ICT4D: how do we build а second digital revolution?

Chimera 200В , No.23 ICT4D: how do we build а second digital revolution? Joao Sarmento Joao Sarmento holds а MPhil and а PhD from University College Cork. Since 2001 he is ап Assistant Professor in the Geography Dерагtтеп! of Minho University, Poгtugal. His research interests аге shared between (i) Postcolonial Culluгal Geography (ii) Tourism Geography and (iii) Technology and Space. Contact details: Joi;jo Sarmento, Geography Depaгtment, University of Minho, Poгtugal Email: [email protected] Introduction There аге perhaps too тапу definitions of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). From "Ioo/s Ihal реор/е use 10 s!Jare, dislribule, and collecl in(ormalion and 10 communicale wilh опе anolher, опе-оп-опе, ог in groups, Ihrough Ihe use о( compulers and inlerconnecled compuler nelworks" (United Nalions, 2005), to "hardware, soflware, nelworks, and media (ог colleclion, slorage, processing, Iransmission, and presenlation оГ informalion" (World Bank, 2002). Му understanding of IСТэ is Ihal they аге поl really аЬоиl Ihe compuler, the Internet, modems and telephone lines; Ihey аге especially аЬоиl informalion and communicalion, and аЬоуе all аЬоиl Ihe иэеэ Ihal people give to the lechnologies which аге availabIe а! а cer1ain тотепl and within а cer1ain economic, social and cultural contexl. If the information sociely is really going to Ье а global village (Marshall McLuhan), ог town (there is а growing игЬап character associaled), а digital agora, ог а vir1ual community (Howard Rheingold), ICTs ассеээ and usage in developing counlries has 10 Ье assured, Ьесаиэе communilies and democracy аге inclusive and par1icipalory ralher than exclusive and segmenled. In this contexl, аэ we try 10 иэе new lechnologies for communily development and alleviation of pover1y', conlents and иэеэ аге of рагатоип! impor1ance. This ar1icle focuses оп ICTs and their relationships wilh development, presenting and discussing эоте of the гесеп! developments and debales in the рroсеээ of ICT for Development (ICT4D) and arguing for the need of а second digital revolulion, in which contenls and creative ways of using technology have positive socioeconomic impacts for marginalised people. 1 The Еигореап Commission sugge s ts that poverty should nof Ье defined тereJy as а /ack of income and financial re s ources. аnd should inc/ude th e depriv a tion о( basic capabilities and lэсk о( access 10 edu c ation, health, nafural resources, emp/oyment , land and c redit , poJitica/ participation, serv;ces, and iпfгзstгucturе (Еuroреап Comm;s s ;on, 2001). 83 Sarmen t o, 2008 The First Oigital Revolut i on and the Oigital Divide lhe First Digital Revolution had a number of important oonsequences for culture. society. economy and spatial relations. 11 changed the way people think. behave. oommunicate, work and eam their livelihood; ii forged new ways lo creale knowledge. educate people and disseminale informaUon; it reslruclured lhe way lhe wor1d oonducts eoonomic and bus in ess praclices, runs govemments and engages polilically; it opened lhe possibility for lhe speedy delivery or humanitarian atd and heallhcare; ii provided a new vision for environmenlal protecHon and it created new avenues for enlertainmenl and leisure. Castells (2002) refers to lhe period of 1997-2002 as the peak period or Information lechnology growth in mosl industrialized nalions. AI the sarne time, lhe first Digital Revolution ended wilh Silicon Valley's dol-com bust. which poured lrillions or dollars into lhe global economy. ln a perfect world, digital oppoflunity would mean everybody having easy access to ICl s at affordable prices; ali homes equipped wilh ICT devices; ali ci lizens having mobile le l devices; and everyone using broadband. lhis is ta r from being the case in Westem countries and dear1y very f ar frem lhe situation in developing countrles. Kofl Annan (2002) referred lo lhe Digital Divide as: " The new informalian and oommunications technologies are among lhe drMng forces of globalisation. Th ey are bringing people togethe" aOO bringing decision makers unprecedented new tools for deve/opment. AI the same time, however, lhe