PROMOTING ICT TO BENEFIT RURAL LIVES

PROMOTING ICT TO BENEFIT RURAL LIVES Understanding on Why ICT is important in Rural Areas and good practices of how it could be implemented. By: Nasrat Khalid Presented at: 1st International ICT Conference Kabul, Afghanistan.

Statistics and Facts • Rural Population in Afghanistan – 70% - 77.4% • Poverty Headcount ratio at rural poverty line (% of Rural population) 37.5% • Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line (% Of National Population) 36.0% • 5 Telecom Companies • Providing up to 82% Coverage all over Afghanistan. • Decline in Internet charges from 2002 until now – 90%

Introduction • What ICT does? (Examples) • Reshape the Economic and Social Landscape of People’s Lives. • Improve Quality of Life and work. • Access to Information (Easy and Free) • Business Growth • Alleviates Poverty • Concerns: • Digital Divide (Those who benefit and Those Who don’t). • What a limited-ICT society will be like? (Examples) • Lack of participation in the national economy. • Less-competent employees • No Access to global information. • No Digital Entertainment.

Why ICT hardly reaches Rural? • Infrastructure • Limited rapid income to firms • Isolated Population • Low Income • Low Level of Awareness • Sector Distribution mainly Agribusiness. • Lack of Training Providers and Expertise. • Weak Transport Systems • Less Facilities

Good Practices to confront ICT with Rural Areas. • Community E-Centers (CeCs) • Passive Infrastructure Sharing • Mobile Money

Community E-Centers (CeCs) • Public-access facilities providing electronic communication services, especially in marginalized or remote areas where ICTs are not prevalent. • They serve as avenues for providing universal access communications and multimedia services to rural communities since they provide access to telephones, faxes, computers, the Internet, photocopiers and other equipment and services. They can have several functions: • These facilities will enable the communities to access new knowledge and information that can be incorporated into their local knowledge and context, such as, provisions of information on employment opportunities, educational resources, government services (for example, providing links to e-government) and technical information on agriculture for their daily lives, such as information on new varieties, planting techniques, and disease prevention. • The CeCs may also be used as training centers for local people to learn computer and ICT skills, to provide access to distance education (e-learning)

Continued - Community E-Centers (CeCs) • Employment opportunities, human resource training and business ventures. • CeCs also allow entrepreneurs to plan and prepare their business arrangements and to communicate with partners and potential clients from a distance (e-commerce). • Through the Internet, students and educators can register with educational institutions at Any location in the world, access archival materials or receive online instructions. CeCs • Can also serve distance education to students by providing educational software packages on site and upgrading them as new educational packages are produced. • Specialized services can also be offered to healthcare workers, enabling them to use telediagnostics programs, order supplies, convey public health information, and to obtain • Specialist advice for complex health problems. • Overall CeCs serves as “virtual roads” or communication highways that can benefit the society.

Passive Infrastructure Sharing • Passive infrastructure sharing” is the sharing of non-electronic infrastructure, equipment, and services at mobile network base stations, including the site space, buildings, towers, masts, and antennas; power supply, back-up batteries, and generators; security; and maintenance. • Saves time for the firms • Saves Money • Saves Operational Costs • Dedicated Shelter, Security, AC Power, Generators, Batteries etc overhead can be lifted. • Ensures Uptime

Passive Infrastructure Sharing – Nigeria • Helios Towers Nigeria significantly decreases the impact of issues such as Security, Power, Downtimes and Saved money too in Nigeria. • In 2005 became Africa’s first independent mobile tower company, enabling wireless network operators to share infrastructure. The organization buys non-electronic infrastructure at the cell site from telecommunications providers, such as towers and power supplies, or develops new infrastructure where none exists. Telecommunications companies rent space at the towers and access to other elements of the communications infrastructure, sharing it with other providers. • This Makes sure Rural Areas are covered by the telecom providers and telecom providers can also benefit from their existence.

Mobile Money • One outcome of improved access to ICT infrastructure, appliances, and services in rural areas may be that rural people will gain better access to financial services and additional sources of income. The telecommunications and microfinance industries have grown rapidly in recent years and are overcoming the traditional challenges of reaching rural and formerly underserved areas. • Payments through phones can also be used to save time. • Urban to Rural Transactions – Business Improvements. • Agribusiness enhancement product. • Branchless and paperless • Cash from ATM

Continued- Mobile Money • (M-Pesa and M-Paisa) Implemented in Kenya and Afghanistan Focused on microloans and repayments, person-to-person money transfers. Mobile phones are used to perform financial transactions such as sending money to others, paying bills, and even withdrawing cash from an ATM (without needing a bank account -Kenya). E-money can be cashed in with agents who receive a commission for the services they provide and for registering customers. • (Zip Zap) Implemented in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda Requires a bank account from every user and provides access to greater number of financial services through mobile phones. • (EasyPaisa) Implemented in Pakistan by Tameer bank is a hybrid of both M-Pesa and Zip Zap and provides with both the features of having a bank account where you can send and receive money from a non-bank account individual too or pay for microfinance loans.

ICT For Rural Afghanistan – Why Important? • Equality • Security • Poverty Reduction • ICT Growth • Governance • Confidence

Questions?

References: • World Urbanization Prospects, The 2009 Revision, Population Division, UN. • Guidebook on developing Ecenters in Rural Asia – The malaysian Experience – UNESCAP • ICTinAgriculture.org • Berkeley, N., Clark, D., and Ilbery, B. 1996. "Regional variations in business use of • information and communication technologies and their implications for policy: • case study evidence from rural England." Geoforum 27(1): 75-86. • Castells, M. 1996. The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford: Blackwell. • Chow, C., Ellis, J., Mark, J., and Wise, B. 1998. Impact of CTCNet Affiliates: • Findings from a National Survey of Users of Community Technology Centers. • The Community Technology Center's Network. • Eprints.aston.ac.uk/3308/1/LE_paper_final.pdf • http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/en/country/statistics/tags/afghanistan

PROMOTING ICT TO BENEFIT RURAL LIVES