ICTs for Development

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ICTs for Development

• A Technology Primer
• Saskia Harmsen, CDP, IICD
• sharmsen_at_iicd.org

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Quotation

• Would you tell me please which way I ought to go
  from here?,said Alice
• That depends a good deal on where you want to
  get to,said Cheshire Cat
• I dont much care where,said Alice
• Then it doesnt matter which way you go, said
  the Cat

Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland
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Objectives

• To understand the foundational elements of the
  ICT for Development sector
• To gain a basic understanding of different types
  of appropriate technologies
• To gain a basic understanding of various sector
  applications

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History future of computing
W W W
Peer-to-Peer 2000 Client/Server
1990Networking
1960 Batch-Processing
19801970 Time-sharing
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Who is participating in the information
revolution?
World Total 580.78 million Europe 185.83
million Canada USA 182.67 million Asia/Pacific
167.86 million Latin America 32.99
million Africa 6.31 million
Source http//www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online
May 2002
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(No Transcript)
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ICTs

• Information and Communication Technologies

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What can you do with ICTs?

• Type of activities
• Information production (Office applications)
• Information retrieval applications (Browsing the
  WWW, databases)
• Communication services (phone, email, chat)
• Information dissemination services (WWW)
• Sales support applications (WWW) (e.g. ordering,
  delivery, after sales)
• Transaction services/Payment applications (WWW)

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The publish, interact, transact model
High
Advanced Internet Presence
Transact
Basic Internet Presence
Level of technical Sophistication
Publish
Interact
Low
Low
High
Benefits
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Examples

• Tatedo Capturing Retrieval
• www.see-net.co.tz/htmlpages/tatedo.html
• Non-traditional exports Promotion
• www.efcghana.com/index.htm
• The Hunger Site Information/Promotion
• www.thehungersite.com

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Appropriate Technologies

• Power
• Terminal
• Access

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PC??

• While PCs remain the dominant access device, they
  are in fact inappropriate for the developing
  world across many dimensions, due to
• relatively high cost,
• low reliability,
• unsuitable user interface,
• environmental sensitivity, and
• high power consumption

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An example

• A small rural telecommunications centre
• 2 PCs
• Telephone/Fax
• 1 Printer
• 4 Interior fluorescent lights

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PV system designed for Grid-connected components
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With efficient components
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Power supply

• ? for both power and Internet charges, costs for
  solar photovoltaic (PV) power and wireless
  connectivity will incur lower recurrent operating
  costs as compared to grid power sources and
  wireline connectivity
• When amortized over a period of 4 years, the
  savings in operating costs will make up for the
  added capital costs

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Solar, Wind-up
24.99 pounds
36 pounds
60 pounds
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Terminals

• Low power Digital Appliances
• Personal Digital Assistants (PDA)
• Simputer
• Pengachu
• MIT, Web browser, TCP/IP, MP3, IP telephony
  support,
• Cheap, Wireless Linux for Everyone

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Example CyberTracker

• Design and edit a database.
• Use the Screen Writer to customise a screen
  sequences.
• Gather data with the CyberTracker field computer
  (with optional GPS and barcode scanner).
• View data with the CyberTracker Geographic
  Information System.
• Export data, e.g. to Excel or ArcView, for
  advanced analysis.

• Social Research
• Conservation Wildlife Monitoring ? GREENWARE

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Radio Technologies
Access

• VHF UHF Radio

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Characteristics

• Line of Sight (LoS), Antennas
• Basic Repeater Configuration Transceiver,
  Terminal Node Controller (TNC), antenna power
  source
• Programming Operation ? simple
• Using simple software application with Graphical
  User Interface
• Low cost applications (30 60), downloadable
  from Net
• Light DOS applications for old computers
• BUT
• Narrowband (as low as 9.6kbps upto high speeds -
  in excess of 8mbps)
• Example http//www.arrownetworks.net

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Cost Digital Packet Radio Repeater