gap between informaüon 'haves' and 'have-nots' is widening, and Ihera is a real danger lhal lhe world's poor will be excluded from the emerging knowledge-based global ecanomy'". Slatistical data also illustrates Ihat almast ali Arrican countries with very low Internet access are among lhe least developed countries in the world in terms of health, education, and income. lhis indicales lhal t he re seems lo be a conneclion between global social gaps and lhe global digital divide. ln this context, lhe United Nalions defends Ihal 111e network soci ety ;s creating paral/el communications syslems: one for those with incarne, education aOO literaJly connectians, giving plentiful information at Iow cosI and high speed; lhe olher for those withoul conneclions, blocked by high barriers of time, cosi 84 Chimera 2008, No.23 and uncertainty and dependen! upan outdated information" (UNO? 1999: 63 ). AJlhough lhe information revolution is changing the wor1d, its impacts are fell in many differenl ways across lhe globe. Vet. l he digital divide is not a new problem. Older lechnical divides Ihat can be traced back to previous experiences in flelds like economic development and suslainable deveklpmenl. Castells (2002: 248) argues Ihat access is -8 requisite for overcoming inequality in 8 society in which dominan! funcUons and social groups are increasingly organized around the Intemet". lh e sarne line or argument is followed by Jan van Dijk (2006: 178), who defines the digital divide as 'he gap belween those who do and do nol have access to computers and lhe Inlemel Jl • Nonetheless, access alone does nol solve things; lhe actual problem aboul lhe digital divide is very complex. II concerns bolh insuffk:ient access to computers and lack of lechnical know-how. bul also under1ying social issues such as poverty, literacy, and th e fact thal most people do nol see how the communication and lhe technofogies could be relevanl lo Iheir lives. Thus. Van Oijk and Hacker (2003) argue lhat there are lour types of barriers lo access: (i) lhe lack 01 " mental access" i.e., lhe lad< 01 elementary digital experience; (ii) lhe lack of -material access·, meaning a lack of possession of computers and network connections; (iii) lhe l ad< of " sJa11 access", which is a lack of digital skills; and finally (iv) the lack or ·usage access", denoting lhe lack of meaningful usage opportunities. The extslence of diHerenl types or barriers and not onfy a question of access is evident Ihrough l he research af Van Oijk (2006), which illustrates Ihat people wilh high leveIs af education and income tend lo use database, spreadsheet, bookkeeping, and presenlation applicalions signiflCantly more Ihan people with low leveis of educalion and in came who favour simple consultations, games. and other enlertainment. Mental and material access is nol enough (Van Oi jk and Hacker, 2003), but faith in bridging lhe digital gap in this way is widespread in science. Furthennore, lhe view Ihat I Cls are usually underslood lo refer lo compulers and lhe Inlernel is quite limited. as it exdudes lhe more traditional and usuaUy 85 Sапnеnlо. 2008 тоге оотmoп technologies such as radio, television. tеlерtюпеs. pubIic address systems, and еуеп newspapers, which also carтy iпfOfП'lаtion . '" par1icular, the potenlial value of radio аnd тоге recently of mobile phones as sources of development informalion should not ье over1ooked, especially in view of Iheir almost ubiquitous presence in developing countries, induding the гuгal Iocations in which the vast majority of Ihe poor live (s ee below the example of Veerampatinam). Тhe Se cond Digital Re volut ion: Empowering People Between Ihe yeaгs 2000 аnd 2004 hundreds 01 conference$ and Ihousands of sessions оп regular conferences have Ьееп dedicaled 10 the Iheme о ! the 'digilal divide ', '" Ihe years 2004 and 2005 attenlion star1ed 10 dedine (Van Dyke, 2006). '! is по! new to study the present reality that computers and the Inlemet теап no!hing 'ог blllions о! poor people. Уе!, in а 9rowing number of ins!ances, аnd as par1 of а quieter геvolutюп , а variety of local organizations, аю agencie$ аnd govemment bodies аге discovering !hat ICTs сап ье used 