Definition of ICT - UNDP€¦ · Definition of ICT Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) GOALS...

The World Bank Group

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ICTICTICTICTICT, as defined in the Information & Communication Technology Sector Strategy Paper of theWorld Bank Group (April 2002, http://info.worldbank.org/ict/ICT_ssp.html), consists of hard-ware, software, networks, and media for collection, storage, processing, transmission, and pre-sentation of information (voice, data, text, images).

ICT sectorsICT sectorsICT sectorsICT sectorsICT sectors are defined by the OECD as a combination of manufacturing and services indus-tries that capture, transmit and display data and information electronically.

ManufacturingManufacturingManufacturingManufacturingManufacturing includes office, accounting and computing machinery; insulated wire and cable;electronic valves and tubes and other electronic components; television and radio transmittersand apparatus for line telephony and line telegraphy; television and radio receivers, sound orvideo recording or reproducing apparatus and associated goods; instruments and appliances formeasuring, checking, testing, navigating and other purposes, except industrial process equip-ment; and industrial process equipment.

ServicesServicesServicesServicesServices include wholesaling of computers, computer peripheral equipment and software;wholesale of electronic and telecommunication parts and equipment; renting of office machin-ery and equipment (including computers); telecommunications; computer and related activi-ties.

Definition of ICT

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

GOALS TARGETS

1. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and to all levels of education no later than 2015

4. Reduce child mortality

5. Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate

5. Improve maternal health

6. Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio

7. Have halted by 2015, and begun to reverse, the spread of HIV/AIDS

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

8. Have halted by 2015, and begun to reverse, the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

9. Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources

10. Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

11. By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers

12. Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system

13. Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries

14. Address the Special Needs of landlocked countries and small island developing states

15. Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term

16. In co-operation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for youth

17. In co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries

8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development

18. In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications

3 3The World Bank Group

ICT and MDGsA World Bank Group Perspective

Disclaimer

This report was prepared by the World Bank Group’s Global ICT Department. The findings,interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of theBoard of Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

To request additional copies of this report please contact the World Bank Group’s Global ICTDepartment, 2121 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20433, USA; email:[email protected].

Global ICT DepartmentThe World Bank Group

December 2003


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“The debate in the 1990s over choosingbetween ICT and other developmentimperatives has now shifted from one oftradeoffs to one of complementarity.3”

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PREFACEAt the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, the global community adopted eight MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) to guide and measure our development efforts. The MDGscover a broad range of concerns, namely: poverty and hunger; primary education; genderequality; child mortality; maternal health; HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; environ-mental sustainability; and global partnerships. In adopting these goals, and ambitious tar-gets for each, we have made a commitment to achieving more development progress inless time than ever before. This will demand marshalling our resources – human and finan-cial – as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Our ability to establish such goals, and even conceive of achieving them, is driven by notonly the urgency of the concerns, but also the realization that we have within our reach theknow-how and the tools to make the goals reality. One such set of tools is Informationand Communication Technologies (ICT). These technologies have transformed our world,and in the process, our belief in how we can address its challenges.

ICT crosses all sectors, bringing increased efficiency and new opportunities to areas fromsmall enterprise development and international trade, to education and healthcare. It alsoallows us to share experiences across geographies and organizations, so that we learncollectively and build on each others’ advances.

However, as is apparent in this report, how we are using ICT to achieve the MDGs is stillin its early stages. The seeds of success are being sown across all sectors and across theglobe. This report illustrates the opportunities ICT offers policy makers and practitionersin their efforts to achieve the MDGs and highlights selected World Bank Group fundedprojects utilizing ICT to accelerate development.

As the world meets in Geneva in 2003 and in Tunis in 2005 for the World Summit on theInformation Society, we should keep foremost in our minds the scale of efforts that meet-ing the MDGs will require, and how ICT holds a key to unlocking such possibilities. Wehope that our report provides useful insights for the development community.

