<div dir="ltr">Dear Harry<br><br>You are quite right. In the US, CTCs, digital villages, or whatever you want to call them, are PPP initiatives. <br><br>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. <br>
<br>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. <br>
<br>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. <br>
<br>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. <br><br>Yours, Rigia<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 2:45 PM, Harry Delano <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:harry@comtelsys.net">harry@comtelsys.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;"><u></u>
<div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">Dear Rigia,</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">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:-</font></span></div><div class="im">
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span>Community Technology
Centers (CTCs) came to the fore in the late 1990s through an <font color="#0000ff"><b>activist nonprofit</b></font> sector combined with
federal </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span>government and <font color="#0000ff"><b>private sector</b></font> funding.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
</div><div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">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</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">bridge the digital divide, </font></span><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">then let's all
roll up our sleeves and get down to work to augument the efforts underway. The
end result of well thought</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial"><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><span>and </span><span>structured
PPP initiatives can never be underestimated...</span></font></font></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">It is a call to arms, to equip, empower and grow, and the
digital age is our current frontier.</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">Regards,</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2">Harry</font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2"></font></span> </div><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" size="2"></font><br>
<div dir="ltr" align="left" lang="en-us">
<hr>
<font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>From:</b>
kictanet-bounces+harry=<a href="mailto:comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke" target="_blank">comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:kictanet-bounces%2Bharry" target="_blank">kictanet-bounces+harry</a>=<a href="mailto:comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke" target="_blank">comtelsys.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a>] <b>On
Behalf Of </b>warigia bowman<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, September 01, 2011 1:34
PM<br><b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:harry@comtelsys.co.ke" target="_blank">harry@comtelsys.co.ke</a><br><b>Cc:</b>
<a href="mailto:dv-project@googlegroups.com" target="_blank">dv-project@googlegroups.com</a>; Wachira Kang’aru; Patrick Mule Mbithuka; KICTAnet
ICT Policy Discussions; KK<div class="im"><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [kictanet] Article on Digital
Villages in the Daily Nation<br></div></font><br></div><div><div></div><div class="h5">
<div></div>
<div dir="ltr">Dear colleagues<br><br>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. <br><br>This is what digital villages COULD BE. <br><br><a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1621502&show=html" target="_blank">http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1621502&show=html</a><br>
<br>
<h2>The promise of public access: Lessons from the American
experience</h2>
<hr align="left" noshade size="1">
<h3>The Authors</h3>
<h4>Warigia Bowman, <i>Harvard University, USA</i><br></h4>
<h4>Arifa Khandwalla, <i>University of Massachusetts, USA</i></h4>
<h3>Abstract</h3>
<p>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.</p>
<h3>Article Type:</h3>
<p>Literature review<br></p>
<h3>Keyword(s):</h3>
<p>Access; ICT; Community; Technology centres; Government.<br></p>
<h3>Journal:</h3>
<p>Journal of Information, Communication & Ethics in
Society<br></p>
<h3>Volume:</h3>
<p>1<br></p>
<h3>Number:</h3>
<p>2<br></p>
<h3>Year:</h3>
<p>2003<br></p>
<h3><abbr title="pp.">pp:</abbr></h3>
<p>87-98<br></p>
<h3>Copyright ©</h3>
<p>MCB UP Ltd<br></p>
<h3><abbr title="International Standard Serial Number.">ISSN:</abbr></h3>1477-996X<br><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Aug 31, 2011 at 5:00 PM, warigia bowman <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:warigia@aucegypt.edu" target="_blank">warigia@aucegypt.edu</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;" class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr">
<p>Dear colleagues</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.
<br></p>
<p></p>
<p>Yours, Rigia<br></p>
<p>BY WARIGIA BOWMAN</p>
<p><a href="mailto:warigia@aucegypt.edu" target="_blank">warigia@aucegypt.edu</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Gotham XNarrow Light'; font-size: 50pt;">P</span>lans are
afoot to improve access to computing and Internet infrastructure in rural
Kenya, thanks to an initiative between the government and the private
sector.<span> </span>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>Access to portals</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>What the group found is a matter of concern to anyone interested in rural
connectivity in Africa.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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.
</p>
<p>However, it is easy to criticise and hard to build. In that spirit, here
are some constructive suggestions.</p>
<p>First, the MOIC, CCK and ICT Board should work together to implement the
tax of one per cent on all telecommunications operators this year. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>Regardless, operators and digital village operators must be given highly
preferential rates by telecommunications operators. </p>
<p>In addition, pasha owners and digital village operators need support and
training in<span> </span>marketing, branding, and proper use of
government portals. </p>
<p>Owners need to be sensitised on the wealth of information with regard to
farming and husbandry, including Kenya Seeds, <a href="http://www.infonet-biovision.org" target="_blank">www.infonet-biovision.org</a>, icow, and <a href="http://www.nafis.go.ke" target="_blank">www.nafis.go.ke</a>. </p>
<p>Finally, Safaricom should expand the resources it invests in each digital
village.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p> </p>
<div style="border-width: 1pt medium medium; border-style: solid none none; border-color: black -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color; padding: 8pt 0in 0in;">
<p style="border: medium none; padding: 0in; line-height: 120%;"><span style="line-height: 120%; font-family: 'Gotham Medium'; font-size: 8pt;">Dr
Bowman is an ICT expert in the American University, Cairo</span><span style="line-height: 120%; font-family: 'ZocaloText Regular'; font-size: 8pt;"></span></p></div>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></div></div>
</blockquote></div><br></div>