Beyond markets for mobiles: the development sector and pro-poor impacts of ICTs Ben Garside...
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Transcript of Beyond markets for mobiles: the development sector and pro-poor impacts of ICTs Ben Garside...
Beyond markets for mobiles: the development sector and pro-poor impacts of ICTs
Ben GarsideResearcher – Sustainable Markets GroupInternational Institute for Environment and Development
Presentation for Mobile phones: the new talking drums of Everyday Africa?
Workshop in Leiden , Netherlands, 9 December 2010
Background
Mobile subscription rates booming
Prices coming down, coverage increasing
Subscribers still predominantly in cities but slowly changing
Boom has been predominantly driven by the market
Increased competition
Innovation from free market
Context
Passive diffusion versus active intervention – why?
A short history of ICT4D
The role of government
The private sector and passive diffusion
From access to impact – what evidence
Challenges going forward
Development interest and ICTs
ICTs are part of the MDGs (Goal 8, Target 18, Indicators 47-48)
ICTs have an impact on achieving other MDGs
ICTs can negatively impact MDGs
Goal 8: Develop a global partnershipfor development
Target 18: “In cooperation with the private sector make available the benefits of new technologies, specifically information and communications.”
Indicators: Total number of telephone subscribers per 100
inhabitants Personal computers per 100 inhabitants Internet
users per 100 inhabitants ITU – Digital access index – infrastructure,
affordability, knowledge, quality
Development interest and ICTs
1980’s – little or negative interest
Mid 90’s – big infrastructure projectsDigital Divide push
Predominantly focused on telecentre modelTelecentres -> Access to ICTs -> Provide services->Assist development
Continued to mid-2000s
Gradual donor and practitioner dis-interest
Efforts to mainstream ICTs in development
ICT4D evolving in a bubble
Disciplinary foundations for development informatics research (Heeks 2010)
Yet lots of examples of innovative active intervention
E.g. knowledge centres. ALIN in East Africa, MS Swaminthan Research Centre in India
Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) Information/communication for what?
Participatory approach in tailoring information services to communities
Use of informediaries and local CSO/NGO for sharing and dissemination
How to better understand model & adapt/scale
Public sector and ICTs today Commonwealth African Rural Connectivity Initiative
(COMARCI)
De-regulation of incumbent telecoms companies partial success
Weak regulators
PRSP’s and cut/paste e-strategies
World Summit on the Information Society (2005) – UN ICT task force
"lend a truly global dimension to the multitude of efforts to bridge the global digital divide, foster digital opportunity and thus firmly put ICT at the service of development for all”
Football!
Private sector and passive diffusion
Lots of citizen innovative uses of mobiles e.g. flashing, bumping, beeping, Ushahidi (to some extent)
What of bigger business?Focus on access, pre-pay models etc
Access divide greater than perhaps imaginedE.g. Ghana 83% city, 16% other urban,0.4% rural
Sharing varies hugely by culture e.g. India and Sri-Lanka only 7% share with non-householders
Sharing improved by interventions – e.g. Grameen village phones Bangladesh
s
Private sector & passive diffusion
Beyond access to ICTs - to services
Bigger business not so many pro-poor targeted services
Example 1 - M-PESA 13 million users in Kenya alone, expanding rapidly
Evidence of impacts on poor, including unanticipated benefits
Builds on traditional payment practices
Extensive network of trained distributers
Private sector & passive diffusion
M-PESA started with DFID challenge money
Worked with smaller company and MFI (Faulu) – multi-stakeholder & active intervention
Product evolved with consumer use
Smart regulation key – Kenya vs India
Private sector & passive diffusion
Example 2 – Google Trader UgandaBased on learning lab.
Grameen applabs
MTN
Local NGO (Busoga Rural Open Source Development Initiative) – HIVOS support
Built on trust networks to produce Farmer’s Friend
From access to ICTs – to use of ICTs
Many examples of access but little uptake e.g. national telecentre rollouts across SSA – Ghana, Tanzania,
Uganda Many examples of “successful” pilots but failed replication
“success” very undefined ICT4D field has tended to be technology rather than
people led “neat” solutions and latest tech sometimes left to private sector Mainstream development has ignored or ‘mainstreamed’ ICTs
Lots of exciting example of innovation coming from local developing contexts
Passive diffusion mantra is strong
Evidence of livelihoods impacts?
Market pricing systems mixed results, from Keralan fish (Jensen) to Tanzanian tomatoes (Molony)
Lack of evidence that ‘mobiles are a tool to solve development problems’ ICTs and growth causality weak
Perhaps the wrong questionTypes of information and communication needs
– ways ICTs can fit with socio-cultural context to deliver them
Measuring what works From outputs to outcomes and impacts
Not only information but money, skills, motivation, trust, confidence, existing knowledge
Multi-disciplinary research into better measuring impacts Frameworks Infodev ICT Rural Livelihoods knowledge map
Synthesising new approaches – Heeks ICT impact compendium
People-centred solutions taking considering socio-cultural contexts
“the poor” as innovators as well as consumers
Long term sustainability – fostering demand, creating incentives
Challenges going forward1.Better measuring impacts
Development sector needs to engage
Mainstreaming ICTs won’t work
2.Fostering learning labs Multiple stakeholders
3rd way between passive diffusion & active intervention
How to engage business?
3.Public sector integration Smart regulation
National strategies linked to e-strategies
Grounded in local ownership, innovation, & diversity