Benhamou states that Africa has become a good region for investments. He affirms that it is “a vast untapped market with legions of firms eager to grab a slice of the region’s IT industry pie”. However, he also raise the negative aspect of Africa for investors as being “ a continent overshadowed by unrest, separated by a number of languages, and with precious few means of entering the market without falling prey to systemic corruption”. However, many African nations have worked to overcome this negative impression:
Morocco’s government and IT sector have been methodically and silently building up a joint business plan to attract foreign investment, particularly from the UAE.
Morocco’s geographical position and trilingual workforce make a prime destination for companies looking to outsource their operations.
Jamal Benhamou, APEBI’s CEO explains why Morocco is only now emerging as an IT destination:
· Many Chinese, European and US companies have come to Morocco because they know that they can benefit from the main free trade agreements we have signed with the United States, South America, Europe and North Africa.
· Morocco built up a strategy-based operation action plan which is a public-private voluntary policy to support development
· Morocco has finally understood that any growth or development in the IT environment will have a substantially direct impact on the local economy
· there opportunities for UAE and the wider Middle East companies to enter Morocco, French-speaking Africa, France and perhaps the EU
· Morocco has already built a number of technology parks, similar in design to Dubai’s Internet and Media Cities, with two located in Casablanca, another in Rabat, and a further pair scheduled to open in Tangier and Marrakesh
· Morocco’s telecoms sector currently ranks third in Africa, behind Egypt and Tunisia.
· Morocco understands that it’s going to be really difficult for them to compete with India and China, so I think they’re trying to add more on top through value-added services
· Moroccan government is also placing a lot of emphasis on innovation.
mercredi 27 février 2008
lundi 25 février 2008
Information and Communications for Development 2006: Global Trends and Policies
Preface:
The report discusses the following issues:
· experiences, trends, and outlook on the ICT sector with a focus on actual results and justified expectations
· global ICT development trends
· empirical evidence of the benefits that ICT is providing in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction
The purpose of the report:
· Creation of a basis for more systematic monitoring and evaluation of the progress and impact of ICT
· Provide useful insights on ICT for development in general.
The work and achievements of the GICT:
· The Global Information and Communication Technologies Department (GICT) is the World Bank Group department that focuses on the ICT sector.
· GICT is undertaking several initiatives to advance methods of monitoring results in ICT for development projects.
· GICT’s results measurement agenda aims to strengthen the availability of ICT sector indicators at country, micro, and project levels
· GICT has defined a core set of information-and communication-related indicators to create tables that present a snapshot of country-specific ICT issues.
The purpose of Information and Communications for Development 2006: Global Trends and Policies
· To consolidate all the M&E efforts and share the findings with the development community
· To apply the data to a range of topics: investment trends, principles and practical solutions to extending ICT services, the role of ICT in doing business, trends in national e-strategies, and approaches to tracking ICT globally.
· To work with countries and the international community to determine how best to use ICT for poverty reduction and economic growth in the developing world
The report discusses the following issues:
· experiences, trends, and outlook on the ICT sector with a focus on actual results and justified expectations
· global ICT development trends
· empirical evidence of the benefits that ICT is providing in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction
The purpose of the report:
· Creation of a basis for more systematic monitoring and evaluation of the progress and impact of ICT
· Provide useful insights on ICT for development in general.
The work and achievements of the GICT:
· The Global Information and Communication Technologies Department (GICT) is the World Bank Group department that focuses on the ICT sector.
· GICT is undertaking several initiatives to advance methods of monitoring results in ICT for development projects.
· GICT’s results measurement agenda aims to strengthen the availability of ICT sector indicators at country, micro, and project levels
· GICT has defined a core set of information-and communication-related indicators to create tables that present a snapshot of country-specific ICT issues.
The purpose of Information and Communications for Development 2006: Global Trends and Policies
· To consolidate all the M&E efforts and share the findings with the development community
· To apply the data to a range of topics: investment trends, principles and practical solutions to extending ICT services, the role of ICT in doing business, trends in national e-strategies, and approaches to tracking ICT globally.
