"Since it was launched in 2000, the Bolivia Country Programme known as TICBolivia has helped over 50,000 people, mainly small farmers, teachers, students, indigenous leaders and local officials, use ICTs to improve their lives and contribute to their country’s development. All the ICT activities g
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enerated under the Country Programme have been developed by and for local people, with support and guidance from IICD and its enabling partners. The strategy has been to give local organisations the tools they need to develop the skills, knowledge and communications infrastructure required to set up a critical mass of locally-owned, sustainable ICT projects and activities in a specific sector such as education or good governance. Today, TICBolivia consists of fifteen projects, a training programme, networking activities, and monitoring and evaluation. The programme is active in three sectors: good governance, education and agricultural livelihoods. Among the participants in the programme are grassroots organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), government bodies, and private companies. By the end of 2004, 86 information access points had been set up throughout the country, 4,400 individuals had been trained in the use of ICT, and a national ICT for development (ICT4D) information network called ‘Red TICBolivia’ was sharing knowledge, working on sector strategies, generating national visibility for the programme and raising awareness of the important role that ICTs play in the nation’s development." (Introduction, page 3-4)
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"The role of information and knowledge in development is contentious - whilst information is central to development, practitioners struggle to define a causal link between it and development outcomes. The authors conclude that information-sharing of itself does not necessarily lead to such outcomes,
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unless the processes are in place to support its transformation into knowledge. Based on the principle of technology challenging poverty, this paper summarises the findings from a two-year research project conducted by the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) and Cranfield University into the use of information communication technologies (ICTs) for development. In developing countries most people have little experience of ICTs, little time or money, low levels of literacy, and highly contextualised knowledge and language requirements (representing a challenge known as 'the first mile'). The paper springs from an analysis of the literature, and a case study based on practical experience of a project in Peru. It offers recommendations for practitioners, and suggestions for further research. Changes in the ICT industry such as "convergence" and the reduction of costs lead to hopes that "technology-leapfrogging" will help to bridge the "digital divide". The Peruvian case (a Rural-Urban Information System) project links local information centres (infocentres) in the region to information providers such as government bodies and NGOs working in the region. Project success depends on attention to process, and the authors recommend two key principles: communities need to first specify the development outcomes they want; and projects need to adopt an iterative project cycle. This comprises researching and planning, implementation, evaluation, and learning and sharing, to ensure practitioners repeatedly re-evaluate assumptions, learn from experiences, and involve the community at each stage." (Oxfam Review 10/06)
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"During the last decade, development partners around the globe have gained rich experience and knowledge about the application of ICT for poverty reduction and its value for reaching the Millennium Development Goals and the goals of Poverty Reduction Strategies. But scaling up the results of success
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ful projects into programmes and policies that lead directly to poverty reduction on a country-wide scale is still a challenge. Lessons learned from experience so far can be summarised around the following themes: Prioritising poverty reduction; creating an enabling ICT policy environment; appropriate technology choices; local content development and the role of the media; mobilisation of financial resources and the role of microcredit." (Page 3)
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