ICTs and POVERTY: A LITERATURE REVIEW
By C. Nyaki Adeya, PhD
(For IDRC)
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... ii
1.
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1
2.1
ICTs and Some Related Issues........................................................................... 2
2.1.1
ICTs and Collective Access Points .................................................................. 4
2.1.2
ICTs and Development ................................................................................... 6
2.2
3.
Poverty and Some Related Issues ...................................................................... 8
The Relationship between ICTs and Poverty .........................................................10
3.1
Old ICTs ............................................................................................................12
3.2
New ICTs ...........................................................................................................13
4.
Case Studies on ICTs and Poverty ........................................................................16
5.
ICTs and Poverty Reduction Issues .......................................................................21
6.
ICTs and Selected Thematic Areas........................................................................23
6.1
ICTs and Agriculture ..........................................................................................23
6.2
ICTs, Culture and Governance...........................................................................24
6.3
ICTs and Education ...........................................................................................28
6.4
ICTs and Health .................................................................................................30
6.5
ICTs and Gender ...............................................................................................31
7.
Concluding Remarks .............................................................................................34
8.
Recommendations for Further Research ...............................................................36
Bibliography ..................................................................................................................39
i
Acknowledgements
ii
1. Introduction
In 1996, Wresch wrote that “the poor are excluded from much of the world’s information
and no one has even begun to outline a solution to the problem” (1996:58). This
literature review will reveal whether his sentiments are still true today. In his view, one of
the biggest ironies of the information age is that the rich get their information almost free,
while the poor have to pay dearly for it, in the case for instance of the price poor people
have to pay to make a simple telephone call. The notion of exclusion is thus an
important consideration in some of the literature in this review.
As an illustration, Castells (1999) examines a profile of a new world, centred on
multinational corporations, global financial markets and a highly concentrated system of
technological research and development, which may not be highly relevant to this
review. It is significant however that the system he envisages allows linkages with
everything that is valuable according to dominant values and interests, while
disconnecting everything that is not valuable, or becomes devalued. The system has a
concurrent capacity to include and exclude people based upon a capacity to network,
and this is where the poor in developing countries suffer from exclusion.
The argument on whether ICTs result in exclusion or inclusion has been taken up by
Braga (1998) and Brown (2001). According to Braga (1998) some believe that ICTs have
and will contribute to even wider economic divergence between developing and
developed countries. This view is consistent with Brown’s (2001) argument that there is
still a lot of scepticism with regard to whether ICTs can reduce poverty in the developing
countries. This thesis is also evident in Chowdhury (2000) who says that some sceptics
still do not see any role for ICTs in efforts aimed at poverty alleviation. In his words “the
poor can’t eat high-speed Internet access, of course”. Nevertheless, others believe that
ICTs can be mechanisms that enable developing countries to ‘leapfrog’ stages of
development. This perspective is in line with Barlow’s (1998) commentary that Africa
(discussed as a unit) should skip industrialism entirely and leap directly into the
information era. This conclusion is shared by Hudson (2001) who says the potential for
‘leapfrogging’ lies in the use of wireless terrestrial and satellite technologies. An
example of this is provided by Kibati (1999) who described ‘a cost model that contrasts
GSM and CDMA networks’.
Issues of social inclusion and exclusion are just one dimension of the range of issues
that a review of the nature of the relationship between ICTs and poverty has to highlight.
Others include questions on the linkage between ICTs and the concept of human
development.1Given the wide scope of this concept, the review explores the connection
between ICTs and the human development dimensions of agriculture, culture,
governance, education, health and gender. In so doing, there is the recognition however
that some of these dimensions, such as gender and governance for instance, are crosscutting in nature.
From a definitional perspective, the concepts of ICTs and poverty can be assigned
different senses. For this reason, the review examines the conceptual definitions of
these terms. The area of ICTs and poverty is relatively new. It is only in the last decade
1
This is the process of expanding human capabilities and access to opportunities in social,
economic and political arenas and therefore the overall improvement in the quality of life. (UNDP
2002: Kenya Human Development Report: 2001:2)
1
that it has attracted attention at the level of writing. Thus, it is difficult to find a concise
review that incorporates both terms. Most studies that have been done in poor countries
came about through the support of external donors concerned about poverty alleviation,
and who had no clear outlines on what to implement.
Given such considerations, the review is divided into the following sections: Section 2
examines the concepts of poverty and ICTs, as well as some related pertinent issues,
while the next section evaluates the relationship between ICTs and poverty in some
detail; Section 4 then presents some case study literature on ICTs and poverty. This
section is followed by an assessment of literature on ICTs and poverty reduction from
the perspective of development in Section 5. The focus of Section 6 is ICTs and a
selection of thematic areas that include agriculture, culture, education, health and
gender. Section 7 has some concluding remarks and the last section gives
recommendations for further research.
2. The Concepts of ICTs and Poverty
2.1 ICTs and Some Related Issues
By definition, ICTs include electronic networks – embodying complex hardware and
software - linked by a vast array of technical protocols (Mansell and Silverstone, 1996).
ICTs are embedded in networks and services that affect the local and global
accumulation and flows of public and private knowledge. According to the United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa, ICTs cover Internet service provision,
telecommunications equipment and services, information technology equipment and
services, media and broadcasting, libraries and documentation centres, commercial
information providers, network-based information services, and other related information
and communication activities. This is quite an expansive definition (ECA, 1999). It is not
uncommon to find definitions of ICTs that are synonymous with those of information
technology (IT). For example, Foster defines IT as 'the group of technologies that is
revolutionizing the handling of information' and embodies a convergence of interest
between electronics, computing and communication (Drew and Foster, 1994).
Chowdhury (2000) writes that ICTs encompass technologies that can process different
kinds of information (voice, video, audio, text and data) and facilitate different forms of
communications among human agents, among humans and information systems, and
among information systems. They are about capturing, storing, processing, sharing,
displaying, protecting, and managing information. Duncombe and Heeks (1999) simplify
the definition by describing ICTs as an “electronic means of capturing, processing,
storing and disseminating information”.
In this review, the terms IT and ICTs will be used nearly synonymously and in a
somewhat broad sense. The terms designate the information processing interaction
between providers and users of information and also the development and application of
information-processing systems that may not be regarded as part of the development of
telecommunications/telematics per se. It is important to emphasize that these
technologies only provide new mechanisms for handling an already existing resource,
namely information.
Mansell & Wehn (1998) focus on how ICTs can be harnessed for purposes of meeting
development goals. There is one chapter in the publication specifically on the uses of
2
ICTs when poverty is pervasive. They warn that if poor countries implement investment
strategies that emulate the ‘one person – one telephone – one Internet access point’
model that is predominant in the West, frustration will be rife. In addition, they advance
the view that there is little to be gained from access to global or local resources if the
skills to select, interpret and apply the information are absent or poorly developed
through the population. Consequently, they suggest it is important for poor countries to
develop models for ‘access’ and ‘information content’ because the capacity to generate
and share information about local resources is as important as access to distant digital
information. Examples of how this has been done are available throughout this review,
but some practical examples can be found in Addo-Dankwa (2002), CICEANA (2002)
and Delgado et.al. (2002).
Chowdhury (2000) presents the position taken by realists that in an increasingly global
village, ICTs have the potential of helping the poor to acquire literacy, marketable skills
and so on. However, Barlow (1998) believes that common perceptions of the potential of
the digital age are limited by the habits of mind one develops in an industrial society.
These habits are different for those who have grown up in poverty with no television sets
for instance to shape their world view. Most of these people are found in Africa and the
developing world in general. The basis of this argument is weak however since Barlow
has no empirical evidence to support his assertion, apart from his experiences in the
countryside of a developed country.
Braga (1998) builds a case that concludes that the countries that are better positioned to
thrive in the new economy are those that can rely on: widespread access to
communication networks; the existence of an educated labour-force and consumers;
and the availability of institutions that promote knowledge creation and dissemination.
This may suggest that developing countries are at a disadvantage in comparison to
developed countries. Similar sentiments are shared by Mansell & Wehn (1998). Brown
(2001) argues that ICTs are simply tools. Significantly, no single tool can solve a global
problem, such as, poverty, which has such complex and multiple causes. The author
gives examples of where ICTs can play a significant role such as in the creation of jobs
and in the reduction of distance. However, the author points out that it would be
preferable if the labour-force were educated in this information age.
Chowdhury (2000) asserts that “ICTs do not have any more to do with poverty and food
security in the developing countries than rain dances have to do with rain”. He notes that
many sceptics have not seen the role of ICTs in efforts intended to alleviate poverty and
bring food security to developing countries. The author acknowledges that the problem
of poverty alleviation is complex. Efficient production systems and physical infrastructure
are a few of the necessities.
This contention puts into perspective a major challenge faced by policy-makers in Africa
in efforts intended to develop strategies that can bring the information revolution to the
continent. In essence, to create truly national, integrated information infrastructures,
there has to be the simultaneous acceleration of the use of high-tech and low-tech
information services. (Wilson: 1996). In addition, according to this publication, there is
need to nurture the development of highly sophisticated, world-class channels, capable
of carrying the digitized content that now races through the world's financial systems,
educational institutions and business networks. At the same time, policy makers must
carefully address the information needs of the vast majority of their populations with low
per capita incomes, who are mostly rural based. The author gives some examples of
3
‘good news’ coming out of Africa in response to these challenges from the information
revolution. In this respect, African entrepreneurs in Senegal and Ghana did not wait for
government action to utilise the benefits of this revolution. Instead, they created their
own commercial Internet access businesses. On the negative side, Wilson cites the poor
state of the telecommunications sector in most African countries. In the author’s view, it
appears to be a result of poor technical and financial management and other
inefficiencies on the part of telephone companies which leads to the question of how to
best use the revenues generated by the sector. In this respect, the author notes that
African telephone companies are far from unprofitable (average revenue per main
telephone line was US$1225 compared with US$735 for the world as a whole).
2.1.1 ICTs and Collective Access Points
Adebgola (1998) argues that deliberate steps should be taken to make sure rural
communities have access to ICTs. If this is not done, the so-called digital-divide will just
widen. The approach suggested is that of ‘infocommunes’ to help to overcome some of
the impediments caused by the weak infrastructural base of ICTs in the developing
world. On the other hand, Butcher (1998) is centred on education in South Africa as a
key developmental activity. He argues that, in South Africa, in order to harness the
potential of ICTs, a lot of emphasis has been put on the concept of community centres
as a strategy for implementation. This argument can be supported by the various
publications on telecentres in Africa, including Benjamin (2000 and 2001). With
reference to education, Butcher (1998) states that practical examples of the use of new
technologies tend to reinforce the notion of the expanding gap between the rich and the
poor, instead of demonstrating practical solutions to the problem. He suggests that more
resources should be spent on opening up access to marginalized communities in
innovative and cost-effective ways; otherwise, ICTs serve only to perpetuate greater
economic and educational marginalization. He does not give any clear evidence of this
which he suggests need to be researched based on the many ‘rhetoric’ statements and
anecdotal evidence.
Although Butcher (1998) purported to show that there has been a lot of emphasis on
community centres to harness ICTs in South Africa, there are a number of studies that
propose telecentres as a method of access to ICTs and as a solution to access
difficulties in rural areas and in regions mainly occupied by the poor. They include
Ernberg (1997), Fuchs (1997), Fuchs (1998), Jensen (1998), Opoku-Mensah (1998),
Robinson (1998), Anderson et. al. (1999), Benjamin & Dahms (1999), Dahms (1999),
Delgadillo & Borja (1999), Gomez et.al. (1999), Holmes (1999), Lamoureux (1999),
Benjamin (2000), Akakpo & Fontaine (2001), Aranda & Fontaine (2001), Latchem &
Walker (2001), Benjamin (2001), Hudson (2001), Jensen & Esterhuysen (2001),
Mayanja (2001), Panda & Chaudhary (2001) and Sagna (2001).
The following are examples of contributions from some of these authors. Benjamin
(2000) notes that there has been great interest in using telecentres to provide access to
ICTs, in projects initiated by governments, the private sector, international donors, and
community organizations. These projects are viewed as a means of addressing the lack
of ICTs throughout Africa, and of assisting in providing universal access to both
telephony and other forms of ICTs. In his presentation, he reviewed various initiatives
throughout Africa. He assesses two types of telecentres: type A, micro enterprise
telecentres, and type B, bigger, donor-funded telecentres. This could be viewed as a
more specific contribution that flowed from Benjamin & Dahms’s (1999) basic description
4
of the role of telecentres in development. In an earlier paper before telecentres were
widely developed in poor countries, Ernberg (1997) simply wanted to know whether
universal access can be achieved through Multipurpose Community Telecentres and
whether it would be viable for business.