Mohsen Khalil

DirectorGlobal Information & Communication

Technologies DepartmentThe World Bank Group

GICTGlobal Information &CommunicationTechnologies Department

Introduction

ICT andPoverty

ICT andEducation

ICT andGender

ICT andHealth

ICT andEnvironmentalSustainability

ICT andPartnerships

ConclusionandReferences


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AbbreviationsAiDA Accessible Information on Development Activities

ANFAS Data Fusion for Flood Analysis and Decision SupportDOT Force Digital Opportunity Task Force

EIN Environmental Information NetworkETNO European Telecom Network Operators Association

GDP Gross Domestic ProductGEF Global Environment Facility

GFW Global Forest WatchGICT Global Information and Communications Technologies

GIS Geographic Information SystemsGNP Gross national product

GPOBA Global Partnership on Output-Based AidGSM Global System for MobilesHDI Human development indexIAM Itissalat-al-MaghribICT Information and communication technologiesIFC International Finance Corporation

infoDev Information for Development ProgramIT Information technology

ITU International Telecommunications UnionLVEPM Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project

MDGs Millennium Development GoalsMIGA Multilateral Investment Guarantee AgencyNDDB National Dairy Development Board

NEI Networked economy indexNIE Newly Industrialized Economies

NGO Non-government organizationOECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentPPIAF Public-Private Infratsructure Advisory Facility

RESCUER Rural Extended Services & Care for Ultimate Emergency ReliefSIDS Small Island Developing StatesSMS Short Messaging Service

UNDP United Nations Development ProgrammeVHF very high frequency

WBG World Bank Group

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tional agencies– to work towards a world inwhich sustaining development and eliminatingpoverty would have the highest priority.1

The uniqueness of the MDGs lies in two dimen-sions. First, by defining the goals in terms of de-velopment targets –as distinct from inputs andoutputs– the MDGs draw attention to the multi-sectoral determinants of development targets(World Bank 2003a). Second, the MDGs focuson the achievement of quantified and time-bound targets, providing both opportunities tomake headway in the fight against poverty andrisks of non-attainment. Given current trendsof progress, many countries and regions will beunable to achieve the MDGs by 2015 (See Table1 for a summary of progress in achieving se-lected MDG targets for developing countries).

The Role of ICT in AcceleratingDevelopment Progress

The debate in the 1990s over choosing betweenICT and other development imperatives (e.g.by stating that, in poor countries, investment inICT draws precious resources away from moreurgent development needs) has now shiftedfrom one of tradeoffs to one ofcomplementarity.3 These new technologies, itis now clear, are not an end in themselves. Norhas a one-size-fits-all approach proven effec-tive –the challenges faced by developing coun-tries vary too greatly by geography, culture and

INTRODUCTION

During the past decade the interna-tional community has focused itsefforts on strategies to help the peopleof the world’s poorest countries share in thebenefits of globalization and escape the traps ofpoverty. The decision at the United NationsMillennium Summit in September 2000 toadopt eight specific Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) provides an agreed politicalbenchmark for measuring the progress of glo-bal development.

In the same year, the G-8 initiated the ‘DigitalOpportunity Task Force’ (DOT Force) to har-ness the forces of new technologies in order tonarrow social and economic inequalities bymaking the benefits from these technologies ac-cessible and meaningful for all humanity. Asworld leaders gather at the World Summit onthe Information Society in Geneva (December2003) and in Tunis (November 2005), these twomajor international efforts have begun to con-verge.

Millennium Development Goals

The MDGs were adopted at the United Nations’Millennium Summit in 2000 as part of the Mil-lennium Declaration, a document signed by 189countries, including 147 Heads of State. Theeight MDGs and associated targets represent anunprecedented agreement –among developedcountries, developing countries, and interna-

MDG Likely Possible Unlikely Very Unlikely No dataChild malnutrition 16 7 4 14 60Primary school completion 30 18 12 11 29Gender equality in school 49 9 6 6 29Child mortality 20 28 19 14 19Maternal mortality 20 18 13 20 29HIV/AIDS prevalence 25 7 8 14 45Access to water 14 10 12 0 63

Source: World Bank (2003a).

Table 1: Progress in Achieving Selected MDGs2,Percentage of Developing Countries

Introduction

Evidence isgrowing thatICT is apowerful toolwhen usedappropriatelyas part of anoveralldevelopmentstrategy.