· To work with countries and the international community to determine how best to use ICT for poverty reduction and economic growth in the developing world
mercredi 13 février 2008
Mobiles narrow digital divisions
Mobile phones and net access are helping narrow the gulf between rich and poor nations
The efficiencies these technologies bring has boosted development in poorer countries
Greater use of technology in businesses, schools and at home could raise standards of living and help people prosper.
In rural communities in Uganda, and the small vendors in South Africa, Senegal and Kenya mobile phones were helping traders get better prices, ensure less went to waste and sell goods faster.
A study of Thai manufacturing firms showed that a 10% increase in computer literate staff produced a 3.5% productivity gain.
To make the most of the transformative potential of the net, mobiles and other technologies the UN report recommended that countries update cyber laws, intellectual property regulations, upgrade infrastructure and invest in training
Technology in emerging economies
China is by no means the only emerging economy in which new technology is being eagerly embraced
The India of internet cafés and internet tycoons produces more engineering graduates than America, makes software for racing cars and jet engines and is one of the top four pharmaceutical producers in the world
Yet this picture of emerging-market technarcadia is belied by parallel accounts of misery and incompetence
Three-quarters of low-income countries have fewer than 15 PCs per 1,000 people—and many of those computers are gathering dust.
How well are emerging economies using new technology?
Technology so defined is fundamental to economic advance
The main channels through which technology is diffused in emerging economies are foreign trade (buying equipment and new ideas directly); foreign investment (having foreign firms bring them to you); and emigrants in the West
Technology is spreading to emerging markets faster than it has ever done anywhere
Most technologies are available in some degree
Emerging economies spend less on R&D than rich ones: rich countries spend 2.3% of GDP on R&D, East Asians 1.4%, and Latin America 0.6%
In rich countries, high-tech-firms get money from banks, stockmarkets and venture capitalists in ways that emerging-market entrepreneurs can only dream of
The limits of leapfrogging
In places with bad roads, few trains and parlous land lines, mobile phones substitute for travel, allow price data to be distributed more quickly and easily, enable traders to reach wider markets and generally make it easier to do business
The mobile phone is also a wonderful example of a “leapfrog” technology: it has enabled developing countries to skip the fixed-line technology of the 20th century and move straight to the mobile technology of the 21st
The nature of the mobile phone makes it an especially good leapfrogger
The World Bank concludes that a country's capacity to absorb and benefit from new technology depends on the availability of more basic forms of infrastructure
Most of the time, to go high-tech, you need to have gone medium-tech first.
Mobile phones and net access are helping narrow the gulf between rich and poor nations
The efficiencies these technologies bring has boosted development in poorer countries
Greater use of technology in businesses, schools and at home could raise standards of living and help people prosper.
In rural communities in Uganda, and the small vendors in South Africa, Senegal and Kenya mobile phones were helping traders get better prices, ensure less went to waste and sell goods faster.
A study of Thai manufacturing firms showed that a 10% increase in computer literate staff produced a 3.5% productivity gain.
To make the most of the transformative potential of the net, mobiles and other technologies the UN report recommended that countries update cyber laws, intellectual property regulations, upgrade infrastructure and invest in training
Technology in emerging economies
China is by no means the only emerging economy in which new technology is being eagerly embraced
The India of internet cafés and internet tycoons produces more engineering graduates than America, makes software for racing cars and jet engines and is one of the top four pharmaceutical producers in the world
Yet this picture of emerging-market technarcadia is belied by parallel accounts of misery and incompetence
Three-quarters of low-income countries have fewer than 15 PCs per 1,000 people—and many of those computers are gathering dust.
How well are emerging economies using new technology?
