From peter@sn.apc.org Thu Mar 1 20:29:10 2001
Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2001 20:29:10 +0000
From: Peter Benjamin peter@sn.apc.org
Subject: [Communitysa] 3pi
[Forwarded from: r.t.williams@reading.ac.uk]
Amos's info on 3pi is interesting.
The prepaid market is both a good market and a good social
intiative.
A very interesting discussion of the core issue, namely: Who
should provide the point-of-service for ICT? is dealt with in an
interesting book called GEMs - Guaranteed Electronic
Marketplaces.
In GEMs there is a lot of very useful, and very practical IS
information on how a GEM could be run, which would serve
everyone - both providers and consumers of services.
But more to the point here, it has a useful piece on the rationale for
the postal service. The postal situation at the time was very similar
to the ISP situation we have now, with many commercial services,
charging 4pence or more for post. When the one penny postal
service (essentially the first move from channel switched to packet
switched comms) was mooted, everyone said it would be bound to
fail. It didnt. What it did do was to provide a cross cutting public
point-of-service (supply and demand side) in a common carrier, or
common service site approach, which forced the commerical
service providers into specialist niches. Why shouldnt this work for
ICT?
This is I am sure heresy to the commercial ISP community, and
doesnt fit with the clumsy separation and unbundling of posts and
telecoms in many countries, but it is worth a thought.
Roy.
On 18 Feb 2001, at 15:52, Peter Benjamin wrote:
Forwarded from amos maleka <amaleka@yahoo.com>
3pi.com is a team of young people in South Africa have recently
registered a company. This company has been set up in response to the
problem regarding lack of access to technology, information and
facilities in many disadvantaged African communities. These problems
lead to many businesses, youth, women and other members of communities
not realising their full potential or being able to take advantage of
the opportunities available by access to technology and information.
3pi.com is a personal prepaid Internet concept designed to provide
services accessible by the ordinary person on the street in South
Africa, people like small and Medium businesses, students, home- based
businesses, and other potential Internet users.
This concept could help the disadvantaged communities, in schools,
malls and libraries and it could change the face of small business
computing in the world of Information Technology in South Africa. It
involves the establishment of a unique Service provider, online
services on a "One Stop shop" basis. In addition it uses a Smart card
that is rechargeable which makes it easy to access these services, in
a user friendly and secure environment.
The Objectives of the 3pi.com are:
+ To provide Internet services to previously disadvantaged businesses,
+ students, first time Internet users and the "silver surfer"
+ generation (this the older generation who are often technophobes,
+ but looking for an easy, convenient means to access the Internet and
+ communicate via e-mails.
+ To provide a stable, user-friendly platform for the users.
+ To offer all of these on an affordable subscription basis.
+ Rechargeable vouchers.
What 3pi.com offers
3pi.com is a services provider to small and home based businesses and
students who can't afford to purchase computers, people who want to
access the World Wide Web and the Internet, and to provide them with
the means to a secure environment to operate profitably and
effectively. As more information is placed On- line and scattered
throughout the Web, and as more businesses seek to conduct business on
the Web, it becomes more and more difficult for the small
businessperson, student or "silver surfer": particularly the
"first-timer" to find the information and services pertinent to them.
It is the function of the Centre to facilitate this process. The 3p.i
will have computers located in safe places like libraries, malls,
schools and public facilities that provide a One- Stop-Shop to
facilitate use by normal businesses, students, smaller corporate and
others.
By making use of the Centre's Internet environment, the user can be
assured that the partners and business associates with whom he deals
can be trusted. Using the facility also enables the formation of
consortia, supplier "families" and other on-line communities to meet
specific requirements. The Products and Services offered by the Centre
are not all unique. However, what makes them unique is how we have put
them together. Many other companies offer different parts of this
concept, but they always concentrate on big business and the already
advanced market places.
Why we think this Concept will Succeed?
There are no facilities and there is demand of internet. It will be
placed in safe areas. It will be user friendly. It will be affordable,
no bills and no contact. It will be accessible to a wide range of
people. It will be reliable as any internet and powerful. It will
reach the most marginalized especially in the rural, the disabled and
the women.
Conclusion
We are a team that is mostly dedicated in seeing this concept
succeed. For a long time communities have expressed the lack of
facilities and technology in their areas, and yet we know that they
have great obvious answers that put them in that position from
concered companies or organizations. We have introduced to you 3pi.com
the hope and solution for unskilled, semi-skilled, learners, business
person, unemployed and ordinary persons in the street. This is the
solutions and empowerment to Africans problems and we would like to
invite you to be the partner in developing this concept and become the
fast growing internet in Africa and the World.
Amos maleka
(Director)
=====================
Peter Benjamin
LINK Centre, P&DM,
Wits University
Tel: +27 11 717 3583
Fax: +27 11 717 3910
Cell: +27 82 829 3353
Email: peter@sn.apc.org
_______________________________________________
Communitysa mailing list
Communitysa@lists.sn.apc.org
http://lists.sn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/communitysa
Roy Williams
Block 33, University of Reading,
London Road, Reading,
RG1 5 AQ
+44 118 931-6317
From peter@sn.apc.org Thu Mar 1 20:29:09 2001
Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2001 20:29:09 +0000
From: Peter Benjamin peter@sn.apc.org
Subject: [Communitysa] ICT for income generation in Zimbabwe
[Forwarded from Dumisani Nyoni yestemp4@edc.org ]
Interesting message from Zimbabwe on iCT for development initiatives
(from the GKD list).
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: Dumisani Nyoni <yestemp4@edc.org>
To: gkd@phoenix.edc.org
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 16:19:30 -0500
Subject: [GKD] ICT for income generation in Zimbabwe
Reply-to: gkd@phoenix.edc.org
Dear GKD members,
My name is Dumisani Nyoni. I am from the City of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and
am currently with the Youth Employment Summit, a project of the nonprofit
organization EDC, in Massachusetts. Through various experiences I have
developed a desire to see the increase in initiatives and support for ideas
that promote youth employment. I have been involved in setting up various
projects in my city with youth from underprivileged backgrounds with the
hope of generating sustainable employment. They ranged from organising
music and drama groups into small "Entertainment Entrepreneurships" (using
their natural talent in performing arts to create an income) to arranging
ways for artists to develop markets for their goods and crafts. What I have
learned is that these initiatives have a lot of similar work about them and
it is a matter of applying lessons learned from one to another.
To help bridge the current digital divide I have focused one project on
information technology and I am seeking to use it to help meet various
community needs in a rural community in Zimbabwe. I feel that it can
ultimately teach about technology, create employment, involve the community
into educational and development initiatives and join a rural African
Village to the Cyber Village, and hopefully with it demonstrate how we can
best move forward in empowering people through technology and employment
creation.
It is heartening to hear that the World's most industrialised countries are
making concerted efforts to look into the problems of the technological
divide, which is widening at the SAME speed at which new technology is
being spewed from the Silicon Valleys around the world.
In Zimbabwe, the digital divide is very evident. Cellular telephone
companies advertise the latest utilities such as Wireless Access Protocol
enabled telephones, Internet Connection to Laptops anywhere in the country
as long as there is cellular coverage and a whole host of value-added
services. Beneath the same billboards pass Zimbabweans with no clue at all
what email means. We read the same newspapers with the same advertising,
yet only a small percentage can relate to such statements as "56K
Connection" or "Africa-on-line." Africa on line! On what line? I am afraid
that is their reality, even in urban cases. Not to take away from people's
high levels of education, Zimbabwe is a very well educated and very well
read society. What keeps us in the dark ages with regards to Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is access. There is simply no access
to ICTs for most Zimbabweans and the same goes for the rest of Africa and
most developing countries.