Based on his knowledge of rural telecentres, Anderson (1999) argues that in the rush to
"wire" developing countries, little attention has been paid to conceptual frameworks or to
guidelines for ICT utilization. Thus, no lessons have been learnt from negative past
experiences of technology transfer that did not benefit local people. The author’s basic
argument is that the focus should be on people, organizations and processes rather than
on the technologies themselves. If this is not done, ICTs will not be useful for rural
development, unless there is participatory communication and training methodologies. In
reference to the question of how African countries, in support of their national
development objectives can best harness ICTs, Jensen (1998) argues for greater
awareness among decision-makers at the highest levels and for the establishment of
national ICT forums made up of regulators, operators, service providers and users. He
notes the need for clear strategies for subsidizing Internet services, shared access and
public access facilities in rural areas, such as telecentres. The IDRC is mentioned as the
major player in this initiative and the telecentre model is one of the cornerstones of the
IDRC’s Acacia programme.
Latchem & Walker (2001) edited one of the only volumes bringing together various
telecentre case studies in supporting educational and community development from both
rich and poor Commonwealth countries. Of the 14 case studies, seven are from poor
countries, which include Paraguay, Mozambique, Uganda, Lesotho, Ghana, India and
South Africa. There is also a chapter describing the work of the Acacia programme in
relation to the development of African telecentres. The specific contributions from the
developing countries are:







South Africa: P. Benjamin (2001) describes the Gaseleka Telecentre in Northern
Province.
Uganda: M. Mayanja (2001) describes the Nakaseke Multipurpose Community
Centre.
Paraguay: S. Aranda & M. Fontaine (2001) describes the AMIC@s in Asuncion.
Mozambique: P. Gaster (2001) describes pilot telecentres projects.
Lesotho: L. Howard (2001) describes the Daimler Chrysler Distance Learning
Support Centre in Maseru.
Ghana: J. Akakpo & M. Fontaine (2001) describes the Community Learning
Centres in the country.
India: S. Panda & S. Chaudhary (2001) describes Telelearning Centres in India.
Evidently, most of the specific case studies of telecentres are from South Africa
(Benjamin 2000 and 2001), Uganda (Opoku-Mensah, 1998; Dahms, 1999; Mayanja,
2001) and Ghana (Owen Jr. and Darkwa, 1999; Latchem & Walker, 2001). The
Nakaseke Multipurpose Community Centre in Uganda is one of the most widely written
about (Mayanja, 2001). It is situated in a poor area that had been ravaged by war and
that had a lot of its infrastructure destroyed. The aim was to provide access information
and communication resources through ICTs in a poor rural community. 60% of the
operating costs come from donors (IDRC, ITU, UNESCO and DANIDA) and the
remaining 40% from the local community to cover maintenance and staff salaries. The
5
author notes that some of the successes have been that local leadership has great
interest making the MCT a sustainable reality. However, how they are doing so is not
discussed. Another success is that there have been “a lot of useful experiences” derived
from international partnerships, but these are not listed or discussed. The constraints
have included high illiteracy rates, poor telecommunications infrastructure, erratic power
supply and restricted accommodation. Some of these are issues that should have been
taken into consideration at the planning stage and therefore should not be viewed as an
unexpected constraint.
The running costs of some of the other telecentres from Africa are an essential point of
interest. In this regard, the pilot telecentres from Mozambique (Gaster, 2001) are fully
funded by IDRC’s Acacia programme for a four year period. The author acknowledges
that there are many ideas for self-sustainability beyond this period, but little has been
done to follow and implement them. The Gaseleka Telecentre in South Africa (Benjamin,
2001) is an example an aspiration towards self-sustainability. Initial set-up costs were
drawn from USA’s Universal Service Fund, while the running costs have largely not been
a problem due to good management, the establishment of good local connections and
trust.
There are contributions on experiences gained in developing telecentres in Latin
America including Robinson’s (1998) analysis from Mexico. Others are Delgadillo &
Borja’s (1999) lessons on telecentres from Latin America and the Caribbean; Lamoureux
(1999) on telecentres in Latin America. A specific case study can be drawn from Aranda
& Fontaine’s (2001) description of the AMIC@s in Asuncion (Paraguay); it is a
collaborative initiative launched in 1997 by the Municipality of Asuncion and USAID, and
implemented through the Learnlink project of the Academy for Educational Development
in Washington DC. The AMIC@ in English refers to ‘municipal classrooms for
information, communication and learning’. In general, the centres are meant to
decentralize systems and services of the municipality, and to make the public better
informed and engaged in democratic processes. Additionally, they are intended to give
poor communities access to ICTs so they can share the benefits of these technologies
and have access to lifelong learning. There are 12 AMIC@s in Asuncion (Paraguay).
The municipality pays for electricity, telephones, running water and rent (40% of the
operating costs of the centre), while 30% of the costs is met through partnerships with
private companies (equipment upgrades and replacements, telecommunication services
and Internet access charges). The remaining 30% for general administration comes from
fees charged to the users.
Holmes (1999) is based on a gender analysis of telecentre evaluation methodology.
Significantly, it even provides a ‘recipe’ on how to ‘create’ a telecentre in the ‘The
Community Telecentre Cookbook for Africa: Recipes for Self-Sustainability’ (Jensen &
Esterhuysen, 2001).
2.1.2 ICTs and Development
In most case studies of ICTs and development, there are no studies that openly
acknowledge failures. Most are disguised under the cover of the phrase, ‘lessons learnt’.
Therefore, in evaluating these studies, it is important to take a ‘cautionary’ perspective
as there is the danger that some of the sources romanticize the potential of ICTs in
areas such as poverty alleviation.
6
Heeks (1999) asked: “Can information and communication technologies (ICTs) help to
alleviate poverty in low-income countries?” His study attempts to answer that question
and provides a theoretical framework for empirical studies in this area. Heeks suggests
that ICTs play a role mainly as communications technologies rather than as informationprocessing or production technologies. Among his priorities for the development agenda
are: the poor need knowledge to access, assess and apply existing information and
need resources for action more than they need access to new information; the poor
need access to new, locally-contextualized information more than access to existing
information from an alien context; the information needs of the poor may be met by more
informal information systems than by formal ICT-based systems; the poor will reap the
fullest benefits of ICTs only when they know and control both the technology and its
related know-how.
O’Farrell (2001) shares Heek’s (1999) belief that before one can advocate for the
development of ICTs among the poor, they must understand the existing information
systems of the poor, how they interact with more formal information and the best way to
strengthen them before intervening with new information sources and means of access
sources. Access to information and knowledge are considered key enablers in poverty
reduction. Although, O’Farrell (2001) focuses on some of the general debates around
information and knowledge in relation to development interventions, her paper is set in
the context of the expanding interest in ICTs. She explores the existing information and
communication needs and constraints facing the rural and urban poor.
It appears that the slow development of some aspects of ICTs in many African countries
has largely been a consequence of poor technical and financial management (and other
inefficiencies) on the part of the telecommunications sector (Lefebvre & Lefebvre, 1996).
The author’s assessments six years ago are still relevant today. They noted that it might
therefore be important to assess the adoption and diffusion of ICTs in key sectors of the
economies of African countries. However, prior to this, it is important to collate basic
information about the actual and potential applications of ICTs and also to have a clear
understanding of the specific policy environments. Adoption and diffusion issues need
some kind of measurement. Considering the fact that ICT environments in most African
countries are still developing, diffusions may be difficult to measure without proper
awareness of the current realities on the ground. As Lefebvre and Lefebvre said from
their research conducted in (OECD) countries, ‘reaping the full benefits of IT adoption
and diffusion requires full understanding of IT applications, their potential and a
readiness to change’.
It is only with this full understanding that one can then ask the following questions:



How can we promote and facilitate the introduction and implementation of ICTs?
How can we accelerate ICT diffusion in the various sectors of the economy?
How can we assess the impacts of ICTs?
Therefore, there should first be an effort to collect basic data on the existence of quite
simple applications in the first phase of any ICT development, and an investigation into
how skills involved in the use of such simple applications might be developed to make
more sophisticated use of ICTs.
The World Bank (2000) argues that the right mix of national and supranational policies
and programmes can enable some countries to move from being victims to beneficiaries,
7
but only if networking development moves up the hierarchy of development priorities.
The purpose of this report is to show that the impact of the networking revolution on the
developing world can be understood, and the most effective policies and programmes
implemented. However, the networking revolution will remain predominantly a developed
world phenomenon. Nevertheless, the impacts of new networking in the developing
world will be significant, even though the mechanisms and manifestations will differ. The
authors found that there were a magnitude of the threats and opportunities that co-exist
for developing countries as a consequence of the networking revolution. There are also
basic policies and programmes needed to prepare for these threats and opportunities,
even though these policies and programmes will often be challenging, unpalatable and
complex to implement. Some of the ways new networking will accelerate development
include: improved economic efficiency and competitiveness; more efficient and effective
education; healthcare and public administration; opportunities to exploit low factor costs
in international markets; opportunities to increase social capital; and opportunities to
bypass failing domestic institutions.
In summary, drawing from Mansell & Wehn (1998:115), not all development problems
can be addressed simultaneously in the face of completing claims on scarce resources.
However, the poor countries that take action on both technological and human resource
challenges will be better positioned to benefit from ICT applications and reduce the
impact of exclusion from the information economy. In addition, the authors warn that
emphasis should not only be on expansion of telecommunication systems (‘access’ to
links in information highways), but must also consider development needs, affordability
and skills development.
2.2
Poverty and Some Related Issues
Poverty is a frequently used word and has been defined in various ways. The aim of this
literature review is not to delve into these definitions, or to emphasise poverty as a topic,
but to assess the relationship between ICTs and Poverty by examining for instance,
what literature exists that attributes poverty reduction to ICTs.
According to Lok-Dessallien (1999), there is a considerable body of literature on different
types or categories of poverty indicators. His work attempts to present an overview of
different concepts of poverty, as well as to approaches to its measurement. The work
highlights the point that much still remains to be done to expand conventional sets of
indicators to make them reflect a broader understanding of poverty. At a conceptual
level, Lok-Dessallien points out that poverty can be viewed in absolute and relative
terms. In addition, it can be approached from objective and subjective perspectives. This
latter point accounts for the fact that quantitative and qualitative methods can be used in
poverty research.
Absolute poverty refers to subsistence below the minimum and socially acceptable living
conditions. On the other hand, relative poverty compares the lowest bracket of a
population with the upper bracket. Most development practitioners focus on reducing
absolute poverty because of the urgency associated with starvation, malnutrition and
other afflictions. Yet, relative poverty is not an exogenous factor in the fight against
absolute poverty. Thus, most rights-based approaches focus on relative poverty
because they do not want to acknowledge the existence of what can be described as
first-and second-class citizens. In the context of ICTs, the significance of the distinction
between absolute and relative poverty is evident in Wresch (1996) who argued that for
8
poor people as opposed to rich people, information and communication costs more in
absolute terms, and cost ‘astronomically’ more in relative terms, as a percentage of a
day’s wages.
Lok-Dessallien (1999) also discusses poverty in relation to selected and commonly used
concepts that tend to co-occur with this term. These include: poverty and equity; poverty
and vulnerability; poverty and exclusion; poverty and underdevelopment. The fact that
poverty can be chronic or temporary is sometimes closely associated with inequity, and
is often correlated with vulnerabilities and social exclusion.
The objective approach to poverty (or the welfare approach) aims at assessing what
poverty is and how to get people out of it. By way of comparison, the subjective
approach relies on what people prefer (individual utility) and on how much they value
goods and services. It is significant that poverty measurement has usually been based
on the objective approach, while participatory poverty assessment methodologies
represent examples of the subjective approach. In essence, the subjective approach is
dependent on the premise that value can be drawn from understanding the perspectives
of the poor. This view is consistent with Mark Brown’s assessment that it is important for
poverty programmes to be country driven, not donor determined (UNDP, 2000). It is the
case however that he would prefer to see external donor funding provided through
regular government channels to make it possible for governments to direct their own
poverty initiatives. UNDP’s definition of poverty notes definition of poverty incorporates
the view that poverty is “not merely in the impoverished state in which the person
actually lives, but also in the lack of real opportunity – due to social constraints as well
as personal circumstances – to lead valuable and valued lives.” (UNDP 1997:15)
Chowdhury 2000(a) defines poverty as inadequate ownership or gainful control over
assets (tangible and intangible), manual motor power or other forms of production skills.
He outlines a number of issues that characterize the poor people. These include lack of
literacy and lack of access to accurate information. The paper challenges the UN ICT
Task Force in its efforts to find ways of mainstreaming ICTs in the working and social
lives of the poor especially in the lives of their adolescent children. Some of the causes
of poverty listed by Chowdhury are lack of ‘info-telecommunication’ infrastructure and
appropriate skills. d'Orville (2000) simply re-emphasises the point that many others have
raised; that we have witnessed a new type of poverty – information poverty – as
developing countries struggle to obtain the infrastructure, skills and other requisites to be
participants in that revolution.