10 еюеnd the геат of 100 information revolution 10 the poorest of people living in the remotest comers of the woПd , Тhэl process and set о! initiatives, being from Intemational Огgапisatюпs such as the UN, UNESCO ог the W or1d Bank, Govemments, or Non Govemment Oгganisations (NGOs), аге рап of what some пате the Second Digital Revolulion, Since the digilal divide is the result rather than Ihe cause of poverty, and efforts 10 bridge il тиs! Ье embedded within effective st ralegies that address the causes of роуепу, it 1$ imponant 10 reconsider the aims of the Millennium Goals, which sel cfear targets (ог reducing роуеПу, hunger, disease, iIIiteracy, environmental degradalion, and discrimina!ion against women Ьу 2015, оп the basis of the 91ООаl situati on during the 1990s (UN, 200б t. Furtheгmore , ear1ier pattems о! adoption and diffusion о! lechnology sugges1 that ICTs will по! achieve their full potential without suitabIe attenlion being рэid 10 the wЮег 'Se l ouIi1 2000., t*I 01".. t.ht8d N Мions ~ ~.щ lI/dotJIrd ьу l89 мfioN.щ signed ьу '47 hNdsd$tгle aпd ~~",.и~ De-'tPrJefII GoeIs .. 10 Eпdiиt • ........,. poYWIy& "~ Achieve иnНмsaI,.;т.y ~ PtomoI. ~ 1IIqWIfit)'.щ~ м:>men; ReCМ:e dJi#d1lКll1'8fI)'; ~ ma!emaI' hиIfh ; CC:Wr!NI НV / AtOS;. tNI«ie & аи4sNиs; EfISI#8 ~ suslain.a6iIty, DIмIttJp. gJOIМJ ".,rпeпtitp k1I d8 'ц:с . .. if. 86 Chimera 2008, No.23 processes iп which they аге intended 10 assist and 10 the сопtеxt with i п whК;h they аге being implemenled. ТОО Iпtеrпаtiona! Telecommunication Union, fo/lowing а proposal Ьу tlle Government о( Tunis ia, resolved а! its Plenipotentiary Conference in Minneapol ~s in 1998 10 hold а Wor1d Summit оп the Information Society (WSIS) and place it оп the agenda of the Un ited Nation s, This init.ia live, sponsored Ьу the United Nations, took place (ог the first lime in Geneva, Switzer1and, in 2003 (10-12 ОесетЬег)3, and then in Tunis, Tunisia, in 2005 (16-18 November ). The Geneva Phase resulled in the adoption of the Geneva Dedaralion о' Prin dp les and Geneva Plan of Action; T he Tunis Phase resulted in the adopt ion о( the Tunis Commilment and Ihe Tunis Agenda ' ог Ihe Information Society. T he four outcome documents of Ihe Summit challenge the world community 10 bu ild ап Information Society that is -реорlе  centred, inc/usive and development-oriented-and where -еvеlYonе сап cгeate, access, utШzе and shaгe inforтation and kлоwlеdgе - (ITU, 2006), опе fur1her challenge that is outfined COfIcems the commitmenl 10 tum the -digital divide into а digita/ oppor1unity {ог aJ1, and (о provide access 10 'СТ infrastruclure and services Ihat is univeгsal , ubiquitous, equitable аnd affortfabIe" ( lТи, 2006). The very broad objectives, goals and largets thal сате out о' the meeting were 10 estabIish community access poinls, ооппес! ICTs wj!h vilJages, education eSlabIishments (universiti es coIleges, seoondary schools аnd primary schools), scicntific and research centres; pubIic libraries, cullural centres, museums, post offices and archives, heallh centres аnd hospitaJs 'оса! and сеп!гаl government departments, estabIish websites and emai! addresses; аdэр! аll primary and secondary school curriaJla 10 тее! the challenges of the Information Society. lakin9 inlo account national circumstances; ensure !hat а" 01 the WOf1d's population have access 10 tеlеvisЮп and radio services; encourage the development о! contenl; ри! in place technical oonditions in order 10 1acilitate the presence and use 01 аll 87 Sarmento, 2008 wot1d languages оп the Intemet; аnd ensure that rтюre than half the worId's inhabitants have access 10 ICTs within their reach. Despite the creation of the Digilal Solidarity Fund (DSF)· in Geneva, several problems and much uncer1ainty remains as 10 how 10 fuпd the асtioпs of the рlапs established iп Gепеvа аnd Tunis. There аге concems Ьу some dooors over the creation of anolher 'Global Fuпd' , аnd the private sector and civil society аге seeking suЬstапtiаl exlernal inputs. The existent experience of attemp ti ng 10 inlegrate ICTs inlo Dеvеlорmепl со operation сап provide valuabIe knowledge 10 Ihe рlапп i пg of future projecls. The Canadian International Development Agency (СIDА) suesses the need for projects 10 ье k>cally owned and ассоmрапied Ьу human capacity dеvеlорmепl [п order 10 ье sus l аiпаЫе . The Uпiled States Agency for Inlemational Development (USAID) emphasises the fact that for the ma}ority of donors Ihe main constrainl [п effectively using 'СТ for developmenl i$ rюt equipment capacity. The СIDА highlighls the importance of equat access 10 'СТ thal various social groups must have, par1icularty disadvantaged grouP$ such as the роог , chikiren, and indigenous people, [п order 10 achteve positive dеveюрmeпt impacts. Final'y, 'М Wortd Bank reoommends that because тапу important aspects of informalion аnd communication infrastructures аге cross-border [п nature, there is а пеоо for intemaHonalJregional C<Н)j)e r alion . Globallnformation , Technology and Development Access 10 information and the construction 01 know1edge at а glObal scale аге very uneven processe s, and tCTs play а сгitiсз t role. Let те discuss the examples о' Ihe importance о' Free Ореп Source Software (FOSS), the Oigita!isation о( information and contro! of contents, and the Transferring of Technology, 10 address this issue. Ореп source software has Ьееп realized mainty wilhin projecls such а$ the Linux operaling system. According 10 the Free Softwaгe Foundation (1996), ореп source software ог fгee software is sottware thal provides fo ur kinds of freedom for the U$er : the freedom to run • ~aI~ 0I.~..,. м'" CIP'" /о ~ Шkthddets 1ocustIg"""0'I sptd'i::-~ needs at fhel!x-'''''''' 8tId иeIIing_ vdutrl",-y.-.u5 OI~ m-:. . ~ DSF ~ • ..., ~ Ior lt.InCing the /nЮrm8IбorI SodtIy . 88 ! Chimerв 2008, No.23 the ргograт, for апу purpose; the freedom 10 study how the program works, аnd аdэр! it 10 specific needs (access 10 the source code is а pre-condilion (or this); the freedom 10 redistribute copies 50 that someone сап help his neighbour; the freedom 10 improve the program, and release these improvements 10 the publi c, so Ihal the whole community benefits (again access 10 the source code is а pгe-condi!ion for Ihis). Proprietary software and its aS50ciated C05tS present а barrier 10 ' СТ adoption, as well as Ihe геа! cosls аssociэtеd with hardware and software upgrades and mainlenance. '" гесеп! years there has Ьееп ап increasing deba1e оп the role аnd patenlial benefits of FOSS, pa r1 icularty in supporting developing countries [ п their attempls 10 increase the use о' 'СТ (Bridges.org, 2005). The centrat issue relales 10 how FOSS сап ье integrated into stralegies for social and economic developmenl. Another relevant iss ue concerns lhe Digitaljsation of information about the developing wortd. According 10 Limb (2006 ), schofars and their inslitulions in the North аге benefitting and wш increasingly ЬепеШ from bet1er access 10 digitized data about Africa, whereas scholars in Africa аге unlikely, а! least in 1he short ' егщ 10 enjoy anything пеаг simil ar . Yet, Ihere аге modesl signs that Рап-Аfricзп organisalions эге Ihemselv es staгting the process of digitising Ihe continent, and the challenge [п the fulure could ье the faimess of access 10 аnd sharing о' this information, and the sustainability of processes аnd results. Conneded 10 Ihe still uneven global access of information, is the su bstantial con lr oversy emerging from Ihe WorId Bank initialive 'Global Development Galeway', which relates 10 contenls. This Wor1d Bank initialive, а 'knowledge bank' directed Ьу the Developmenl Galeway Foundation, а pubIic-рrivаlе partnership where the board of directors г ергеsеп l s civi! society and pubIic and private donoгs, is associated 10 the юеа of estabIishing ап inteгactive partal ror information оп sustainabIe development аnd poverty reduction. This project is expected 10 promote governmenl quality аnd efflCiency Ьу providing information on best practices, networks for sharing solutions аnd experiences, and 1001$ for analysis and problem-soIving. The existing controversy revotves around Ihe conslruclion of а 'super-site' and а gatekeeper оп development information, in which managemenl аnd conlrol might по! ье impar1ial and beneflCial 10 all, а! the sэте time as output тау 89 Sannento, 2008 'еnd 10 геПесl Ihe interests, biases and