Master of Business Administration School of Business

ICT4D

Term Paper: Kenya Digital Villages

Class Assignment NYAKEYA DENNIS MAIGE D61/61656/2010

COURSE CODE: DIS 607

ACRONYMS
CBOs CSR FBOs IBC ICT4D ICTs IDRC Community Based Organizations Corporate Social Responsibility Faith based organizations Issue Based Consulting Information and Communication Technologies for Development Information Communications Technologies International Development Research Centre

ITU
KICTB MoIC NGOs UNCST UNECA UNESCO MDGs

International Telecommunication Union

Kenya ICT Board Ministry of Information and Communications Non - Governmental organization Uganda National Council for Science and Technology U.N. Economic Commission for Africa U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
Millennium Development Goals

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Ultimately, ICT innovation comes down to a matter of freedom. The challenge for analysts and practitioners is to help people discover the far outer limits of their freedom of action to make their place in a chaotic and confusing world of rapid globalization and the information revolution. People everywhere understands there are trade-offs to be made and want to know enough about ICTs to make those judgments for themselves. (Wilson, 2h004, p. 405)

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Digital Villages Project

The concept of telecentres/Digital Villages emerged in the 1990s offering ICT access to the public at large. They were devised as a practical tool to deliver ICT and connectivity to all social groups, particularly middle and low income families or those in rural areas with no access to such facilities (Impact of ICT on community development in ESCWA member countries ESCWA, 2009)
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Digital Villages can be referred to as strategically located facilities providing public access to

ICT-based services. These strategic centres are typically equipped with some combination of but not limited to;

telecommunication services such as telephony, fax, e-mail and Internet; office equipment such as computers, printers ,scanners and photocopiers; multimedia hardware and software, including radio, TV and video; and meeting spaces for local community use, training and so on.

In the recent past has seen exponential growth in ICTs with computers, mobile phones, internet and wireless computing spreading all over Kenya which has been a shift from the tradition. Arguably these technologies have revolutionized how individuals and organizations relate in their day to day operations and activities. While this has benefited the urbanites, universities, colleges, research institutions, organizations etc, it has done very little to the rural communities especially to the rural poor thus leading to digital poverty which contributes to the ever widening digital divide. Because of this, the government in the light of the fact it forced to intervene by being driven to utilize ICT initiatives as tools for development for addressing the development agenda. Currently, the government is involved in some project to address this concern and for the purpose of this paper we shall highlight the Digital Villages project. The paper shall cover the following sections;
1. Project description, aims, and how they are to be achieved.

For the sake of this paper, Digital villages and Telecentres shall be used interchangeably

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2. Literature Review of the underlying ICT4D issues (theoretical, methodological,

institutional etc.) that would influence the projects chances for success. 3. Evaluate the initiative based on the literature review findings. 4. Conclusion This initiative is contributing to the attainment of the MDGs by seeking to address the informational and service issues to address the ever widening digital gap and or digital poverty

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Description of Digital Villages

This work effort is an initiative of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC). The purpose is to establish Digital Villages in each constituency as a Centre for rural empowerment and development.2The Digital Village Project supports Kenyas Vision 2030 and addresses the disparity between urban and rural areas through Government e-services delivery, ICT training and enablement and job creation and revenue generation. The Digital Village ecosystem includes various CBOs, NGOs, Telcos, churches, co-operatives, development partners, cyber-cafs and Pasha Centres. The Pasha centres are a critical subset of the Digital Village Project and are supposed to be the flagship/centre of excellence for other Digital Villages to emulate. They are also expected to have distinct and influential role in overall Digital Village strategy. The Pasha centres are driven by KICTB and funded by the World Bank. The target is to have 210 Pasha centres by the end of 2012 (one per constituency). (KICTB website) ICT is one of the cross cutting theme for Vision 2030. The initiative aimed at contributing towards the attainment of Vision 2030 pillars of political, social and economic as follows. With the economic pillar, it shall provide access to improved technology required to advance services in the digital centres, promote competitive market for Internet Service Providers (ISP) to rural areas and continue investing in power solutions for Pasha Centres. With the Social pillar, it shall promote partnership with non-profit organizations (i.e. USAid, DOT, NGO, etc.), encourage private sector CSR through e-mentoring and internship programs and mandate reporting of rural community information such as land ownership, births, occupation, household income, etc., required to provide service requirements by community. And finally political pillar, it shall offer more advanced Business Management and Leadership courses, expansion of digital centres through train-the-trainer sessions promoting collaboration and education within communities, provide e-government content to enable end-to-end services and partner with Pasha centres to deliver ICT vision to communities. The achievement of this shall be achieved through stakeholders working together as the actors for the initiative.

