Many of the lessons learned in developing sustainable, broad-based community ICT projects in the UK have valuable parallels in the developing world.
CBN has started a specialist consulting practice to translate these lessons with the goal of publishing a methodology for delivering ICT projects in developing countries where the social and economic benefit is retained by the community. With assignments already completed in Kenya, Malawi, and Ghana, and an ambitious programme of work in Africa on the drawing board, CBN has fast growing experience in this space.
The Community Opportunity
Taken from Adrian Wooster's speech to UN Habitat, in this piece we try to develop the thinking on the importance of ICT in the developing world, and suggest a model which may lead to it having a bigger impact that it often does today.
There are about 1 billion people living in slums around the world today, and this number is rising very quickly. Urbanization is happening so quickly in fact that traditional methods of deploying infrastructure simply can't keep up - this is not just a money problem but an issue of speed. When an area grows too quickly and basic infrastructure isn't installed quickly enough, then a slum grows up, and the economy within the slum becomes increasingly separated from its host city; income levels and the cost of goods are based on completely different bases, leading to what in essentially an import-export model in the flow of good and services, but one where imports of essential services into the slum are unaffordable.
Attempts by developing nations to leapfrog to a knowledge economy, while completely understandable, may further entrench this divide, leading to another urban elite, and another set of conditions which further isolate rural and urban poor. But, if managed well, this transition is also where there opportunity lies.
Knowledge Economies
As an example, Kenya is rapidly becoming a knowledge economy. In fact its well positioned to become the main technology hub for northern Sub-Saharan Africa, competing only with South Africa for the top spot. The Government has made some very smart moves to support this migration, not least by supporting two competing internation fibre projects in an attempt to avoid the monopoly issues faced by the SAT-3 fibre on the west of Africa.
However, Kenya has also faced some of the fiercest rates of urbanization. In the last 15 years informal settlement populations have trebled, with around 70% of the population now living in slums, and more than 70% of the population is regarded as unemployed.
Knowledge economies are great opportunities for anyone and everyone to prosper. New ideas can come from anywhere, and many traditional barriers to employment don't exist - so long as people aren't digitally excluded. But all of a nations creativity must be captured if it is to make the transition, but 70% unemployment and with the slums the most digitally excluded, Kenya will find it hard to make the transition to a knowledge economy sustainable unless it can find ways to reach everyone.
By way of an example, if the population in Kibera happened to live in Manchester they could expect around 10 telephone exchanges of their own, just serving their local needs; if they were in London, they might expect double that number. In fact the people of Kibera can't lay claim to a single exchange. So even the quality of the cables laid in the slum were of the best quality known to man, which they aren't, the loop lengths would be too long to provide anything approaching a basic ADSL service. In practice, the level of growth and the fluid nature of the area mean that with the best will in the world, Kenya Telkom could not have delivered a reliable service to the area - at least not using the same techniques they use for the business districts of Nairobi.
The Need for New Models
New infrastructure models are needed - ones which are appropriate to Africa and more specifically to the slums. It is wrong to assume, as has largely been the case to date, that European and American telecoms models can be made to work in Africa; the geography is different, the culture and demography is different, and so are the kinds of services which the people need.
These new models need to embrace the opportunity for everyone, and avoid the slippery slope to a technical elite. And it needs to find ways which capture the social and economic benefit locally, recognizing the economic divide between a slum and its host city. Only in this way can infrastructure project chip away at the economic divide.
And this means taking a different view of the role of ICT in development. Today it is considered more than acceptable by large corporates' social responsibility programmes and for NGO's to use recycled computers in their development projects. When looked at from the perspective of a nascent knowledge economy, a different opinion might be formed:
Firstly, recycled computers mean that the recipients only get to learn using technology the donor thought useful perhaps 5 or more years ago, rather than what they need which is current technology.
Secondly, importing cheap recycled computers is denying domestic entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop computer retail businesses
And finally, all that has really happened is that the environmental impact of disposing of the computer has been shifted from where the problem was created to a place where it can be ill afforded
In the process of developing a knowledge it is hard to see how this can help. But it is just one example of how the thinking behind ICT's role in development needs to evolve.