1 www.developmentgoals.org/

2 The calculations for mostindicators in this table arebased on the differential intrends observed between twopoints, the first spanning1990-94 and the second1995 to the most recentyear. It was then estimatedhow long it would take acountry to achieve the MDGbased on the percent changebetween the two points.

3 Accenture, MarkleFoundation and UNDP(2001)


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level of economic attainment. ICT cannot elimi-nate the need for political stability, physical in-frastructure, human capacity and basic healthcare, or offer a panacea for all developmentproblems. But evidence is growing that ICT is apowerful tool when used appropriately as partof an overall development strategy. Seizing theopportunities ICT offers will clearly require in-novative and close partnerships between govern-ments, business and civil society.

In order to reach the targets set by the MDGs,countries can either increase the resources allo-cated to these objectives, or increase the effi-ciency with which available resources are used(Jayasuriya and Wodon 2003). At the core of theICT and MDGs discussion is the question whetheror not ICT can contribute to improving the effi-ciency in delivering the MDGs and hence accel-erating the achievement of development targets(See Figure 1).

There is a growing acceptance that ICT can playan important role by providing new and more

efficient methods of production, bringing pre-viously unattainable markets within the reachof the poor, improving the delivery of govern-ment services, and facilitating management andtransfer of knowledge, a key factor in reachingthe MDGs.

At the same time, it is important to acknowl-edge that despite the vast potential of ICT tocontribute to development strategies, it cannotdo the job on its own. ICT will only be helpfulto the extent that users are able to use the tech-nology and take advantage of the opportuni-ties it creates. This requires policies that createthe right incentives and institutions, which arestrong enough to implement those policies. Inthe end, the measure of success of ICT will notfocus on the spread of technology, but ratheron the overall progress towards reaching theMDGs.

The main objectives of this report are: (i) to il-lustrate the opportunities ICT offers policymakers and practitioners in their efforts to

Allocation of resources to an MDG sector and ICT

Allocation of resources to the sector

Allocation of resources to ICT in the sector

Non ICT-related increased efficiency in delivering

Increased efficiency in delivering in the sector

Impact on this MDG sector

ICT-related increased efficiency in delivering

Figure 1: Resource Allocation and Impact in MDG Sectors

Source: Lanvin and Qiang (2003)

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achieve the MDGs, with the assumption that theappropriate policies and institutions exist or willbe forthcoming; and (ii) to highlight selectedWorld Bank Group funded projects with an ICTcomponent which have contributed to the in-tended development outcomes.

The World Bank Group provides both financialand technical assistance through various instru-ments.

World Bank Loans. The World Bank hasdeveloped a range of lending instruments tosupport governments in activities in the tele-communications, Internet, information tech-nology, postal and broadcasting sectors as wellas ICT applications in other sectors.

International Finance Corporation (IFC) Pri-vate Sector Investments. IFC provides long-term financing for private providers of infor-mation and communications infrastructure andservices in developing countries, and invests witha focus on building successful information tech-nology businesses in emerging markets.

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency(MIGA) Guarantees. Guarantees promote pri-vate financing in borrowing member countriesby covering risks the private sector is not nor-mally in a position to absorb or manage.

Grants Administered by the World Bank.The World Bank administers several grant fa-cilities that may provide financial support forprojects in the ICT sector. These include themulti-donor Information for DevelopmentGrants (infoDev) and Public-Private Infrastruc-ture Advisory Facility programs (PPIAF), theGlobal Partnership on Output-Based Aid(GPOBA), bilateral trust funds, as well as theBank’s own Institutional Development Fund.

Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Buildingby the World Bank Institute. The World Bankhelps client countries enhance their capacity togenerate, access and use knowledge from allsources. A series of knowledge programs havebeen initiated to help countries assess what theyneed to be effective players in the global knowl-edge economy, to share development issues, ef-forts, and opportunities, and to deliver distancelearning activities.