ICT board website (www.ict.go.ke)

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Figure 1: explains the interaction between multiple actors managing, supporting and using Digital Villages (Source KICTB website) Education Institutions, private sector, NGOs, CBOs and FBOs actors are classified as owners. This is the group of actors intended to own this initiative at the village level since they are considered sustainable entities. They are intended to play a management role as well as the consumers/users of the project. Digital opportunity Trust and IBM CSC Team are bundled as Non- Profit making entities and they are intended to provide capacity by offering training and support. Coupled with that role, they are also offering consultancy services to the KICTB. Summit Strategies ltd and Intelecon Research and Consultancy ltd are commercial entities offering consultancy services to the KICTB. KICTB in turn shall support entrepreneurs to set up digital villages and manage them. All the above actors are intended to support the intended users/community to make most of these services offered at the centres. The consultants findings shall inform the project implementations putting into consideration the best practices and lessons learnt from the pilots. The efforts of all the above entities shall together work with the community to realize the projects goals and objectives.

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Literature review
Digital Villages/Telecentres have been hailed as the solution to development problems around the world because of their ability to provide desperately needed access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) (Gmez and Hunt 1999). A substantial number of such centres have been piloted and implemented by various governmental and development agencies across the World. Arguably, Telecentres have considerable potential for narrowing the digital divide in remote, rural and otherwise disadvantaged communities. They can be especially useful in helping developing countries and rural areas take advantage of the information economy, access education, government information, healthcare and other services, and develop socially and economically. An information society compounded by globalization has posed numerous challenges to nations like Kenya. In an effort to adherence to the MGD goal of digital inclusion, the government of the Kenya has established a national program of Digital Villages through the KICTB, that aim to promote digital literacy among the poor and rural communities. These centres are aimed at promoting the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and enhance the uptake/adoption of ICTs among the rural populations. According to Paola Prado 2009, results from a survey conducted in the rural villages of El Seybo, Navarrete, and Oviedo confirm that telecentres users learn how to use information and communication technologies as a resource for information about civic life, entertainment, and professional development which should relate to what our Kenyan government is doing of ensuring universal accession of ICTs.

According to Colin Latchem 2001, one of the advantages of telecentres is that they provide a means of delivering public and private services to rural and remote locations without incurring immediate large investments. In fulfilling these goals, they are expected to have a positive impact on the socio-economic development of the communities they serve, helping to; develop rural and remote infrastructure; provide rural regions with better public services and improved local administration; generate employment and foster socio-economic development;

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integrate relatively isolated communities into the national and international information network and thus accelerate exchange of private goods and services; transfer expertise in a number of areas, such as agriculture, to and from the community; and give local producers access to market information, thus reducing the need for middlemen and increasing rural incomes.

The Digital initiative in Kenya intends to address similar issues as listed above but they shall be tackled on a case by case basis since all the 290 constituencies have unique needs which require peculiar approaches. Therefore basing my argument on Colins findings, I expect enhanced public service delivery by the government, efficient information flow between the communities and the government together with other stakeholders. The centres also shall contribute to the employment creation and play a major role towards digital inclusion. According to Colin Latchem 2001, Case studies from public and NGO type telecentres showcased dissimilar findings when compared with that of the private telecentres. The findings include;

The private and public telecentres fits within for profit types and NGO telecentres fits in not-for-profit types of telecentres. The private telecentres are more vibrant in action when compared to public and NGO telecentres by the periodical updating of the services and timely catering to the needs of users. The public telecentres quoted in success stories during the start of the project has now reached the closure stage with fewer users, due to outdated technology, contents and lack of infrastructure The NGO telecentres are active in operation during the period of external donor agency funding and tend to be passive on later stages. The public and NGO telecentres had more number of female users than male to that of private d telecentres, since former types were encouraged in villages among women selfhelp groups.

