Cluster III. Good governance: where the strategy aims at developing structures and systems of democratic governance that are participatory, representative, accountable and inclusive and
3.15 ICTs for socio-economic development in rural areas in developing countries
using the telecentre facilities. The study pointed out that age, sex, education and literacy levels, and socio-economic status, influenced telecentre use. Fewer women than men used telecentre services in all of the countries and facilities.
In terms of services offered, the study found that telecentres in all five countries offered similar services: photocopying, telephony, training in computer hardware and software, internet access and word processing. Facsimile transmission, document design, processing, printing and email services were also available. The huge popularity of the telephone is undisputed. In terms of the relevance of the telecentre services the study found that the main reason for using the telecentres was to obtain or send information and, for the most part, the purpose of this information was social: for contacting friends and family, for preparing documents for social events (such as weddings and funerals) and for personal entertainment.
Professional and economic motives, such as seeking economic and agricultural information, came a distant second on the list of reasons for telecentre use.
Etta and Parvyn-Wamahiu (2003) said that the telecentre is to information what the school is to education and the hospital or clinic to health and well-being. Therefore support should be given to start, maintain and run telecentres, because they perform a primary development function for information and education, which is considered a basic and important human right. The study recommends that national governments should create enabling environments through policies and policy instruments for the growth of telecentres.
Similar research methodologies (a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods) have been used by the Etta and Parvyn-Wamahiu‟s (2003) study and the present study. Unlike the present study, the Etta and Parvyn-Wamahiu (2003) study was planned and conducted as an evaluative research to contribute towards illuminating the relationship between ICTs and development on the continent. Etta and Parvyn-Wamahiu (2003) evaluated the performance of telecentres. The present study examines the link between ICTs service provided by the telecentres and other ICTs services available in rural communities and the livelihoods of the people living in the rural areas, rather than evaluating the performance of the telecentres themselves.
Kanungo (2004) studied the emancipatory role of rural information systems. The study was conducted within the information village project that covers 19 villages of rural India. Data was collected using in-depth interviews with the project staff and village volunteers.
Additional documentary evidence was based on project plans and reports, interim studies and articles from the press. The findings of the study indicated that social processes can form a viable basis for providing sustainability to information communications technology (ICT) initiatives in rural regions. Kanungo (2004) revealed that social processes can be leveraged to accord viability to ICT setups in rural settings.
In his recommendations, Kanungo (2004) pointed out that information systems in rural areas face many obstacles. The value added by these systems needs to be assessed in terms of their contribution to social capital, in addition to economic value added. The current study also looked at the contribution of ICTs to the social capital, in addition to the two more capital assets of human capital and financial capital.
Ulrich (2004) conducted a study of poverty reduction through access to information and communication technologies in rural areas of China. A survey of five Chinese provinces involved 1,235 households in 32 towns and villages of the ICT projects. Data was collected using a questionnaire.
The study involved the wide definition of ICTs which include mobile phones, television and other ICTs services available in the areas, to assess the impact of the ICT on the lives of the people. Ulrich (2004) showed that respondents with higher levels of income tended to find the information centres more useful and placed a higher financial value on the services and visited the centres more frequently. Ulrich (2004) recommended that ICT projects could do better in their outreach to the poor and to women in villages. As with the current study, Ulrich‟s work adopted a wide definition of ICTs, which included not only ICT services provided by the telecentres but also mobile phones.
An investigation of telecentres, access and development in Uganda and South Africa was conducted by Parkinson (2005), who drew on the experiences of telecentres in South Africa and Uganda at the policy and community levels. Parkinson‟s (2005) survey involved a total of 62 access centres, which included telecentres, internet cafés, computer-based secretarial and printing services, public phone shops, local radio stations and training centres. Parkinson conducted semi-structured interviews with management of the access centres and a survey of 370 households. In the two countries the national case studies were augmented by primary and secondary research on national policy, regulation, ICT-related service providers, national government programmes and NGOs.