A Co-operative Effort
CBN's approach is to capture the economic and social benefit of ICT projects locally through using co-operative business structures. If they are developed sensitively, they retain the economic benefit for their members, are democratic by nature allowing the community to ensure the services are shaped and priced to meet their needs, they tend to encourage a longer term view than many tehcnology businesses which is needed in larger infrastructure projects; and they also tend to be environmentally and ethically sustainable as the decisions the members make will directly impact their lives.
The co-operaitve movement has a set of "Rochdale Principles" which all member organisations needs to adopt. These principles have a strong correlation with the needs to development projects. Covering areas like education, economic co-poeration for the members, and concern for the community, these tenets should probably be the basis of any sustainable development project, co-operative or otherwise.
Seven Pillars
Sustainable ICT projects need to balance seven pillars in equal measure:
While things like a sound business model and a basic set of services like the Internet can be delivered using traditional models, other elements like the "us feeling" and the unique set of local services can only be sucessfully developed locally. The "us feeling" can only develop if people has a sense that the services are for them and they have a direct input - that they in some way have a stake in this project.
And the set of local services needs to represent a fingerprint of the community - unique to each group, and closely mirroring their identity. Traditional telecoms models simply can't become suffiently embedded with each community to understand what its challenges are and where they want to go, and it would be too hard to micromarket these services to the target audience. There is no shortcut except to allow the community to drive their own service strategy.
A Family Business
It can be helpful to approach a community broadband project as a family business might. This helps to balance the social and enterprise factors, while ensuring the overall goals are met. For example, if an established family business wanted to change their product offerings, they would spend a considerable amount of time understanding where they are positioned in the market, where they world prefer to be, and what strategy would allow them to make the journey - only then would they talk to their IT department to see if technology might make the journey quicker, more cheaply, or in a more effective manner.
Community ICT projects needs to follow this same approach. In terms community members understand, they need to develop a consensus on where they are today, and where the, as a community, would like to be in the future. From this they need to develop a set of projects which they feel will start that journey.
From this narrative in the community's own words a technology plan can be developed, using traditional IT skills - looking for linkages and priorities, and seeing how technology can be applied to real world projects to make them more effective. This technology plan can only come from within the community and will be unique.
Top-down, Bottom-up
If the community technology plan is to become reality it needs to engage people and organisations at all levels. From the top, this means linking with Government bodies as local and national levels. This ensures new programmes, such as disease awareness or education programmes, can be immediately and more effectively supported.
But it also means that opportunities are not missed. If road or home building programmes are planned, then use the relationships to ensure ICT is incorporated from the outset. There are too many road building projects across Africa where the opportunity has been missed to install telecoms ducts, for example.
And, of course, the project needs to be deeply rooted within the community. And this means capturing all the local talent and developing it - identifying people who have underused skills and those with aptitude, and ensuring they are given the opportunities. Only what can't reasonably be done by the community should be done be organisations outside of the community.
The main function of external organisations should be support and mentoring, leaving nothing but new found skills and opportunities.
At the end of the development phase, the community should be left with a sustainable social enterprise, creating local jobs and building the community's capacity.
In the spirit of co-operative organisations, we see our role as creating links to other project, growing a mutual support and development network; and promoting local specialisms. The role of the local project is to evangelis, and help their neighbours to benefit as they did.
CBN@Web4Dev - the community opportunity
CBN's Adrian Wooster spoke at UN Habitat's Web4Dev conference in Nairobi on the theme of sustainable models for ICT in development.
While many ICT interventions for international development efforts focus on narrowly defined projects, perhaps targeting young people or HIV/AIDS education for example, Adrian proposed an approach which encompasses the many facets of a community. This way long-term sustainability can be underwritten and the social and economic benefit can be retained for the community.
CBN announced to the conference delegates the intention to develop up to 10 self-replicating sustainable projects over the coming three years, beginning in Kibera, Nairobi.
If your organisation is interested in becoming part of the programme, or is interested in supporting the work, then please contact us.
ICT & Development 
CBN at Web4Dev 2007 (