I would like to present for discussion some lessons learned, gained from my
own experience with a specific community in the District if Nkayi,
Matabeleland in Zimbabwe. There is a new high school there (called
Mangubeni) being developed through the help of a local NGO. Mangubeni has
the potential of teaching more than just math and writing skills. It can
demonstrate the truth in saying that rural schools should not be left out
of the information highway.
I initially felt that the primary concern was to find a way to get
computers which can be used and connected to the Internet and then put in
place a system in which people, especially the youth, can access them. But
I realised from my own experience, and from consulting with others, that
work needed to be done on the ground before we could consider moving ahead
with the Internet project. Certain other support systems, which we will
refer to as Complimentary Inputs, (see Janice Brodman, "Technology Change,
Equity and Growth") need to be in place, For example:
* PARTNERSHIPS - We have found in the developing world that initiatives
solely based on donor funding or NGO support rarely take off the ground.
Success needs partnerships across the world and across sectors to confront
the many challenges that exist. Thus, projects must not just depend on the
NGO support, but support developed across a wide range of stakeholders.
* LITERACY - For people to be able to maximize the use of ICT especially
when they come from settlements whose language is not used on an
international level, a good understand of English is key. So, can people
read, write and understand English? Or French, Portuguese, German? Maybe
even there are some with native languages that have a strong presence on
the Internet. Whatever the language they wish to use, literacy training is
needed so they will be able to fully utilize the Internet.
* TECHNOLOGY LITERACY - It is also important for people in these
communities to understand the use of technology and what they could do with
it, to serve their own needs. They need to have training and education is
this way.
* ACCESS - The technology must be accessible to most people, especially (in
the case of Mangubeni) youth and women. It must be accessible to people who
can use the technology to best benefit the community and those around them
* WHOM DOES IT BENEFIT MOST - If the new developments only benefit those
already well off it helps to increase the levels in inequity. In that case
the development is neither sustainable or fair. We need to understand what
further effects access to the technology would have on the community. This
is probably the most important understanding we need to develop. What we do
not need is to further feed the growth of the income divide in an attempt
to close the technological divide.
* ELECTRICITY - There must be a reliable way to power the technology. If
this is not possible then the whole project is a failure before it can be
implemented.
There are a whole host of Complementary Inputs. Perhaps as part of this
discussion we can identify what other complementary inputs are important
for a project to work for the benefit of the community.
Based on these lessons, I would like to see a project for Mangubeni that
will combine technology and the means for income generation. For example,
it could first set up a solar project, using solar panels to provide
electrical energy to local households, the school and depending on capacity
some, some small businesses. It could be run and operated as a small
business employing youth from the community with a special effort to
include girls/young women as central contributors, owners and managers of
the project. Instead of attempting to fit solar panels and solar power
systems to each household and classroom, one larger unit could be set up
to service others in need of electricity. Or another alternative would be
the use of solar powered batteries to use for cooking, heating and lighting
units. The service providers would then have a means of income from
providing recharge services to owners of batteries. There are various
options which can be used to supply the electrical energy but what is
important is that the unit(s) set up be sufficient to meet the needs and
generate revenue.
The advantage to this model is that it achieves the following:
1. Electrification to rural households at a low cost and in
quantities that are needed hence there in less excessive use.
2. With electrification other uses of technology are therefore
possible such as pumps, radios, computers.
3. There is less pressure on the environment to provide sources of
energy such as wood. Therefore the energy project contributes to
environmental sustainability, less trees are cut down for cooking and
heating.
4. Young people are able to be owners of enterprises that serve
their communities. They have a form of employment and together help to
solve the problems of unemployment. Sustainable development and youth
employment are two complimentary activities. This type of project
could achieve both those goals.
Then there is the question of the actual computers. Is it a good idea to
jump ahead at offers of free second hand computers from the U.S? I don't
think that is a good idea unless there is a mechanism to support the
replacement of these computers once they become obsolete. That may not be
after a long time. Computer manufacturers can be approached in an attempt
to have their technical support.
Such a project should incorporate a training program, to train youth in
computer skills, business skills, the technical aspects of running an
energy service or Internet room. A school like Mangubeni can be used to
empower older women and older people of the society above the High School
age. I believe it is important for the community to find a way to maximize
the use of resources like the schools so that they serve more than just the
students. A facility like the one I have described would be housed in the
local school, but would also be used to benefit a larger section of the
population. There is no need to always spend money on developing a new
structure to be used as a training centre for computer education etc. It is
more cost effective to help the community see the greater potential that
lies in this 'school building' and to find alternative uses of the
building, computers, etc. so it contributed beyond just one project/object
and one group of people.
This is the type of project I think is needed in developing countries such
as my own. Indeed, I have gone as far as starting to build a team with NGO,
private sector investors and local community participants for a project
like this in Mangubeni. I drafted up the project concept in line with the
needs of the community and with the benefit of having their direct input.
Our next step is finding enough financial backing to make it a reality. I
will be happy to provide the project concept to anyone who writes me
requesting it.
It is my hope that together we can produce workable plans and team efforts
to help close the gap through practical and appropriate initiatives.
Sustainable development is extending beyond just drilling water pumps and
roads. We need to find ways to adapt to the challenges and take advantage
of the opportunities of a new age.
Dumisani Nyoni
Youth Employment Summit
------------
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=====================
Peter Benjamin
LINK Centre, P&DM,
Wits University
Tel: +27 11 717 3583
Fax: +27 11 717 3910
Cell: +27 82 829 3353
Email: peter@sn.apc.org
From cms@metaset.co.za Sun Mar 4 17:07:48 2001
Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2001 19:07:48 +0200
From: Christopher Spottiswoode cms@metaset.co.za
Subject: [Communitysa] A couple of apparently interesting projects
Here are the introductions to two projects at the MIT Media Laboratory, as
numbered in their catalogue of projects dated November 2000. Can anyone comment
on the relevance of their work to South Africa?
The catalogue itself may be downloaded from
http://gonzo.media.mit.edu/public/web/
-------------------------------------------------
21. Development E-commerce
Michael Best and Pattie Maes
We are developing technologies and community methodologies in electronic
commerce for social and economic development. We study e-commerce technologies
and system software that are appropriate and appropriable by the majority world.
Research and development activities integrate with activist field projects that
are community centered. We are keenly interested in first-class technologies
that are cost-appropriate for people who make less then two dollars a day.
22. Telecenter Cost Estimator
Michael Best and Hani Shakeel
Establishing telecenters-community computer centers that often provide a range
of services-in developing countries requires careful evaluation of alternative
hardware configurations, power sources and telecommunication services. Quite
often the goal is to find a configuration whose recurrent cost can be sustained
by the target community. The Telecenter Cost Estimator is a visual tool for
exploring the impact of alternative telecenter configurations on capital and
ongoing costs.
----------------------------------------------
Further information on those and other projects and events is available from
http://edevelopment.media.mit.edu/
That links to
http://edevelopment.media.mit.edu/telecenter_cost.html
from where a link leads to a download of the Telecenter Cost Estimator.
From peter at sn.apc.org Thu Mar 1 22:29:10 2001
From: peter at sn.apc.org (Peter Benjamin)
Date: Tue Feb 27 14:07:35 2007
Subject: [Communitysa] 3pi
Message-ID: <200103011737.TAA29578@brain.sn.apc.org>
[Forwarded from: r.t.williams@reading.ac.uk]
Amos's info on 3pi is interesting.