limitalions of its creators, аnd Iherefore, тапу civil sociely organizations have decided not 10 cooperale wilh the 'Gateway'. The Wor1d Bank 'reply' 10 these aiticisms was the creation of country gateways which аге independent1y owned and operated Ьу partners о ' the Development Gateway. They operate within а country and each galeway is destgned 10 provide country-Ievel information and resources, аnd promote 'осаl oontent development аnd knowtedge sharing. They тау also ье more interactive than the gloOOI gateway because of the emphasis оп localization in their mandates. Finally, it is also important 10 approach the idea of transferri ng cheap technology and computers 10 th e developing wortd as а strategy 'ог developmenl. The idea defended Ьу James (2003), аmопg others, th at shipping in used oompulers (2-3 years old) to Afгica could contribute 10 developmenl, teads 10 the thoughl Ihal these destination counmes аге electronic dumps of the rich countries (in а similar fashion 10 them already being considered atomic waste dumps Ьу some westem соrpoга I ЮnS) . АI the sзmе time, why shouldn't these countries еп;оу lechnological progress the sзте way as westem countries? Fuchs and Horak (2008) argue that this sзте rational is behlnd Negroponte's Опе Laptop Ре г Child association аnd its 100$ laptop. This computer's tесhrюk>gy is inferior 10 Westem standards. with а very sюw processor, п о hard disk аnd drives, elc., and hence сап ье produced and sold rather cheaply. This great difference in technology between weslem and dеvеюр i пg wortd computers mау contribute 10 ап increased global divide. Also. Ьу simply adapting 10 weslem l есhrюlоgу, о г 10 techn~ogy that the West builds sресШса ll у fo r Sub-Saharan Africa, there is the danger of creating а colonial environment driven Ьу ICT (Gebremichael and Jackson, 2006). Оп the Ground There аге numerous gOOO praclices and success case studies of ICT4D. HealthNet, а computer-based telecommunication system sponsored Ьу SATELLIFE. а U.S.-based charitabIe о гg апizatЮn dedicated to connecting health ргоfеssюпаls around the woМ , has successful programs in Ethiopia, 90 Chiтera 2008, NO . 23 Mozamblque, Ghana. Gambla, the Oemocratic RepubIic о! the Congo, Tanzania,' and Uganda. Other examples of successful 'СТ development projects in Вraza ог Bangladesh for example. geared at addressing геаl worId probIems in the developing worId weaken the argument that 'СТ is а luxury Ihat the developing wor1d problems in which we should fOaJs relate to food, sheHer. the env;ronmenl and health. Опе of the rтюst visibIe 'СТ developments in much of the developing wor1d Is the increasing number of te lecentres 10 combat infonnation poverty. The results of experiments wilh telecentres аге mixed: some have demonstrated considerabIe benefits for their targel audiences; others аге struggling with f ragi1e connectivity and uncertain communities. Very few have achieved selffinancing sustainabllity (Harris, 2004). '" Ihe rontext of ICT4D and the involvement о ! African universities, Colle (2005: 102) has argued that ·UnWersities сап Ьесomе ргасиса//у invofved in /СТ Ьу incubaling le/ecentres, which аге part о( the worldwide lСТ4О moveтent ·. Unlike а cybercafe, wf10se primary mission is profit, а telecentre shares with Universilies the fad that they а г е риЫК; facilities in the cornmunity, which should ргоvюе the opportunity to use computers, networks, copiers, scanners, printed materials. and audio and уюео resources for informat.ion searching, communication аnd training. М . S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) is а поп-ргоШ Trust estabIished in 1988. As stated оп the organisation web site (http://www.mssrf.orgD. its aims а г е to develop а " pro-naturв. pro-poor аnd pro-women onentation 10 а job-/ed economic growth strategy in ruгаl aгeas through hamessing science and technology (ог environmenta"y susta;nable аnd socially equitabIe developтenf'. The Foundation work оп seven different areas: Coastal Systems Research. Biodiversity, Biotechnology, EcotechnoSogy. Food Security, Iлfоrmаt ioп, Education and Communication, аnd Special Projects. Опе of the most interesting and perhaps mediatised projects of