ICT for Development Contributing to the Millennium Development Goals Information for Development Program Table of Contents Preface iii Acknowledgments iv Section I: infoDev Case Studies 1 Section II: Case Study Analysis 4 Functional Use of ICT in infoDev Projects 5 Contribution to the Millennium Development Goals 6 Projects by Sector 7 Section III: Lessons Learned and Recommendations 8 Lessons Learned 9 Recommended Guidelines for 12 ICT-for-Development Projects Conclusion 13 © 2003 Annex 1: Case Study Methodology 14 The World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA First printed November 2003 Annex 2: Summary of infoDev Case Studies 15 The World Bank enjoys copyright under protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. This material may nonetheless be copied for research, educational, or Annex 3: Lessons Learned from Other scholarly purposes only in the member countries of the World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclu- ICT-for-Development Efforts sions expressed in this document are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the World Bank, its affiliated organizations, or members of its Board of Executive Directors or the countries they rep- resent. This paper is distributed on the understanding that if legal or other expert assistance is required in any par- ticular case, readers should not rely entirely on state- ments made in this paper, but should seek the services of a competent professional. Neither Gamos Ltd. nor the World Bank accepts responsibility for the conse- quences of actions taken by the readers who do not seek necessary advice from competent professionals on legal or other matters that require expert advice. ISBN ICT for Development Contributing to the Millennium Development Goals: Lessons Learned from Seventeen infoDev Projects Principal authors: Simon Batchelor Soc Evangelista Simon Hearn Malcolm Peirce Susan Sugden Mike Webb (Big World) of Gamos Ltd. November 2003 Information for Development Program Preface When infoDev was created, in 1995, few regarded information technologies as a valid tool for development. Barely five years later, the international community had adopted a set of Millennium Development Goals, within which this role was explicitly recognized. The development community is now readying itself to meet in Geneva and Tunis for a “World Summit on the Information Society.” Yet, analysts and decision makers are still struggling to make sense of the mixed experience of information tech- nologies in developing countries. Very often, such experiences seem to amount to little more that a heteroge- neous and unrelated set of anecdotes. However spectacular, successful, moving, or important some of those anec- dotes may be, they remain a precarious basis for justifying major policy or investment decisions. The possibility to replicate and scale up successful projects will not fully materialize until the knowledge accumu- lated from IT-for-development projects (successful and unsuccessful) is widely documented and shared. This “knowledge dissemination imperative” is at the core of infoDev’s new strategy. The aim of this paper is to create a publicly available resource that provides concise descriptions of selected infoDev ICT-for-development projects and their impact on poverty. The paper first presents case studies of a cross-section of projects funded by the infoDev Core Program, followed by an in-depth analysis of the impact and limits of those projects. The main criterion for selecting projects for case study analysis was to be as representative as possible of the vari- ous environments (political, economic, social, geographic) in which infoDev has been operating since its inception. An attempt was also made to provide a balanced sample relative to the success rate of the projects. Rather than selecting the “best projects,” the authors, in consultation with the task managers of the projects, gave priority to those initiatives likely to offer the best lessons and knowledge about how to use ICT for development purposes. This paper also makes an attempt to include the experience gathered by other programs involved in ICT-for-devel- opment. And it makes a specific effort to link the ICT projects to the Millennium Development Goals. It is infoDev’s hope that by sharing such practical experience in an open and candid fashion, it can stimulate the use of ICT as a tool to reach the MDGs in a timely, cost-effective, and imaginative fashion. Mohsen Khalil Bruno Lanvin Jacqueline Dubow Director Manager Project Task Manager Global Information and Communication infoDev, GITC Program Coordinator Technologies (GITC) Department The World Bank Group infoDev, GITC The World Bank Group The World Bank Group Lessons Learned from Seventeen infoDev Projects iii Acknowledgments The authors (Gamos Ltd. and Big World) would first like to gratefully acknowledge the support and assistance pro- vided by the following organizations in the preparation of these case studies: Abantu Kenya, B2Bpricenow.com, CDI, Cemina, Conexiones, Fantsuam, FOOD, HealthNet Kenya, Manobi, the Organization of American States, PEOPlink, Rits/Sampa.org, Satellife, the Siberian Development Net (SibDev), SITA, the Vishnevskaya-Rostroprovich Foundation (VRF), Viva Rio, and Voxiva. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the following individuals for their contributions to the infoDev case stud- ies and case study analysis: Katherine Wagner (Gamos Ltd.), Susan Batchelor (Gamos Ltd.), Waithera Ndung’u (Abantu Kenya), Peter Kahara (Abantu Kenya), Edgardo Herbosa (B2Bpricenow.com), Ryk Ramos (Land Bank of the Philippines), Conrado Navarro (Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, or PRRM), Irene Fernandez (PRRM), Gemma Martin (PRRM), Members of the El Gancho Cooperative, Naic, Cavite, Members of the Kooperatibang Likas ng Neuva Ecija, Leandro Farias (CDI), Luis Claudio (CDI), Dona Ana (CDI), Fernandes Linia Denilson (CDI), CDI project staff, Thais Corral (Cemina), Claudia Zea (Conexiones), John Dada (Fantsuam Foundation), Ivy Audu (Bayan Loco Community Learning Center), Norman Didam (Bayan Loco Community Learning Center), Julius Madaki (Bayan Loco Community Learning Center), Ahmodu Fujuno, Luka Ajiji and Markus Ahmadu (members of the Bayan Loco CLC committee), Samuel Maichibi (Kagoma Community Learning Center), Loyola Joseph (FOOD), Santosh Narayanan (FOOD), Shiva Kumar (Inter-city Marketing Network), Tamilshelvi Udyakumar (Korattur Production Group), Hemalatha Elumalai (Korattur Marketing Group), Rubem Cesar Fernandes (Viva Rio), Maria Helena Alves (Viva Rio), Marta Ramos (Viva Rio), Carlos Afonso (Rits), Mauricio Falavigna (Sampa.org), Sampa.org Project staff, Daniel Annerose (Manobi), David Boggio (Manobi), Adama Diop (Sénégalese fisherman), Iba Diouf (Sénégalese fisherman), Mar Mbaye (Sénégalese fisherman), Diene Ndiaye (Sénégal Ministry of Fisheries), Abdel Kader Mboub (Sénégal training consultant), Pape Mbaye (Sénégalese fishing union representative), Bassirou Mbaye, Abdoulaye Diouf (Sénégalese fishing union representative), Abdoulaye Diop (Sénégalese fishing union representative), Susan Benson (OAS), Dario Soto (OAS), Dan Salcedo (PEOPLink), Surendra Shahi (PEOPLink), Dr. V. Purushothaman (IFFAD), G. Ramesh (IFFAD), Panneer Selvam (Chitrayalam Trust), Leyoni Adolf (Chitrayalam Trust), Dr. Pavel Korenev (VRF), Billy Amoss (VRF), Dr. Elena Frolova (VRF), Rebecca Riccio, (Satellife), Eliazer Karan (formerly HealthNet Kenya), Silas Owiti Mudekhere (formerly HealthNet Kenya), Denis Bagaev (SibDev), Dr. Krishna Sane (SITA), Brajesh Verma (SITA), Kiran Arora (SITA), Anjali Puri (former SITA trainee), Pamela Johnson (Voxiva), and Paul Meyer (Voxiva). The assistance and input of the following infoDev staff members and task managers is also gratefully acknowl- edged: Jacqueline Dubow, John Garrison, Pamela Street, Rafael Fernandez, Brian Kurey, Daniel Crisafulli, Maria Vanari, Paul Noumba-Um, Mikhail Bunchuk, Prita Chathoth, and Daniel Cotlear. Lessons Learned from Seventeen infoDev Projects v infoDev Case Studies “To promote innovative projects that use information and communi- cation technologies for economic and social development, with a special emphasis on the needs of the poor in developing economies.” organization’s East African office is based in Kenya and Abantu (Kenya) currently has four programs: Gender and Poverty, www.abantu.org Gender and Governance, Gender and Conflict, and Gender and Information and Communication Strengthening the Electronic Communications Technologies. The specific ICT project, funded mainly Capacities of Women’s Organizations in Africa by infoDev, began in 1999 in collaboration with a num- ber of other African organizations. Its first efforts were concentrated on Kenya. Abstract The aim of the Gender and ICT project was to improve Abantu for Development was established in 1991. In African women’s access to and use of the Internet. In 1999, it began an Information and Communication addition, Abantu has been working with policy makers Technology (ICT) component of its work, funded in part to try to ensure that gender perspectives are incorpo- by infoDev. This work has concentrated on Kenya and rated into all new ICT policies. To accomplish these has included 1) training various women’s groups in goals, the project developed a strong, focused core basic software and Internet skills, and 2) bringing group of women across Africa to: together different sectors of the business community to produce gender-sensitive ICT policy recommenda- define and guide African priorities on the