The prepaid market is both a good market and a good social
intiative.
A very interesting discussion of the core issue, namely: Who
should provide the point-of-service for ICT? is dealt with in an
interesting book called GEMs - Guaranteed Electronic
Marketplaces.
In GEMs there is a lot of very useful, and very practical IS
information on how a GEM could be run, which would serve
everyone - both providers and consumers of services.
But more to the point here, it has a useful piece on the rationale for
the postal service. The postal situation at the time was very similar
to the ISP situation we have now, with many commercial services,
charging 4pence or more for post. When the one penny postal
service (essentially the first move from channel switched to packet
switched comms) was mooted, everyone said it would be bound to
fail. It didnt. What it did do was to provide a cross cutting public
point-of-service (supply and demand side) in a common carrier, or
common service site approach, which forced the commerical
service providers into specialist niches. Why shouldnt this work for
ICT?
This is I am sure heresy to the commercial ISP community, and
doesnt fit with the clumsy separation and unbundling of posts and
telecoms in many countries, but it is worth a thought.
Roy.
On 18 Feb 2001, at 15:52, Peter Benjamin wrote:
Forwarded from amos maleka
3pi.com is a team of young people in South Africa have recently
registered a company. This company has been set up in response to the
problem regarding lack of access to technology, information and
facilities in many disadvantaged African communities. These problems
lead to many businesses, youth, women and other members of communities
not realising their full potential or being able to take advantage of
the opportunities available by access to technology and information.
3pi.com is a personal prepaid Internet concept designed to provide
services accessible by the ordinary person on the street in South
Africa, people like small and Medium businesses, students, home- based
businesses, and other potential Internet users.
This concept could help the disadvantaged communities, in schools,
malls and libraries and it could change the face of small business
computing in the world of Information Technology in South Africa. It
involves the establishment of a unique Service provider, online
services on a "One Stop shop" basis. In addition it uses a Smart card
that is rechargeable which makes it easy to access these services, in
a user friendly and secure environment.
The Objectives of the 3pi.com are:
+ To provide Internet services to previously disadvantaged businesses,
+ students, first time Internet users and the "silver surfer"
+ generation (this the older generation who are often technophobes,
+ but looking for an easy, convenient means to access the Internet and
+ communicate via e-mails.
+ To provide a stable, user-friendly platform for the users.
+ To offer all of these on an affordable subscription basis.
+ Rechargeable vouchers.
What 3pi.com offers
3pi.com is a services provider to small and home based businesses and
students who can't afford to purchase computers, people who want to
access the World Wide Web and the Internet, and to provide them with
the means to a secure environment to operate profitably and
effectively. As more information is placed On- line and scattered
throughout the Web, and as more businesses seek to conduct business on
the Web, it becomes more and more difficult for the small
businessperson, student or "silver surfer": particularly the
"first-timer" to find the information and services pertinent to them.
It is the function of the Centre to facilitate this process. The 3p.i
will have computers located in safe places like libraries, malls,
schools and public facilities that provide a One- Stop-Shop to
facilitate use by normal businesses, students, smaller corporate and
others.
By making use of the Centre's Internet environment, the user can be
assured that the partners and business associates with whom he deals
can be trusted. Using the facility also enables the formation of
consortia, supplier "families" and other on-line communities to meet
specific requirements. The Products and Services offered by the Centre
are not all unique. However, what makes them unique is how we have put
them together. Many other companies offer different parts of this
concept, but they always concentrate on big business and the already
advanced market places.
Why we think this Concept will Succeed?
There are no facilities and there is demand of internet. It will be
placed in safe areas. It will be user friendly. It will be affordable,
no bills and no contact. It will be accessible to a wide range of
people. It will be reliable as any internet and powerful. It will
reach the most marginalized especially in the rural, the disabled and
the women.
Conclusion
We are a team that is mostly dedicated in seeing this concept
succeed. For a long time communities have expressed the lack of
facilities and technology in their areas, and yet we know that they
have great obvious answers that put them in that position from
concered companies or organizations. We have introduced to you 3pi.com
the hope and solution for unskilled, semi-skilled, learners, business
person, unemployed and ordinary persons in the street. This is the
solutions and empowerment to Africans problems and we would like to
invite you to be the partner in developing this concept and become the
fast growing internet in Africa and the World.
Amos maleka
(Director)
=====================
Peter Benjamin
LINK Centre, P&DM,
Wits University
Tel: +27 11 717 3583
Fax: +27 11 717 3910
Cell: +27 82 829 3353
Email: peter@sn.apc.org
_______________________________________________
Communitysa mailing list
Communitysa@lists.sn.apc.org
http://lists.sn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/communitysa
Roy Williams
Block 33, University of Reading,
London Road, Reading,
RG1 5 AQ
+44 118 931-6317
From peter at sn.apc.org Thu Mar 1 22:29:09 2001
From: peter at sn.apc.org (Peter Benjamin)
Date: Tue Feb 27 14:07:35 2007
Subject: [Communitysa] ICT for income generation in Zimbabwe
Message-ID: <200103011737.TAA29581@brain.sn.apc.org>
[Forwarded from Dumisani Nyoni yestemp4@edc.org ]
Interesting message from Zimbabwe on iCT for development initiatives
(from the GKD list).
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: Dumisani Nyoni
To: gkd@phoenix.edc.org
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 16:19:30 -0500
Subject: [GKD] ICT for income generation in Zimbabwe
Reply-to: gkd@phoenix.edc.org
Dear GKD members,
My name is Dumisani Nyoni. I am from the City of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and
am currently with the Youth Employment Summit, a project of the nonprofit
organization EDC, in Massachusetts. Through various experiences I have
developed a desire to see the increase in initiatives and support for ideas
that promote youth employment. I have been involved in setting up various
projects in my city with youth from underprivileged backgrounds with the
hope of generating sustainable employment. They ranged from organising
music and drama groups into small "Entertainment Entrepreneurships" (using
their natural talent in performing arts to create an income) to arranging
ways for artists to develop markets for their goods and crafts. What I have
learned is that these initiatives have a lot of similar work about them and
it is a matter of applying lessons learned from one to another.
To help bridge the current digital divide I have focused one project on
information technology and I am seeking to use it to help meet various
community needs in a rural community in Zimbabwe. I feel that it can
ultimately teach about technology, create employment, involve the community
into educational and development initiatives and join a rural African
Village to the Cyber Village, and hopefully with it demonstrate how we can
best move forward in empowering people through technology and employment
creation.
It is heartening to hear that the World's most industrialised countries are
making concerted efforts to look into the problems of the technological
divide, which is widening at the SAME speed at which new technology is
being spewed from the Silicon Valleys around the world.
In Zimbabwe, the digital divide is very evident. Cellular telephone
companies advertise the latest utilities such as Wireless Access Protocol
enabled telephones, Internet Connection to Laptops anywhere in the country
as long as there is cellular coverage and a whole host of value-added
services. Beneath the same billboards pass Zimbabweans with no clue at all
what email means. We read the same newspapers with the same advertising,
yet only a small percentage can relate to such statements as "56K
Connection" or "Africa-on-line." Africa on line! On what line? I am afraid
that is their reality, even in urban cases. Not to take away from people's
high levels of education, Zimbabwe is a very well educated and very well
read society. What keeps us in the dark ages with regards to Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is access. There is simply no access
to ICTs for most Zimbabweans and the same goes for the rest of Africa and
most developing countries.
