1 / 8

Public Access: Supporting digital inclusion for all

Public Access: Supporting digital inclusion for all. Addis Ababa, September 2015 Emilar Vushe Gandhi. What is public access?. Facilities that allow any member of the public to make affordable use of computers with broadband connections, ICT tools and technical support

harveyricks
Télécharger la présentation

Public Access: Supporting digital inclusion for all

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Public Access: Supporting digital inclusion for all Addis Ababa, September 2015 Emilar Vushe Gandhi

  2. What is public access? • Facilities that allow any member of the public to make affordable use of computers with broadband connections, ICT tools and technical support • Locating public access services in existing institutions situated in the community, such as libraries and post offices, is often a particularly effective method of deploying public access

  3. Access to information a key development issue • Access to information and communications supports development by empowering people, especially more remote and marginalised communities and those living in poverty • Better exercise their political and socio-economic rights • Become more economically productive • Learn, apply new skills and find better jobs, livelihood • Participate in decision making

  4. But inequalities in access limit the effectiveness of ICTs in addressing social needs • The social, political and economic potential of the internet can only be realised by people who have access to it • Not everyone is fully connected and those who are “connected” often suffer from poor-quality and high-cost • Lack of physical infrastructure is the primary barrier faced by governments and citizens on the wrong side of the digital divide • Quality and speed of internet access affect types of information access • Gender divide – a new dimension men access PCs at work while women use mobile phones • Content divide - Access to relevant content

  5. Public access is a core component of strategies for reducing the digital divide • Broad-based ecosystem approach is needed to address the digital divide • There are a number of interrelated elements; supply and demand, infrastructure, access facilities, policy and regulation,applications, content, capacity-building, digital literacy, funding sources and mechanisms. • Support for public access needs to be made a more explicit part of this ecosystem. • People who are online also need public access • The next billion will come online with their own devices AND should have public access

  6. Action points for policy makers • Build awareness and information sharing - on the importance on public access, how to implement and sustain public access facilities, best practice • Improve the enabling environment – a conducive policy and regulatory environment which ensures competitive, pervasive and reliable provision of internet services. • Implement use of universal access funds and other public policy instruments to support public access • Address human resource deficiencies - prioritise training and re-skilling of library and information professionals • Invest in locally relevant applications and service development, particularly e-government services

  7. Ndatenda. Ngiyabonga • Emilar Vushe Gandhi • Africa Policy Coordinator • Association for Progressive Communications (APC) • emilar@apc.org • www.apc.org

More Related