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ICT for Development

Entries Tagged as 'Rural'

21 Sep 2011

From 25 September to 6 October 2011 Katalyst and e-Agriculture will organize a new online forum to discuss the challenges of linking impact with the use of ICTs in agriculture. This forum will discuss the present practices and critical issues (regarding both implementation and monitoring) of ICT initiatives in agriculture.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is an emerging area focusing on the enhancement of the agricultural and rural development. Many farmers and rural entrepreneurs generally lack access to accurate and timely information on markets, production processes, crops and livestock disease; as well as access to services such as land registrations, permits, government regulation forms, and internet.

In the past few years, ICT initiatives in agriculture have proliferated and the resources devoted to ICT in development portfolios have expanded in the hope that ICT can help developing countries reach the Millennium Development Goals. Yet, rigorous field-tested knowledge about “what works and why” have been relatively scarce, as well as a deeper understanding of the enabling conditions and success factors in ICT for development initiatives.

[Read more →]

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Posted by Anja Kiefer

29 Apr 2011

We have recently published the new issue of the ict4d-Newsletter, including:

Enjoy!

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Posted by Benjamin Barutzki

24 Mar 2011

Information from the e-Agriculture network regarding e-consultations in April:

In 2011, CIARD is addressing the topic of sharing and interoperability of data and information for agricultural research for development.

There will be an international Expert Consultation in Beijing from 20 to 23 June 2011 with the title “Building the CIARD Framework for Data and Information Sharing”.

An electronic consultation will be held from 4 to 15 April on the e-Agriculture platform (www.e-agriculture.org) with the same title, in preparation for the Beijing workshop. Both events will be conducted in English.

The e-Consultation will address the following questions:

  • What are we sharing and what needs to be shared?
  • What are the prospects for interoperability in the future?
  • What are the emerging tools, standards and infrastructures?
  • What actions should now be facilitated by the CIARD Task Forces?

We encourage you to participate and contribute from your own experience and expertise. [Read more →]

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Posted by Anja Kiefer

01 Jul 2009

In 2007, Peruvian telecommunications provider Rural Telecom won a government subsidy for a new initiative, Banda Ancha Rural BAR (Rural Broadband Project). The BAR project aims to install broadband internet and phone services via wireless networks in more than 3,000 rural communities. Rural Telecom acquired the entire central and northern central part of the country, and has begun installing 1,654 internet cabins, more than 1,100 public payphones and hundreds of fixed phone lines in over 2,000 communities. FITEL, a national telecommunications fund, subsidises the project with $8.8 million (USD). In addition to this strategic partnership with the Peruvian government, Rural Telecom will expand the project commercially to provide service to thousands of additional private clients.

Compared with other FITEL projects or similar ICT initiatives in other countries, which normally aim to install expensive satellite (VSAT) networks, the BAR project combines the installation of wireless and mobile technologies with an intense sensitisation, training and content generation campaign. Presently, Rural Telecom is carrying out the following activities in conjunction with technical installation: [Read more →]

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Posted by Peter Wolf

10 Feb 2009

 

The last issue of Rural 21 (No. 42 – 6/2008) focused on the still untapped potential of ICT in rural regions. The authors – most of them members of our ICT4D Community – show many interesting project examples:

Koda A. Traoré (CTA – Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation, The Netherlands) describes  ICTs that are offering new opportunities for sustainable development and livelihoods improvement: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Telecentres_0608.pdf

Albrecht Wald and Dr. Reiner Koblo (KfW, Germany) discuss how the use of mobile telecommunication can facilitate efforts to reduce poverty in a variety of ways: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Productive_agriculture_with_GPS_and_databases_0608.pdf

Thorsten Scherf (BMZ, Germany) describes how Universal Access Funds coupled with “smart subsidies” are a useful tool to provide telecommunications services to rural areas: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Universal_Access_Funds_0608.pdf

Dion Jerling (CONNECT AFRICA, Johannesburg/South Africa) highlights the important role of (renewable) energy supply for ICT: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Without_energy_no_ICT__0608.pdf

Peter Rave (GTZ, Germany) describes the use of some innovative ICT-applications for knowledge transfer: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_ICT_as_a_tool_for_knowledge_transfer_0608.pdf 

Ednah Karamagi (BROSDI – Busoga Rural Open Source & Development Initiative, Kampala, Uganda) discusses how the use of Web 2.0 might improve rural livelihoods when there is very limited internet connectivity: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Web_2.0_in_rural_areas_0608.pdf

Dean Mulozi (ZA-ICT/SATNET, Lusaka, Zambia) describes how some of the existing regional telecentre networks established in African regions during the past five years can contribute positively to national and regional development in African countries: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Telecentres_0608.pdf

Elizabeth Corley (Development Gateway Foundation, Washington D.C., USA) and Ingo Imhoff (GTZ, Germany) describe how joint efforts of recipient and donor countries for more aid effectiveness imply also a demand for more effective ICT solutions: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Improving_aid_effectiveness_by_e-government__0608.pdf

Dr. Reiner Koblo (KfW, Germany) presents with an example from Georgia how ICT (here: GPS) can be of enormous help in ensuring that land reforms are successful: http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Productive_agriculture_with_GPS_and_databases_0608.pdf

Geraldine de Bastion (newthinking communications GmbH, Germany) and Thomas Rolf (GTZ, Ethiopia) discuss whether and how low-cost devices (e.g. “100$-laptop”) might promote development (in future): http://www.rural21.com/uploads/media/R21_Low-cost_ICT_devices___new_solutions…_0608.pdf

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Posted by Peter Rave

30 Oct 2007

Telecenter Peru (Rural Telecom)Telecenter Peru (Rural Telecom) 

Many rural regions in Peru are disconnected from the world of telecommunication. Calling a relative or surfing in the World Wide Web still impossible for the majority of rural population living in the remote areas of the Andes or Amazon. But that is about to change now. Already in July the government has published a tender on the implementation of a countrywide broadband connection. Finally in early October President Alan García Pérez charged a Peruvian telecommunication company with the realization of the project. Within one year Rural Telecom is instructed to establish conections to 2000 villages in eleven districts. The aim is to enable more than a million Peruvians to obtain access to telephone and broadband connections. For a period of five years the Peruvian government is going to subsidize the project with 8, 8 million US-Dollars. 

Among public and private telephone extensions it is supposed to establish public internet access points in each village. Signing the contract Rural Telecom commited itself to offer capacity courses for using computers as well as the internet for the Peruvians. In addition each village is supposed to obtain an internet page promoting relevant regional information, which will be designed and maintained also by Rural Telecom in co-operation with municipalities. CIM-employee Peter Wolf is supporting Rural Telecom in the implementation process.

In co-operation with mine owners Rural Telecom is about to extend the project. While the telecommunication company provides the infrastructure, the mining companies will pay for capacity courses.

The implementation of new technologies like CDMA-wireless in the 2000 villages offers a wide range of cooperation possibilities in value-added services for the international development cooperation. Public private partnerships will play an important role to support these additional services. 

Contact: peter.wolf@ruraltelecom.com.pe

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Posted by Anna Rau