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The above findings revolve around sustainability and issues of gender. NGOs being philanthropists aim to achieve their goal without giving dire attention to what the centres shall be like once they pull out their donor funding. However, the Government and private centres e.g. Cyber Cafes are profit oriented; however, this might be a major impediment to the realization of the Digital Villages objectives in the sense that only those who can afford the services can access the ICTs and bearing in mind that a huge percentage of the rural population are poor. Therefore the KICTB shall consider segregating services in the Digital Villages and cluster them to free and pay. The services that require consumables should fall in the pay category e.g. printing while those that do not should be for free e.g. watching a topical issue on the Television. The bottom line should remain to strike a balance between goal and objectives, being sustainable in the long run while not losing their basic focus. According to Colin Latchem, telecentres vary in many aspects; one common characteristic is that they are virtually all initiated by development agencies and run by local NGOs. Thus, for example, the info-shops in Pondicherry, India, are funded by IDRC and implemented by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation; the South African Universal Service Agencys telecentres are awarded to community-based organizations; the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) manages the telecentres in Nabweru and Buwama, which are funded by the IDRC; and the Nakaseke telecentre in Uganda is supported by the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), IDRC, ITU and the World Bank. The Kenyan shall be owned Education Institutions, private sector, NGOs, CBOs and FBOs with funding from the World Bank through the KICTB. This mode of ownership is naturally reflected in the operating model and accounts for some of the problems accruing from it. The objectives of many of the NGOs responsible for operating the telecentres/digital villages are to foster and facilitate specific development activities. Therefore, the local owners or managers, as non-profit bodies, are not driven primarily to make a commercial success of their centres, nor are they often business minded or skilled in generating business and revenue. As a consequence, although exceptions exist, there are commonly problems with: Pricing Pricing strategies and guidelines are often lacking, and the prices do not reflect the cost of providing the services.
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Market analysis and business planning proper demand studies and business plans carried out before the establishment of telecentres are often missing. Competition Where there is existing infrastructure, local entrepreneurs who provide telecom access and business services are likely to compete with the telecentres. Many telecentres are not prepared for this and, if they provide subsidized services, they distort the market for emerging local entrepreneurs. Human resources many telecentres managers and staff are not appropriately compensated for their work. As well, the centres typically rely heavily on volunteers. Both factors lead to difficulties in motivating and retaining staff. Training Managers and staff are often untrained in advanced operations, financial management and customer service.

However, in the Kenyan Case, this shall not the an issue since the setting of the centres shall take into account the recommendations on tools and templates for the services on offer and a further guidance on the case by case design explored to avoid issues such as the above. According to the study commissioned by Gaiani, Silvia (2009) based on field studies in India and Sri Lanka they found that the following aspects were important for successful telecentres:

Ownership. The local community has to be involved in the design of the telecentre right from the conceptual stage. If the telecentre becomes an integral part of the community it serves and if the community has a sense of ownership of it the probability for success will definitely increase. However, for the Kenyan case, ownership is well defined and the various stakeholders shall work together with the community from the onset and ensure participation at all levels.

Sustainability - telecentre is a combination of technology and man power, it requires a high level of investment and a substantial and steady income to cover the costs and to generate a profit. In poor rural areas low incomes and low awareness of potential services may make it difficult to generate a significant income from charging customers. Therefore different financial models are needed are needed to cater for the various peculiar contexts that arise from the 290 sites in the Kenyan Case.

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Languages - every telecentre has to accommodate to local languages. This is a challenge in particular in a country like India which has 22 officially recognized languages and approximately 2000 different dialectsvii. In Sri Lanka the Shilpa Sayura project has provided content in local languages which is extensively used and appreciated. The importance of English cannot be underestimated for learning as well as in daily communication. However, for the Kenyan context we have two national languages (Kiswahili and English) as opposed to the India and Sri Lanka cases.

Education, literacy and media literacy - not every user is competent or comfortable enough using a telecentre. There is a need for both courses and informal learning introducing basic ICT and language skills. In India the lack of literacy is another obvious barrier. Literacy rates among women are in India well below those of men. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, has the highest literacy rate in Southeast Asia, women included, but still improvements are needed in order to reach the goal of access for everyone. In the case of Kenya, not all the rural communities can be able to read and communicate in Swahili and English. This though can be solved by incorporating adult literacy to the digital village project in those areas and capacity transfer sessions with target users of the centres to ensure universal access.

Inclusion - in India lower castes and women may find themselves excluded. In Sri Lanka the conflict between Sinhala and some Tamil groups calls for special attention. All these groups as well as disabled people should be integrated in the telecentre activities. In the Kenyan context, there exist cultural issues on gender with relation to education level and access of such centres at the village level. This may include genders not mixing, such places seen as places for a certain gender etc. This can be addressed by consistency community sensitization and working with the local authorities to drive the message home that the digital village is for use by everybody and everyone.

Vision and strategy - telecentre needs to have a multiple purpose strategy that should be updated over time. Different stakeholders have different needs and abilities. For many people basic computer training could be the stepping stone for personal development and improved quality of life. The digital centres should address the expectations of various groups and that should be captured by the strategy of the digital villages.