This report does not aim to establish proven em-pirical links between ICT and the achievementof the MDGs, but to illustrate the positive im-pact ICT can make as an enabling tool for de-velopment. Each of the following sections de-scribes respectively how ICT can play a rolesupporting development strategies and acceler-ating the progress towards the MDGs on Pov-erty (MDG #1), Education(MDG #2), Gender(MDG #3), Health (MDG #4, #5, and #6), En-vironment (MDG #7) and Partnership (MDG#8).

Introduction


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Figure 2: HDI and NEI, 2003

Source: Lanvin and Qiang (2003)

Figure 3: Contribution of ICT to Labor Productivity Growth (Percent of GDP)6

Source: Qiang and Pitt with Ayers (2003)-2

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Poverty is multidimensional and has com-plex causes. Not only do the poor havelittle money, few material possessions, theyare often deprived of basic needs such as food,education and health services. Furthermore, theylack access to knowledge, a source of incomeearning opportunities, and to political visibility andinfluence, which reinforces their social and eco-nomic vulnerability. The deprivations from ad-vantages and opportunities that the more afflu-ent enjoy force the poor into social exclusion,powerlessness and poverty traps.

The role of ICT in combating poverty and foster-ing sustainable development has been the subjectof much debate and experimentation during thelast decade. The contrast between the complexityand expense of some of these technologies and theurgent, basic needs of the poor has led some todoubt whether ICT should be a priority for devel-opment agencies or for developing countries them-selves (Marker, McNamara and Wallace 2002).

Lack of access to ICT is clearly not a primary prob-lem of poverty as compared to insufficient nutri-tion or inadequate shelter (Kenny, Navas-Sabaterand Qiang, 2002). Nevertheless, ICT can be seenas both a driving force and a result of human de-velopment, as shown in Figure 2, the correlationacross countries of the human development in-dex (HDI)4 and the networked economy index(NEI)5 is above 0.8, suggesting a link betweenwelfare and the existence and use of ICT in de-veloping countries.

Therefore, evidence seems to suggest that ICT canplay an important role in eradicating poverty. IfICT is appropriately deployed to take into con-sideration people’s differing needs, it can becomea powerful economic, social and political tool forthe poor, and for all those who work to eradicatepoverty. Promoting opportunities for the poor isessential for reducing poverty. ICT can help reachthis objective by: (i) stimulating macroeconomicgrowth; (ii) making markets more efficient; (iii)improving social inclusion; and (iv) facilitatingpolitical involvement.

Stimulating Macroeconomic Growth

The key to poverty reduction, in the end, is sus-tained economic growth. By using ICT, nationscan make a significant contribution to economicgrowth by increasing labor productivity (See Fig-ure 3) through high growth of total factor pro-ductivity in ICT producing industries, increase inthe real ICT capital stock per worker, and throughthe overall productivity growth across the entireeconomy arising from the reorganization of pro-duction around ICT goods and services (Qiang andPitt with Ayers 2003).

Increasing Market Access, Efficiencyand Competitiveness of the Poor

At the microeconomic level, ICT provides farm-ers, workers and entrepreneurs opportunities toreduce transaction costs, increase market cover-age and improve competitiveness even acrossborders. For example, Novica, a Web and cata-log merchant of international artwork and crafts,connects more than 1,800 artisans and artisangroups through its offices in Peru, Indonesia, Thai-land, Mexico, India, Brazil and Ghana with con-sumers and retailers globally. According to IFC,Novica provides income to approximately 50,000people in the developing world, including artisansand the family members they support.

Artisans working with Novica earn between 10percent to 50 percent above their local, marketprices and earn on average 70 percent of Novica’sretail price. Isidoro Rojas, a woven tapestries art-ist in Peru, earned US$2,500 in one month alone(in 2000), far more than the average annual sal-ary in Peru, which was US$2,200 in 2000 (WorldBank 2001b). Prior to Novica, Mr. Rojas made afive-hour journey to Lima in order to sell his tap-estries. But today, he uses a public computer kiosktwo hours from his hometown to correspond withNovica via the Internet (Romney 2000).