I would like to present for discussion some lessons learned, gained from my
own experience with a specific community in the District if Nkayi,
Matabeleland in Zimbabwe. There is a new high school there (called
Mangubeni) being developed through the help of a local NGO. Mangubeni has
the potential of teaching more than just math and writing skills. It can
demonstrate the truth in saying that rural schools should not be left out
of the information highway.
I initially felt that the primary concern was to find a way to get
computers which can be used and connected to the Internet and then put in
place a system in which people, especially the youth, can access them. But
I realised from my own experience, and from consulting with others, that
work needed to be done on the ground before we could consider moving ahead
with the Internet project. Certain other support systems, which we will
refer to as Complimentary Inputs, (see Janice Brodman, "Technology Change,
Equity and Growth") need to be in place, For example:
* PARTNERSHIPS - We have found in the developing world that initiatives
solely based on donor funding or NGO support rarely take off the ground.
Success needs partnerships across the world and across sectors to confront
the many challenges that exist. Thus, projects must not just depend on the
NGO support, but support developed across a wide range of stakeholders.
* LITERACY - For people to be able to maximize the use of ICT especially
when they come from settlements whose language is not used on an
international level, a good understand of English is key. So, can people
read, write and understand English? Or French, Portuguese, German? Maybe
even there are some with native languages that have a strong presence on
the Internet. Whatever the language they wish to use, literacy training is
needed so they will be able to fully utilize the Internet.
* TECHNOLOGY LITERACY - It is also important for people in these
communities to understand the use of technology and what they could do with
it, to serve their own needs. They need to have training and education is
this way.
* ACCESS - The technology must be accessible to most people, especially (in
the case of Mangubeni) youth and women. It must be accessible to people who
can use the technology to best benefit the community and those around them
* WHOM DOES IT BENEFIT MOST - If the new developments only benefit those
already well off it helps to increase the levels in inequity. In that case
the development is neither sustainable or fair. We need to understand what
further effects access to the technology would have on the community. This
is probably the most important understanding we need to develop. What we do
not need is to further feed the growth of the income divide in an attempt
to close the technological divide.
* ELECTRICITY - There must be a reliable way to power the technology. If
this is not possible then the whole project is a failure before it can be
implemented.
There are a whole host of Complementary Inputs. Perhaps as part of this
discussion we can identify what other complementary inputs are important
for a project to work for the benefit of the community.
Based on these lessons, I would like to see a project for Mangubeni that
will combine technology and the means for income generation. For example,
it could first set up a solar project, using solar panels to provide
electrical energy to local households, the school and depending on capacity
some, some small businesses. It could be run and operated as a small
business employing youth from the community with a special effort to
include girls/young women as central contributors, owners and managers of
the project. Instead of attempting to fit solar panels and solar power
systems to each household and classroom, one larger unit could be set up
to service others in need of electricity. Or another alternative would be
the use of solar powered batteries to use for cooking, heating and lighting
units. The service providers would then have a means of income from
providing recharge services to owners of batteries. There are various
options which can be used to supply the electrical energy but what is
important is that the unit(s) set up be sufficient to meet the needs and
generate revenue.
The advantage to this model is that it achieves the following:
1. Electrification to rural households at a low cost and in
quantities that are needed hence there in less excessive use.
2. With electrification other uses of technology are therefore
possible such as pumps, radios, computers.
3. There is less pressure on the environment to provide sources of
energy such as wood. Therefore the energy project contributes to
environmental sustainability, less trees are cut down for cooking and
heating.
4. Young people are able to be owners of enterprises that serve
their communities. They have a form of employment and together help to
solve the problems of unemployment. Sustainable development and youth
employment are two complimentary activities. This type of project
could achieve both those goals.
Then there is the question of the actual computers. Is it a good idea to
jump ahead at offers of free second hand computers from the U.S? I don't
think that is a good idea unless there is a mechanism to support the
replacement of these computers once they become obsolete. That may not be
after a long time. Computer manufacturers can be approached in an attempt
to have their technical support.
Such a project should incorporate a training program, to train youth in
computer skills, business skills, the technical aspects of running an
energy service or Internet room. A school like Mangubeni can be used to
empower older women and older people of the society above the High School
age. I believe it is important for the community to find a way to maximize
the use of resources like the schools so that they serve more than just the
students. A facility like the one I have described would be housed in the
local school, but would also be used to benefit a larger section of the
population. There is no need to always spend money on developing a new
structure to be used as a training centre for computer education etc. It is
more cost effective to help the community see the greater potential that
lies in this 'school building' and to find alternative uses of the
building, computers, etc. so it contributed beyond just one project/object
and one group of people.
This is the type of project I think is needed in developing countries such
as my own. Indeed, I have gone as far as starting to build a team with NGO,
private sector investors and local community participants for a project
like this in Mangubeni. I drafted up the project concept in line with the
needs of the community and with the benefit of having their direct input.
Our next step is finding enough financial backing to make it a reality. I
will be happy to provide the project concept to anyone who writes me
requesting it.
It is my hope that together we can produce workable plans and team efforts
to help close the gap through practical and appropriate initiatives.
Sustainable development is extending beyond just drilling water pumps and
roads. We need to find ways to adapt to the challenges and take advantage
of the opportunities of a new age.
Dumisani Nyoni
Youth Employment Summit
------------
***GKD is an initiative of the Global Knowledge Partnership***
To post a message, send it to:
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to:
. In the 1st line of the message type:
subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd
Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at:
=====================
Peter Benjamin
LINK Centre, P&DM,
Wits University
Tel: +27 11 717 3583
Fax: +27 11 717 3910
Cell: +27 82 829 3353
Email: peter@sn.apc.org
From cms at metaset.co.za Sun Mar 4 19:07:48 2001
From: cms at metaset.co.za (Christopher Spottiswoode)
Date: Tue Feb 27 14:07:35 2007
Subject: [Communitysa] A couple of apparently interesting projects
Message-ID: <03a201c0a4cd$aa0af670$0700a8c0@pentium1>
Here are the introductions to two projects at the MIT Media Laboratory, as
numbered in their catalogue of projects dated November 2000. Can anyone comment
on the relevance of their work to South Africa?
The catalogue itself may be downloaded from
http://gonzo.media.mit.edu/public/web/
-------------------------------------------------
21. Development E-commerce
Michael Best and Pattie Maes
We are developing technologies and community methodologies in electronic
commerce for social and economic development. We study e-commerce technologies
and system software that are appropriate and appropriable by the majority world.
Research and development activities integrate with activist field projects that
are community centered. We are keenly interested in first-class technologies
that are cost-appropriate for people who make less then two dollars a day.
22. Telecenter Cost Estimator
Michael Best and Hani Shakeel
Establishing telecenters-community computer centers that often provide a range
of services-in developing countries requires careful evaluation of alternative
hardware configurations, power sources and telecommunication services. Quite
often the goal is to find a configuration whose recurrent cost can be sustained
by the target community. The Telecenter Cost Estimator is a visual tool for
exploring the impact of alternative telecenter configurations on capital and
ongoing costs.
----------------------------------------------
Further information on those and other projects and events is available from
http://edevelopment.media.mit.edu/
That links to
http://edevelopment.media.mit.edu/telecenter_cost.html
from where a link leads to a download of the Telecenter Cost Estimator.
