This document is downloaded from DR‑NTU (https://dr.ntu.edu.sg) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The application of information and communication technology to development Quebral, Nora C. 1992 Quebral, N. (1992). The application of information and communication technology to development. In Conference on Communications in a Changing Asia : Manila, July 16‑18, 1992 : programme. Singapore: Asian Mass Communication Research & Information Centre. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/102148 Downloaded on 29 Sep 2021 08:39:51 SGT ATTENTION: The Singapore Copyright Act applies to the use of this document. Nanyang Technological University Library The Application Of Information And Communication Technology To Development By Nora Quebral Paper No.19 i.; ' •; i LI co'i.c. ,.:• LKiv-.iy.-r:iui; -:^ c:oi-;iiu!ficATiuN i .^.:: .vivu i iO .)i/j /i.'jjjji'I'ii'.'i*!'* ..ora C. ituebr-ii lei:: r.icr L . • o-! net •.-. : e. ;:;nr ; neri tus institute o:' Development Jomnunicatior; 'r iversity of the ihilippinos at Los banos ATLiberalizationTENTION: The Singapore, Coprivatisationpyright Act applies to th,e ushige of hth is dtecocumh ennot. logNanyya ng -T ecthhnoel ogicstronal Univegrs ity Library tortherly winds Mowing through our section of the globe today - what have they "o do ic wit;: furthering development in \ sia? from the evLLfnce 'ii.it is in, not all LI.'it much - at leant f o r row - if DV d< v< •. s :>'•;(•:. t we m"in 'idvanci ag th" "Coriomio f soeia], .-.. I ; tical, ,ui!'•:;•: and ,I.TI! t r arsfo rmation of the poo:' ano the- ,;ower- L •'!.>.' i'". trie ;•(•,; Lc.'i. b;0 -1 m"v'! sxi market ton es nave rover ••:. to*"/ .:..:;•.> "t i .'• -i L" • -. • LI i , ;>a . \ <-\ i arf, '-d'.' r; :>•.»(: io ••• -oeiomlc i not i '.li '„ in - ins1 :e . e-..-i ontsie.e • ooerrtiy reraia biased ag.a.i; st that eour.tr/' . i.erlty. 1'h - effect of brose same foiv>:s when combined with f'ui'llst :: : o 1 or, i . ii :-.; rnovn :•• ••. w i: ,:ul :;;.> ve : i.h . :.; t ' d i. a Lions . u. 1 i.n I i '/ I I..-. ••<> verr.nenl •, L: 'he r\r t. ;• : i o , to neurit 1 et'Tvent ioni.".'. lo nrogre : • 'he ;>oo r back i:, 'he >():-. Nov-; we see;n to 'save come full circle if'tor barely four decade;,. L;: events in o- deoi Cu->>po that have vindicated democracy and capitalism have oruy .peeded up the return process, -roe market reforms - which Liberalization, privatization an: deregulation are - '••:<' vletuail;. become a u:i'iV'T:;d prescription for cash-strapped eonntrios. And ::">w have those cour,. eos responded to the treatment':' Ln i.ati.n America, according to _br week writer F.arc Levinson ar. i his team, economies are booming. Chun. of foreign debt have been *i ap< r present ed during the Conference on Communications in a Changing Asia", held o-\ July i6-lh, 1992 at the hanila Pavilion Hotel, ..anila, Phiilnpines. retired. Capital flight has been arrested. Growth rates are up. With trace barriers down, businessmen arc- investing in high technology in order to cut costs i.nd be more efficient. CuATtT ENwitTIONh: Thpopulatione Singapore Copysri ghstilt Act aplp liesgrowing to the use o,f thiaverags documenet. Naincomenyang Techsn ologaricael U niversity Library declining. Health services remain poor. Workers are beino; laid off. Corruption persists. Inflation refuses to so lower than 10/'. Says Ifvinson: "Latin Cm. Tiea's reform programs have failed to foc.s on equity, and the assumption that economic; growth will eventually tj-ieitle iewn to the poor has proven flat wrong." Co the words have a familiar ring? They are a near reprise of the statements made in the mid-oOs when the defects of a purely growth approach to development began to show and income distribution then became an equal concern for most development theorists. The return of neoclassical economics or the modernization model as the preferred evgine of development has its counterpart in today's hard sell of the sophisticated hardware of information and communica­ tion technology as the new catalyzers of development. So is the pressure to deregulate; and liberalize this technology. According to John Lent, the whole panoply of technology born of the interface of computers, telecommunications, and the varied ways of processing in­ formation is again being touted by some as the deliverer that will lift people from underdevelopment, Observers are quick to note that the same kind of hope was raised for radio an! television in their time. In the roseate beginning of each communication technology, the temptation Is great to equate promise with fact. 1 ATTENTIONMan: The yS incommunicatiogapore Copyright Acnt a pplprofessionalies to the use of this sd ocuconversanment. Nanyangt Tewitchnohlo gicdevelopmenal University Librat ry issues, however, have questioned the glowing claims for high informa­ tion and communication technology with varying degrees of doubt. Jome of their arguments run along these lines: i. The technology was developed for military, space or commercial uses in industrial economies (Kirunrak 199^;« -it was not lesigned Tor the needs of developing countries who neither perform the surveillance ana control functions that the technology serves nor piny a significant role in its production. 