ICT AND POVERTY

ICT and Poverty

4 The human developmentindex is a composite indexmeasuring averageachievement in three basicdimensions of humandevelopment – a long andhealthy life (as measured bylife expectancy at birth),knowledge (as measured bythe adult literacy rate andthe combined primary,secondary and tertiary grossenrollment ratio) and adecent standard of living (asmeasured by GDP percapita).

5 The networked economyindex is a composite ofthree components: theenvironment for enablingICT; the readiness of acommunity’s key stake-holders (individuals,businesses and govern-ments) to use ICT; andfinally, the usage of ICTamong these stakeholders(WEF, INSEAD andinfoDev 2003).

6 The data is the average ofsome European Union (EU)countries (Austria,Denmark, Finland, France,Germany, Italy, TheNetherlands, Portugal,Spain, Sweden and UnitedKingdom) and of the AsianNewly IndustrializedEconomies (NIEs: HongKong SAR, South Korea,Singapore and Taiwan,Province of China).


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Improving Social Inclusion of IsolatedPopulations

People living in rural and remote areas tend to bepoor and socially isolated. They lack informationrelevant to their particular situation and thus havedifficulty interacting with other communitymembers or other communities. This isolationserves to reinforce their marginalization. ICT,such as radio, telephone, and email, can be of greatvalue in bringing people together, bridging geo-graphic distances and providing relevant informa-tion about and to the poor. People can be iso-lated not only by geography, but by cultural bar-riers such as gender, ethnicity, caste and race. Thefour characteristics of ICT, namely (i)interactivity, (ii) permanent availability, (iii) glo-bal reach, and (iv) reduced costs for many, as sum-marized in a recent report by the Swiss Agencyfor Development and Cooperation (Gerster andZimmermann 2003), have made social inclusionof the poor more feasible.

Facilitating Political Empowerment

The poor also often lack means to effectively voicetheir needs, learn about available public services,and pressure policymakers to be responsive totheir interests and demands. ICT can improve in-formation flows and communication services to

make government and organizations serving thepoor more efficient, transparent and accountable(See Box 1).

ICT can help the disenfranchised voice their con-cerns, demand their rights and take control of theirown lives. Increasing ICT use for developing pro-poor policies is a critical component to reducepoverty and sustain development. In India, forexample, Sakshi, the women’s rights non-govern-mental organization (NGO), had faced difficultiesin lobbying for sexual harassment legislation. Withhelp from international women’s networks, Sakshiwas able to receive advice and technical assistanceon legal issues surrounding sexual harassment. Asa result, the group succeeded in convincing theSupreme Court to establish sexual harassmentguidelines in workplaces and brought the issuewithin the purview of human rights violations(APC 2000).

Box 1: Targeting the Poor

Although the poverty line in Brazil dropped sharply in the mid-1990s, a “hard core” of 40 millionpeople –nearly a quarter of the population– still live on less than half the minimum wage of 240reais (US$80) a month. The government-linked Institute of Applied Economic Research says 23million live in extreme poverty (lacking the money to feed themselves properly). Brazil’s gov-ernment used information technology to identify the needy and make sure resources reach them–beneficiaries can collect their income transfer from the bank through electronic cards. This notonly reduces the possibility for corruption or political favoritism, but the cards can hold a wealthof information for designing, targeting and monitoring programs. The government wants toboost spending on income support next year (2004) by up to 1.5 billion reais. The goal is to endhunger before 2007. (The Economist 2003)

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IFCSudanese Entrepreneur:Expanding Mobile NetworksSub-Saharan Africa, 1999 – PresentUS$67.5 million

Dr. Ibrahim, a Sudanese entrepreneur, is founderand Chairman of MSICIH, a holding companywith mobile investments primarily in Africa. Dr.Ibrahim launched MSICIH in 1998 with a visionto create an indigenous African-owned mobileoperator providing global quality telecommuni-cation services at affordable prices to African con-sumers neglected by global telecom sponsors.Today, MSICIH has controlling stakes in the fol-lowing 11 African mobile operations: Uganda,Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, SierraLeone, Malawi, Niger, Republic of Congo, Gabon,Burkina Faso, Chad, Sudan; and a minority stakeand management control in the wireline networkof Tanzania.