From peter at sn.apc.org Thu Mar 1 22:29:10 2001
From: peter at sn.apc.org (Peter Benjamin)
Date: Tue Apr 17 18:11:19 2007
Subject: [Communitysa] 3pi
Message-ID: <200103011737.TAA29578@brain.sn.apc.org>
[Forwarded from: r.t.williams@reading.ac.uk]
Amos's info on 3pi is interesting.
The prepaid market is both a good market and a good social
intiative.
A very interesting discussion of the core issue, namely: Who
should provide the point-of-service for ICT? is dealt with in an
interesting book called GEMs - Guaranteed Electronic
Marketplaces.
In GEMs there is a lot of very useful, and very practical IS
information on how a GEM could be run, which would serve
everyone - both providers and consumers of services.
But more to the point here, it has a useful piece on the rationale for
the postal service. The postal situation at the time was very similar
to the ISP situation we have now, with many commercial services,
charging 4pence or more for post. When the one penny postal
service (essentially the first move from channel switched to packet
switched comms) was mooted, everyone said it would be bound to
fail. It didnt. What it did do was to provide a cross cutting public
point-of-service (supply and demand side) in a common carrier, or
common service site approach, which forced the commerical
service providers into specialist niches. Why shouldnt this work for
ICT?
This is I am sure heresy to the commercial ISP community, and
doesnt fit with the clumsy separation and unbundling of posts and
telecoms in many countries, but it is worth a thought.
Roy.
On 18 Feb 2001, at 15:52, Peter Benjamin wrote:
Forwarded from amos maleka
3pi.com is a team of young people in South Africa have recently
registered a company. This company has been set up in response to the
problem regarding lack of access to technology, information and
facilities in many disadvantaged African communities. These problems
lead to many businesses, youth, women and other members of communities
not realising their full potential or being able to take advantage of
the opportunities available by access to technology and information.
3pi.com is a personal prepaid Internet concept designed to provide
services accessible by the ordinary person on the street in South
Africa, people like small and Medium businesses, students, home- based
businesses, and other potential Internet users.
This concept could help the disadvantaged communities, in schools,
malls and libraries and it could change the face of small business
computing in the world of Information Technology in South Africa. It
involves the establishment of a unique Service provider, online
services on a "One Stop shop" basis. In addition it uses a Smart card
that is rechargeable which makes it easy to access these services, in
a user friendly and secure environment.
The Objectives of the 3pi.com are:
+ To provide Internet services to previously disadvantaged businesses,
+ students, first time Internet users and the "silver surfer"
+ generation (this the older generation who are often technophobes,
+ but looking for an easy, convenient means to access the Internet and
+ communicate via e-mails.
+ To provide a stable, user-friendly platform for the users.
+ To offer all of these on an affordable subscription basis.
+ Rechargeable vouchers.
What 3pi.com offers
3pi.com is a services provider to small and home based businesses and
students who can't afford to purchase computers, people who want to
access the World Wide Web and the Internet, and to provide them with
the means to a secure environment to operate profitably and
effectively. As more information is placed On- line and scattered
throughout the Web, and as more businesses seek to conduct business on
the Web, it becomes more and more difficult for the small
businessperson, student or "silver surfer": particularly the
"first-timer" to find the information and services pertinent to them.
It is the function of the Centre to facilitate this process. The 3p.i
will have computers located in safe places like libraries, malls,
schools and public facilities that provide a One- Stop-Shop to
facilitate use by normal businesses, students, smaller corporate and
others.
By making use of the Centre's Internet environment, the user can be
assured that the partners and business associates with whom he deals
can be trusted. Using the facility also enables the formation of
consortia, supplier "families" and other on-line communities to meet
specific requirements. The Products and Services offered by the Centre
are not all unique. However, what makes them unique is how we have put
them together. Many other companies offer different parts of this
concept, but they always concentrate on big business and the already
advanced market places.
Why we think this Concept will Succeed?
There are no facilities and there is demand of internet. It will be
placed in safe areas. It will be user friendly. It will be affordable,
no bills and no contact. It will be accessible to a wide range of
people. It will be reliable as any internet and powerful. It will
reach the most marginalized especially in the rural, the disabled and
the women.
Conclusion
We are a team that is mostly dedicated in seeing this concept
succeed. For a long time communities have expressed the lack of
facilities and technology in their areas, and yet we know that they
have great obvious answers that put them in that position from
concered companies or organizations. We have introduced to you 3pi.com
the hope and solution for unskilled, semi-skilled, learners, business
person, unemployed and ordinary persons in the street. This is the
solutions and empowerment to Africans problems and we would like to
invite you to be the partner in developing this concept and become the
fast growing internet in Africa and the World.
Amos maleka
(Director)
=====================
Peter Benjamin
LINK Centre, P&DM,
Wits University
Tel: +27 11 717 3583
Fax: +27 11 717 3910
Cell: +27 82 829 3353
Email: peter@sn.apc.org
_______________________________________________
Communitysa mailing list
Communitysa@lists.sn.apc.org
http://lists.sn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/communitysa
Roy Williams
Block 33, University of Reading,
London Road, Reading,
RG1 5 AQ
+44 118 931-6317
From peter at sn.apc.org Thu Mar 1 22:29:09 2001
From: peter at sn.apc.org (Peter Benjamin)
Date: Tue Apr 17 18:11:19 2007
Subject: [Communitysa] ICT for income generation in Zimbabwe
Message-ID: <200103011737.TAA29581@brain.sn.apc.org>
[Forwarded from Dumisani Nyoni yestemp4@edc.org ]
Interesting message from Zimbabwe on iCT for development initiatives
(from the GKD list).
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: Dumisani Nyoni
To: gkd@phoenix.edc.org
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 16:19:30 -0500
Subject: [GKD] ICT for income generation in Zimbabwe
Reply-to: gkd@phoenix.edc.org
Dear GKD members,
My name is Dumisani Nyoni. I am from the City of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and
am currently with the Youth Employment Summit, a project of the nonprofit
organization EDC, in Massachusetts. Through various experiences I have
developed a desire to see the increase in initiatives and support for ideas
that promote youth employment. I have been involved in setting up various
projects in my city with youth from underprivileged backgrounds with the
hope of generating sustainable employment. They ranged from organising
music and drama groups into small "Entertainment Entrepreneurships" (using
their natural talent in performing arts to create an income) to arranging
ways for artists to develop markets for their goods and crafts. What I have
learned is that these initiatives have a lot of similar work about them and
it is a matter of applying lessons learned from one to another.
To help bridge the current digital divide I have focused one project on
information technology and I am seeking to use it to help meet various
community needs in a rural community in Zimbabwe. I feel that it can
ultimately teach about technology, create employment, involve the community
into educational and development initiatives and join a rural African
Village to the Cyber Village, and hopefully with it demonstrate how we can
best move forward in empowering people through technology and employment
creation.
It is heartening to hear that the World's most industrialised countries are
making concerted efforts to look into the problems of the technological
divide, which is widening at the SAME speed at which new technology is
being spewed from the Silicon Valleys around the world.
In Zimbabwe, the digital divide is very evident. Cellular telephone
companies advertise the latest utilities such as Wireless Access Protocol
enabled telephones, Internet Connection to Laptops anywhere in the country
as long as there is cellular coverage and a whole host of value-added
services. Beneath the same billboards pass Zimbabweans with no clue at all
what email means. We read the same newspapers with the same advertising,
yet only a small percentage can relate to such statements as "56K
Connection" or "Africa-on-line." Africa on line! On what line? I am afraid
that is their reality, even in urban cases. Not to take away from people's
high levels of education, Zimbabwe is a very well educated and very well
read society. What keeps us in the dark ages with regards to Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is access. There is simply no access
to ICTs for most Zimbabweans and the same goes for the rest of Africa and
most developing countries.