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Evaluation of Digital Villages

From the review of literature, it is clear that Digital Villages are often seen as supply-driven rather than demand-driven because of their ownership structure and operating models. Due to this, I advocate that we give more attention to more demand-driven models, supported with private sector involvement and entrepreneurship. This trend is well captured by the KICTB initiative since it is keen on enabling public private partnership in implanting them. The stakeholders involved will each have a role to play and that shall enhance the successes of the project. Although Digital Villages are perceived as a crucial development tool and have considerable potential, the data available from the review of the literature on rural demand and usage of the internet and other information formats in such centres suggest that this is not satisfactorily realized. Some of the risks such centres can realize are;

illiteracy in general and computer illiteracy in particular; language problems resulting from the fact that the Internet is mostly in English though there are many local languages; lack of awareness and culture about the use and benefits of ICT the high cost of Internet connection poor quality telecommunications connections.

The government in conjunction with the stakeholders involved in this initiative must mitigate the above risk that may hamper the success of the project. This can be realized through stakeholders involvement during the project design to ensure that such issues/risks are captured at the project design stage and a way forward to mitigate them drawn. Digital Villages needs to provide different levels of activities to further individual competence and career development. If Digital Villages successfully tackle the issues of ownership, inclusion, languages, education and literacy, vision and strategy, their impact on development in rural areas will be substantial. Therefore, meaningful engagement ought to be sought to ensure that the KICTB initiative of the implementing this project addresses to take into consideration some of the best practices to guarantee the success of the same.

Conclusion
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There is growing evidence that the global diffusion of information and communication technologies may contribute to exacerbate inequality in the developing world (Warren, 2007; Wilson, 2004). Lacking digital literacy skills or affordable access to ICTs and the Internet, many individuals are being digitally excluded and prevented from active participation and engagement in the Information Society (Roman & Colle, 2002; Warschauer, 2003b). In regions in Kenya where inequality is prevalent, there is much to be done to improve human development among the poor and to promote equity throughout all levels of society. Arguably, some of the issues to do with sustainability and structural challenges can be resolved. The promotion of digital literacy and the diffusion of ICTs comprise a powerful tool against inequality and digital poverty (Mossberger et al., 2003; Norris, 2001; Servon, 2002; van Dijk, 2005). The review of literature found that similar Digital Village projects successfully promoted digital literacy through the use of ICTs in the rural communities that they served which we can replicate in Kenya. At the digital villages replicas, individuals learned and practiced digital literacy, and learned to use ICTs to develop new professional, civic, and educational skills. This findings supports the claim that digital literacy and ICT access deliver learning and capacity-building in a way that is conducive to human development, in the manner proposed by the UNDP and in accordance to the MGDs set by the United Nations. Financial sustainability of digital villages is a major concern. Although financial sustainability is only one of several dimensions of digital villages sustainability, it remains the most prevalent and possibly the most challenging. Digital Villages need to be demand-driven, and demand should be reflected in the communitys willingness to pay for some services. Public/private partnerships in Digital Villages for development offer the opportunity for combining innovation and responsiveness with stability and public participation and for bringing massive numbers of excluded people into the information world. Finally, digital villages should ensure that they tackle the issues of ownership, inclusion,

languages, education and literacy, vision and strategy from the onset of their implementation to ensure successful implementations that meet both the strategic and operational objectives.

References
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1. Mossberger, K., Tolbert, C. J., & Stansbury, M. (2003). Virtual inequality: Beyond the

digital divide. Washington, DC: Georgetown University.

2. Warren, M. (2007, July). The digital vicious cycle: Links between social disadvantage and

digital exclusion in rural areas. Telecommunications Policy 31(6-7).

3. Warschauer, M. (2003). Social capital and access. Universal Access in the Information

Society, 2(4), 315-330.

4. United Nations [UN]. (2009). Millennium development goals indicators. United Nations

Statistics Division. Retrieved May 26, 2009 from http://mdgs.un.org

5. Wilson, E. J., III (1998). Globalization, information technology, and conflict in the second

and third worlds: A critical review of the literature. NY: Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
6. Colin Latchem(2001). Perspectives on Distance Education: Telecentres: Case studies

and key issues: The Commonwealth of Learning

7. Gaiani, Silvia (2009). Critical Issues for E-Learning Telecentres in Sri Lanka and India:

University of Bologna, Italy

8. ESCWA, Report on Impact of ICT on community development in ESCWA member

countries, December 2009

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