IFC has been an investor in MSICIH since 1999,helping MSICIH develop a pan-African franchiseof mobile networks. IFC has invested a total ofUS$67.5 million in MSICIH and in four of its op-

erating subsidiaries to finance license acquisitions,initial build-outs and expansions of its successfulnetworks. In many of its countries of operation,IFC’s investments support and complement theWorld Bank’s ongoing efforts to liberalize the tele-communications sector and to establish an evenplaying field for competition to thrive.

Since its formation, MSICIH has grown at a veryhigh rate, establishing itself as the most geographi-cally diverse mobile operator in Africa and morethan doubling its subscription base each year, toover 1.5 million subscribers today (See Figure 4).

IFC’s role in MSICIH extends beyond providingfinancing. IFC has been instrumental in assistingMSICIH draft and implement a global environ-mental and social management program that hasbeen implemented throughout its operations. IFCAgainst AIDS is also working with MSICIH to re-fine its HIV Policy and develop an AIDS ActionPlan to address HIV/AIDS in the workplace andto potentially extend the action plan to surround-ing communities.

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Figure 4: MSICIH Subscriber Growth (1999–2003)

ICT and Poverty

Source: MSICIH

ICT and Poverty:Selected World Bank Group Funded Projects


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infoDevE-Commerce for Farmers Hands-On Training ProgramPhilippines, 2002 – 2003US$850,000(infoDev contributed US$118,000)

Farmers in the Philippines have long suffered froma lack of market price information, which hasmade it difficult to get the best return for theirproducts. This infoDev project contained twocomponents: (i) an electronic marketing sitewhere farmers can post commodity prices, trans-act, and even pay online; and (ii) a training pro-gram to increase computer literacy in the coun-tryside to aid in marketing agriculture produce.

Project leaders developed a website(B2Bpricenow.com), with an electronic bulletinboard and a free marketplace. Farmers can ac-cess the bulletin board to get relevant market in-formation directly. Knowing the prevailing pricesallows farmers to increase their negotiating powerand minimize the middleman costs, thereby en-abling farmers to reap the gains from lower trans-action costs and a broader market reach.

In addition, the project trained more than 620small entrepreneurs, farmers and fishermen to usecomputers, email and the Internet to improvetheir businesses and personal lives. The hands-ontraining means farmers can reduce their povertyby becoming more efficient in agricultural mar-kets. Figures from August 2003 show that thewebsite has 1,967 businesses connected coveringsectors including agriculture (1,344) and manu-facturing (196).

World BankOperation Flood ProgramIndia, 1978 – 1985, 1987 – 1996US$510 million

In India, milk production was scattered. For themost part, the average illiterate and poor farmerhad no access to organized markets and was of-ten exploited by middlemen. This changed, how-ever, with the inception of India’s “OperationFlood” Program, initiated by the National DairyDevelopment Board (NDDB) in 1970. NDDBhelped organize the dairy cooperative networkby forming 170 milk unions that operate in 285districts and cover nearly 96,000 villages.

ICT has been an essential component of NDDB’ssuccess. Across India, 3,500 milk collection cen-ters use computers to accurately and efficientlymeasure production and to pay each farmer ac-cordingly. As daily-computerized accounts aremaintained, chances of fraud are reduced. The re-sult is a reliable and regular source of income formore than 10.7 million landless laborers and mar-ginal or small farmers, which has improved theirquality of life and helped India emerge as theworld’s largest milk-producing nation.

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ICT AND EDUCATIONEnabling a Knowledge Networkfor Students

With knowledge as the crucial input for produc-tive processes within an economy, the efficiencyby which knowledge is acquired and applied de-termines economic success. Timely transmissionof information and knowledge by ICT, unhin-dered by its volume or the nature (voice, video,data), can help the education system meet thischallenge.