I would like to present for discussion some lessons learned, gained from my
own experience with a specific community in the District if Nkayi,
Matabeleland in Zimbabwe. There is a new high school there (called
Mangubeni) being developed through the help of a local NGO. Mangubeni has
the potential of teaching more than just math and writing skills. It can
demonstrate the truth in saying that rural schools should not be left out
of the information highway.
I initially felt that the primary concern was to find a way to get
computers which can be used and connected to the Internet and then put in
place a system in which people, especially the youth, can access them. But
I realised from my own experience, and from consulting with others, that
work needed to be done on the ground before we could consider moving ahead
with the Internet project. Certain other support systems, which we will
refer to as Complimentary Inputs, (see Janice Brodman, "Technology Change,
Equity and Growth") need to be in place, For example:
* PARTNERSHIPS - We have found in the developing world that initiatives
solely based on donor funding or NGO support rarely take off the ground.
Success needs partnerships across the world and across sectors to confront
the many challenges that exist. Thus, projects must not just depend on the
NGO support, but support developed across a wide range of stakeholders.
* LITERACY - For people to be able to maximize the use of ICT especially
when they come from settlements whose language is not used on an
international level, a good understand of English is key. So, can people
read, write and understand English? Or French, Portuguese, German? Maybe
even there are some with native languages that have a strong presence on
the Internet. Whatever the language they wish to use, literacy training is
needed so they will be able to fully utilize the Internet.
* TECHNOLOGY LITERACY - It is also important for people in these
communities to understand the use of technology and what they could do with
it, to serve their own needs. They need to have training and education is
this way.
* ACCESS - The technology must be accessible to most people, especially (in
the case of Mangubeni) youth and women. It must be accessible to people who
can use the technology to best benefit the community and those around them
* WHOM DOES IT BENEFIT MOST - If the new developments only benefit those
already well off it helps to increase the levels in inequity. In that case
the development is neither sustainable or fair. We need to understand what
further effects access to the technology would have on the community. This
is probably the most important understanding we need to develop. What we do
not need is to further feed the growth of the income divide in an attempt
to close the technological divide.
* ELECTRICITY - There must be a reliable way to power the technology. If
this is not possible then the whole project is a failure before it can be
implemented.
There are a whole host of Complementary Inputs. Perhaps as part of this
discussion we can identify what other complementary inputs are important
for a project to work for the benefit of the community.
Based on these lessons, I would like to see a project for Mangubeni that
will combine technology and the means for income generation. For example,
it could first set up a solar project, using solar panels to provide
electrical energy to local households, the school and depending on capacity
some, some small businesses. It could be run and operated as a small
business employing youth from the community with a special effort to
include girls/young women as central contributors, owners and managers of
the project. Instead of attempting to fit solar panels and solar power
systems to each household and classroom, one larger unit could be set up
to service others in need of electricity. Or another alternative would be
the use of solar powered batteries to use for cooking, heating and lighting
units. The service providers would then have a means of income from
providing recharge services to owners of batteries. There are various
options which can be used to supply the electrical energy but what is
important is that the unit(s) set up be sufficient to meet the needs and
generate revenue.
The advantage to this model is that it achieves the following:
1. Electrification to rural households at a low cost and in
quantities that are needed hence there in less excessive use.
2. With electrification other uses of technology are therefore
possible such as pumps, radios, computers.
3. There is less pressure on the environment to provide sources of
energy such as wood. Therefore the energy project contributes to
environmental sustainability, less trees are cut down for cooking and
heating.
4. Young people are able to be owners of enterprises that serve
their communities. They have a form of employment and together help to
solve the problems of unemployment. Sustainable development and youth
employment are two complimentary activities. This type of project
could achieve both those goals.
Then there is the question of the actual computers. Is it a good idea to
jump ahead at offers of free second hand computers from the U.S? I don't
think that is a good idea unless there is a mechanism to support the
replacement of these computers once they become obsolete. That may not be
after a long time. Computer manufacturers can be approached in an attempt
to have their technical support.
Such a project should incorporate a training program, to train youth in
computer skills, business skills, the technical aspects of running an
energy service or Internet room. A school like Mangubeni can be used to
empower older women and older people of the society above the High School
age. I believe it is important for the community to find a way to maximize
the use of resources like the schools so that they serve more than just the
students. A facility like the one I have described would be housed in the
local school, but would also be used to benefit a larger section of the
population. There is no need to always spend money on developing a new
structure to be used as a training centre for computer education etc. It is
more cost effective to help the community see the greater potential that
lies in this 'school building' and to find alternative uses of the
building, computers, etc. so it contributed beyond just one project/object
and one group of people.
This is the type of project I think is needed in developing countries such
as my own. Indeed, I have gone as far as starting to build a team with NGO,
private sector investors and local community participants for a project
like this in Mangubeni. I drafted up the project concept in line with the
needs of the community and with the benefit of having their direct input.
Our next step is finding enough financial backing to make it a reality. I
will be happy to provide the project concept to anyone who writes me
requesting it.
It is my hope that together we can produce workable plans and team efforts
to help close the gap through practical and appropriate initiatives.
Sustainable development is extending beyond just drilling water pumps and
roads. We need to find ways to adapt to the challenges and take advantage
of the opportunities of a new age.
Dumisani Nyoni
Youth Employment Summit
------------
***GKD is an initiative of the Global Knowledge Partnership***
To post a message, send it to:
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to:
. In the 1st line of the message type:
subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd
Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at:
=====================
Peter Benjamin
LINK Centre, P&DM,
Wits University
Tel: +27 11 717 3583
Fax: +27 11 717 3910
Cell: +27 82 829 3353
Email: peter@sn.apc.org
From cms at metaset.co.za Sun Mar 4 19:07:48 2001
From: cms at metaset.co.za (Christopher Spottiswoode)
Date: Tue Apr 17 18:11:19 2007
Subject: [Communitysa] A couple of apparently interesting projects
Message-ID: <03a201c0a4cd$aa0af670$0700a8c0@pentium1>
Here are the introductions to two projects at the MIT Media Laboratory, as
numbered in their catalogue of projects dated November 2000. Can anyone comment
on the relevance of their work to South Africa?
The catalogue itself may be downloaded from
http://gonzo.media.mit.edu/public/web/
-------------------------------------------------
21. Development E-commerce
Michael Best and Pattie Maes
We are developing technologies and community methodologies in electronic
commerce for social and economic development. We study e-commerce technologies
and system software that are appropriate and appropriable by the majority world.
Research and development activities integrate with activist field projects that
are community centered. We are keenly interested in first-class technologies
that are cost-appropriate for people who make less then two dollars a day.
22. Telecenter Cost Estimator
Michael Best and Hani Shakeel
Establishing telecenters-community computer centers that often provide a range
of services-in developing countries requires careful evaluation of alternative
hardware configurations, power sources and telecommunication services. Quite
often the goal is to find a configuration whose recurrent cost can be sustained
by the target community. The Telecenter Cost Estimator is a visual tool for
exploring the impact of alternative telecenter configurations on capital and
ongoing costs.
----------------------------------------------
Further information on those and other projects and events is available from
http://edevelopment.media.mit.edu/
That links to
http://edevelopment.media.mit.edu/telecenter_cost.html
from where a link leads to a download of the Telecenter Cost Estimator.
