|
New Page 10
Bridging the rural digital divide in Africa
BRENDA ZULU
For millions
of people in rural Africa, radio is the most accessible, economical and popular
means of communication. Radio stations targeting the rural communities need to
be set up in addition to training broadcasters in reporting on the use of ICTs.
In addition these radio stations need to be provided with fact sheets on food
security issues, weather, post-harvest operations, and early warning systems and
nutrition.
There is also need for radio stations to
be connected to the Internet and to train broadcasters to collect and adapt
information for their programmes.
According to the Food Agriculture
Organisation (FAO), Martin Ole Sago, a rural broadcaster in Tanzania, has
neither a computer nor a phone. But he drives more than 100 Km each week to
Arusha to log on and gather information for his listeners. "We must bring food
security information to the grassroots, to the people who need it," he says.
Rural or remote areas exhibit one or more
of the following characteristics: scarcity or absence of public facilities such
as reliable electricity supply, water, access roads and regular transport.
Scarcity of technical personnel; difficult topographical conditions e.g. lakes,
rivers, hills, mountains or deserts, which render the construction of wire
telecommunication networks very costly, severe climatic conditions that make
critical demands on the equipment;
Low level of economic activity mainly
based on agriculture, fishing, handcrafts, etc
Low capita income underdeveloped social
infrastructures (health, education etc) low population density, very high
calling rates per telephone, reflecting the scarcity of telephone services and
the fact that large numbers of people rely on a single telephone line.
These characteristics make it difficult to
provide public telecommunication services of acceptable quality by traditional
means at affordable prices, while also achieving commercial viability for the
service provider.
Internet is also on the other hand mostly
widely used platform adopted to deliver multimedia applications in rural areas
of developing countries. While much negative attention in developing countries
has been focused on the use of the Internet as an illegal by pass mechanism in
the international traffic arena, the long term importance of the Internet for
developing countries lies in its potential to improve the domestic flow of
economic and educational resources between isolated rural communities and urban
centres. Areas of application for Internet and other communication based
application include tele-medicine and public health education, coordinating
regional food security efforts, making governments sponsored agricultural
extension services more effective and accessible to rural farmers, and enabling
more rural children, adolescents and post secondary students to receive an
education among others.
The need for basic literacy, computer
skills and training in the use of ICT applications remains a significant
challenge for rural areas. Language barriers and the complexity of Personal
Computer (PC) operation have shown to hinder Internet diffusion. Many innovative
skills have been devised in rural areas to over come these barriers. Although
not widely utilised, techniques such as voice mail, translation of content, and
icon based telephones illiteracy are not necessarily barriers to the use of
communication needs are comprehended and addressed. Relevant content is
extremely critical to the success of any rural application.
A great deal of progress is being made in
rural community and business development and through the introduction of
telephony, tele-centres, e-mail and radio broadcasts.
An example of the impact the Internet can
have on women in Africa can be illustrated by the story of the Nakaseke women in
Uganda. The International Women’s tribune Centre (IWCT) developed a CD-Rom with
the women of the Nakaseke tele-center in Uganda, which uses speech interface and
simple point and click technique. The women who use the programme hear a voice
speaking in their own language when they click on the text and graphics. This is
such an effective way of enabling illiterate women to use the Internet that
women travel from all of Uganda to be taken through the programme by the
Nakaseke women. The women who teach this programme to others as well as those
who learn it are empowered because they are now able to expand their skills and
experiment with small and medium businesses.
Problems with installation and maintenance
of wire plant have prompted the widespread use of wireless systems in rural
areas. Nine types of wireless access systems in rural access systems were
identified through the case studies and International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
activities, illustrating existing and emerging access options for reaching rural
communities. Given the trend towards shared facilities such as tele-centres,
University extension centres, Post offices, Info Kiosk, etc as well as the
variety of revenue models associated with social services in the health,
educational and e-commerce fields, the focus group considered technologies which
expanded the number of supportable applications as well as those which
demonstrated lower per line costs.
Demand for Internet based
telecommunication applications in rural areas, particularly e-mails, has
resulted in new applications of old technologies, such as Video Home Frequency
(VHF) radio systems and meteor burst communications, for non real time services.
In addition, new combinations of existing technologies are extending the reach
and flexibility of wireless access systems as well as reducing total coats
through the reducing total costs through the integration of shared systems and
components. In particular, many rural operators are deploying Very Small
Aperture Terminals (VSATs) and point to multipoint terrestrial radio systems
integrated with wireless local loop systems based on standards such as Personal
Handy-phone System (PHS) and Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephone (DECT).
Access options on the horizon for rural
areas include a number of technologies that are new to the rural marketplace or
still under development.
It is of the utmost importance that ITU
strives to raise awareness of the rural information and communication needs of
developing countries within the computing and information technology industry.
Unlike the tecommunication industry that has been doing business in
underdeveloped rural areas for several decades, companies in the core
Information Technology (IT) sector are generally unfamiliar with the
environmental and social requirements of rural areas of developing countries,
mostly in Africa.
The lack of main energy supply in many
rural and remote areas is a major obstacle to deploying telecommunication
infrastructure. Many government agencies, and NGOs are currently working to
support broader or massive use of telecommunications and IT systems in
electrified rural areas.
Governments should therefore consider
closely linking renewable energy specialist with rural telecommunication and ICT
initiatives; and promote the development of low cost information appliances for
rural ICT. Increase collaboration with micro finance organisations to help
develop communication based rural businesses and applications. Conduct pilot
projects of packet based wireless access infrastructure for multimedia
applications. Maintain and expand the web site, hold a symposium on new
technologies for rural applications.
• Concluded
• Mrs Zulu, contributed this piece from Zambia
|