Most arguments related to poverty focus on insufficient nutrition, inadequate shelter and
so on. It is only recently that some have started to argue that lack of access to
information and communications technologies (ICTs) is an element of poverty. This
contention is not comparable to traditional discussions of poverty issues (Kenny, 2001),
although it is recognised that ICTs have the potential of having a crucial role in poverty
alleviation efforts. In this respect, Kenny discusses the use of ICTs in poverty alleviation
in relation to poor people’s limited access to ICTs. He proposes the implementation of
government policies that might help to overcome the so-called ‘digital-divide.’
The international community has been debating about this ‘digital-divide’, and the role of
ICTs in combating poverty and fostering sustainable development. In this respect,
Marker et. al. (2001) outlined for DFID staff the fundamental principles underlying a
proposed approach to ICTs and development. The contrast between the complexity and
expense of some of these technologies and the need to address the urgent, basic needs
9
of the poor has led some to doubt whether ICTs should be a priority for DFID and other
development agencies, as well as for developing countries themselves. The authors
address this doubt and conclude that access to ICTs should not be seen as an end in
itself. Instead, the measure of success should remain progress towards reaching the
International Development Targets and not the spread of technology, or the bridging of
the digital divide. They note however that if properly deployed, ICTs have enormous
potential as tools for increasing information flows and for empowering poor people.
Camacho (2001) asserts that the digital gap is a result of other social gaps, and the gaps
will continue to grow if the technology is not used correctly. This is based on the fact that
as an example, the developed countries are creating the core software and hardware for
the Internet. In addition, 90% of Internet production is in not only in English, but is also
mostly produced in the developed countries. Moreover, the sites are presented in
concepts typical of the West. Finally, the possibilities of access and use are completely
related to levels of development of electrification, telecommunications and education.
The questions addressed in the study include: how can developing countries learn to
appropriate the Internet and create national conditions to use it appropriately? How can
they derive advantages from ICTs? The search for answers to these questions makes
Camacho to wonder whether the challenges presented by the questions should be a
priority task for organizations and governments, given the great needs facing people,
such as basic literacy, that may necessitate the promotion of electronic literacy.
Camacho’s concerns are partially answered by Canning (2000) who reiterates what
many have said over the years namely that the Internet promises to allow more
dissemination of ideas and technology that will grant developing countries easier access
to the skills and techniques needed to take advantage of globalization.
To conclude this section, Panos Institute (1998) warns developing countries on how the
so-called ‘digital-divide’ would widen due to their ignorance on some pertinent issues.
3. The Relationship between ICTs and Poverty
The relationship between ICTs and poverty does not come out clearly in most literature
sources. Pigato’s (2001) paper focuses on this relationship with empirical evidence from
sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia. Two objectives of the paper were first to
examine patterns of utilization, ownership and affordability of ICTs within countries in
SSA and South Asia. The second objective was to suggest ways through which
information and ICTs can best be used in poverty alleviation strategies. The data
sources for this undertaking included: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from 26
low income SSA and South Asian countries during 1991-99; two surveys of poor urban
and rural households in Nepal and India; two surveys of small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) in Tanzania and Botswana; and existing case studies of applications of ICTs in
rural areas from both SSA and South Asia. The author found that SSA and South Asia
have the lowest ICT access and within countries there is urban/rural and rich/poor
divide. Moreover, there is an unmet demand for information. Pigato points out that
private sector initiatives are most successful while those led by governments for rural
development have mixed results while the externally funded initiatives have numerous
drawbacks. The paper advocates the need for an integrated framework to develop
appropriate policies of access and diffusion of ICTs within developing countries, but
evidence shows that technology is not a goal in itself. Instead, it is a means for achieving
development goals.
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There are those who sincerely believe that ICTs have the potential to combat rural and
urban poverty and foster sustainable development (Samiullah & Rao, 2000). However,
this can only be achieved if ICTs are appropriately deployed and made to address the
differential needs of urban and rural people. The authors argue that successful ICT
interventions can only be achieved if there is an enabling environment, the participation
of the private sector and NGOs, the free flow of information, access by women, and
capacity building. They challenge governments to address the issue of the digital-divide
by first ensuring that there is synergy in projects regardless of sponsorship background.
Evidently, many authors write about ‘poverty’ and ‘rural areas’ on the assumption that
these terms are almost synonymous. Hudson’s (1984) volume was one of the first to
examine the role of telecommunications in rural development. While it seems obvious
that telecommunications contribute to the efficient operation and productive growth of an
economy, telecommunications may be a cause, a consequence, and a manifestation of
development. The purpose of this volume was to consolidate research in the field in
order to make it more widely available, and to put research questions and findings within
a development framework. Sixteen years later, Kenny et. al. (2000) conducted an
empirical study where they argued that econometric studies have found increasing
evidence of a causal link between telecommunications development and economic
development; however, most evidence springs from the high returns on investment in
the telecommunications sector. Some studies have extended these correlations to other
indicators, such as social development, cost savings for industry, and increased
transport efficiency. The Internet’s potential is discussed at micro-level, in the sense that
it provides an opportunity for firms and entrepreneurs to reduce costs, increase market
coverage, and achieve economies of scale.
After Hudson’s (1984) paper, she wrote one seventeen years later generally on the
same topic. On this occasion however, she argued that if information is critical to
development, then ICTs, as a means of sharing information, are not simply a connection
between people, but a link in the chain of the development process itself Hudson (2001).
ICTs can contribute to socio-economic development, but investments in them alone are
not enough for development to occur. Consequently, ICTs should complement other
infrastructure required for development such as clean water supply, transportation and
electrification.
The empirical studies cited on the contribution of ICTs to development are mostly drawn
from the USA with a cursory mention of an African study done in rural Senegal, Malawi
and Botswana (Kayani and Dymond, 1997). She cites examples of the benefits of
telecommunications from the developing world (mostly Asia and South America). The
examples used in the paper are categorised under agriculture and fisheries;
transportation savings; business and industry; distance education; and health services.
Hudson (1984), Wresch (1996) and Heeks (1999) believe that ICTs are simply a channel
for information exchange and dissemination. Hence, the principal focus should be
directed at ‘information’ per se. However, the researchers argue that information
exchange and dissemination are both critical. For this reason, one is not more important
than the other. The availability of information sources for the poor is an area that has
been addressed for years. Despite this interest, even when information is available, on
many occasions, the poor do not get access to it either due to poor infrastructure,
ignorance or illiteracy. In Wresch’s (1996) view, there are four information problems
frequently faced by the poor: geographic isolation, lack of communication channels,
11
language problems, and lack of computer systems. Two of these are directly ICT related
constraints, given the crucial role of communication channels and computer systems. In
the case of geographic isolation, the key message is that electronic links are used to
supplement face-to-face contact, not to replace it. Many poor suffer from lack of
communication beyond their local confines. Take the telephone, for example. It is the
main medium used for communication, but there are many places where telephone lines
do not exist. Where there are telephone lines, information follows.
In many poor countries, part of the problem is a combination of poverty and lack of
foreign aid. A relevant example in this regard is the case of Zimbabwe where five
European countries paid for digital exchanges, but these had to be from corporations in
their own countries. Given this requirement, Zimbabwe ended up with five different
exchange switches with five times the maintenance difficulties. In addition, they are only
being used to 40% of their capacity because of lack of local financing or foreign interest
to make more lines available to homes, even though the demand for these lines is there.
3.1
Old ICTs
There are many publications that have been written over the years since the 1970s
about the radio as the potential means of spreading information and educating the poor
in urban and rural areas. With the advent of new ICTs, many are still writing about the
radio, but they are being ‘swallowed’ by the wave advocating for new ICTs. Therefore, it
is still interesting to find authors such as Jensen (1999), Lamoureux (1999), Buckley
(2000), Kole (2000) and Kenny (2002) who have continued to expound on the benefits of
the radio in this information age. This review will not concentrate on publications on the
benefits of the radio since these are well documented. Instead, it will highlight a few from
recent years. Jensen (1999) and Lamoureux (1999) represent IDRC funded studies.
Jensen’s is simply a guide to using low-cost radio communication systems for
telecommunication from an African perspective. Lamoureux’s was a chapter in a
telecentre evaluation volume, though his focus was on Radionet, an example of how
community radio and telecentres can be used to enhance development.
Kenny’s (2002) contribution is on the costs and benefits of ICTs for poverty alleviation.
The author reviews the characteristics of the ‘average’ poor person in developing
countries, and suggests the potential that various old and new ICTs (radio, telephony
and the Internet) have for direct poverty alleviation. The analysis is pegged to the
premises that: they are poor; they are rural; they are unemployed or work as subsistence
farmers or unskilled wage labourers; they are badly educated; and they are part of
minority ethno-linguistic groups. The author attempts to quantify the significance of
barriers to the use of selected ICTs, and also some of the costs and benefits entailed in
the provision of ICTs.
Kole’s (2000) study on African women’s use of the Internet showed that many women’s
organizations repackage information from the Internet and redistribute it orally, via
traditional print publications, radio and television. With reference to television, it is not a
widely used example of current literature on ICTs compared to the radio. One example is
Calderoni (1998) who writes about ‘Telesecundaria’, a successful TV-based educational
programme in Mexico for the last 30 years, which has addressed rural education
demands. Initially, there was use of microwave technology which has since shifted to
broadcast satellite technology to deliver a complete junior secondary curriculum to
teachers and students in remote rural areas.
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The telephone is still widely used alongside the new ICTs. In this regard therefore, it
represents an important link between the old and the new ICTs. It is worth noting that
there are many studies that refer to ICTs in general when they are actually focused on
the telephone in the context of telecommunications.
3.2
New ICTs
Many studies in this review concur with the Economic Commission for Africa’s comment
that a number of donor agencies are making valuable contributions towards “developing
and implementing ICT policies in Africa” (ECA, 1999). The Commission specifically
commends IDRC's Acacia and the ECA's AISI projects. However, ECA 1999
concentrates heavily on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) publications
and Mike Jensen's Web site on the status of Internet connectivity in Africa, namely
<http://www3.wn.apc.org>. The conclusion to be drawn from the ECA work is that
emphasis is on telephony, Internet connectivity status and the major donor initiatives to
support ICT infrastructure. However, the publication also shows that some countries
have become popular sites for multiple projects and that action programmes should be
developed to provide an entry point to marginalized and disadvantaged countries. The
publication concludes that very few countries had embarked on the ICT policy
formulation process, while in many, the mechanism fell short of integrating social
considerations such as gender.
A similar study is Opoku-Mensah (1998) on current ICT initiatives in Africa and the role
of policies in this process. There have been several initiatives to improve
interconnectivity and networking in the continent, undertaken either by the private sector
or by the donor community. The major difference between this publication and ECA
(1999) is that Opoku-Mensah notes that very few have been initiated or supported by
African governments. In discussing the role of policies, the author emphasizes the need
for private investment in the ICT industry and greater liberalization of the
telecommunications sector. The AISI framework is suggested as a basis for capacitybuilding and policy-making, and South Africa is used as a model of an enabling
regulatory environment.
As for the issue of specific ICTs, Kling (1996) gives examples of the benefits that have
been brought by computer-based technologies and notes that computer systems are
one of the few technologies where the power and flexibility of the devices increase, while
the costs decrease by an order of magnitude every decade. However, he notes that
computerization is also the source of problems. The author notes that computers are
harder to work with than they really should be although the minor problems tend to
overshadow the social problems of great significance. In King’s view, much of what has
been written in the press identifies computer-based systems with cost savings,
efficiency, and productivity. Furthermore, many have emphasized that computer-based
systems are central to developing a dynamic economy, but this is still an area of
controversy, since such systems can lead to unemployment in certain industries. Some
of the areas he identifies as potentially debatable include the following issues although
many of them change focus over time.


Work life (can computers and telecommunications systems improve the flexibility
of work?).
Employment (how does computerization alter the structure of labour markets?).
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

The divisions within society (Are there ways to structure National Information
Infrastructure systems so that more people can participate in the mainstream of
society?).
Democratization (To what extent do computers and telecommunication systems
offer new opportunities to strengthen democracy through online access to the
records and reports of government departments?).
With regard to the Internet, there is a problem in examining its economic effects since it
has only been made available in many developing countries over the last five years. In
one study (Canning, 2000), to get some insight into the likely effects of the Internet, the
authors looked at a comparable technology, the telephone network and how it has
affected development over the last forty years. The telephone may not be as flexible as
the Internet but has had similar roles such as reducing communication costs, increasing
information flows, and increasing the extent of the market. The paper’s hypothesis was
that if the effects of improvements in communications technology are large, then these
should be clear as countries adopt telephone systems. Through a cross-country study of
growth rates, using the initial level of telephone stocks as an explanatory variable, it
emerged that even though telephones are found to be important in some specifications,
the result is not robust and specifications can be found where the number of telephones
does not appear to matter. Similar results were found for education. The study observed
that “if we add ad hoc explanatory variables that do not determine growth, but which are
correlated with the telephone stock, we find it difficult to distinguish the causal linkages
we are seeking. This leads us to a theory-based model in which telephones enter into a
production function, along with other inputs, to determine output.” (Canning 2000: xxxx)
Before the meeting of the World Telecommunication Policy Forum in March 1998, Panos
Institute wrote an informative paper that highlighted the need to reform the international
accounting rate system (Panos Institute: 1998). The paper gives a review of the
International Accounting Rate system and why it matters. One issue raised in the paper
is that poor countries benefit, but the poorest benefit the least – and may suffer the most.
