A model for sustainable broadband in poor communities

Prof Alfredo Terzoli

Rhodes and Fort Hare Universities

National Treasury

Pretoria, June 14 2012

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How can we make possible real & empowering ICT deployment

in marginalized / disadvantaged areas?

The puzzle

Why is it not working?

• the cost of ICT infrastructure is too high to be supported only by the resources in marginalized areas

• the applications that are relevant in this context are just a handful and rarely move beyond the proof of concept

• the expertise of standard ICT solution providers is at best inadequate

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What is needed?

• something that reverses the classic telco equation: the resources to support the local infrastructure have to come from the outside, rather then from the inside

• a way to maximize the utilization of any ICT infrastructure

• real, well organized software production centres, with good current software engineering practices, as well as specialized ICT solutions providers

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• A broadband island that connects as many Points of Presence as possible (Digital Access Nodes, DANs)

• DANs located in schools but open to the community and running non-proprietary, open source software

• Low cost, thin-client infrastructure (as server maybe a cluster of ‘refurbished’ computers)

• Broadband island connected to the Internet by whatever means possible

• And the cellphones? Great but...

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Connectivity blueprint

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a point of presence is used for training

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a point of presence is used for e-services

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e-commerce can support art and craft

• Applications?

• Software production Centre?

• ICT solution provider?

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• A software house that completes the innovation eco-system built between Rhodes and Fort Hare Universities

• Focused on community-oriented, integrated eServices solutions

• It sees a future in which marginalised, disadvantaged communities are reconnected through practical, co-created ICT software applications and become progressively bigger actors in services and software production.

Objectives

• Move software production in ICT4D to an industrial standard, in terms of architecture and quality

• Build a reference implementation for practitioners in ICT4D

• Start a commercial software house that proves through doing that ICT4D can be a space for business

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TeleWeaver business model

municipality reed house systems DAN

TeleWeaver in a nutshell

• TeleWeaver is an ‘application server’ holding many applications that make sense in the target community

• Each application has a ‘revenue stream’ attached in the form of a pre-agreed contract with an organization that has the need to access the target community

• The revenue stream for each application is generally small, but together the applications will generate a substantial stream

to be more practical...

• An application in TeleWeaver can be used to report births to Home Affairs

• Home Affairs agrees that they will pay a fixed amount per transaction (reporting a single birth) or maybe a monthly fee, independent from the number of transactions

• As soon as a copy of TeleWeaver is licensed and deployed, the contract is activated and Home Affairs pays the holder of the TeleWeaver license (for example, a municipality)

the ‘TeleWeaver dance’

• Step 1: an entity (example: a municipality) picks up the upfront costs and RHS licences TeleWeaver

• Step 2: the entity activates the pre-agreed contracts with organizations that need to access the community where TeleWeaver is deployed (for example, a gov department, a bank, an NGO)

• Step 3: the entity starts receiving a revenue from the installation

game changer! (or what is attractive in RHS proposition)

• TeleWeaver: the entity’s ICT infrastructure moves from a cost centre to an income centre, with the simple effort of sending off the pre-signed contracts that come with the TeleWeaver licence

• RHS offers full turn-key solutions, if required, deploying the Digital Access Node (DAN), the communication link, TeleWeaver, and providing the training needed to activate the DAN

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local revenue streams anyone?

• Yes, TeleWeaver will activate local streams too, through obvious applications such as e-commerce, resale of prepaid coupons, support for b&bs etc

• Although this streams will be, for a period of time, a small source of revenue, it is an additional source nevertheless. More importantly, it will stimulate local economic activity!

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UFH

RU

Telkom CoEs

Siyakhula Living Lab

Siyakhula Living Lab Management Unit

Reed House Systems (software house)

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1997

2005

2009

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The ICTD eco-system for innovation

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Siyakhula Living Lab

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