Technology so defined is fundamental to economic advance
The main channels through which technology is diffused in emerging economies are foreign trade (buying equipment and new ideas directly); foreign investment (having foreign firms bring them to you); and emigrants in the West
Technology is spreading to emerging markets faster than it has ever done anywhere
Most technologies are available in some degree
Emerging economies spend less on R&D than rich ones: rich countries spend 2.3% of GDP on R&D, East Asians 1.4%, and Latin America 0.6%
In rich countries, high-tech-firms get money from banks, stockmarkets and venture capitalists in ways that emerging-market entrepreneurs can only dream of
The limits of leapfrogging
In places with bad roads, few trains and parlous land lines, mobile phones substitute for travel, allow price data to be distributed more quickly and easily, enable traders to reach wider markets and generally make it easier to do business
The mobile phone is also a wonderful example of a “leapfrog” technology: it has enabled developing countries to skip the fixed-line technology of the 20th century and move straight to the mobile technology of the 21st
The nature of the mobile phone makes it an especially good leapfrogger
The World Bank concludes that a country's capacity to absorb and benefit from new technology depends on the availability of more basic forms of infrastructure
Most of the time, to go high-tech, you need to have gone medium-tech first.
jeudi 7 février 2008
Information Technology, Globalization and Social Development
Summary
· Manuel Castells examines the profile of this new world, centred around multinational corporations, global financial markets and a highly concentrated system of technological research and development
· The reintegration of social development and economic growth in the information age will require massive technological upgrading of countries, firms and households around the world
· It will require the establishment of a worldwide network of science and technology, in which the most advanced universities will be willing to share knowledge and expertise for the common good.
Introduction
· For those around the world who are not ecstatic about surfing on the Internet, information technology is a tool for renewed exploitation, destruction of jobs, environmental degradation and the invasion of privacy
· Social development today is determined by the ability to establish a synergistic interaction between technological innovation and human values,
THE NEW SOCIO-ECONOMIC SYSTEM: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, NETWORKING, GLOBALIZATION
· It is new because it is tooled by new information and communication technologies that are at the roots of new productivity sources, of new organizational forms, and of the formation of a global economy
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AS A STRATEGIC TOOL
· The entire realm of human activity depends on the power of information, in a sequence of technological innovation that accelerates its pace by month.
· Software development is making possible user-friendly computing, so that millions of children, when provided with adequate education, can progress in their knowledge, and in their ability to create wealth and enjoy it wisely
· The availability and use of information and communication technologies are a pre-requisite for economic and social development in our world
· Ict allows countries to leapfrog stages of economic growth by being able to modernize their production systems and increase their competitiveness faster than in the past
· For those economies that are unable to adapt to the new technological system, their retardation becomes cumulative.
· The ability to move into the Information Age depends on the capacity of the whole society to be educated, and to be able to assimilate and process complex information
GLOBALIZATION
· Global economy is an economy whose core activities work as a unit in real time on a planetary scale
· Savings and investment in all countries depend for their performance on the evolution and behavior of global financial markets
· Globalization requires capitalist restructuring, innovation and competition, and enacted through the powerful medium of new information and communication technologies.
NETWORKING
· With new information and communication technology, the network is, at the same time, centralized and decentralized.
· Networks are the appropriate organization for the relentless adaptation and the extreme flexibility that is required by an interconnected, global economy
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE INFORMATION AGE: INEQUALITY, POVERTY, MISERY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION
· Relationships of consumption refer to the appropriation by people of the product of their work
· The number of people living in poverty has significantly increased everywhere.
· The first process, characterizing the information age as a result of its networking form of organization, is the growing individualization of labour
· A second characteristic of current relationships of production is over-exploitation
· A third characteristic is social exclusion, that is the process by which certain individuals or groups are barred from access to social positions
· There is a fourth significant type of relationship of production that is relevant to current trends of social underdevelopment
THE FOURTH WORLD
· information and knowledge have always been essential factors in power and production
· It is the entire social organization that becomes productive or, on the contrary, an obstacle for innovation, and thus for productivity growth
· The reintegration of social development and economic growth through technological innovation, informational management, and shared world development will not be accomplished by simply relying on unfettered market forces.