The paper also examines the arguments surrounding this issue. The article emphasizes
that completing international telephone calls for some developing countries is their
biggest ‘export’ industry because many charged a high price for completing calls from
other countries so they can improve telecommunications in their own countries.
Some have argued that rapid reduction in the accounting rate revenues would lead to
increased domestic prices for consumers in developing countries and it is the poorest
who will suffer the most. With this proposed reduction, the giant telecoms companies in
the West would have increased profits but tithes will affect operators in developing
countries (Panos Institute, 1998). There is an argument that US operators lose almost
US$6 billion annually on “above-cost” payments to other countries. Consequently, they
introduced their own systems of the limits US operators can pay those in other countries.
Some believe however that the US is trying to use the issue to impose its own authority
on the lucrative global telecommunications market. On the other hand, the EU has
abandoned the accounting rate system for telephone traffic within its own borders, which
could lead to major reductions in accounting rate payments in other countries. A different
reference to cost structures is from Mansell & Wehn (1998) who noted that costs of
using networks once they are in place are still prohibitive for many in the developing
countries. Therefore, measures are needed to introduce pricing structures that
encourage greater use. They draw examples from the experiences of the Dominican
Republic and Colombia.
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Although Proenza’s (2002) paper is focused on Latin America, many of the
recommendations are applicable to other developing countries. He notes that ICT
development strategies in Latin America must address the central challenge facing the
region: poverty and persistent and pervasive inequality. The author claims that no one
knows how possible this is because there is still a lot of trial and error as the constraints
on ICT expansion in the region are overwhelming. In his view “what is clear is that
economy wide returns to ICTs are high; that unless the issue of poverty takes centre
stage, new rich enclaves will arise and leave poverty largely untouched, and that State
action can help determine the extent to which ICT benefits are broadly shared.”
(Proenza, 2002:6). In this regard, the example given is that connectivity to the Internet
can enable low-cost access to governmental services, agricultural products, market
information, project and local investment opportunities, job vacancies, distant education
and community development networks.
The paper recommends an e-ForAll, a strategic public policy guide on the application of
ICTs in the fight against poverty. It is founded on three principles: first, ICTs have the
potential to improve the livelihoods of low income people by reducing costs of providing
services to the poor; second, the policy would put ICTs at the service of all in the society
by encouraging concrete programmes to open opportunities for the poor and empower
them; and finally, ICT development for socioeconomic change needs huge state support
and financing, but ICT initiatives to combat poverty must be suited to the low productivity
environment in which they are applied.
This can be confirmed by Kibati’s (1999) research on access to communication services
for the low-income, mostly rural and poor, population in Kenya. Its setting was a situation
where there was a lack of, or inadequate, information infrastructure. He proposed a cost
model that contrasts GSM and CDMA networks. The author investigated current ICTs as
well as the projected evolution towards more advanced technologies that are capable of
handling broadband data communication. The model conceived determines that CDMA
deployments instil flexibility and better evolutionary properties to the network without the
burden of extra costs for the operator. He recommends that the Kenyan government
should de-link wireless local loop regulation from the regulation of wire based local
access and allow the immediate private provision of fixed wireless local loop services.
The research was a combination of on-desk research, sensitivity analyses and baseline
parameters.
In another study where the methodology was clearly described, de Boer and Walbeek
(1998) designed a project to bridge the information gap between the North and the
South. The project focused on how the application of telematics (defined as a
combination of telecommunications and informatics) in developing countries could be
improved, with special emphasis on connectivity issues. They used questionnaires in
twenty countries to assess and quantify the current status of telematics – for example,
trends and supporting/inhibiting factors, telematics service provision, and the application
of telematics. In-depth studies were then conducted in six countries, three of them in
Africa (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. SWOT analysis was used to assess the
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the telematics environment of each
country. Generally, it was found that the telematics sector was characterized by small,
vulnerable organizations with committed employees. The main threats were in the weak
telecommunications infrastructure, limited energy supply, restrictive laws, low purchasing
power, computer illiteracy and lack of awareness.
15
In Ethiopia, for example, the findings showed that the government did not allow private
companies to provide telematics and that PADIS was the only connectivity provider (de
Boer and Walbeek, 1998). It was therefore recommended that the Dutch development
organizations should concentrate on the installation of off-line telematic nodes in the
major cities and the provision of shared facilities. In Zimbabwe, several connectivity
providers existed in Harare, but development organizations could still help by setting up
a communication centre for small enterprises, by financing the purchase of computer
equipment and by supporting training programmes for public administration. They could
also support a provider to set up a node in other cities. In Burkina Faso, the sector was
dominated by ORSTOM, and access to ICTs by many in the country was still a major
challenge. According to de Boer and Walbeek (1998), the role for donor agencies in this
country would be to provide subsidies for the use of computers, and to donate
equipment, give training and help in the establishment of communication centres. Many
aspects in the study are based on what is meant to happen and not really on what has
happened though the suggestions were focused on help to poor areas.
Although Boon et. al.’s (1994) study is not directed at poverty, it is based on a useful
methodology/framework which they used in the case of South Africa to measure the
information economy. By emphasizing that the framework must satisfy macro-economic
principles and simultaneously accommodate the unique nature and characteristics of
information, the authors apply an information science as well as an economic
perspective to this framework. They argue that past efforts (in the 1980s) to determine
the contribution of the information-based activities in the economy had many
shortcomings. For example, the quantification of the information sector was not based
on in-depth research. A standard methodology was lacking, and as a consequence it is
difficult to compare results at national and international levels. In addition, information
activities are considered in the context of total economic activities, but it is necessary to
demarcate information, even though it is intertwined in all economic sectors.
4. Case Studies on ICTs and Poverty
Schon et al. (1999) wrote that to design policies that would capture the benefits of ICTs
for the poor, there is the need to understand that poverty is not simply lack of adequate
income. Their thesis – though based on low-income communities in the USA – is that the
poor are hurt more by exclusion from the mainstream economy and society, and feel
disempowered to improve their situation. In many situations, it does make them feel like
they have no useful valid knowledge to offer. To some extent, this is true of many in the
developing world, when they try to lobby or bring their issues across to those in the
developed world who hold the purse-strings and decision-making powers on many
critical issues.
The authors concluded that the poor, even if provided with access to IT are unlikely to
transform themselves from consumers to producers of knowledge because IT reinforces
for the poor the idea that machines know more than they do. The truth of this cannot be
fully argued in the context of their book. From an African perspective, Butcher (1998)
suggested that the repetition of rhetorical statements on the developmental potential of
ICTs has started to ring hollow, raising more questions than answers. The following is an
attempt to answer some of their concerns from existing literature, although some were
written after their papers were published.
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As far back as 1996, the National Research Council (1996) published a collection of the
personal accounts from individuals in Africa who had played important roles in
introducing new information technologies into their institutions. These accounts
illustrated the steps they took to bridge the gap between the ‘information-haves’ and the
‘information have-nots’ and to build bridges between their countries and the worldwide
movements related to the global information infrastructure (GII).
In another study, some researchers had attempted to review the impact of ICTs on
development programmes (CSIR, 1996). The authors were limited as they only had one
month to conduct research so they used sample surveys and made preliminary
conclusions. However, it helped indicate that a number of important developments were
in the early stages of their various cycles. They noted that small-scale businesses were
currently one of the fastest growing and important sectors in sub-Saharan Africa as far
as job creation was concerned, but it is the sub-sector which most lags behind in the use
of ICTs. They found that many ICT-based projects for the benefit of small, medium and
micro-enterprises (SMMEs) were being planned and new opportunities were emerging.
However, in many cases not enough time has elapsed since, for instance, a full Internet
service was installed, and for projects to come to fruition. Therefore, the examples below
are the products of a few years later.
One of the only researched studies, which relates to ICTs and small enterprises was
conducted by Duncombe and Heeks (1999). The study was done in Botswana, where
the authors found that investment for Internet access was significant in terms of initial
financial outlay, running costs, time and skills. Such investments need to be
accompanied by significant benefits in terms of the frequency of use and the quality of
the information provided. It was clear that only in specific sectors – such as technical
services, the IT sector, and travel and tourism – could benefits of information access be
achieved. These are all sectors that require regular access to information and/or
software across borders. The researchers note that information-related interventions by
entrepreneurs or institutions must recognize the critical and continuing role to be played
by informal information systems and human interaction. They concluded that a holistic
approach to the information economy is required which provides information skills,
communication skills and assistance with improving organic-, literate- and intermediatetechnology based systems as well as the more obvious ICT-focused areas. The role
perceived for ICTs in this process lies in the context of the overall information needs of
the enterprises, using three main decision criteria: prioritising ICTs in overall business
development; assessing how ICTs can be successfully and cost effectively applied; and
establishing how ICT constraints can be overcome.
An example of another study is Owen and Darkwa’s (1999) paper that purports to depict
how telecentres have contributed to development in Ghana. However, the core of the
study is an examination of the development and potential sustainability of small business
communication centres in Ghanaian cities. The paper was the result of an investigation
into the extent to which these enterprises were using modern communication tools to
provide services, and their impact on rural development. The findings showed that, even
though users were willing to pay for the training or use of the technology available in
these communication centres, a number could not. As these are small businesses, there
is still need for subsidies. Owen and Darkwa argue that financial assistance could also
be used to offer other services and thus stimulate awareness and more demand. This
could produce a spin-off of a wider user base, hence bringing in more money and
providing an avenue to self-sustainability. The authors found that public-private
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partnerships are still the best approach for ICT development – as exemplified for
instance by post office Internet services, in which public money guides private initiatives
and resources to meet public purposes. From Senegal, Sagna’s (2001) paper was not
specifically on telecentres, but on the general development of ICTs in Senegal. He
argues that the development of ICTs in the country should be studied in the context in
which these developments are taking place, where for example, there are declining living
standards faced by the population. His contribution includes experiences of community
telecentres and other approaches intended to increase access.
Another paper not based on empirical research like that of Duncombe and Heeks (1999)
is Mureithi (2000) which is one of several chapters about ALPID, a Youth Leadership
Programme on ICTs for Community Development in Africa. Mureithi discusses the
technical feasibility of implementing ALPID. The programme’s targets were small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at the threshold of excellence in terms of product
quality, product standards, market orientation, and export promotion. ALPID also
targeted rural communities with limited information sources, with a view to helping them
acquire information for health, hygiene, and responsible community living. In addition,
ALPID was to mobilize information resources generated through local research on
indigenous systems of production, biotechnology, and environment management.
Additionally, it was to identify potential end-users of this information, disseminate it and
commercialize it in the long run. It was not clear whether this programme was eventually
implemented.
On a similar note though in general terms, O'Farrell (1999) uses secondary sources on
new communication technologies and existing information systems of small-scale
farmers and entrepreneurs in rural communities. The author enquires, through case
studies, whether and how ICTs might further marginalise poor communities, and whether
and how modern ICTs can be used to strengthen and develop the information systems
of small-scale farmers and small-scale enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries and
contribute to poverty reduction.
There are some success stories that highlight the need for optimism on what the poor
could achieve by having access to information technologies. The following are various
examples of how the poor are using ICTs (more so IT) to their advantage. One is AddoDankwa (2002) who says: many ask, "What has a farmer got to do with a computer?” He
gives examples of a project that has been utilised in Ghana with a focus on how ICTs
can support small and medium scale farmers to increase their revenues and improve
their farming practices by making it possible for them to access information on regional
market developments and international agricultural know how. Hazan (2002) discusses
small-scale artisans from the remote parts of Middle East and North Africa Region who
have traditionally crafted high quality products using traditional techniques. The problem
that had arisen was that their knowledge is disappearing and this is affecting their
incomes. However, they have attempted to reverse the trend by using Virtual Souk, an
e-commerce initiative that has created opportunities for these artisans. The Souk is a
pioneering programme which shows how small producers in developing countries can
access high-income markets, though the author warns that there are potential obstacles
that others will have to deal with if they start similar initiatives, such as, the hidden costs
of marketing and the need for quality control.
One example from Peru is Quipunet. It is a global virtual network, using mostly e-mail to
communicate and is a financially self-sustaining project (Delgado et.al. 2002). The main
18
objective of Quipunet is "to channel resources, materials and knowledge available all
over the world to people in need in South America, with emphasis on Peru". The virtual
network assists in the development of affordable communication networks, promotes the
development of educational programmes and helps support professionals residing in
Peru to disseminate Peru's indigenous medicines and its Inca heritage to the global
market. Their message is that simple ICT, combined with a lot of personal effort can
bridge the gap that developing countries are facing against the growth of the new
technologies. The key lessons are that the focus should not be on high technology, but
on co-operation and communication. It is significant that the participatory nature of the
project enhanced community interest in it. Another lesson was the importance of relying
on their own funding first, in exchange for their independence. Now that it works well,
Quipunet is ready to look for external support for further development. The final lesson
was the importance of learning by doing which has made it possible for many volunteers
to acquire basic and practical knowledge of ICTs.
