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Dear Members of the DIGOPP Working Group,

This message attempts to summarize briefly the major discussion points made
on the Digopp Working Group. Inevitably, many valuable points will not be
captured here and we welcome comments and corrections from Digopp Members.
New Working Group members are encouraged to obtain past messages from the
Digopp archives, which may be obtained by visiting:
http://www.edc.org/GLG/Markle/dotforce/digopp/

Key issues addressed by the members of the Working Group included:
Relevance of the digital divide for development, analytic frameworks for
formulating strategies and actions, current activities and lessons learned,
priority targets, websites.

*** RELEVANCE OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE FOR DEVELOPMENT ***

A member suggested that the argument that ICTs are important because they
provide information to developing countries is inadequate. The most
compelling argument for the importance of ICTs to development is that ICTs
enable people to conduct valuable, essential development activities faster
and more efficiently than would otherwise be possible; furthermore, ICTs
make it possible to undertake important development activities that would
otherwise not be possible at all. He noted that the Digopp discussion
provides a good example; enabling a lengthy, substantive interchange of
knowledge and experience by hundreds of people from across the country.

*** ANALYTIC FRAMEWORKS FOR FORMULATING STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS ***

Two major principles emerged from the discussion. First, Digopp members
argued that, although training, financing, and policy are important, the
key to using ICTs to contribute to development and poverty alleviation
rests on organizing local participation, and the G8 strategy should be
based on supporting efforts to meet needs articulated at local and national
levels. Second, Digopp members emphasized the importance of using
strategies that meet local needs by aggregating demand (to improve
efficiencies) and implement resources/services locally (to tailor to local
contexts).

A member elaborated on these principle, suggesting that the fundamental
strategy should be based on fostering privately-owned facilities that
generate revenue by serving local demand, with the public sector primarily
involved to help stimulate demand. Key elements of this strategy include:

* Community telecenters should be locally owned private enterprises
(nonprofit or for-profit), with government having only a minor, if any, stake

* Local centers should be part of a privately owned, national network that
aggregates and serves local centers' needs (e.g., providing training,
purchasing/leasing equipment, marketing, arranging services from youth, etc.)

* Centers should have business plans, and be sustained by revenue generated
by serving local needs

* Centers should serve as "incubators" for new ICT enterprises, especially
those owned by youth

* Government and donor support should focus on stimulating the demand side,
e.g., with vouchers, scholarships. Any financial support provided to the
centers should be repaid through their development of local content.

* By establishing shared risk, with the center's future dependent on its
ability to serve local needs, the G8 can encourage the use of ICTs to serve
the communities' development needs and goals.

Another Digopp member offered a different approach. Drawing on his
experience growing up in a developing country, he offered a framework for
formulating macro-level strategies and actions. This framework is based on
the assumption that the poor worldwide have similar information needs,
which could be addressed by "generic information systems" with a range
of "high priority" information for the poor. The generic information
systems could be enhanced with online expert consultations, training, and
time-sensitive data, and customized to local needs, e.g., language,
specific data, etc. The initial systems would be established by
partnerships of the G8, donors, NPOs, and governments. After such pilots
have proven their value, they will attract investment for expanding and
distributing them. Such systems could be developed in key content areas,
e.g., nutrition, health, education, agriculture, traditional knowledge.

A member who worked with a firm that helped small businesses adopt computer
systems recommended that whatever approach is adopted, the DOT Force report
present a clear strategy for the G8 effort. The strategy should include
seven elements: Clear objectives, needs analysis of the target group,
required resources, timeline and milestones, monitoring system, explicit
measures for success and for ensuring compliance on the part of
participating countries/organizations.

*** CURRENT ACTIVITIES AND LESSONS LEARNED ***

A member who worked with the youth organization, Nation1, responded to
concerns regarding gender issues and the digital divide, arguing that that
best approach is to encourage women and girls to develop ICT skills, rather
than try to alter ICTs to suit the predilections of women and girls.