In 1990, the Chilean government embarked on amajor educational reform program, which in-cluded an initiative to integrate ICT as a learningand knowledge resource for all students within thepublic school system, known as Enlaces. Enlacesbegan as a pilot project interconnecting 100schools but quickly became a nation-wide initia-tive. By 2000, over 5,300 primary and second-ary schools had received computers, local net-works, educational and productivity software andfree/unlimited Internet access. Enlaces hadreached 90 percent of the student population at-tending state-subsidized institutions.

Training Teachers

Large numbers of elementary school teachers willbe needed to meet the MDG educational targets.ICT is even more relevant for the training of theseteachers than it is for the training of students inelementary school, as it transfers knowledge to theperson most likely to achieve effective dissemi-nation. Moreover, ICT provides opportunities tocomplement on-the-job training, and to providecontinuing education for teachers. It also allowsnetworking of elementary school teachers in waysnever before possible.

Education is fundamental to the develop-ment of a dynamic labor force capableof accessing and integrating knowledge intosocial and economic activities and participating intoday’s global economy. Driven by new tech-nologies and a growing service sector, demandsfor more highly-skilled labor have increasedworldwide.

Today, disparities in educational access acrosscountries are considerable. The average length ofschooling in high-income countries is ten years,but in developing countries it is approximately lessthan half, 4.6 years. Of the 680 million childrenof primary school age in developing countries, 115million do not attend school–60 percent of thesechildren are girls and 74 percent live in South Asiaand Sub-Saharan Africa (UNDP 2003).

Increasing Access through DistanceLearning

ICT can provide various channels to bring edu-cational options to those who have historicallybeen excluded, including populations in rural ar-eas without schools, women facing social barriersthat limit their access to education, students withdisabilities or with specific vocational trainingneeds. Radio and TV, for instance, are populareducational media in many developing countries.In the 1980s, before the age of online learning,44 percent of students registered in Chinese highereducation were enrolled in radio or TV-based dis-tance education courses (Willkox, Kline andNagashima), supplemented by the postal system,which delivered textbooks. Today, more sophis-ticated technologies, such as video conferencingand the Internet, offer advanced two-way inter-active delivery modes and can be combined withtraditional technologies to meet the educationalneeds of various communities.7

ICT and Education

ICT canprovidevariouschannelsto bringeducationaloptions tothose whohavehistoricallybeen excluded.

7 Improved access to ICTcan overcome the distancebarrier to education, but itcannot solve the problem ofsocial and cultural barriers,which can, for example,prevent girls from access toeducation.


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Broadening the Availability of QualityEducational Materials

Teachers are both information consumers, usingthe Internet to access resources, as well as infor-mation providers, acting as information filters anddissemination channels for students, and as edu-cational resources for colleagues and for the com-munity. Network technologies have the poten-tial to increase the availability of quality educa-tional materials. Their interactivity and globalreach allow for customized sharing of knowledge,materials and databases quickly and cheaply, in-dependent of the physical movement and geo-graphic distances of individuals.

Furthermore, online resources offer teachers ac-cess to a diverse collection of educational materi-als, which enables teachers and non-formal edu-cation facilitators to design curricula that best meetthe needs of their students. Educational materialscan be provided in electronic form, as with edu-cational radio, educational cassettes, educationalvideos, and indeed computer courseware, simu-lations, and games. The content of a school librarycan be mounted on a CD-ROM and made avail-able for only a few dollars per copy. Desktop pub-lishing offers new alternatives to providing afford-able tailored, paper-copy educational materialsfor students.

Enhancing the Efficiency andEffectiveness of EducationalAdministration and Policy

ICT provides support not only for classroom ac-tivities but for administrative activities as well.Through ICT training programs, school principalsand administrators learn how ICT can help im-prove the process and quality of administrativeactivities through management software andcomputer networks, including human resourcemanagement, student registration, and monitor-ing of student enrollment and achievement.

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helping to ease some of the constraints facingthe Brazilian education system.

With IFC investment and technical assistance,Escol@24Horas provides tutoring services tostudents from kindergarten through high schoolby assisting client schools across Brazil. It oper-ates 24 hours a day, seven days a week via itswebsite, www.escola24h.br.com, and througha Web-based program that facilitates email andonline exchanges. Tutors respond to the needsof students by asking questions and guiding re-sponses. Escol@24Horas also offers its clientschools innovative tools to develop their ownwebsites and extends its services and educationmaterials to parents and to communities inwhich it operates.