This, in turn, has led to unexpected results in the form of ICT-based initiatives like EConnexions, Electronic Commerce Information Exchange (ECIE a non-profit
organisation with the mission to help small businesses learn about computers and
Internet), TortasPeru, RadioAndina and Dimension Global (Delgado et.al. 2002). Those
who benefited from Quipunet founded these companies. The initiative has been a
success in bringing strange bedfellows (housewives, students, architects, engineers and
so on) together is that only e-mail; the simplest Internet technology is used to
communicate. One hindrance has been the creation and maintenance of a
communication access channel for people in rural areas. Regardless of the development
of telecentres (‘cabinas publicas’), the communication channels constantly breakdown.
For this reason, Quipunet members still have to resort to the use of telephone, fax, or
even "chasquis" (messengers in the time of the Incas) to carry documents to the rural
areas, a clear indication that there is still a gap even within the country where the use of
ICTs is spreading rapidly.
Other general examples include CICEANA (2002) who created a distribution network, in
order to access multidisciplinary data and information on environmental concerns. They
found that access to this type of information increases the understanding and awareness
of those causing impacts, helps to empower those affected, and intensifies public
scrutiny of the public agencies charged with environmental protection responsibilities.
The most oft- cited example of a success story is that of the Grameen bank. It has been
highly discussed in the popular press and research papers. Notable works in this respect
include Ahmed (1998), Bayes et. al. (1999), Camp & Anderson (1999), Lawson &
Meyenn (2000), Telecommons Development Group (2000), and UNCTAD (2001). The
story is how members of the Grameen Bank (GB) of Bangladesh, the village-based
micro-finance organization, have changed their lives with access to the telephone.
Grameen Bank's members form the backbone of Grameen Telecom, with women in
villages being offered loans to buy cellular phones at taka 18,100 a piece (385 dollars).
They are then able to rent the sets out to other villagers on a commercial basis. The GB
refers to these phones as ‘Village Pay Phones’ (VPPs). The effects of VPPs are
assessed from two angles: sellers of services (telephone lessees/owners) and buyers of
services (villagers). Grameen Telecom moved in where the monopoly public telephone
company had failed in rural Bangladesh.
19
Bayes et. al. (1999) have one of the few researched papers on the Grameen Bank
initiative. One of their objectives was to ascertain how and to what extent the VPPs can
promote the socio-economic uplift of the villagers, especially the poor. Generally they set
out to determine how VPPs affect rural development and poverty reduction. Surveys
were conducted with both owners (50 people from 50 different villages which is 60% of
all VPP owners at the time) and users (400 people from a random list provided by the
phone owners which was 27% of all users). The authors explain how the poor were
selected to make the 400. In this connection, they used the FAO measurement of
moderate poverty which is indicated by an intake of less than 2112 calories a day and
the extreme poor with an intake of 1812 calories. To identify those in these two
categories, they used the income-based method. Primary data was then collected using
structured questionnaires and focus-group discussions and a few intensive case studies.
Specifically Bayes et. al.’s (1999) study concludes that pragmatic policies can turn
telephones into production goods, especially by lowering transaction costs, so that
services originating from telephones in villages are likely to deliver significant benefits to
the poor. VPPs have perceptible and positive effects on the empowerment and social
status of phone-leasing women and their households. They also offer additional noneconomic benefits such as improved law enforcement and more rapid and effective
communication during disasters.
The Digital Economy event focused on the new opportunities that ICTs are opening up
for economic diversification and growth in the LDCs (UNCTAD, 2001). The
website/publication contains a series of presentations on successful e-business
initiatives developed in LDCs in three sectors, namely products and services,
teleservices, as well as e-commerce infrastructure facilities. It was hoped that these
could provide replicable examples of how to exploit new comparative advantages
created by e-commerce in the LDCs. The presentations were from Canada, Ethiopia,
Uganda, Togo, Ghana, Nepal and Bangladesh (Grameen Bank example).
In another study, Adam (1996) presents a case study of a project he was involved in for
the electronic networking of the research community in Ethiopia. The major challenge
was in the selection of appropriate hardware that could work with poor telephone lines.
The major benefit of the project was the development of a new 'tool' that would not
attract the high communication costs associated with fax, telephone and other
conventional systems. In addition, there were improved opportunities for training that
resulted in an expansion of knowledge in the field and improved skills. Some of the
lessons learned included: building as many Local Area Networks (LANs) as possible;
starting good network management practices from the beginning; ensuring interactivity
of networks; assisting in building local information sources; and encouraging reasonable
payment for the sustainability of the network.
Opoku-Mensah (1998) is about the 'Learning Without Frontiers' programme in
Zimbabwe, which was supported by UNESCO and Danish International Development
Assistance (DANIDA). The objective of this programme was to help teacher-training
colleges contribute to educational reform by upgrading students' IT skills and
establishing resource centres for teaching materials. The impact of the project was
evidenced in schools that started using Internet resources for teaching, with some
developing personal Web sites. However, some of the problems faced were predictable,
such as technical problems and participants' relative lack of experience in using
computers (even though the selection of participants was supposedly based on past
20
experience with this technology). The author recommends basic training in computer
applications before such an undertaking. One lesson derived from this study is that the
impact of IT depends on attitudes, expectations, organization and management. The
lesson is a research-worthy area, and is consistent with the concerns raised by
Duncombe and Heeks (1999). The author, with reference to research on ICTs, says that
there needs to be a more effective mechanism for disseminating results.
Lush & Rushwaya (2000) edited a book that contains a few analytical articles already
highlighted in this review under individual authors. It also has seven case studies from
Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe.
Specific examples include how ICTs were used to sort out an election/poll controversy in
Malawi and how the author found that it is a lot easier — and cheaper — to send e-mail
from the wilderness than it is to post a letter. One example is Mbvundula (2000) from
Malawi, who joined the IT industry 20 years ago because the career presented her with
a challenge. In this article, Mbvundula reflects on the trials and tribulations of starting
and running an IT company in a country like Malawi. She describes how she believes
new technology can contribute to the development of her motherland, not least through
the innovative use of Intranets, and the conversion of ICTs from "mere fads into practical
development tools".
One would be misled to think that Kenney & Hendi (2000) is about the use of ICTs in the
rural areas because of its title ‘The Village Well’. It was a project aimed at exploring the
power of the Internet and to assess the extent to which ICTs can be a useful part of
CIDA’s assistance programmes for international development. The paper draws on V.
Cerf’s quotation at INET ’96 that “the Internet is what happens to you while you are
planning something else”. The ‘well’ is metaphorical while the ‘village’ is with reference
to Marshall McLuhan’s global village. They set off to launch an ICT electronic
discussion/survey and asked how ICTs could be used for sustainable development and
were shocked at the responses from all over the world, including 15 developing
countries and this is where the ‘village well’ came in, a place where people of the global
village met to dialogue as a community around a common interest. Contributions ranged
from the suggestion that ICTs can be used to disseminate vital development information,
though the draw-back would be that many may not get access to it because they cannot
afford it. The main lesson was that “the World Wide Web is not only a means of
accessing and publishing information; more importantly, it is a powerful tool for creating
and stimulating dialogue.
5. ICTs and Poverty Reduction Issues
Mayer’s (2000) and Navas-Sabater (2000) discuss the challenges facing the
implementation of ICT networks and services in rural areas. Mayer’s (2000) is based on
the work of the ITU-D Focus Group 7, while Navas-Sabater (2000) targets the World
Bank. The challenges that are the subject of these papers have been enumerated in
most literature sources and include: equipment installation; lack of mains power supply;
lack of funds for initial capital investment, operation and maintenance; affordable
coverage; lack of technical support and computer repair facilities; multiple players in ICT
design and implementation. Mayer’s (2000) recommendations include ways to fight
poverty using ICTs, which include the need to promote the development of low-cost
information appliances and create a renewable energy handbook on small-scale power
systems for rural ICTs. On the other hand, Navas-Sabater (2000) suggests some
alternative models to bridge the access gap. These include monopoly or having a
21
dominant operator with rural service obligations; rural operators; regional concessions
for rural and urban service; mobile operators with a rural mandate; cooperatives owned
by subscribers; and Universal Access Funds.
Some other ways to fight poverty using ICTs include the fight against child malnutrition
by ensuring information is available to the household, especially the mothers
(Chowdhury, 2000a). To sum up, the author says ICTs are relevant to each of the
following imperatives in the context of poverty alleviation: creating marketable skills
among poor young workers; making it possible to impact literacy and numeracy to
children of poor parents; giving policymakers access to real-time information and bestpractice knowledge from the Web; reducing private and public search and transaction
costs; responding to environmental modifiers; fostering diversification of the economy;
using spatially-sensitive informational strategies for poverty alleviation programmes; and
harnessing the capability to mount early-warning information systems.
A key finding in the UNDP (2000) report on overcoming poverty was that ineffective
governance often short-circuits the connection between anti-poverty efforts and poverty
reduction. The recommendation is to shift decision-making closer to poor communities.
Moreover, since poverty is a multidimensional problem, it should be addressed
multisectorally – across government ministries and departments. The problem is that
most programmes on poverty reduction are left to Ministries of Social Affairs, which tend
to lack authority over other ministries. In addition, many governments cannot report how
much funding goes to poverty reduction because they often confuse social spending with
poverty-related spending. In a subsequent publication, UNDP (2001), it is stated that
through the Digital Opportunity Initiative (DOI), poor countries can use technology and
the Internet to create jobs, lure investment, and disseminate information on a wide range
of human needs, which can lead to improvements in living standards in the process. The
report recommends new policies and cites examples of successful government and
project models.
Some of the poverty reduction factors in the literature can be found in studies such as,
Dymond (2000). It is argued in the study that most households and businesses in rural
areas of southern Africa want, and can afford basic telephone services provided by a
commercial operator at a potential profit to the latter. Therefore, the challenge to
governments – to meet their universal access goals – and to regulators is to develop
constructive policies and regulations guided by sound business practice to ensure that
private telephone companies are able to provide rural communities with telephone
services for socio-economic development. The discussion on government and regulator
intervention is also addressed by Marcelle (2000), whose paper reads more like a
conclusion to this review. She argues that development in Southern Africa cannot be
guaranteed simply by importing foreign-made ICT goods and services. This stance is
relevant to developing countries generally. The important prerequisites are policies and
strategies that suit the region’s unique circumstances that are often characterised by
complex competing public and private interests. The balance between these competing
interests can only be achieved by governments and regulators determined to ensure that
core development objectives are in tandem with those of the ICT sector. However,
success in creating the right balance can only be achieved by involving everyone,
particularly poor and marginalised people in the process.
In another paper, Dymond & Oestmann (2002) offer a basic conceptual and practical
foundation for discussing the role of ICTs in uplifting poor communities. They say the
22
problem is between rich and poor, and urban and rural/remote areas. In addition, not all
ICTs are easily delivered or assimilated in poor or remote areas, for both technical and
operational reasons. Yet, the poor must have access to information to develop, as
access is no longer a luxury for a few. They argue that even the poor are willing to send
money to use information-related services (further evidence from Kayani and Dymond,
1997). Consequently, the problem to be addressed by policymakers is not that of
affordability but that of supply strategy and policy. Given this contention, they suggest a
structural way of addressing digital-divide issues and the expected response from
policymakers. They report on rural telecommunications developments in Uganda as a
potential model for other countries in Africa to consider. They believe that the only way
to address the needs of poorer communities for ICT development is to enact
complementary polices and the measures in this context include: good regulation and
favourable ‘interconnection rules’; universal service and universal access funds; special
licenses for companies; and incentives and rewards for technology companies and
service providers to contribute resources to projects that benefit poorer areas and
communities similar to what Dymond had written in the year 2000.
6. ICTs and Selected Thematic Areas.
6.1 ICTs and Agriculture
In many developing countries, the population lives in the rural areas and depends on
agriculture for their livelihood. In addition, the sector accounts for most country’s exports.
Many studies exist on the use of agricultural systems, but not necessarily in relation to
ICTs. Therefore, it is only worthwhile to assess what examples there are in the literature
of the link between use of ICTs and agriculture in poor countries. Some can be found in
Richardson (1996), Richardson (1997), Truelove (1998) Chaparro (1999), McConnell
(2000) and Munyua (2000).
The FAO pioneered a 'communication for development' approach for catalysing Internet
services for rural stakeholders, an approach that began with the needs of people in rural
and agricultural communities (Richardson, 1996). This approach was based on the
premise that the Internet offers a bridge to the gaps between development professionals
and rural people. The report details possible projects, which had the potential to be
linked with Internet activities, and includes countries in North, West and Southern Africa.
