|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Tuesday, 23 November 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Rural masses : New stakeholders in the IT revolution
According to a recent survey by the Department of Census and Statistics, on the average, significant unequal availability of computers in households is seen by sector. While 10 per cent of our urban households possess a computer, only 3 per cent of rural households do so. It is even lower, just 0.3 per cent in estate households. For many years, people working to enhance Information Technology and applications have referred to rural communities as being at the 'last mile of connectivity.' The concept of the 'last mile' carries a lot of negative connotations and compels us to assume the perspective of an urbanite looking down at the rural margins. The challenge today is to change it to 'first mile'. Our rural people have every right to desire and demand the tools that help improve quality of life, health, prosperity and cultural vibrancy. Dangers However, there are some dangers in pushing IT connectivity for rural sector 'at any cost'. Access to the technologies and influence on their use, must be equitable across the diverse groupings within rural communities. To be sustainable, rural IT need to be designed with rural people as active participants in planning and implementing. For example, language should not be a barrier. This could be easily overcome by changing operating systems and essential software like Microsoft Windows/ Office to Sinhala and Tamil. It has been done in many other developing countries and with all such IT wizards among us, there is no reason why we cannot do so. Let me quote an example to prove the point. Pondicherry in India is the latest of the projects eyed for bringing the Information Age to rural Indian villagers and we can learn a lot of lessons from Indian experiences. Pondicherry is a former French colonial area in southern India, on the Bay of Bengal. Because Tamil is the main language of its rural people, the personal computers placed in each village information shop feature Windows and Microsoft Office Software with Tamil fonts developed by the Government of India. When the project began in 1998, the technical challenges included a 'shoestring' budget, an almost total absence of modern telephone infrastructure, and a long wait for standard telephone lines. Engineers skirted this latter problem by setting up telephone and Internet access through an unconventional combination of modems and VHF radios. A central base picks up the radio signals from each village and feeds them into the Indian telephone network. To supplement the sporadic power available in rural areas, the computer, printer and radio found in each tele-centre all have solar power backup. The final result did not move data quickly, but it served users' purposes. At first, the project team was unsure whether rural Indians would be interested in Internet service - in the project area, there were only 12 public telephones serving 22,000 people. But the team found that for every phone, there were 20 to 40 televisions. Success A survey showed that community members have a genuine thirst for information - provided it was locally or personally relevant. Villagers wanted access to daily weather reports and news that had an impact on their lives. And while rural Indians were interested in agricultural and fishing information, at the top of their wish list was bulletins about Government programs and information releases. Administrators took pains to lower barriers to access in other ways. Some villagers were illiterate, so information such as weather reports was downloaded as RealAudio files, which were played over speakers located in front of the information shops. Over a six-month trial period, farmers requested dynamic information on the costs and availability of agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizer and pesticides - and on grain prices in different markets throughout the Pondicherry area. Women primarily used the information shops to obtain information about family income supplements and public welfare schemes, low-cost insurance and health issues. Some women have also explored ways to start up new family enterprises, such as manufacturing incense sticks. Over time, project volunteers in the villages have built their own databases. These locally generated information sources now include details of approximately 130 Government programs for low income rural families; local market prices for grain; local farming input prices; a directory of insurance plans for both crops and families; pest management plans for rice and sugar cane; a directory of local hospitals, medical practitioners and their specialties; a regional timetable for buses and trains; and a directory of local veterinarians, cattle and animal husbandry programs. The lesson to Sri Lanka is very clear. As Mr.Kadirgamar says, "It is the responsibility of the Government and the IT industry to find ways and means of integrating the village in the globalization process. This needs social consciousness which will spur the development of appropriate IT technologies that are easily accessible, affordable and meaningful for the rural masses. Then only they could become stakeholders in the progress in the new IT era." |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lakshman Kadirgamar recently spoke on the
subject of making rural masses IT era stakeholders. In his speech he asked
two relevant questions: Have the rural masses been touched by the IT
revolution in a manner that brings them tangible results? Have they
benefited from IT solutions? Answering the questions himself, he frankly
said, "Probably no."
