INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

FOR POVERTY REDUCTION AND RURAL

DEVELOPMENT

Roger Harris Associates

Roger W. Harris PhDRoger Harris Associates

Hong Kong

China Agricultural University2010

1. Principles, Practice and Policies.

The LecturerMalaysiaNepalVietnamPhilippinesChinaSri-LankaLao PDRCambodiaIndiaThailandTaiwanIndonesiaPapua New GuineaMongoliaBangladeshHong KongSingapore

PhD in Information Systems Began researching rural ICTs

for poverty reduction in 1997 Working as a consultant since

2001: Policy advice Programme design and

implementation Evaluations Research

Work for an NGO using ICTs for rural development Rural telecentre Community radio

roger.harris@rogharris.org http://www.rogharris.org

Rural Telecentres in India

Agenda

PrinciplesPracticePolicies

Principles Global poverty Information and poverty Some Concepts The digital divide ICTs in China

Practice Internet Mobile telephones Community radio Others

Policies Global initiatives National responses Design approach Lessons learned

Principles Principles Global poverty Information and poverty Some Concepts The digital divide ICTs in China

Practice Internet Mobile telephones Community radio Others

Policies Global initiatives National responses Design approach Lessons learned

Population living under US$1.25 per day

China and India host more poor people than the entire population of Africa.

Around three quarters of the world's 1.3 billion poor people live in middle-income countries.

China’s poverty rate fell from 85% to 15.9%, or by over 600 million people

Much of the poverty reduction in the last couple of decades almost exclusively comes from China

China accounts for nearly all the world’s reduction in poverty.

http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/visualizations/poverty-indicators

Numbers are in millions

What helps move people out of poverty?

Education Employment Enterprise development Credit Public services Health care Better agriculture Information….about all the above,…….and the Technology to deliver it.

Some Concepts

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) To handle information and aid communication, including

computer and network hardware and software and the merging (convergence) of telephone networks with computer networks.

The Information Society In which information is significant for economic, political, and

cultural activity. New Media

The interactivity of computers and communications technology. The Internet

“Arguably mankind's greatest invention.” The Digital Divide

The gap between those with access to digital technology, and those without.

E-Inclusion Bringing the benefit of ICTs to all segments of the population;

irrespective of education, poverty, age, gender, disability , ethnicity, and remoteness.

Universal Service The provision of telecommunication services to every resident of

a country including those in low income, rural, and high cost areas.

Global ICT Development 2000-2010

Global ICTs - 2008

http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/visualizations/mobile-and-fixed-line-telephone-su

Mobile and Fixed Line Telephone SubscribersInternet Users

The Digital Divide: Telephones and the InternetIn 2009, an estimated 26% of the world’s population (or 1.7 billion people) were using the Internet.

In developed countries the percentage remains much higher than in the developing world where four out of five people are still excluded from the benefits of being online.

2000

2008

2000

2008Countries with Very

High Human Devel-opment Index Countries with Low Hu-

man Development Index

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

32

70

0.1 5

107

152

1

28

Number of phone subscriptions per 100 people

Number of internet users per 100 people

MobilesIn developed countries, the mobile market is reaching saturation with 116 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants .The developing world is increasing its share of mobile subscriptions from 53% of total subscriptions at the end of 2005 to 73% at the end of 2010.In the developing world, mobile cellular penetration rates will reach 68% at the end of 2010 - mainly driven by the Asia and Pacific region. India and China alone are expected to add over 300 million mobile subscriptions in 2010.In Africa, penetration rates will reach an estimated 41% at the end of 2010 (compared to 76% globally) leaving a significant potential for growth.

Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, 2010.

CIS Europe TheAmericas

ArabStates

Asia &Pacific

Africa

2009/2010Growth Rate %

%

The Digital Divide: Households with TV, Computers & InternetWhile Internet penetration in developed countries reached 64 per cent at the end of 2009, in developing countries it reached only 18 per cent (and only 14 per cent if China is excluded).