From Asia, UNDP (2002) gives examples from India on how information technologies
have been used in poverty eradication especially in connection with the needs of women
farmers. These range from information concerning agronomic practices and farming
methods, to information on how to access and use new technologies, or market news
and agricultural commodity prices. Other information is on weather predictions and
rainfall patterns, recommended crops for the season as well as information on meetings
and workshops on relevant issues. It is argued that women farmers generally remain
isolated from the mainstream of agricultural training, research and development, partly
due to their limited literacy levels. The UNDP proposed to address this issue by
processing and disseminating information through a computerised network.
The report indicates that a pilot initiative in 30 mandals of Andhra Pradesh would be
undertaken, with UNDP providing funds for 15 centres and the Government of Andhra
Pradesh or other donors financing the remainder. The success of the project will
determine whether to mobilise additional resources to expand the experiment. A
23
database of relevant information will be maintained and updated at a central hub, which
can be accessed through a network of computers in information centres which will be
located in the office of the Mandal Agricultural Officer. The plan is to equip these centres
with networked computers with Internet access. Each centre will be run by two women,
who have completed the basic course of learning at the Mahila Shikshan Kendras
(women's learning centres). The impact of this project is yet to be assessed but it is
another means of empowering women that is comparable to the Grameen bank.
In another study on women and agriculture from Africa, Munyua (2000) analyses the key
problems facing women in the agricultural sector, particularly the communication issue,
though this was dealt with as a parallel issue. The author's argument is basically that
African farmers face similar problems, but women farmer’s face more profound. The
author asserts that traditional and modern ICTs could be used concurrently to speed up
the circulation of information. The problems identified range from a lack of supportive
policies, to the issues of land ownership and limited access to credit. The issue of ICTs
is revisited in an argument that a lack of 'reliable and comprehensive' information is a
'major hindrance to agricultural development’. The author goes on to claim that available
local information is packaged in a raw form and is thus difficult to access or to use. This
thesis is contrary to Kole’s (2000) study in which she found that African women’s
organizations repackage information from the Internet and redistribute it orally, via
traditional print publications, radio and television. The question is which women are the
recipients of the distributed information? Does it mean the women in rural areas like
those discussed by Munyua (2000) have no access to this information?
By way of comparison, Chaparro (1999) reviews the initiatives and plans of the Global
Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), an initiative to promote a Global System for
Agricultural Research based on cost-effective partnerships and strategic alliances
among the key players involved in agricultural research. The forum states that in order to
take advantage of the opportunities created by the new ICTs, it is necessary to develop
an ICT capacity in the NARS (National Agricultural Research Systems) of the developing
world. It includes some complementary aspects which are widely listed in most
references, such as: infrastructure development, Internet access, acquisition of ICT skills
and human resources (training). The author believes that the most important ingredient
in building up an ICT capacity has to do with strengthening information management
know-how and addressing cultural changes.
6.2 ICTs, Culture and Governance
Mitter (1998) argues that ICTs need a holistic evaluation in order to establish its
appropriateness. She believes that in an ideal world, universal access to information
would create a global information society, but since knowledge will hardly be global, the
mode of interpretation will depend on the culture or tradition of people and societies.
There are those who believe that ‘cultural beliefs’ are a hindrance to the adoption of
ICTs in many poor areas. These include Janczewski (1992), Ryckeghem (1995), Manji
et.al. (1998), Qureshi (1998), Morales-Gomez & Melesse (1998) and Hasan & Dista
(1999).
One debatable study is that of Janczewski (1992) who wrote on the results of a threeyear study in West Africa (the specific countries are not clearly identified). He examined
two issues closely: the potential technical, economic and cultural problems in the
24
implementation of IT, and possible solutions that may enable investors to achieve higher
levels of effectiveness. ‘Temperature, humidity and sterility’ are given as imperatives for
electronic equipment to work effectively in Africa. However, while environmental
concerns may be important to highlight, they are not the main issues highlighted in other
studies. With reference to the IT technical environment, Janczewski listed power supply,
telecommunications and maintenance issues as the main infrastructural problems. The
author appears to discuss socio-cultural issues in a very general manner. It is true that
computers are products of Western civilization, and anyone who wants to implement
them must be aware of cultural differences. It is the case however that computers are
merely tools.
A different study, namely Ryckeghem (1995) provides a framework for understanding
how information technology (IT) and cultures interact. In the study, culture is used as a
'diagnostic' instrument. He highlights the ways in which culture influences IT and how IT
influences culture, with culture providing the condition for interpreting IT's utility. The
simultaneous interplay between these three levels is referred to as ‘IT practice’.
Ryckeghem asserts that IT may not increase the productivity level of some workers
whose culture is ingrained in communality and is reflected in their work environment and
information-seeking behaviour. Generally, many Africans would prefer to consult
colleagues or friends rather than visit a library or documentation centre. How does one
transform such an information culture? With IT? With the Internet? His conclusion is that
it is important to understand the work practices, organizational structure and concurrent
attitudes in the African environments where IT is being introduced or has been
introduced. This train of thought is similar to that of Hasan and Dista (1999).
Hasan and Dista (1999) compared the relationship between culture and the adoption of
IT in West Africa and the Middle East. The purpose was to raise questions for further
research. Eight cultural dimensions were contrasted with those in a developed country,
Australia, where the authors reside. The eight cultural dimensions used were based on
the work of Hofstede. 2 In considering the factors for the adoption of IT, the researchers
argued that, despite its importance to the success of IT projects, culture is the most
difficult to isolate, define and measure. They used qualitative methodology and took
particular care to select, where possible, representatives of the local IT community rather
than foreign advisers or members of multi-national corporations. Data were mostly textbased and comprised organizational documents and transcripts of semi-structured
interviews with IT staff at all levels. In West Africa, the study concentrated on Ghana,
where the authors noted that the government was receptive to IT developments. From
their conclusions, every country must have an IT policy that recognizes its culture and
ensure that the adoption of IT does not destroy the cultural heritage. It seems that
problems arise when there is a difference between 'the culture of an IT product and the
culture of its user'.
Manji et. al. (1998) and Qureshi (1998) combine advocacy and governance issues with
that of culture and the acceptance of ICTs. Manji et. al. (1998) surveyed 103 human
rights and advocacy organizations in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique,
Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe to assess the feasibility of a programme
for enhancing organizational capacity. This included an assessment of technical
capacities and training needs. ICT in this study refers mainly to the use of computers
and, more specifically, the Internet. The authors used structured interviews and focus2
G. Hofstede (1991) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. London: McGraw-Hill
25
group discussions with organizations individually and in groups. The findings are
arranged into size of organization, availability of computers, availability of modem,
access to computers, Internet access and training, sources of income, and technical
knowledge of ICTs. Some of the findings, common to every country, include the wide
disparity between organizations in their access to the Internet. Those with access
‘hoarded’ it and created even greater divergence between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.
The researchers found very few examples of a culture of sharing – of either the
resources or the information – with those who are poorly resourced. In their brief
analysis, they attribute this to the organizations being brought up in a culture of
‘information starvation’ with the sudden access to the Internet leading to information
overload and a desire to consume everything while ‘hoarding’. They recommend that
organizations should not simply be provided with basic training in the use of the Internet,
but should be trained in how to develop effective research capabilities.
Qureshi (1998) also has a conclusion similar to that of Manji et. al. (1998), that access
and sharing of information are enabling factors in building civil associations in Africa but
a ‘culture of communication and sharing of information’ needs to be developed before
effective networking among civil servants can have any significant impact. According to
Qureshi, electronic communication has the potential to empower civil society by fostering
networking among civil servants involved in public administration reform. It is many of
these people who have access to, or can access information the poor need to better
their lives. The case study given is on the development of GOVERNET (an African
administrative reform network) intended to target key considerations that drive the need
to build civil associations. It is the author's assessment that the major problems affecting
public administrations throughout Africa relate to the structural inefficiencies that render
the bureaucracies incapable of carrying out their functions. Some of the common
problems of using IT in many African countries are listed and discussed, such as high
costs of government-owned packet data networks. The Commonwealth Network of
Information Technology (COMNET-IT) developed the GOVERNET project. The main
objectives were to utilize and add value to existing electronic networks operating within
Commonwealth countries in Africa, to develop a line of professional collaboration, and to
provide access to information about administrative and managerial reforms. Responses
from some of the participating institutions showed that successful use of IT had to be
demand-driven. Often, it was the initiative of an individual that pushed for the use and
development of electronic communications, and in some institutions there was genuine
fear of machines becoming obsolete if that individual left.
An issue closely related to governance is based on Myers's perspective that the
technological needs of sub-Saharan Africa raise significant human rights concerns
(Myers, 1998). She makes use of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related
documents, arguing that any introduction of IT must be accomplished with these rights in
mind – for example, the right to development of the personality in cultural, economic and
social spheres. Only a small percentage of sub-Saharan Africa's population has access
to advanced ICTs. Therefore, Myers argued that the concentration of information
technologies (IT) in certain sectors of the population removes desperately needed
economic resources from a portion of the population in need and denies those without
access the ability to realize their human rights. She concludes: “the solution is far from
easy because sub-Saharan Africa lacks not only the monetary funding, but also the
proper education and tools to implement change. Technologists and those able to
implement change are severely lacking in sub-Saharan African nations.” IT (with
reference to computers) is thus capable of helping African citizens realize their basic
26
rights by transmitting information on relevant issues and enhancing their knowledge in
relation to new systems and programmes that can benefit the community and the nation
as a whole.
In contrast, Ningo (1999) wonders how ICTs can assist African countries in the process
of good governance. Bad governance has accelerated poverty in many countries. The
primary challenge lies in the re-examination and rebuilding of the processes of
governance. ICTs can only play an important secondary role once a system of good
governance is in place. Governance should be content-driven, not technology-driven.
The author argues that his study was ‘prospective’ in that there were limited concrete
data on the cause-effect relationship between ICTs and good governance. However,
there is a widespread belief that, if properly used, ICTs can assist in achieving good
governance. The obstacles to applying ICTs to good governance are analysed under the
following headings: government opposition, confiscation, censorship, universal access,
legal issues, and others ranging from education to infrastructure (Ningo, 1999). From
this study, governance in Africa is driven by the hegemonic drive for power exemplified
by the ponderous bureaucracy of the state. The problem with governance is human, not
technological; it is not due to the lack of application of ICTs. The author concludes that,
unless the foundations for good governance are firmly in place, ICTs will not solve the
underlying problems of human attitudes that determine the course of good governance.
Khasiani (2000) and Opoku-Mensah (2000) both discuss governance issues, ICTs and
women. Khasiani (2000) is about a project on 'Women and Governance' but its focus is
on the role of ICTs within this project. The setting for the project was Kakamega and
Makueni districts in Western and Eastern Kenya. She argues that the new development
paradigm emphasizes partnerships between the state, the market and civil society. This
results in existing gaps, especially in civic knowledge and in skills needed to use ICTs,
and these gaps set a new agenda for development work. The author assumes that
'women's lack of access to information is a reflection of the disparity in women's and
men's access to development resources'. She presents a table of the gender-based
disparities in all policy areas in Kenya between 1960 and 1997, which include ‘Education
and training’ and ‘Information and media’. Information for the project was obtained from
both primary and secondary sources. The study provides evidence on how communitybased resource centres, equipped with ICTs, can play a key role in information
development. The findings are tabulated, one showing that socio-economic and cultural
governance of women in these two districts remains elusive, the second showing the
respondents' views on the qualities of a good leader, and the last detailing the main
sources of information for these women. In summary, these Kenyan women (who may
be representative of others in similar regions) depend largely on traditional sources of
information and lack control over the most effective sources.
Opoku-Mensah (2000) stresses that since the democratization process in most African
countries is still in its embryonic stages, ICTs could support the participation of women in
governance. She discusses how to promote women's use of communication resources
in society, within the context of developments in women's participation in electoral and
political processes in Africa. She proposes that with the advent of ICTs, women need to
discuss the use of gender- sensitive information to decide whether to create their own
closed space on the Internet, or to assert their presence in mixed spaces. OpokuMensah gives specific examples from Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa and
Tanzania on how ICTs have been used to promote women's rights. In Zimbabwe,
women have created and used alternative communication channels to support their
27
efforts, defend their rights and diffuse their own forms of representation. In Uganda,
women have used the Internet to support their contribution to parliamentary debates.
The work has tables that indicate the policy goals that governments should have and
how to measure their success, including one specifically targeted at NGOs that shows
constraints and potential resolutions.
After the review of papers on ICTs and culture, it is interesting to read Morales-Gomez &
Melesse (1998) who claim little is known on the long-term impact that ICTs may have on
a country’s social and cultural systems. The authors believe that the availability of ICTs
is not by itself a reliable developmental approach, however noble its intentions may be.