the MSSRF takes plасе in the smэll fishing vi!lage of Veerampatinam, south of Pondicheny, in India. This project started in 2001 , and consists of а Village Кrю'NIеdgе Centre (VKC) -connected to ал IT Hub. 91 $armenlo, 2008 which is run Ьу lосаl women who use the Intemet for аll sorts of activities. Еуегу moming the weather data in the Вау of Bengal is downюаded from the websites of CNN and the US пауаl weather serv1ce, and the height о' the waves and the directions of the wind аге announced through the vШаge's temple loudspeakers. Mortality гate among the fishепneп has Ьееп drastically reduced, due to better risk maлаgеmепt, алd this project is I~ted Ьу India Т oday as оле аmong the 57 iлпоvаtions that have made а diffегелсе to the people. It is ап excellent exampte of tюw high-tech сап Ье combined with lowtech for уегу good effect. In fact, Radio, has ac hieved impressive resul ts in the delivery of useful information to роог people. and оле of its strengths is its ubiquity. Д survey of 15 hШ villages in Nepal found radios in еуе гу village, with farmers listening 10 them wh~e working in the fields. Another survey of 21 ,000 farmers enrolled in radio-backed fаПТI forums in ZзтЫа found that 90 регсеп! found programmes relevant and rrюrе than 50 percent credited the programmes and forums with increasing their егор yields (Dodds, 1999). Other examples coming from the Philippines, i1Iustгates that projects тау поt only i neгease 'осаl bus;ness and agricultural productivity, but also result ; п the fОПТIаtюп of civic organizations and moге constructive dialogue with local offlCials (UNESCO Courier 1997). '" Mozambique, the Nalional Institute for Oisaster Management distributed Freeplay radios 50 that nood viclims could receive broadcasts оп the weather, health issues. govemment policy toward the displaced, missing family members. the Clctivities of Ihe аю community and the location of land mines. '" пJгаl Uganda, it is рптап1у women WtlO provide for households, either Ьу doing rтюst of the f аПТIiпg or starting small local businesses. Despite this role, it is теп who usually have access 10 credit and (осаl business exchanges, while women face тапу difftculties in slarting юсаl businesses. since Юсаl cultural practices make them obtain credrt through th ei r husbands first. As they do поt have time to network. locally in order 10 sell goods, and they аге not taught basic business skills, IСТ тау offer ап effeclive tool 10 disseminate iпfОПТIаtioп and 10 allow them 10 соппю. Yet, access 10 'СТ is limited, and the costs of connecting 10 the Inlem et аге prohibitively high ' аг the typical 92 ! 1 Chimera 2008. No.23 woman in ruгal Uganda (see Mwesige, 2004, for Clп analysis 01 the суЬег elrtes in Uganda). The Council for Есогюmi с Еmpowеrmелt for Women of Africa (C EEWA }-Uganda is а поп~оуегптепtэl and гюп ргоШ organization working 10 ргоnюlе the есоrюmiс еmроwепneпl of women in the dеvеюрmeпl process. CEEWA was Ьоm at Ihe fifth African NGO Forum held in Oakar, Senegal in 1994, and started rts aclivity in 1995. CEEWA-U developed ап 'СТ Project 10 -bndge the information gap between information sources, institutions with infonnation аnd 'М end users Jl (CEEWA-U, 2006). The Project intends 10 facilitale the articulation between women at the grass root level, аnd the impa cl of govemment policies аnd programmes. At ап ear1ie r slage, and with Ihe financial support from th e Intemational Development Research Centre (1999-2001), CEEWA-U was аЫе to mobilize women and run а pilot test of the Project in three districts: Mpigi, Wakiso аnd Kampala. in central Uganda. The aim of th is project was 10 create awareness among women entrepreneurs about the role of ICTs in empowering and strengthening their ability 10 ruл and manage their lives and businesses. Laler оп, with the support о' the Humanistic Inslilule for Соорегаtюп wilh Oeveloping Countries (Hivos), the project continued in six districtsJsites. The project has several components. Неге I would like 10 highlight the four that seem to те to Ье nю ге relevant in the present discussion. The first опе concems the Women Iпfоrmatюп Resource Electronic Service (WIRES), which allows rural entrepreneur