· It will require massive technological upgrading of countries, firms, and households around the world.
· Solidarity in a globalized world means global solidarity. And it also means inter-generational solidarity
· Manuel Castells examines the profile of this new world, centred around multinational corporations, global financial markets and a highly concentrated system of technological research and development
· The reintegration of social development and economic growth in the information age will require massive technological upgrading of countries, firms and households around the world
· It will require the establishment of a worldwide network of science and technology, in which the most advanced universities will be willing to share knowledge and expertise for the common good.
Introduction
· For those around the world who are not ecstatic about surfing on the Internet, information technology is a tool for renewed exploitation, destruction of jobs, environmental degradation and the invasion of privacy
· Social development today is determined by the ability to establish a synergistic interaction between technological innovation and human values,
THE NEW SOCIO-ECONOMIC SYSTEM: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, NETWORKING, GLOBALIZATION
· It is new because it is tooled by new information and communication technologies that are at the roots of new productivity sources, of new organizational forms, and of the formation of a global economy
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AS A STRATEGIC TOOL
· The entire realm of human activity depends on the power of information, in a sequence of technological innovation that accelerates its pace by month.
· Software development is making possible user-friendly computing, so that millions of children, when provided with adequate education, can progress in their knowledge, and in their ability to create wealth and enjoy it wisely
· The availability and use of information and communication technologies are a pre-requisite for economic and social development in our world
· Ict allows countries to leapfrog stages of economic growth by being able to modernize their production systems and increase their competitiveness faster than in the past
· For those economies that are unable to adapt to the new technological system, their retardation becomes cumulative.
· The ability to move into the Information Age depends on the capacity of the whole society to be educated, and to be able to assimilate and process complex information
GLOBALIZATION
· Global economy is an economy whose core activities work as a unit in real time on a planetary scale
· Savings and investment in all countries depend for their performance on the evolution and behavior of global financial markets
· Globalization requires capitalist restructuring, innovation and competition, and enacted through the powerful medium of new information and communication technologies.
NETWORKING
· With new information and communication technology, the network is, at the same time, centralized and decentralized.
· Networks are the appropriate organization for the relentless adaptation and the extreme flexibility that is required by an interconnected, global economy
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE INFORMATION AGE: INEQUALITY, POVERTY, MISERY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION
· Relationships of consumption refer to the appropriation by people of the product of their work
· The number of people living in poverty has significantly increased everywhere.
· The first process, characterizing the information age as a result of its networking form of organization, is the growing individualization of labour
· A second characteristic of current relationships of production is over-exploitation
· A third characteristic is social exclusion, that is the process by which certain individuals or groups are barred from access to social positions
· There is a fourth significant type of relationship of production that is relevant to current trends of social underdevelopment
THE FOURTH WORLD
· information and knowledge have always been essential factors in power and production
· It is the entire social organization that becomes productive or, on the contrary, an obstacle for innovation, and thus for productivity growth
· The reintegration of social development and economic growth through technological innovation, informational management, and shared world development will not be accomplished by simply relying on unfettered market forces.
· It will require massive technological upgrading of countries, firms, and households around the world.
· Solidarity in a globalized world means global solidarity. And it also means inter-generational solidarity
mercredi 6 février 2008
The invisible computer revolution
Mobile phone network along with the internet is the most astonishing technology story of our time, and one that has the power to revolutionize access to information across the developing world.
Revolutionise education
· The revolution of personally-financed wirelessly-connected computers largely goes unnoticed by the international development community, and because their paradigm revolves around desktops and laptops they spend millions developing specialised laptops for schoolchildren in developing countries.
· The question we should be asking ourselves is "what mobile software can we write that would really add value for a schoolteacher (or student, or health worker, or businessperson)
Banking initiatives
· In South Africa and Nigeria, a variety of mobile banking initiatives have taken off and been embraced by a population that isn't going to be getting "online" anytime soon but who want all the advantages of cashless transactions.