From peter at sn.apc.org Thu Mar 1 22:29:10 2001
From: peter at sn.apc.org (Peter Benjamin)
Date: Wed May 23 10:56:48 2007
Subject: [Communitysa] 3pi
Message-ID: <200103011737.TAA29578@brain.sn.apc.org>
[Forwarded from: r.t.williams@reading.ac.uk]
Amos's info on 3pi is interesting.
The prepaid market is both a good market and a good social
intiative.
A very interesting discussion of the core issue, namely: Who
should provide the point-of-service for ICT? is dealt with in an
interesting book called GEMs - Guaranteed Electronic
Marketplaces.
In GEMs there is a lot of very useful, and very practical IS
information on how a GEM could be run, which would serve
everyone - both providers and consumers of services.
But more to the point here, it has a useful piece on the rationale for
the postal service. The postal situation at the time was very similar
to the ISP situation we have now, with many commercial services,
charging 4pence or more for post. When the one penny postal
service (essentially the first move from channel switched to packet
switched comms) was mooted, everyone said it would be bound to
fail. It didnt. What it did do was to provide a cross cutting public
point-of-service (supply and demand side) in a common carrier, or
common service site approach, which forced the commerical
service providers into specialist niches. Why shouldnt this work for
ICT?
This is I am sure heresy to the commercial ISP community, and
doesnt fit with the clumsy separation and unbundling of posts and
telecoms in many countries, but it is worth a thought.
Roy.
On 18 Feb 2001, at 15:52, Peter Benjamin wrote:
Forwarded from amos maleka
3pi.com is a team of young people in South Africa have recently
registered a company. This company has been set up in response to the
problem regarding lack of access to technology, information and
facilities in many disadvantaged African communities. These problems
lead to many businesses, youth, women and other members of communities
not realising their full potential or being able to take advantage of
the opportunities available by access to technology and information.
3pi.com is a personal prepaid Internet concept designed to provide
services accessible by the ordinary person on the street in South
Africa, people like small and Medium businesses, students, home- based
businesses, and other potential Internet users.
This concept could help the disadvantaged communities, in schools,
malls and libraries and it could change the face of small business
computing in the world of Information Technology in South Africa. It
involves the establishment of a unique Service provider, online
services on a "One Stop shop" basis. In addition it uses a Smart card
that is rechargeable which makes it easy to access these services, in
a user friendly and secure environment.
The Objectives of the 3pi.com are:
+ To provide Internet services to previously disadvantaged businesses,
+ students, first time Internet users and the "silver surfer"
+ generation (this the older generation who are often technophobes,
+ but looking for an easy, convenient means to access the Internet and
+ communicate via e-mails.
+ To provide a stable, user-friendly platform for the users.
+ To offer all of these on an affordable subscription basis.
+ Rechargeable vouchers.
What 3pi.com offers
3pi.com is a services provider to small and home based businesses and
students who can't afford to purchase computers, people who want to
access the World Wide Web and the Internet, and to provide them with
the means to a secure environment to operate profitably and
effectively. As more information is placed On- line and scattered
throughout the Web, and as more businesses seek to conduct business on
the Web, it becomes more and more difficult for the small
businessperson, student or "silver surfer": particularly the
"first-timer" to find the information and services pertinent to them.
It is the function of the Centre to facilitate this process. The 3p.i
will have computers located in safe places like libraries, malls,
schools and public facilities that provide a One- Stop-Shop to
facilitate use by normal businesses, students, smaller corporate and
others.
By making use of the Centre's Internet environment, the user can be
assured that the partners and business associates with whom he deals
can be trusted. Using the facility also enables the formation of
consortia, supplier "families" and other on-line communities to meet
specific requirements. The Products and Services offered by the Centre
are not all unique. However, what makes them unique is how we have put
them together. Many other companies offer different parts of this
concept, but they always concentrate on big business and the already
advanced market places.
Why we think this Concept will Succeed?
There are no facilities and there is demand of internet. It will be
placed in safe areas. It will be user friendly. It will be affordable,
no bills and no contact. It will be accessible to a wide range of
people. It will be reliable as any internet and powerful. It will
reach the most marginalized especially in the rural, the disabled and
the women.
Conclusion
We are a team that is mostly dedicated in seeing this concept
succeed. For a long time communities have expressed the lack of
facilities and technology in their areas, and yet we know that they
have great obvious answers that put them in that position from
concered companies or organizations. We have introduced to you 3pi.com
the hope and solution for unskilled, semi-skilled, learners, business
person, unemployed and ordinary persons in the street. This is the
solutions and empowerment to Africans problems and we would like to
invite you to be the partner in developing this concept and become the
fast growing internet in Africa and the World.
Amos maleka
(Director)
=====================
Peter Benjamin
LINK Centre, P&DM,
Wits University
Tel: +27 11 717 3583
Fax: +27 11 717 3910
Cell: +27 82 829 3353
Email: peter@sn.apc.org
_______________________________________________
Communitysa mailing list
Communitysa@lists.sn.apc.org
http://lists.sn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/communitysa
Roy Williams
Block 33, University of Reading,
London Road, Reading,
RG1 5 AQ
+44 118 931-6317
From peter at sn.apc.org Thu Mar 1 22:29:09 2001
From: peter at sn.apc.org (Peter Benjamin)
Date: Wed May 23 10:56:48 2007
Subject: [Communitysa] ICT for income generation in Zimbabwe
Message-ID: <200103011737.TAA29581@brain.sn.apc.org>
[Forwarded from Dumisani Nyoni yestemp4@edc.org ]
Interesting message from Zimbabwe on iCT for development initiatives
(from the GKD list).
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: Dumisani Nyoni
To: gkd@phoenix.edc.org
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 16:19:30 -0500
Subject: [GKD] ICT for income generation in Zimbabwe
Reply-to: gkd@phoenix.edc.org
Dear GKD members,
My name is Dumisani Nyoni. I am from the City of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and
am currently with the Youth Employment Summit, a project of the nonprofit
organization EDC, in Massachusetts. Through various experiences I have
developed a desire to see the increase in initiatives and support for ideas
that promote youth employment. I have been involved in setting up various
projects in my city with youth from underprivileged backgrounds with the
hope of generating sustainable employment. They ranged from organising
music and drama groups into small "Entertainment Entrepreneurships" (using
their natural talent in performing arts to create an income) to arranging
ways for artists to develop markets for their goods and crafts. What I have
learned is that these initiatives have a lot of similar work about them and
it is a matter of applying lessons learned from one to another.
To help bridge the current digital divide I have focused one project on
information technology and I am seeking to use it to help meet various
community needs in a rural community in Zimbabwe. I feel that it can
ultimately teach about technology, create employment, involve the community
into educational and development initiatives and join a rural African
Village to the Cyber Village, and hopefully with it demonstrate how we can
best move forward in empowering people through technology and employment
creation.
It is heartening to hear that the World's most industrialised countries are
making concerted efforts to look into the problems of the technological
divide, which is widening at the SAME speed at which new technology is
being spewed from the Silicon Valleys around the world.
In Zimbabwe, the digital divide is very evident. Cellular telephone
companies advertise the latest utilities such as Wireless Access Protocol
enabled telephones, Internet Connection to Laptops anywhere in the country
as long as there is cellular coverage and a whole host of value-added
services. Beneath the same billboards pass Zimbabweans with no clue at all
what email means. We read the same newspapers with the same advertising,
yet only a small percentage can relate to such statements as "56K
Connection" or "Africa-on-line." Africa on line! On what line? I am afraid
that is their reality, even in urban cases. Not to take away from people's
high levels of education, Zimbabwe is a very well educated and very well
read society. What keeps us in the dark ages with regards to Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is access. There is simply no access
to ICTs for most Zimbabweans and the same goes for the rest of Africa and
most developing countries.