2. Satellite communication is not a substitute for structural reforms in a society (Jayaweera 1905;- It will only aggravate the aependency of pe2~iphery countries and strengthen trie domination of trie center. It will work to widen the information gap between the rich and trie poor, the town and the countryside. 3- 3o far the Information Revolution has not informed ordinary citir.ens better, has not raised their educational standards, has not changed much the content of media they patronize (rtacBride, Traber 1986). The control over those decisions does not lie in their hands and will not likely ever be. They are made by governments and the transnational corporations which finance the steep start-up :uid operating costs of high-powered technology. These statements are not unique to the writers who made them but represent positions shared by others. To see how valid they are, let us look at some of the relevant experience. A project funded by u.'.MD in eastern leru tried out a satellite- i~seJ commur.icat.ion system in 7 small communities in a ri-mofe 'urgTe are-;, east of "hf- Andes, lith satellite antennas, . arth s+atiors in' Viii'1 radiotelephones, the project provider telephone service to the ATTENTION: The Singapore Copyright Act applies to the use of this document. Nanyang Technological University Library public and teleconferencing facilities to three government ministries. The tel^pnone service was an immediate success. Trie heaviest cilier;- sera too e who had commercial and business Interests, i'oe revenue:;, hoxaver, did not cover operating costs or the initial Cdpitdi o clay during tne first two year:; of trie service. The au lir.teleccreferencing services were designed for -'dministrativ!', 'raining, diffusion and promotional purposes. a! time they were us'd "ore for training. The participants prefers*;, formats that involved presentations from authorities h.soii in Lh^ capital city of I ima. The ieruvi::n telecommunication organization which administo-ed tne project became itself a major user of the teleconferencing services. It planned ~o offer them thenceforth to government -develop­ ment agencies and private business groups. Cf the tr.ree 1 eruvian ministries, the health ministry, which had a stable organization and a real need to coordinate its staff. used "he teleconferencing services most. Not one of the three ministries turned out to have a big enough discretionary budget to sustain telecommunication use on its own. The satellite facilities proved to be technically viable once installation and maintenance 'problems, which dragged on for years, were resolved. The project evaluation, while suggesting greater investment in telecommunications in the future, concluded that - "....the transfer of sophisticated telecommunication 13 technologATTENTION: Thye Sing apnotore C,o pyranighdt A cprobablt applies to thye uswile of tlh is dnoocutm ebnte. Nafonyarn g Ttheceh nolfo^eogical U-niversity Library ;;-,,:;']!• future( a straightforward exercise.... New and innovative communication strategies require extensive promotion as well us innovative management structures, especially when changes in standard operating procedures are involved." The Indonesian i ilapa domestic satellite communication system r-/; resents another experience. According to i>g. v- i-:t rural development did not figure in the proposal to set it up in lyVc. "he need was for a fast, continuous, island-spanning system that could uervice a rapidly growing business and industrial sector, particularly the extractive industry. Not until later did the government recognise the system's potential to knit together an archipelagic nation state, to build an administrative network reaching to the farthest villages, and to extend television and radio broadcasts to the farilung areas. An evaluation of the impact of satellite television on rural Indonesia done by Chu, Alfian and Schramm over a 6-year period showed renerally positive results. The most significant gain was in the increased learning of bahasa Indonesia, a plus factor in unifying the country. According to the researchers, knowledge about programs in agriculture, health and family planning increased and so did adoption of recommended practices, especially among those in the lower socio­ economic brackets. People learned to save more, to borrow from banks and cooperatives rather than from money lenders, to market their own products instead of relying on middlemen. They also learned to buy more advertised goods, however, prompting the government to ban commercials from TV but not from radio, The evaluvtion found that television becTme the main source of newsA TTamonENTIOgN : Tthhe eS ingvillagerapore Copyrighst Aanct apdp lieseemes to the udse otf oth ishav documee nstimulatet. Nanyang Techdno losociagical Univle rsity Library participation, especially among those with less education.