· In Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Zambia, with funding from The Vodafone Group Foundation and the UN Foundation, we've successfully completed a pilot of our EpiSurveyor mobile data collection software for public health
· For the foreseeable future, the cell phone is the computer, and it will be the portal to the internet, and the communications tool, and the schoolbook, and the vaccination record, and the family album, and many other things, just as soon as someone, somewhere, sits down and writes the software that allows these functions to be performed.
Revolutionise education
· The revolution of personally-financed wirelessly-connected computers largely goes unnoticed by the international development community, and because their paradigm revolves around desktops and laptops they spend millions developing specialised laptops for schoolchildren in developing countries.
· The question we should be asking ourselves is "what mobile software can we write that would really add value for a schoolteacher (or student, or health worker, or businessperson)
Banking initiatives
· In South Africa and Nigeria, a variety of mobile banking initiatives have taken off and been embraced by a population that isn't going to be getting "online" anytime soon but who want all the advantages of cashless transactions.
· In Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Zambia, with funding from The Vodafone Group Foundation and the UN Foundation, we've successfully completed a pilot of our EpiSurveyor mobile data collection software for public health
· For the foreseeable future, the cell phone is the computer, and it will be the portal to the internet, and the communications tool, and the schoolbook, and the vaccination record, and the family album, and many other things, just as soon as someone, somewhere, sits down and writes the software that allows these functions to be performed.
Arab education 'falling behind'
Djibouti, Yemen, Iraq and Morocco were ranked the worst educational reformers
Youthful region :
· Educational reform had to take top priority if the region's youth were to be better equipped in a fast-changing world and high unemployment combated.
· Unemployment in the Arab world averaged 14%
· Educational reform went hand in hand with economic development
· Jordan and Kuwait were the top educational reformers in the region, while Djibouti, Yemen, Iraq and Morocco ranked lowest in terms of access, efficiency and quality of education.
Youthful region :
· Educational reform had to take top priority if the region's youth were to be better equipped in a fast-changing world and high unemployment combated.
· Unemployment in the Arab world averaged 14%
· Educational reform went hand in hand with economic development
· Jordan and Kuwait were the top educational reformers in the region, while Djibouti, Yemen, Iraq and Morocco ranked lowest in terms of access, efficiency and quality of education.
mardi 5 février 2008
Questioning ICTs and development in Africa
· For the past two decades, most developed countries have witnessed
significant changes that can be traced to ICTs in economics, education, communications, leisure, and travel.
· “The knowledge society”: ICTs have made it possible to find fast access to, and distribution of, information as well as new ways of doing business in real time and at a cheaper cost
· Many initiatives have been taken at the international level to support Africa’s efforts to develop communication infrastructure and services that are connected to the world information highways
In developed countries, the evolution of ICTs has been linked closely to their power and economic boom
· The digital revolution is relevant for Africa only if it takes into consideration the daily realities and aspirations of individuals
Africa is known for being a continent with one of the world lowest growth rates in all types of infrastructure.
· Challenges of Africa include adapting ICTs to local conditions and uses in developing countries, and allowing each country to understand these innovations and adjust them to their own development needs.
· The five development indicators that focus on the improvement of the quality of life are:
o education
o health,
o Income
o Governance
o technology
· ICTs can be socially beneficial only if they contribute to:
o poverty eradication (higher income),
o improved health and education
o better use and more equitable sharing of resources
o raising participation in the decision-making processes
General Framework
The purpose of this book is to share Acacia’s experiences in the processes, resources, products and behaviours that were drawn from the research it supported with grassroots communities in sub-Saharan Africa
Methodology
The approach used is participatory and iterative
Background to the study
· In August 2000, a methodological workshop was held in Nairobi that brought together different Acacia partners who were drawn from various backgrounds, but who all shared an interest in ICTs
· The purpose of the workshop was to agree on the evaluation methodology to be followed, given that this study would involve four countries (Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda) and many researchers.