They argue that it is unlikely that quantum leap reversals of marginalization and poverty
will result from technology transfer to the developing world. Policymakers and donors are
advised to undertake a more rigorous analysis of social and cultural dimensions of ICTs
to be able to design appropriate policies to harness ICTs for development in their own
context. It is worth mentioning that the ‘global village’ is not global for most of the world’s
poor not simply because technologies are not available to them but because with or
without these technologies, the poor are likely to remain marginal in the distribution of
the benefits of society, if they are excluded from the benefits of overall development.
They conclude that the best long-term development investment that can be made using
ICTs is to apply them to education and training.
In examining the literature on ICTs and culture, some methodological concerns can be
found in Adam and Wood (1999) who studied the impact of ICTs on users in Africa from
the perspective of the 'grounded theory' approach, based on four main aspects of the
impact of ICTs: actual impact; potential impact; constraints; actions centred around
users and their reactions. The authors found that understanding ICT users within the
context of their application of ICTs is necessary for impact assessment. They decided to
use a purely qualitative approach to examine the interpretative under- standing of users.
6.3 ICTs and Education
The importance of ICTs and education is a topic that runs across all thematic areas on
ICTs and development. For example, with reference to gender studies, there is a
comment that men are more likely to have the income to purchase the ICTs and have a
slightly higher level of education, which predisposes them to trying new technologies
(Rathgeber, 2000). The general argument is that an illiterate or poorly educated people
cannot wholly absorb ICTs. In addition, many argue that ICTs should be introduced into
school curriculum so that children learn how to use these technologies from an early
age. The purpose of this review is not to focus on ICTs and Education because that is a
huge undertaking on its own. The intention is to highlight some useful references that
are relevant in addressing how ICTs can be used for poverty alleviation. A good starting
point in general would be the ILO report (ILO, 2001). Others are Calderoni (1998), Osin
(1998), Truelove (1998), Elmer (1999), Perraton (2000) and Hawkins (2002).
In ILO’s (2001) view, ICT is a ‘meta-technology’ characterized by pervasive effects on
the economy as a whole, and on areas of scientific and technological advance well
beyond the ICT sector itself. The key issues outlined revolve around life at work in the
information economy that ensures work is independent of location. This factor is bound
to change management practices, the nature of the employment contract, and the quality
of work. One question is whether the information economy will be a jobs economy. The
report places considerable emphasis on the independence of work from any physical
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location. The report also deals with the widening digital divide and how markets will be
affected by the new technologies. The authors note that ICT is merely a tool, and would
not substitute for genuine development. However, ICT offers tools that may accelerate
development. One of the most important avenues is literacy and education, which are
vital for reaping the advantages of this era, and there must be lifelong learning from
schools to the work environment.
ILO (2001) advances the position that the level of national income is strongly related to
ICT diffusion and is clearly the distinguishing feature of the divide between industrialized
and developing countries. The cost and availability of telecommunications determines
the extent to which the Internet is used, and per capita access costs are most often
higher in poorer countries. With reference to poverty, the report shows that there could
be a new development paradigm from the possibilities that networking opens up for
poverty alleviation. Access to ICT for the poor is more likely to occur at the community
level. Poor people could benefit directly through access to the information that the
technologies provide or through the potential for greater collective voice and
empowerment they allow. In addition, the poor could benefit from the improved quality
and reach of health, education and social services because ICTs make governments
more transparent and gives them an opportunity to extend their services more broadly
and at lower cost if they work at it. Access can be improved through NGOs and other
local development agencies in the areas of for example, health care, child welfare, basic
education and nutrition.
With direct reference to education, Hawkins (2002) writes about World Links for
Development Programme’s experiences in connecting schools to the Internet, in training
teachers, and in grappling with curriculum and education reform issues in developing
countries. He conceptualizes the story into ten practical lessons that policymakers and
business and community leaders should consider as they plan to incorporate the Internet
in the educational process. The lessons are:
1) Computer Labs in developing countries take time and money, but they work.
2) Technical support cannot be overlooked.
3) Non-competitive telecommunications infrastructure, policies, and regulations
impede connectivity and sustainability.
4) Lose the Wires (basically wireless technology is most effective for connecting
schools in developing countries).
5) Get the community involved.
6) Private-public sector partnerships are essential.
7) Link ICT and education efforts to broader education reforms.
8) Training, training, training. (Basically that the professional development of
teachers sits at the heart of any successful technology and education
programme.
9) Technology empowers girls.
10) Technology motivates students and energizes classrooms.
There are many similar projects aimed at ‘connecting’ schools in Africa and the rest of
the developing world, such as, SchoolNet but these are not covered in this review.
The role that the youth in Africa can play in the development of ICTs has hardly been
addressed in mainstream publications except under the ‘education in schools theme’.
One exception is a book produced as the result of an IDRC- sponsored workshop in
29
1998, that is (Ogbu & Mihyo, 2000). The editors provided a basis for further action with
an introduction on how to develop a youth leadership programme for Africa. There is
reference in the book to how youth volunteers have been instrumental in building local
capacity for electronic networking in Uganda. In addition, there is constant reference to
ALPID, a Youth Leadership Programme on ICTs for Community Development in Africa.
Unfortunately, there is no clear indication of when and if the recommendations from
IDRC sponsored workshop would be implemented.
6.4 ICTs and Health
An issue that is destroying the developing countries largely due to poverty is that of
HIV/AIDS. Driscoll’s (2001) review looks at the role of ICTs in addressing the challenge
of HIV/AIDS. This report is based on information gathered through a review of the
literature, a review of HIV/AIDS-related Websites, and surveys of discussion group
participants and AIDS activists. It includes an overview of HIV/AIDS, the ways ICTs are
being used to address the pandemic, and some preliminary information on the views of
those working in developing countries. ICTs are seen as a potential tool in the global
response to the pandemic because they offer the feasibility, at relatively low cost, of
providing access to information and knowledge for those working on the problem and for
those who are suffering from the disease or its effects. Those who need to take
preventive actions can also benefit from the information. However, there are some who
are concerned that scarce resources will be spent on technology rather than on the
critical needs of basic infrastructure and that inappropriate attention to ICTs may actually
be negative for developing countries and for the poor.
Driscoll (2001) found a lot of literature that re-emphasize the importance of ICTs and
HIV/AIDs, but hardly any that dwell on specific uses of ICTs and the need for expanded
use if warranted; or how ICTs can be or are being integrated into strategies and current
efforts to deal with the pandemic. There are many electronic discussion groups on this
topic, but many express concern that they are more useful to Northern funders/
organizations than for those in developing countries. The author found the lack of
infrastructure is inhibiting the use of ICTs among community groups and individuals
although there are many examples of these technologies being used in innovative ways
in the field by a number of organizations, mainly through the initiatives of international
donors and international organizations. They show that ICT initiatives should find, and
follow good programmes and complement them. ICT initiatives on their own cannot have
useful effects. The author advices international donors like IDRC to ensure the
responsible and ethical introduction and implementation of ICTs when defining
programmes and policies. They must ensure that the ICT component does not deflect
limited resources from HIV/AIDS-related work at the community level, which can be used
to cover the costs of care, treatment, education and prevention.
IntraDelta Management Consultants International Inc (1997) conducted a project for
IDRC who wanted to determine the appropriate application of ICTs to a primary health
care setting in rural areas of the South of Benin. For this project, emphasis was placed
on technologies which were developed and produced by Canadian organizations and
had the potential to support the health care activities of Ouidah district of Benin and
which could be used in the broader development process. Based on the team’s past
experiences, they decided that the basic pattern of needs identified in Benin could be
generalized to many development situations though the foci might range from
agricultural development to animal husbandry or micro credit. The key conditions were:
30



Knowledge needed but not readily available at the grassroots (i.e. the village
level);
Knowledge being available within an organization in a larger environment (i.e. at
the provincial or national levels);
Capacity for those at the grassroots to absorb and apply the knowledge if
received (i.e. a lack of technological or economic barriers to the grassroots
implementation of the information after receiving it).
Given these conditions, the integrated use of ICTs suggested by the authors could be
applied to any of these foci or a collection of them.
6.5 ICTs and Gender
Abbasi (2001) argues that those in Pakistan and developing countries in general depend
heavily on the government and the private sector to supply social and technical services
to the poor. Therefore, when there are systemic failures in these sectors, the poor suffer
and in the absence of parallel, formal, knowledge-based social infrastructures, those
who suffer the most are women and children. This view is partially supported by Ningo
(1999). Although Ningo’s study is on governance and ICTs, he emphasizes that one
cannot achieve good governance without sensitivity to gender issues in the context of
ICT development. Most women are still excluded from access to information, which
essentially means access to power.
In all the gender related studies, the focus is on women, except Sharma (2001) that
covers both men and women. Women are generally the poorest and least educated in
the developing countries. With the development of ICTs, there are many who are raising
concern that ICT development is an area women can actively participate in but if certain
issues are not taken into consideration, then women will be continually marginalized.
Sharma (2001) believes that ICTs offer many opportunities for poverty alleviation and
employment generation for marginalized women and men. The main hindrance to the
achievement of these benefits for the poor lies in the problems of access, high costs,
and minimal human resources. He argues that the private and civil sectors must work in
synergy to enhance the benefits of ICT. The gender studies directly related to women
include Mitter & Rowbotham (1995), Odedra-Straub (1995), Huyer (1997), Mitter (1998),
Obijiofor (1998), Rathgeber and Adera (2000), Hafkin (2000), Kole (2000), Marcelle
(2000), Munyua (2000) Khasiani (2000) and Opoku-Mensah (2000). The last two
discuss governance issues, ICTs and women.
Odedra-Straub’s (1995) study was on women in IT. Postal questionnaires were used to
gather data from organizations in Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was admitted that
this method would not explain much about the impact of IT on women, but would give an
indication of the role women were playing in the organizations. A plan to conduct face-toface interviews generally led to negative responses typified by the following reactions:



'Women are not playing much role in IT area.'
'There are many other important areas of priority, which need to be researched
rather than women and IT.'
'IT has made little overall impact in our countries.'
31
The author therefore relied on secondary sources and experiential knowledge on IT in
Africa. In the paper, 'IT' and 'computers' are used interchangeably. In addition, the status
of IT in Africa is outlined, and a picture given of the overall status of women on the
continent. She notes some of the general problems, such as lack of financial resources
to purchase the hardware and software, and the lack of sufficient computer education
and training facilities which aggravate the lack of skills. She concludes that it was difficult
to assess the impact of IT on African women properly. The main recommendation in the
paper is the need for more IT education and training opportunities for girls and women.
Odedra-Straub’s (1995) paper was written when the impact of ICTs across many African
countries had not been felt or assessed.
Huyer (1997), on the other hand wrote during the same period, but discussed issues of
access, the benefit to African women of using ICTs, and their role in the production and
dissemination of information. The author discusses how to empower African women
through ICTs and the barriers to their full use of these technologies, the first being the
high rates of illiteracy. The work has five case studies (four from South Africa and one
from Uganda) to explain the importance of developing 'women-friendly ICT systems'.
According to the author, one of the major findings was that the type of information
accessed by women is an important consideration. It is recommended that ICTs be
located in local institutions to which women have open and equal access, such as health
centres, women's NGOs and churches. The appendices include a number of case
studies, one of which involved the setting up of networks in Francophone Africa for
women's communication needs. The purpose of the project was to identify women's
groups that were able to make successful electronic connections and to follow up those
that were experiencing difficulties. It was also intended to integrate groups working on
the same topic through the networks, and connect more groups. One of the emerging
issues was that 'women's access to IT also seems to be a major hindrance'. Other
examples are drawn from the responses of women researchers (mostly from the
Association of African Women for Research and Development, AAWORD), who
complained that only secretaries had access to the computers in their departments.
They did not have decision-making powers in determining how computers should be
used, or where modems should be installed. If women at this high-level had these
problems, what about the poor? Other initiatives outlined are the APC Women's
networking programmes, the Women's Environment and Development Network
(WEDNET) research project, and the building of a women's information and
communication network in South Africa on SangoNet.
A study that is not wholly on women, but that is nevertheless relevant is that of Obijiofor
(1998). He compares the Western perspective of communication with the modes of
communication in Africa. Communication in Africa is categorized into rural and urban
forms, the urban being largely associated with Western influences. Rural communication
is largely oral, with people expecting immediate feedback; any modern communication
channel should therefore take this into consideration. His hypothesis is that African
societies have strong and enduring socio-cultural influences and will therefore embrace
technology that promotes greater interaction and sustains kinship. Based on this
premise, he sees the telephone as the 'future' technology as it embraces the central
element of the African mode of communication – orality. The Internet is considered too
impersonal. The challenge, therefore, lies in improving basic infrastructure and ensuring
accessibility to, and affordability of, telephone services. An interesting perspective in this
study is the emphasis that communication in Africa is largely gender-based. In general,
traditional African societies had certain norms of communication, which limited the areas
32
of discourse open to women. The author believes that new communication technologies
will replace (and already have) this form of discrimination and gradually lead to a new
era of information democratization. African women are now able to discuss openly
issues once considered 'taboo', and sometimes the anonymity provided by the new ICTs
has enabled this. His conclusion is summarized into three scenarios, the preferred one
being an Africa that does not totally embrace the new technologies without matching
them to its socio-cultural practices.