• ITU Pilot Network
• TNC 340.00
• Radio 730.00
• Antenna 100.00
• Coax Cable 50.00
• Batteries 140.00
• Solar panel 850.00
• 2,210.00

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corDECT
Wireless Local Loop Technology (WLL) See
http//www.tenet.res.in
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BroadbandVSAT

• Very Small Aperture Terminal

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• A very small aperture terminal (VSAT) is a device
  - known as an earth station - that is used to
  receive satellite transmissions.
• The "very small" component of the VSAT acronym
  refers to the size of the VSAT dish antenna
  -typically about 2 to 4 feet (0.55-1.2 m) in
  diameter- that is mounted on a roof on a wall, or
  placed on the ground.

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PSTN
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• Ubiquitous Availabilitythe only telephony and
  broadband wide-area network technology that is
  available everywhere - in remote urban and rural
  areas, rain forests or concrete jungles, anywhere
  in the world.
• All that's needed is a clear view of the sky.
• EconomicsTerrestrial networks ?
• Individual VSAT units are relatively inexpensive
  
• Quickly and easily installed by field
  technician
• Hub and satellite costs are shared among
  thousands of customer sites, ? per-site cost of
  equipment, maintenance and management is low -
  and gets lower as more sites are added to the
  network. VSATs - which are built for low power
  consumption - can even run without electricity,
  using simple solar panels.

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VSAT Costs

• License?
• Cost of License?
• Earth Station US 2,500 US 5,000

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Characteristics

• Line of Sight (LoS), Antennas
• Basic Repeater Configuration Transceiver,
  Terminal Node Controller (TNC), antenna power
  source
• Programming Operation ? simple
• Using simple software application with Graphical
  User Interface
• Low cost applications (30 60), downloadable
  from Net
• Light DOS applications for old computers
• BUT
• Narrowband (as low as 9.6kbps upto high speeds -
  in excess of 8mbps)
• Example http//www.arrownetworks.net

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Cost Digital Packet Radio Repeater

• ITU Pilot Network
• TNC 340.00
• Radio 730.00
• Antenna 100.00
• Coax Cable 50.00
• Batteries 140.00
• Solar panel 850.00
• 2,210.00

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corDECT
Wireless Local Loop Technology (WLL) See
http//www.tenet.res.in - 300 per
subscriber line
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BroadbandVSAT

• Very Small Aperture Terminal

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• A very small aperture terminal (VSAT) is a device
  - known as an earth station - that is used to
  receive satellite transmissions.
• The "very small" component of the VSAT acronym
  refers to the size of the VSAT dish antenna
  -typically about 2 to 4 feet (0.55-1.2 m) in
  diameter- that is mounted on a roof on a wall, or
  placed on the ground.

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PSTN
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• Ubiquitous Availabilitythe only telephony and
  broadband wide-area network technology that is
  available everywhere - in remote urban and rural
  areas, rain forests or concrete jungles, anywhere
  in the world.
• All that's needed is a clear view of the sky.
• EconomicsTerrestrial networks ?
• Individual VSAT units are relatively inexpensive
  
• Quickly and easily installed by field
  technician
• Hub and satellite costs are shared among
  thousands of customer sites, ? per-site cost of
  equipment, maintenance and management is low -
  and gets lower as more sites are added to the
  network. VSATs - which are built for low power
  consumption, simple solar panels.

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VSAT Costs

• License?
• Cost of License?
• Earth Station US 2,500 US 5,000

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Kibengwe, Tanzania
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Sector Examples

• Education Global Teenager, Rural Schools
• www.iicd.org/globalteenager
• www.iicd.org/virtualcampus
• Health - Kinondoni (Tanzania), AfriAfya (Kenya),
  Mali
• Livelihoods/Agriculture I.C.O. (Bolivia), RADA
  (Jamaica)

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Non-Technology Issues

• Appropriation of Technology
• Adapting Organisational processes
• Creating new products and services
• Capacity Development
• Content
• Hybrid New Traditional Technologies
• Radio Browsing