Evaluation problems and issues
· The main evaluation issues that were identified were:
o Economic, technical, political and social environments in which ICTs have been introduced.
o Community access to ICTs.
o Community involvement in the process of introducing ICTs.
o Community responses to ICTs.
o Technologies introduced.
o Applications and content developed along with the introduction of ICT
o Impacts of ICT introduction and use by the communities.
o Capacity building among different groups.
Methods and instruments of data collection
The following conversation guides, targeting specific categories of respondents, were drawn up and used:
1. Information and communication infrastructure map designed for community
representatives.
2. Social map designed for the same target.
3. Conversation guide designed for specific groups
4. Conversation guide designed for community organizations
5. Conversation guide designed for technicians, specialists, and consultants.
6. Documentary analysis guide indicating all the documents that might interest the research team.
Sampling
Based on this sampling, four projects were selected in Senegal, one in (Kenya), and two in Uganda.
Data collection and processing
· Qualitative data collection required interviews with groups and individuals.
· Quantitative data were collected using questionnaires
Methodological limitations
· One of the major difficulties encountered in this study was the differing maturity of the selected projects
· The research was exploratory and descriptive, and little concern was given to ensuring that the sample chosen was statistically meaningful.
Summary of projects
Senegal:
Youth cyber spaces in intermediate and secondary education in Senegal
· ICTs were introduced through the creation of youth cyber spaces
(point of access to ICTs) in secondary education in Senegal
· this experiment attempted to improve the learning, facilitation, and
sensitization model used by the FLE clubs to promote population, environment, and sustainable development issues
Use and appropriation of ICTs by community organizations in Senegal
Training, was implemented to enable the organizations concerned to use ICTs in ways that would encourage the development of sustainable patterns of ICT use through a network of community resource centres that were managed by the communities themselves
Introduction of ICTs to the Management and Rehabilitation of Village Communities
The project aimed at taking actions that would favour the use of ICTs by different actors
ICTs and Decentralization of Trade Point Senegal
To demonstrate that ICTs could provide economic units with the same access to sources of information, and thus enabled them to improve the decisions they make regarding activities and businesses
Kenya:
The main objective of this project was to develop the existing infrastructure at community documentation centres.
Uganda:
This project mainly intended to demonstrate how ICTs could enable female workers and women’s organizations involved in the promotion of entrepreneurship to find ways in which women could be better involved in the economic life of the community
South Africa:
The project was designed to facilitate access to ICTs by organizations and communities to improve their decision-making capacity
Conceptual framework
Community development: Community development can be defined as a global, dynamic, iterative, and interactive process of change that constitutes the source of significant and measurable improvements in various aspects of life and provides some degree of satisfaction.
Community: The term ‘community’ here designates both the individuals and their communities, and organizations or associations that have access to ICTs or are potential users of ICTs.
Participation: it refers to an organized effort accomplished by the members themselves with a view to achieving the development objectives that they had assigned to themselves
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs): ICTs are grouped under two categories: ‘traditional’ and ‘new’
· Traditional ICTs are radio, television, fixed line telephones, and facsimile machines
· The ‘new’ ICTs consist of computers and specific data processing applications accessible through those computers
significant changes that can be traced to ICTs in economics, education, communications, leisure, and travel.
· “The knowledge society”: ICTs have made it possible to find fast access to, and distribution of, information as well as new ways of doing business in real time and at a cheaper cost
· Many initiatives have been taken at the international level to support Africa’s efforts to develop communication infrastructure and services that are connected to the world information highways
In developed countries, the evolution of ICTs has been linked closely to their power and economic boom
· The digital revolution is relevant for Africa only if it takes into consideration the daily realities and aspirations of individuals
Africa is known for being a continent with one of the world lowest growth rates in all types of infrastructure.
· Challenges of Africa include adapting ICTs to local conditions and uses in developing countries, and allowing each country to understand these innovations and adjust them to their own development needs.