In Estonia, France, Finland, and Greece, Internet access has been made a human right

TVComputer

InternetPercent of Households with Access

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

72%

23%

16%

98%

71%

66%

Developed Countries

Developing Countries

ICTs in China: ExportsManufacturing of ICT goods has created around25.5 million jobs for migrant workers.They have contributed to reducing poverty in rural areas through an estimated $18 billion of remittances.30,000 companies in Shenzhen shipped 145 million mobile phone units in 2009 (13% of all phones sold in the world) 1. C

hina

2. USA

3. Hong Kong

4. Singapore

5. Rep of K

orea

$0.00

$50.00

$100.00

$150.00

$200.00

$250.00

$300.00

$350.00

$400.00

$450.00 $430.73

$174.86$158.67

$122.99$115.62

US$ Billion - 2008

ICTs in China: UsageChina accounts for one-third of Internet users in the developing world.

With more than 420 million Internet users, China is the largest Internet market in the world.

More Chinese (87 %) see the Internet as a fundamental human right than do Americans (76 %).

More than half of fixed broadband subscribers in the developing world are in China.

Internet users per 100 inhabitants

PCs per 100 people

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

China

USA

22.3

6.25.6

74.0

23.5

78.7Compared to USA - 2008

Practice Principles

Global poverty Information and poverty Some Concepts The digital divide ICTs in China

Practice Internet Mobile telephones Community radio Others

Policies Global initiatives National responses Design approach Lessons learned

Telecentres Telecentres provide shared access to ICTs for the purpose of community development and poverty reduction

11,160 telecentres in 16 countries in Asia (UNESCAP)

2,000 new telecentres established in India every year since 2001

Multiple models of ownership and operation

Patchy impact Sustainability problems National programmes

Telecentre Diffusion in Asia

Telecentre Information ServicesCategory Examples Source Delivery

Generic Information

E-government, agricultural extension, distance education, e-commerce, e-health, news, weather, etc.

Government and national/regional institutions.

Institutional partnerships.

ICT-focused Services

E-mail, voice over IP, chat, internet searches, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, ICT training, printing, photocopying, scanning, newsletters etc.

Local telecentre owners, operators and staff.

Creative and client-centric entrepreneurial activity at the telecentre.

Development Programs

HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns, micro-and small enterprise development support, skills training, micro-credit support, etc.

National/regional development initiatives.

Pro-active marketing of telecentres among NGOs, and INGOs.

Locally-based Information

Local laws, poverty reduction schemes, local NGO activities, yellow pages, job placement services, classified advertisements, market prices, etc.

Local activists, NGOs, community-based organizations, government offices, social entrepreneurs, volunteers, schools, etc.

Community outreach, community mobilisation, Infomobilisation.

Mobile TelephonesSMS servicesVoice applicationsWeb applicationsSocial exchangesEmergenciesInformal networksBusiness transactionsWeather updatesMarket prices

SMS Triples in 3 Years

More than half the world's population now pay to use a mobile phone

Developing countries account for about two-thirds of the total mobile phones in use.

Mobile Phones mHealth

Medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices Tamil Nadu Health Watch allows health workers, even in remote areas, to immediately report

disease incidence data to health officials mLearning

Learning with portable technologies Graduate students at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, North Bangkok, used mobile phones

to participate in tests, and more than 90 per cent of the participants owned the mobile phones themselves

mFinance Mobile phones to facilitate banking activities; deposits, withdrawals, payments, transfers. GCASH Philippines, turns a cellphone into an electronic wallet, for money transfers, shopping and

transferring money between cellphones mAgriculture

Fishing boats in Kerala using offshore mobile phones to coordinate sales with traders mGovernment

Delivery of government services and applications on mobile phones and other portable devices using a wireless infrastructure.

