owners need to be sensitised on the wealth of information with regard to
>> farming and husbandry, including Kenya Seeds, www.infonet-biovision.org,
>> icow, and www.nafis.go.ke.
>>
>> Finally, Safaricom should expand the resources it invests in each digital
>> village.
>>
>> There are many other reforms needed, but if the government and
>> telecommunications operators can pay attention to these few suggestions,
>> Kenya can attain true rural connectivity.
>>
>>
>>
>> Dr Bowman is an ICT expert in the American University, Cairo
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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