· The five development indicators that focus on the improvement of the quality of life are:
o education
o health,
o Income
o Governance
o technology
· ICTs can be socially beneficial only if they contribute to:
o poverty eradication (higher income),
o improved health and education
o better use and more equitable sharing of resources
o raising participation in the decision-making processes
General Framework
The purpose of this book is to share Acacia’s experiences in the processes, resources, products and behaviours that were drawn from the research it supported with grassroots communities in sub-Saharan Africa
Methodology
The approach used is participatory and iterative
Background to the study
· In August 2000, a methodological workshop was held in Nairobi that brought together different Acacia partners who were drawn from various backgrounds, but who all shared an interest in ICTs
· The purpose of the workshop was to agree on the evaluation methodology to be followed, given that this study would involve four countries (Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda) and many researchers.
Evaluation problems and issues
· The main evaluation issues that were identified were:
o Economic, technical, political and social environments in which ICTs have been introduced.
o Community access to ICTs.
o Community involvement in the process of introducing ICTs.
o Community responses to ICTs.
o Technologies introduced.
o Applications and content developed along with the introduction of ICT
o Impacts of ICT introduction and use by the communities.
o Capacity building among different groups.
Methods and instruments of data collection
The following conversation guides, targeting specific categories of respondents, were drawn up and used:
1. Information and communication infrastructure map designed for community
representatives.
2. Social map designed for the same target.
3. Conversation guide designed for specific groups
4. Conversation guide designed for community organizations
5. Conversation guide designed for technicians, specialists, and consultants.
6. Documentary analysis guide indicating all the documents that might interest the research team.
Sampling
Based on this sampling, four projects were selected in Senegal, one in (Kenya), and two in Uganda.
Data collection and processing
· Qualitative data collection required interviews with groups and individuals.
· Quantitative data were collected using questionnaires
Methodological limitations
· One of the major difficulties encountered in this study was the differing maturity of the selected projects
· The research was exploratory and descriptive, and little concern was given to ensuring that the sample chosen was statistically meaningful.
Summary of projects
Senegal:
Youth cyber spaces in intermediate and secondary education in Senegal
· ICTs were introduced through the creation of youth cyber spaces
(point of access to ICTs) in secondary education in Senegal
· this experiment attempted to improve the learning, facilitation, and
sensitization model used by the FLE clubs to promote population, environment, and sustainable development issues
Use and appropriation of ICTs by community organizations in Senegal
Training, was implemented to enable the organizations concerned to use ICTs in ways that would encourage the development of sustainable patterns of ICT use through a network of community resource centres that were managed by the communities themselves
Introduction of ICTs to the Management and Rehabilitation of Village Communities
The project aimed at taking actions that would favour the use of ICTs by different actors
ICTs and Decentralization of Trade Point Senegal
To demonstrate that ICTs could provide economic units with the same access to sources of information, and thus enabled them to improve the decisions they make regarding activities and businesses
Kenya:
The main objective of this project was to develop the existing infrastructure at community documentation centres.
Uganda:
This project mainly intended to demonstrate how ICTs could enable female workers and women’s organizations involved in the promotion of entrepreneurship to find ways in which women could be better involved in the economic life of the community
South Africa:
The project was designed to facilitate access to ICTs by organizations and communities to improve their decision-making capacity
Conceptual framework
Community development: Community development can be defined as a global, dynamic, iterative, and interactive process of change that constitutes the source of significant and measurable improvements in various aspects of life and provides some degree of satisfaction.
Community: The term ‘community’ here designates both the individuals and their communities, and organizations or associations that have access to ICTs or are potential users of ICTs.
Participation: it refers to an organized effort accomplished by the members themselves with a view to achieving the development objectives that they had assigned to themselves
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs): ICTs are grouped under two categories: ‘traditional’ and ‘new’
· Traditional ICTs are radio, television, fixed line telephones, and facsimile machines
· The ‘new’ ICTs consist of computers and specific data processing applications accessible through those computers
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