A member from the MIT Internet and Telecoms Convergence Consortium (ITCC)
countered that the gender-based digital divide is strong and growing.
Declining numbers of women enter ICT-related fields due to, inter alia,
limited access to education, computer science teaching styles and computer
applications that don't appeal to girls, and women's lack of information
about ICT-related jobs. Yet effective use of ICT to support development
efforts requires active involvement on the part of women as well as men.

A member from WorldSpace described a project that demonstrated how ICTs can
contribute to poverty alleviation, and how local communities can use ICTs
to identify and meet their own information needs. The project, in Niger,
originally provided wind-up radio units to communities, one of which
created its own radio station and trained local station and production
managers. Today, the station uses WorldSpace radio receivers and multimedia
adapters to obtain information from throughout Africa, via the WorldSpace
Foundation's Africa Learning Channel, translates it into the local language
and integrates it with local broadcasts. The lesson: Even a small, very
poor town can build and equip its own community radio station and
information center through successful collaboration between international
and local development groups, the government, and the local community. For
more information on the Niger project, contact tsiegl@worldspace.org.

The President of the World Association for Online Education emphasized the
importance of networking and training teachers, but urged recognition of
some key "lessons":

* Building communities of practice across cultures takes time and a
long-term commitment

* Hands-on training is essential, and needs to be conducted long enough to
develop comfort and competency

* Virtual communities can be strengthened with occasional in-person meetings

* ICT infrastructure should always be accompanied by training, preferably
of educators

A member suggested that Industry Canada's Community Access Program (CAP)
provides a worthwhile example that has established 7,000 community
telecenters that provide access to, and serve information needs of, local
communities, schools and NGOs. He also advised examining the experience of
the InterAmerican Development Bank, and others, which are exploring a
system in which local community centers must "repay" IDB grants by
developing local content.

*** PRIORITY TARGETS ***

Several members called for initiatives that address gender aspects of the
divide. The member from ITCC/MIT urged the G8 to support efforts that
encourage women to use and shape technology, including development of
computer applications that appeal to girls as well as to boys. A member
from ITC/UNCTAD/WTO suggested establishing a List discussion, called "Women
with 2020 Vision," that would build a long-term, online community of girls
and young women, and provide participants with online
experience/knowledge-sharing and training in ICT-related skills and issues.

A member from the Pioneer Health Centre applauded other members'
recommendation that the G8 support open source software, and suggested that
the G8 and nonprofit organizations alike support Linux "support shops"
operating worldwide and in different languages.

Although members strongly endorsed the multi-sectoral approach adopted by
the DOT Force, several members urged the DOT Force to ensure a central role
for NPOs, including foundations, in efforts to close the digital divide.
They suggested:

* Providing support for expanding networks between foundations/NPOs in
developing and industrialized countries

* Requiring that every ICT project supported by the G8 include a nonprofit
component and a clear plan for sustainability

A member from a developing country, living in the US, urged the G8 to
partner with NPOs, governments and other donors to build pilot "generic
information systems" with a range of "high priority" information for the
poor, including databases, online expert consultations, and time-sensitive
data, which could be customized for local needs.

Several members echoed recommendations made in previous weeks, urging the
G8 to focus on supporting ICT entrepreneurship and developing skills that
will generate income, e.g., via programs providing training, financing,
enabling policies, assistance in developing a market, etc.

Members emphasized a recommendation made in previous weeks, and urged the
G8 to leverage the natural power of the Internet and focus on networking
and building communities of practice from across sectors, which will foster
experience/knowledge-sharing around development issues/topics. Networking
educators is of particular importance because they have a multiplier
effect, influencing colleagues, students, parents and others.

*** WEBSITES ***

Industry Canada's Community Access Program
http://cap.ic.gc.ca
Nation1
http://www.nation1.net/
Kenradio.com
http://kenradio.com
Global University System
http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS
Association for the Development of Religious Information Systems Newsletter
http://www.adris.org
Wired Woman Society
http://www.wiredwoman.com
Technology With Curves
http://www.technologywithcurves.com
"Reforms in Computer Education that are Possible for Japan"
http://www.childresearch.net/CYBRARY/EVISION/2000/STEVE.HTM

------
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