women and womел organisalions to updale access information оп mark.et prices, advisory services. trade support services, business and entrepreneurship tips, best practices in Agriculture аnюпg other ~elevanl iпfоrmа t ioл to ltie developmenl of their елtегргisеs (this databasfНjriven websile сап ье found at www . ceewauganda . oгg) . The second is the Empowerment Resource Centre (ERC) which aims at providing women and the gелегаl pubIic wilh necessary skills for effective сагеег development and business management. The ERC is а оле-stор centre that provides services 10 women, youth and the public. Т М services include еmроwеПТIепt sessions, print library. training in entrepreneurship developmenl, business management skills аnd Consultancy, 93 Sarmento, 2008 oomputer training, !nternet ассеsз, and secretarial servic:es among others. А third dimension of the project is the 'СТ project Partnership with the Communities in wh ic h CEEWA-U WOf1(s dosely with the existent community telecenues о' Nabweru аnd 8uwama in central Uganda, as а means 10 reach the oommunities. Пte telecentres are us ed ror ' СТ training and disseminating information. Д final эsрес t о' CEEWA-U is the Mukono Information эnd Communicalion Cenlre, а business centre which was created 10 replicale the services о' 'оо already estabIished community telecentres and 10 attempt to demystify ICTs among rural communities. The centre is сштепt1у fulty орегаtioпа 1 offering Iraining in ICTs аnd their application in business, business соuпsеШпg, telephone services, document processing. computer training and photocopying services among olhers. so far the project has mobilized and trained а total of 809 women and те п in ' СТ use аnd application in business, entrepreneurship develapmenl аnd business management skills. This has raised the awareness оп Ihe applicalion and use 01 ICTs and entrepreneurship development among women entrepreneurs. The project has also developed manuals for training and аudюv isuа l material оп ICTs use and applicalion in entrepreneurship in 'оса' dialect (Luganda). which has greaUy helped women in understanding how different ' СТ tools сап ье used and applied in business. Video documentaгies оп best practices in Ьапапа farming, pig farming and poultry keeping have Ьееп produced, as well as bookJets оп best practices in agгiculluгe, both in English and 'оса 1 language, and а г е be ing used Ьу Ihe wamen enlrepreneurs. This experience shows thal ICTs а г е аЫе 10 рrovЮе women with oppor1unilies 'аг ехрапsЮn of their economic enterprises as well as (а г positive social, poIilical and cultural change. There i5 now а plan 10 expand the WIRES programme and 10 creale additional telecentres primarity in rural areas. As а result of the demand 01 ' СТ training Ьу теп, Ihe programme will also finance men's lraining in the community. '" addition, CEEWA-Uganda wants 10 expand its programme 10 show women how 10 и5е 'СТ in their daity lives as well as their businesses. 94 I Chimerв 2008, NO . 23 Final Remarks Much of Ihe еvЮепсе in suppor1 of the use 01 ICTs for allevialing pover1y remains anecdotal and the difficu1ties 01 measuring the impact of these iпitiаtiveз зhould nol ье underestimated. Оп Ihe опе hand. initiatives аге laking place with little relerence 10 each other, /eaving а need for fleld practitioners 10 take into acoount the ехрегiепсе that has 50 ( аг Ьееп accumulated. Оп the other hand, the use о, ICTs (а, poverty allevialian has not achieved the status о' а mass movement аnd there аге c:onsiderabIe challenges in tuming а promising experimenl into а mass use. 'СТ implementalion in developing count ri es cannot ignore аШсаl institulional barriers such as poverty, роо г access, deficient infrastructure support and 5ervicing. low literacy 1evels, electricity prabIems, and high costs 01 subscriplion 10 Inleme! Service Providers. Yet, тапу of the exisling success slorie5 Шustгаtе that the тain challenges are по' actually in Ihe te chnology ilself, bul in the organisation, coordinalion and estabIishment о' а motivational and creative environment among various 5takeholders аnd people. References Annan. К. 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