In the 90’s, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) was the buzzword for the developed and an elusive abstraction for the developing world. The Internet was taking center stage in peoples’ lives; the personal computer was becoming a household item, and all sorts of high-tech gadgets were must-haves.
But to the developing world, technology was a luxury that one could only dream about. In the advent of the new millennium, following the UN Summit in August 2000, the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were established, putting such countries within reach of the same technologies.
From the UN Secretary General to the G8 (who adopted the Okinawa Charter on the Global Information Society around the same time) and G20 leaders, all scrambled to label ICT the vehicle, the shortcut, to achieving MDGs. Action was called for. The G8 Summit organized the Digital Opportunities Task Force (G8 DOT Force) and the UN had its ICT Task Force, both tasked with setting the road map through which the “digital revolution” was to be swiftly deployed in the developing world.
Kofi Annan definitely endorsed this idea when he wrote in an article in 2002 “… But even some of the least-developed countries, such as Mali and Bangladesh, have shown how determined leadership and innovative approaches can, with international support, connect remote and rural areas to the Internet and mobile telephony.” Ethiopia similarly joined the new movement. The Ethiopian Information and Communication Technology Development Agency (EICTDA), was established in 2002, followed by the creatiation of the country’s ICT Development Policy. Public Investment in ICT saw a spike from just under ETB 29 million in 2002 to 300 million in 2004. The telecommunication infrastructure was getting an overhaul and the iconic WoredaNet and SchoolNet projects were deemed pivotal.
WOREDA NET
The WoredaNet project was conceived to enhance governance through increased decentralization and to revolutionize government services at the woreda level. The idea was to equip each of the 556 woreda’s (aggregated to 66 zones in 6 regions) with VSAT technology, hence providing a 512KB around the clock interconnection between woredas, and inter-networking with government offices at regional and federal levels.
The spending was as bold as the goal. Each woreda equipped with state of the art Cisco equipment and a satellite dish, solar panels and generators in areas with no power, computers came to life in small and muddy rooms throughout the nation. Geared up with a month’s computer training, government officials were perplexed by their sudden access to the small screen and the opportunity to explore technology advancements, the Internet included.
Yet the idea was even bigger. The WoredaNet infrastructure was setup, according to EICTDA’s website, to provide advanced services such VoIP (Voice over IP), domestic and international video conferencing, a government messaging platform and directory services.
SCHOOL NET
The SchoolNet project had the same infrastructure, but a different purpose. Following the general consensus that Ethiopia battles a chronic teacher shortage, the goal was to broadcast video stream through a nationwide, satellite based network. Such an effort, apart from mitigating the teacher shortage, was also to provide standardized quality of education throughout the country.
Hence, more than 600 high schools were interconnected through VSAT, of which 161 preparatory high schools were additionally equipped with 2,700 computers and 161 printers. At each school, 15 computers had been given internet connectivity. Known as plasma education (taken after Plasma television sets), recorded lectures and lab sessions were being broadcasted from a center around Shiro Meda, Addis Ababa. This has now become a standard way of delivering lectures for key subjects such as math, physics and chemistry.
The experiment worked, but lack of trained personnel to continue managing the program, decreased commitments from the developed world and shifts in policy and leadership threaten the project’s very existence. Without ongoing support and much needed assistance, this project is in danger of ceasing. For Ethiopia, the belief is that these education tools help in growing the country’s economy, so it is vital that the program continues to garner support from the developed world and NGO’s. For the UN to downgrade this effort from a poverty reduction tool (as education should be) to support service, has the program teetering on the edge of collapse.
AN ICT FUTURE?
Many a critic has opinions regarding how to tackle the digital divide. However, reducing or neglecting the ICT issue is bound to have repercussions, and could undo many years of hard work and progress. The current economic downturn might even add fuel to the fire. Hence, technology transfer could taper off widening the digital divide. A few years ago, the G8 deemed unacceptable the technology divide. It is the writer’s hope that a renewed commitment to the ICT by these government bodies would ensure that good, productive work continues in this space.