I would like to present for discussion some lessons learned, gained from my
own experience with a specific community in the District if Nkayi,
Matabeleland in Zimbabwe. There is a new high school there (called
Mangubeni) being developed through the help of a local NGO. Mangubeni has
the potential of teaching more than just math and writing skills. It can
demonstrate the truth in saying that rural schools should not be left out
of the information highway.
I initially felt that the primary concern was to find a way to get
computers which can be used and connected to the Internet and then put in
place a system in which people, especially the youth, can access them. But
I realised from my own experience, and from consulting with others, that
work needed to be done on the ground before we could consider moving ahead
with the Internet project. Certain other support systems, which we will
refer to as Complimentary Inputs, (see Janice Brodman, "Technology Change,
Equity and Growth") need to be in place, For example:
* PARTNERSHIPS - We have found in the developing world that initiatives
solely based on donor funding or NGO support rarely take off the ground.
Success needs partnerships across the world and across sectors to confront
the many challenges that exist. Thus, projects must not just depend on the
NGO support, but support developed across a wide range of stakeholders.
* LITERACY - For people to be able to maximize the use of ICT especially
when they come from settlements whose language is not used on an
international level, a good understand of English is key. So, can people
read, write and understand English? Or French, Portuguese, German? Maybe
even there are some with native languages that have a strong presence on
the Internet. Whatever the language they wish to use, literacy training is
needed so they will be able to fully utilize the Internet.
* TECHNOLOGY LITERACY - It is also important for people in these
communities to understand the use of technology and what they could do with
it, to serve their own needs. They need to have training and education is
this way.
* ACCESS - The technology must be accessible to most people, especially (in
the case of Mangubeni) youth and women. It must be accessible to people who
can use the technology to best benefit the community and those around them
* WHOM DOES IT BENEFIT MOST - If the new developments only benefit those
already well off it helps to increase the levels in inequity. In that case
the development is neither sustainable or fair. We need to understand what
further effects access to the technology would have on the community. This
is probably the most important understanding we need to develop. What we do
not need is to further feed the growth of the income divide in an attempt
to close the technological divide.
* ELECTRICITY - There must be a reliable way to power the technology. If
this is not possible then the whole project is a failure before it can be
implemented.
There are a whole host of Complementary Inputs. Perhaps as part of this
discussion we can identify what other complementary inputs are important
for a project to work for the benefit of the community.
Based on these lessons, I would like to see a project for Mangubeni that
will combine technology and the means for income generation. For example,
it could first set up a solar project, using solar panels to provide
electrical energy to local households, the school and depending on capacity
some, some small businesses. It could be run and operated as a small
business employing youth from the community with a special effort to
include girls/young women as central contributors, owners and managers of
the project. Instead of attempting to fit solar panels and solar power
systems to each household and classroom, one larger unit could be set up
to service others in need of electricity. Or another alternative would be
the use of solar powered batteries to use for cooking, heating and lighting
units. The service providers would then have a means of income from
providing recharge services to owners of batteries. There are various
options which can be used to supply the electrical energy but what is
important is that the unit(s) set up be sufficient to meet the needs and
generate revenue.
The advantage to this model is that it achieves the following:
1. Electrification to rural households at a low cost and in
quantities that are needed hence there in less excessive use.
2. With electrification other uses of technology are therefore
possible such as pumps, radios, computers.
3. There is less pressure on the environment to provide sources of
energy such as wood. Therefore the energy project contributes to
environmental sustainability, less trees are cut down for cooking and
heating.
4. Young people are able to be owners of enterprises that serve
their communities. They have a form of employment and together help to
solve the problems of unemployment. Sustainable development and youth
employment are two complimentary activities. This type of project
could achieve both those goals.
Then there is the question of the actual computers. Is it a good idea to
jump ahead at offers of free second hand computers from the U.S? I don't
think that is a good idea unless there is a mechanism to support the
replacement of these computers once they become obsolete. That may not be
after a long time. Computer manufacturers can be approached in an attempt
to have their technical support.
Such a project should incorporate a training program, to train youth in
computer skills, business skills, the technical aspects of running an
energy service or Internet room. A school like Mangubeni can be used to
empower older women and older people of the society above the High School
age. I believe it is important for the community to find a way to maximize
the use of resources like the schools so that they serve more than just the
students. A facility like the one I have described would be housed in the
local school, but would also be used to benefit a larger section of the
population. There is no need to always spend money on developing a new
structure to be used as a training centre for computer education etc. It is
more cost effective to help the community see the greater potential that
lies in this 'school building' and to find alternative uses of the
building, computers, etc. so it contributed beyond just one project/object
and one group of people.
This is the type of project I think is needed in developing countries such
as my own. Indeed, I have gone as far as starting to build a team with NGO,
private sector investors and local community participants for a project
like this in Mangubeni. I drafted up the project concept in line with the
needs of the community and with the benefit of having their direct input.
Our next step is finding enough financial backing to make it a reality. I
will be happy to provide the project concept to anyone who writes me
requesting it.
It is my hope that together we can produce workable plans and team efforts
to help close the gap through practical and appropriate initiatives.
Sustainable development is extending beyond just drilling water pumps and
roads. We need to find ways to adapt to the challenges and take advantage
of the opportunities of a new age.
Dumisani Nyoni
Youth Employment Summit
------------
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=====================
Peter Benjamin
LINK Centre, P&DM,
Wits University
Tel: +27 11 717 3583
Fax: +27 11 717 3910
Cell: +27 82 829 3353
Email: peter@sn.apc.org
From cms at metaset.co.za Sun Mar 4 19:07:48 2001
From: cms at metaset.co.za (Christopher Spottiswoode)
Date: Wed May 23 10:56:48 2007
Subject: [Communitysa] A couple of apparently interesting projects
Message-ID: <03a201c0a4cd$aa0af670$0700a8c0@pentium1>
Here are the introductions to two projects at the MIT Media Laboratory, as
numbered in their catalogue of projects dated November 2000. Can anyone comment
on the relevance of their work to South Africa?
The catalogue itself may be downloaded from
http://gonzo.media.mit.edu/public/web/
-------------------------------------------------
21. Development E-commerce
Michael Best and Pattie Maes
We are developing technologies and community methodologies in electronic
commerce for social and economic development. We study e-commerce technologies
and system software that are appropriate and appropriable by the majority world.
Research and development activities integrate with activist field projects that
are community centered. We are keenly interested in first-class technologies
that are cost-appropriate for people who make less then two dollars a day.
22. Telecenter Cost Estimator
Michael Best and Hani Shakeel
Establishing telecenters-community computer centers that often provide a range
of services-in developing countries requires careful evaluation of alternative
hardware configurations, power sources and telecommunication services. Quite
often the goal is to find a configuration whose recurrent cost can be sustained
by the target community. The Telecenter Cost Estimator is a visual tool for
exploring the impact of alternative telecenter configurations on capital and
ongoing costs.
----------------------------------------------
Further information on those and other projects and events is available from
http://edevelopment.media.mit.edu/
That links to
http://edevelopment.media.mit.edu/telecenter_cost.html
from where a link leads to a download of the Telecenter Cost Estimator.