Some of the key findings of Parkinson‟s (2005) study were the following: telecentres are generally not adequate by themselves to build local demand. Because access to ICTs is difficult to achieve in rural areas through market means it should be carefully harmonised with larger rural development strategies. Universal access for telephone requires strategies different from those needed for other ICTs (especially computer-related), since the former usually enjoys immediate demand, while the latter does not. Affordability is a major barrier to accessibility in both countries. One of the most important impact of ICT use appears to be the maintenance of links between geographically dispersed family members.
Parkinson (2005) recommended that those with the task of setting up centres need to first assess the local situation; telephone access and use are issues best considered separately from internet access and use, especially since GSM cellular networks have contributed broadly to the spread of the telephone; Regulators should consider encouraging or supporting preferential telecommunication service rates (and possibly electricity rates) to agencies, whether public or private, which provide public access. Parkinson further recommended that assumptions about how people will choose to use ICTs should be avoided; any policy that depends on people's interaction with ICTs should be based on evidence. As with Parkinson‟s study, the current study looked at the community level, as well as at the policy and regulatory issues that relate to rural ICT access and use.
Van Belle and Trusler (2005: 154) investigated implementation issues of a multipurpose community centre in a rural development situation in the Dwars River Valley (DRV) of the
Western Cape, South Africa. They concluded that ICTs can indeed be of practical use in a variety of situations. Their work involved in-depth case study analysis of a single rural telecentre located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Data was collected using background documentation and in-depth interviews with the telecentre stakeholders.
The results of Van Belle and Trusler study indicated that telecentres can have positive contributions, particularly in supporting entrepreneurial development projects. Van Belle and Trusler (2005: 154) noted that, under the right conditions, ICTs worked well enough and participants, even those with relatively little previous computer experience, found it easy to learn to use computers. Significant training was required, but once this was completed, participants were able to produce project plans, budgets, brochures, websites and other artefacts
The main objective of Van Belle and Trusler‟s (2005) work was to gain a much deeper and richer understanding of the implementation issues of a multipurpose community centre in a rural development situation. The emphasis of the current study was on the services provided by the telecentre and how those services contribute to livelihood strategies of the people in the communities surrounding the telecentres. The present study, as with Van Belle and Trusler‟s (2005) work, adopted a case study approach. However, Van Belle and Trusler (2005) investigated a single case (single, rural telecentre), while the present study involved four cases.
Applying the rural livelihoods‟ framework of analysis, Soriano (2007) explored the link between ICTs and rural poverty reduction, by analysing the role of community telecentres in enhancing the livelihood strategies of rural poor households. The population under investigation involved 90 respondents from two villages in Wu‟an, China, which were treated as case studies. Data was collected using desk research, field interviews, surveys and focus group discussions.
Soriano explored the direct and indirect role that telecentres played in facilitating the poor‟s access to more livelihoods resources and assets and in influencing the adoption of diverse
livelihoods strategies. Soriano showed that, while the intensity of the changes experienced cannot support the claims about the transformative role of telecentre on the rural poor, the changes have some positive implications on certain aspects of rural poverty and livelihoods capital assets. In terms of financial capital, telecentre services led to better earnings and more production. In human capital, the benefits accrued include e-literacy integration and knowledge-sharing while in social capital it led to the creation of venues for community integration and knowledge-sharing.
Some of the issues addressed by Soriano (2007) were also addressed in the present study. For instance, as with Soriano‟s (2007) study, the current work used the sustainable livelihoods framework of analysis to explore the link between ICTs and rural livelihoods. However, unlike the present study, Sorianos‟s (2007) research only dealt with the link between ICT services provided by the telecentres and livelihoods. The present study went a step further, to investigate the link between livelihoods and other ICTs services such as mobile phones.
3.16 ICT for socio-economic development in the rural areas of Tanzania: review of