Income Tax Department of India - SMA to verify banks have uploaded tax deposits Crisis Management

RapidSMS enables mass-scale mobile data collection, messaging, and workflow management via SMS

deployed by UNICEF to track the distribution of Plumpynut during a hunger crisis in Ethiopia Conservation

Wild-life tracking, remote environmental sensing Advocacy/citizen mobilisation/social coordination

FrontlineSMS for text messaging to large groups

CommunityRadio

Popular device, especially for local information 56% of farmer households in Vietnam have a

radio Combined with telecentres = radio browsing Rapid diffusion of development information to

remote areas Channel for interactive communication,

dialogue and debate on rural development issues.

A tool for cultural expression, local language use, entertainment.

A platform for democratic expression of opinions, needs and aspirations of rural communities

200400600800

100012001400

Low income

Middle income

High income

East Asia &Pacific

Latin America

Middle East &N. Africa

South Asia

Sub-SaharanAfrica

Europe

Radios per 1,000 people

Others Television Almost ubiquitous in Asia Main form of information and entertainment Not used much for development, but notable

exceptions are farmer information services in China and Vietnam

Loudspeakers Important in some contexts; China, Vietnam,

India Especially combined with other technologies;

radio, internet.

01020304050607080

Africa Asia Latin America

Global

TV Sets (% of households)

China Ministry of Agriculture TV channel.

Policies Principles

Global poverty Information and poverty Some Concepts The digital divide ICTs in China

Practice Internet Mobile telephones Community radio Others

Policies Global initiatives National responses Design approach Lessons learned

Global Initiatives World Summit on the Information Society and the MDGs Two WSIS UN conferences on the information society; Geneva

2003 and Tunis 2005. • Plan of Action for using ICTs to achieve

the Millennium Development Goals; Promote ICTs for development Build infrastructure Provide access to information and

knowledge Build capacity Foster an enabling environment Implement ICT Applications:

• Calls upon countries to establish national targets as part of national ICT strategies:

1. Connect villages , education institutions, scientific and research centres public libraries, cultural centres, museums, post offices archives health centres, hospitals, local and central government departments and establish websites and e-mail addresses

2. To adapt all school curricula to meet the challenges of the information society

3. To ensure that all of the world’s population have access to television and radio services

4. To encourage the development of content5. To ensure that more than half the world’s

inhabitants have access to ICTs within their reach.

• E-government• E-business• E-learning• E-health

• E-employment• E-environment• E-agriculture• E-science

National Responses

e-Sri Lanka

To promote: (i) The use of ICTs to enhance growth,

employment, and equity through affordable access to means of information and communication;

(ii) Access to and use o f public information and services on-line by citizens and businesses; and

(iii) Competitiveness of the private sector, particularly of knowledge industries and SMEs.

ICT policies linked to poverty reduction

e-Government Enabling laws

Telecommunications deregulation

Universal services Education

Infrastructure Internet backbones Telecentre programmes

India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka…

Define the development strategy

Define the information strategy

Define the technology strategy

Define the sustainability strategy

Define the evaluation strategy

Begin with an awareness of the potential and limitations of ICTs for development and poverty reduction

Against that background

Where development is going and why

What information is needed

How the information can be delivered

How the service can be sustained,

extended

How the outcomes can be identified

Design Approach

ICTs will not turn bad development into good development, but they can make good development better.

Lessons Learned

Empowerment is not an automatic consequence of access, programmes need to go beyond access

ICTs alone are insufficient, requires effective pro-poor policies for public service provision

Institutional reforms are required for making effective use of ICTs

Technical skills are necessary to complement poverty reduction efforts

Capacity building is necessary at all levels Honest evaluations are necessary for evidence-

based policy making and programme design In rural settings the technological

infrastructure is always a challenge, but that task is relatively simple compared to establishing the information infrastructure.

Whilst ICTs provide opportunities for development, desirable outcomes always arise from the actions of people.

Thank you

Roger Harris Associates

Roger W. Harris PhDRoger Harris Associates

Hong Kong