The only study that unequivocally focuses on gender and ICTs in Africa is an edited
volume published by IDRC in 2000 (Rathgeber and Adera, 2000). All chapters focus on
women under three broad topics: the current state of ICT and telecommunications policy
in Africa; current practical experiences in Africa; and sectoral applications of ICTs in
agriculture, education and governance.
Hafkin (2000) offers an overview of the emergence of the 'gender and ICTs' theme. She
provides a historical perspective of how the concept of ICTs and development and of
gender and development converged and gained more recognition. According to the
author, the first operational activities associating gender and ICTs appeared in Kenya,
Senegal and South Africa in 1995, but to date the area that has received the least
attention in Africa is the role of women in the information economy, especially in the
context of the jobs and economic opportunities created by ICTs. Hafkin concludes with a
brief overview of the future of ICTs for women in Africa. She envisions that women in
Africa will take advantage of this medium and fit it into their economic, social and cultural
context to empower themselves. However, the new technologies are not gender neutral
and if women do not grasp the opportunities, then societal forces will prevail and they
will be left further behind. Hafkin mentions a US$1 million grant made by the Gates
Foundation in 1999 for WomenConnect, a project aimed at providing connectivity to rural
women in Africa.
Men's and women's attitudes, needs and perspectives on ICTs are likely to differ and it
is important to address the specific needs of women according to Rathgeber (2000).
Therefore, a re-conceptualization of the use of ICTs as tools for African development
may be necessary, but this must be done in parallel with the reorganization of existing
information. Such a move could provide a new role for African universities and research
institutions. Rathgeber emphasizes that if African countries are to benefit from the use of
new ICTs, there is the need for 'National Information-Technology policies' focused on
improving the telecommunications sector, but developed with the involvement of
industry, management and local R&D institutes. She argues that the telecommunications
policies adopted by many African governments do not make distinctions between the
attitudes and needs of male and female users. In addition, these 'gender-neutral policies'
tend to favour men, as they are likely to have the income to purchase the ICTs and have
a slightly higher level of education, which predisposes them to trying new technologies.
In essence, Rathgeber's thesis is that, although the new ICTs can marginalize both men
and women in Africa, women are likely to be slower in adopting the new technologies,
unless strategies are developed to deliberately include them. To prepare the ground,
there should be more emphasis on ensuring that girls become involved in science and
technology at an early age. The information they access should be relevant to them,
comprehensible and easily available.
Kole (2000) essentially brings to fruition the 1999 work of APC-African Women. The
study was conducted electronically, with a total of 25 questionnaires being returned. The
33
findings show that most organizations had at least a computer and telephone. However,
face- to-face communication was still the preferred method of reaching the grassroots. In
the 1999 study, the respondents recommended that Web-content developers should
ensure that the relevant information on the Web sites could easily be repackaged into
traditional media forms. The following are some of the recommendations for practice and
policy:







Multi-disciplinary support, meaning that financial support should be matched with
technical support.
More support for organizations functioning as intermediaries in 'communication,
information and media' fields.
Sufficient training, especially non-technical, such as in information management.
Ensuring the women-friendliness of the system, training and information.
Attention to disparities and respect for differences between Anglophone and
Francophone users.
Links between computer networks and other media.
Emphasis on text-based information.
Lessons learned include directly e-mailing potential respondents in the appropriate
language to get a greater response to questionnaires; anticipating deviant ways of
answering the questions electronically; anticipating lay-out problems in the transfer
process.
7. Concluding Remarks
This review began with a question from Wresch (1996), namely “are the poor still
excluded from much of the world’s information?” The answer to this has to be “Yes”.
However, the second part of the question, that “no one has even begun to outline a
solution to the problem” is not true. From the literature, there is evidence that there are
many who are trying to address this problem, with some measure of success.
It has been suggested that there is the need to transform the term ICTs into three
separate entities that in essence they are: that is information, communication, and
technologies. Theoretically, this is very easy to do but practically it poses its challenges
and this can be seen from the literature. Unless there is a situation where people on the
ground are educated on the differences between the three, then there will always be
publications discussing the three in an overlapping manner or that refer to ICTs when
the focus is on only one area, as would be the case in referring to the telephone in
relation to communication. The three parts should be appreciated as separate entities,
but more critical is the synergy between them and the relevance of the whole ICTs
concept.
A worthwhile in the conclusion can be drawn from Brown (2001) who tried to address
whether ICTs can address the needs of the poor. Although, he warned about viewing
ICTs as more than the tools they are, it is important in this age to grasp the opportunities
to empower the poor and give them real choices for the future. There is a general
consensus in the literature on why the poor cannot reap the benefits of ICTs which
include the problems of access, high costs or lack of funding and low human skills. Many
blame governments and this in itself is a problem. Dependence on the government and
donors is a major problem in the development process and is not the only solution in
34
efforts aimed at alleviating poverty. There has to be political will to achieve some of
these developments. Otherwise, some policymakers will constantly say the government
lacks the resources. Sometimes, the answers lie in other strategies that are not
dependent on government support, as is illustrated in some of the case studies in this
review, where donors encourage self-sustainability after a period. ICTs have the
potential to alleviate poverty and problems faced by the poor, but the deployment of
ICTs has to be treated with caution so that the ICT component does not deflect limited
resources for other developmental concerns, such as, the HIV/AIDs pandemic.
From the review, it is evident that a lot has been written on telecentres as a potential
solution to the problem of access to ICTs for those in rural areas. An excellent initiative
that could be replicated in other developing countries is the structure and running
methods of the AMIC@s in Paraguay. The initiative was set up in such a way that there
was ‘life’ beyond donor funding, which is a desirable goal for many in developing
countries who do not have clearly outlined systems for self-sustainability beyond donor
funding. This is particularly critical in poor areas. The pilot projects in Mozambique are
fully donor funded and this may explain why there has been laxity in finding ways for
their self-sustainability. Probably a small percentage should have been required to be
sourced locally after their first year of operation. Gaseleka, in one of South Africa’s
poorest provinces, is an example whereby there was not much donor funding, but
operating costs are now 100% from local sources.
In some of the studies, policymakers and donors are advised to undertake more rigorous
analysis of the cultural dimensions of ICTs to enable them to design appropriate policies
for the world’s poor. There is also a need to see more discourse between projects
despite their sponsorship background because donors do not seem to be ‘talking’ to
each other. There is no guarantee that efficient delivery of the required resources from
the government or donor community will address the poverty problem, yet the
governments should not be neutral players. The success to utilizing ICTs requires
synergy from all including the poor who at least should ensure they get education if
availed to them.
Lack of appropriate skills is an area highlighted often in most studies; that it is a big
hindrance to embracing ICTs for poverty reduction. Many authors reckon that ICTs have
potential in job creation, but it is worth noting that the labour-force needs to be educated.
In essence therefore, it is important to acquire marketable skills. Many in the labourforce in poor countries who are losing out in this information age are women.
There is a general concern that more focus should be given to women’s role in ICTs and
development, and in how ICTs can be used to empower women. There are very few
studies on how women can be empowered to use ICTs to enhance their status since
most are poor. The best case study examples are drawn from the constantly cited
Grameen Bank example. However, there are other upcoming ones although the impact
has not been assessed such as UNDP’s (2002) project to empower women farmers
using information technologies in 30 mandals of Andhra Pradesh in India. Both
examples, evidently, are from Asia. The African studies generally deal with the potential
and constraints of ICTs for women in general and not the poor specifically. What is
apparent is that many women, even in this era of new ICTs, still rely on traditional
sources of information.
35
There were also a number of suggestions on how ICTs can be used for good
governance. However, the argument that Myers (1998) raised, that African citizens will
be able to realize their basic human rights by using computers to transmit information is
debatable. Interestingly, some statistics show that more Africans have access to
television than to computers. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that the television
may not be the most effective medium for human rights issues in many African countries
for a multitude of reasons, one being government censorship. In many African countries,
the power of oral communication is still the most effective human rights channel; a huge
geographic area cannot be covered as easily as with electronic communication.
Direct evidence from the literature reviewed shows that the survey is the most dominant
technique used to gather data for ICTs and development studies. Qualitative
methodologies are used more than quantitative ones. This may be justifiable as
qualitative methodology generally aims to derive meaning from issues that are not easily
quantifiable. However, a number of the studies reviewed were more descriptive than
analytical. The problems of ICTs throughout Africa are mostly common and predictable.
Some studies simply list these problems. Overall, there was absence of a clear analysis
that could identify how these problems might effectively be addressed.
8. Recommendations for Further Research
It is important to note that the impact of ICTs depends on users’ attitudes and
expectations, as well as on institutions, organizations and management. It also depends
on the role of policymakers in general. The impact should be analysed by using
generalized and expanded treatments of both qualitative and quantitative techniques,
rather than simply using quantitative tools. More interdisciplinary research is needed on
the social impact of ICTs, as this would help planners and implementers to design and
evaluate better uses for them. Awareness of ICTs, however, does not lead to their
immediate application. Adoption of ICTs involves a substantial learning curve and a high
level of investment from users, whether they are individuals or organizations.
Adam and Wood (1999) highlight areas for further research that include the social
impact of ICTs from an interdisciplinary approach, as this would help planners and
implementers to design, evaluate and make better use of ICTs. On the other hand,
Opoku-Mensah (1998) found that the impact of information technologies depends on
attitudes, expectations, organization and management which is a research-worthy area.
There are not many empirical studies on the relationship between ICTs and poverty.
Most of the sound empirical studies are focused on telephones and the
telecommunication sector in general. The following are possibilities for further research
mostly drawing from the literature.
Firstly, there is a need to assess the curricula being used or that are being proposed for
use on the ‘study of ICTs’ (taken loosely) to ensure that those from developing countries
are using the right approach and appropriate content to train their current and future
labour-force. This is important at all levels of education, as the literature is clear on the
need for ‘appropriate skills’ not simply hardware development. Kling (1996) found in the
USA, that too many students study ICTs from a very ‘technical’ perspective by focusing
for instance on computability, rather than usability. Findings of this nature are relevant
in the context of developing countries as they account for why many shy away from
dealing with core issues. They also explain why not enough students are being trained
36
on ‘social impact studies’, computer-human interaction and so on. In this regard, many
do not understand that social analyses of computer systems (and ICTs) provide
comparably important insights into the roles and effectiveness of computing in the world.
More studies are needed that focus on the social analysis of the use of ICTs to
understand what kinds of assumptions are made about social relationships between
people, support structures for the range of technological options, and how these may
restructure social life.
Possible areas for further research involving women come from Kole (2000) who
suggested:


In-depth elaboration of topics, such as what kind of technical problems women
encounter, and what exactly is meant by ‘women-friendly’ systems?
Suggestions to cope with problems and limitations that are unique to the African
context, and comparison with other regions.
In general, there is a need for more case studies on the importance of women and ICTs,
especially as a poverty reduction mechanism, and on the impact or non-impact of ICTs
on women. These could help identify the potential of ICTs for women, the potential
employment opportunities, and indicate how women are going to reap the benefits from
ICTs. An APC study (Huyer, 1997) also cited the following as priority research areas:
the potential use of ICTs for women and market trade; the state of national-level ICT
policy; the degree of involvement of women in the process of this development, and
gender analysis within it.
Another suggestion for further research can be drawn from a question asked by Abbasi
(2001) on why there are such poor-and-gender blind policies that are enacted. The
author believes the question needs to be answered with a thorough discourse on
processes mediating between power relations, knowledge generation and institutional
developments in socio-cultural settings.
The need for studies on ICTs and culture has also been highlighted because this may
explain why ICTs are easier to adopt in certain areas than in others. Two areas
suggested by Hasan and Dista (1999) for further research are:

The Cultural Identity of IT (based on the argument that IT comes mainly from the
West and that certain products may be inappropriate for other cultures). This may
be a basis for research on poverty alleviation issues. A hypothesis is that if the
poor are ingrained in their cultures, then it could contribute to their nonacceptance of new ICTs or information from other sources.

'Cultural Values and IT' (based on the argument that work practices may be
culturally ingrained and can affect the success of an organization's information
system and hence its adoption of technology).
Bedi’s (1999) paper is a good way to end these recommendations. Various views have
been brought forward about the potential of ICTs for development, but the role and
impact of these technologies are still obscure. Moreover, there is not enough evidence in
developing countries. Bedi attempts to ease this process by asking three main
questions:
37



What are the features that distinguish these technologies from those invented in
the past?
What are the channels through which ICTs are expected to promote
development?
What justifies the confidence placed on ICTs as a development tool?
38
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