Deeshaa : Directions for India’s Development

Atanu Dey asks, and attempts to answer this central question. What is thje role of ICT in an economy?

I think his answer “It reduces transaction costs” is a very good approximation to the truth. It is worth remembering that in fact, in most cases, this is exactrly what ICT’s are supposed to do. MAke it quicker, easier, more efficient to go through the transactions necessary to live a life.

There are other advantages of ICT systems, only marginally related to a reduction in transaction costs, such as the transparency provided by a tamper-proof financial system, or the ability to share experiences and knowledge that would otherwise be beyond your reach.

Nevertheless, it is important to remember that ICT’s in development projects should support and improve existing information flows and transactions.

It is worth pondering this question: What exactly is the role of ICT in any economy?

This week, I would like to address myself to that question in detail. The answer can be succinctly stated as: It reduces transaction costs. It will take a pretty long time to explore that answer. But first a few personal experiences to set the stage would be appropriate.

Baku, Azerbaijan.

I’m here in Baku, at the behest of George Soros, or at least his favourite organisation, the Open Society Institute, as a trainer for an e-riders project being started by the local Open Society Assistance Foundation.
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It’s official.
I’ll be speaking at the O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference 2004.

This is one of those conferences I’ve always wanted to go to, but for which the cost of crossing the atlantic was always prohibitive.

Well, in February 2004 it’s happening. I (and my colleague Sebastian) will be talking about our projects to wireless networks to the developing world,

I’m sure I’ll have ample opportunity to promote this presentation right here on multiplicity, but at least now you know. See you there?

Wireless Networks as a Low-Cost, Decentralized Alternative for the Developing World
Tomas Krag, informal & wire.less.dk

Track: Untethered
Date: Wednesday, February 11
Time: 11:00am – 11:45am
Location: California Ballroom C<(bq>

The Linux Magazine – Novermber 2003 issue (36), has a report on the Summer Source, Open SOurce for NGO’s camp that I helped facilitate in September. The article was written by participant Yuwei Lin, and is a nice intro to those incredible events.

Community: NGOs – Report on Non Governmental Organizations with Linux [PDF, 160 kB]

Ethan Zuckerman’s Weblog

Ethan Zuckerman, founder of GeekCorps, fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, good friend, and one of the sharpest minds dealing with ict for development anywhere these days, has a new blog.

Although he claims that posts will be few and far between, he already has 3 or 4 extraordinary posts up, and I’m convinced there’ll be more good stuff for him. So add that feed to your favourite news aggregator, and feed that hungry mind. I will.

As an involuntary blogger, I can’t promise too much more in this space, but you never know – this blogging business appears to be a slippery slope.

the next 4 days are going to be something of an experiment. i’m in santorini, at the santorini palace hotel in firostefani. signe is here to participate in a planning meeting on hybrid ventilation systems. originally i thought this would be a great chance to get a last week of sun in before the misery of autumn in denmark (not my favourite season), see a bit of what is an absolutely lovely island, and just get a few days and some evenings of prime time with signe.

things have changed a little since i originally made this decision. first of all, i have already spent almost half of september on the road, what with the summer source training in vis, and the freifunk summer convention in berlin. but most importantly, these next weeks have effectively become make or break for the organisation we’ve been trying to get of the ground since about march 2002.

we’re in a nice positive dialogue with a prospective funder for the project we have dubbed ‘the wireless roadshow’. It has taken us one and a half years to get to such a concrete idea of what it is we are trying to do. one and a half years of hard work, confusing strategy meetings and very little income. one and a half years of intense learning, enriching cooperation, and fighting to remain true to our ideals.
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Andrew McLaughlin has a very simple question over at the newly opened XDev – Extreme Development Blog. Another great resource from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. And this time I’ve been invited to be part o this group blog, so expect to read much more about it in these pages, and in the mean time check it out.

XDev – Extreme Development: Wi-Fi: Portugal vs. Tanzania

The contrast between Portugal and Tanzania embodies a particularly troubling way in which government regulatory decisions are widening the gap between developed and developing countries. Portugal’s government is actually subsidizing fast, reliable, cheap Internet-protocol connectivity — even though it will enable Portuguese users to bypass the wireline telecom operators to obtain IP-based voice services.

In Tanzania, a combination of regulatory greed and the self-interested influence of the state-owned monopoly telecom is causing the government to impede the deployment of cheap, fast, reliable Internet-based alternatives.

BBC NEWS | World | From Our Own Correspondent | India’s digital divide

BBC’s Jill McGivering relates her own experience of the Indian IT miracle. It is an article well worth reading, a reminder against the dangers of looking at India and seeing a miracle caused by IT. It reminds us that the Indian success is a very narrow success, influencing the lives of only a small fraction of the population, and having a hard time bridging the gap to the villages.

The whole class of a village school has travelled to this city stadium by bus for a great adventure – the chance to see for the first time something most of us already take for granted – a computer.

The boys were jumping up and down and shrieking with excitement, despite the blazing sunshine. Their clothing was worn, many were barefoot.

[via emergic]

The UN Association, in cooperation with assorted parners (myself included) is histing 2 conferences on various ict4dev issues. Both conferences are to be held in preparation for the Word Summit on the Information Society.

There will be exciting speakers at both events, and I’m quite proud of the program we have put together. If you have any interest in these matters, and happen to be in Denmark on August 21st and/or September 2nd, don’t forget to register, and send me an e-mail, so we can hook up at the conference.

Read more here.

The Danish Network on WSIS* Is Hosting Two Conferences in Preparation for the World Summit on the Information Society

Conference 1, August 21st 2003: Education and Capacity Building in the Information Society
The conference will include issues concerning rural access and mixed media, capacity development of organizations, private sector development, training of trainers and lifelong learning, and Danish ICT policy in developing countries. The conference will feature keynote presentations, discussions and workshop debates.

Conference 2, September 2nd 2003: Freedom of Expression in the Information Society
The conference will address issues concerning freedom of expression regulation, press freedom and media pluralism, the new Council of Europe Declaration on Freedom of Communication on the Internet, intellectual property rights and access to information. The conference will combine plenary discussions with workshop sessions.