The pilot program began by providing servicesat the basic education level to 70,000 studentsand has now expanded to over 200,000 students.

World BankWorld Bank Institute: The GlobalDevelopment Learning Network(GDLN)(www.gdln.org)Launched in 2000

In June 2000, the World Bank and several part-ner institutions launched the Global DevelopmentLearning Network (GDLN). The objective of thenetwork was to utilize opportunities offered bycommunication technologies to cost-effectivelyconnect policymakers and development practi-tioners across the world with each other, enablingthem to share ideas and to integrate global expe-riences into country-level initiatives.

The World Bank and its partners initially set up11 GDLN Centers with two-wayvideoconferencing and e-learning capabilities,connecting them over a satellite network. Withina year, GDLN had grown to a network of 28 af-filiated centers, beaming an average of five to tenlearning programs across the globe each day.

World BankTurkey Basic Education Program1998 – 2006US$600 million

The policy objective of this project is to pro-vide computer literacy to all teachers and stu-dents and to enhance the quality of thecountry’s basic education system. To achievethis objective, some 6,000 eight-year basiceducation schools throughout the countryhave been equipped with ICT classrooms un-der this project. In addition, the project pro-vides ICT in-service training to school-teach-ers on computer literacy and integrating theexisting software and hardware into classroomteaching and learning activities. An e-learningportal, which contains both pedagogical con-tent and e-learning training materials, is beingdeveloped to provide the trainers with an ef-fective communication platform for sharingideas and resources.

As of December 2002, 2,802 primary educa-tion schools had been equipped with ICT class-rooms, and Internet access has been providedto those schools. IT hardware, software andperipheral equipment are being procured toequip a total of 22,854 rural schools withcomputer facilities. Since the implementationof the project in 1998, basic education enroll-ment in the country has been increased by900,000.

[email protected], 2000 – 2007US$3.25 million, co-funded byPitagoras School Group

This ongoing project aims to provide servicesthat support student learning, and improve ac-cess and content of educational materials forstudents, parents, and schools in Brazil by pio-neering the use of the Internet. BringingInternet-based education solutions to Brazil is

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Today, GDLN totals over 60 centers around theworld, and more than 30,000 people participatein GDLN events every year. Dialogues and learn-ing exchanges among developing countries havebecome a common feature, with countries in Af-rica, Asia, and Latin America sharing experiencesabout education reform, HIV/AIDS prevention,community-driven development, and other keydevelopment issues. For example, in October2003, participants in Ethiopia, Tanzania andUganda participated in a series of learning work-shops entitled “Gender and the Legal Dimensionof HIV/AIDS.” The series focused on building acommunity of practice to discuss and strategizeon key issues relating to gender and HIV/AIDS,and how to strengthen the role of laws and insti-tutions in HIV/AIDS policy and operational in-terventions.

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In many developing countries, gender in-equality persists in education attainment, inaccess to and control of productive and financialresources, and in political participation, even thoughsuch inequality has decreased over time in low-andmiddle-income countries (See Figure 5). Lack ofschooling coupled with gender biases that dictate do-mestic roles for women, perpetuate gender dispari-ties. ICT can empower women and help them sur-mount gender inequality by raising awareness of theirsocial and political status and creating new economicopportunities.

Influencing Public Opinionon Gender Equality

Gender prejudice exists in many developing countries.Through ICT enabled information distribution chan-nels including radio, telephone, television and theInternet, awareness of gender inequality issues can beraised and enhanced. ICT can be an invaluable toolin positively changing people’s attitude, includingwomen themselves, towards women by disseminat-ing educational programs on gender equity. RadioRabia Balkhi in Mazar-E Sharif, a remote northerncity in Afghanistan where more than 80 percent ofwomen are illiterate, airs recorded essays and featureson gender inequality issues and successful efforts toovercome these challenges. After listening to this pro-gram, some conservative family heads in the region,which had refused to let their daughters attend school,changed their minds (Constable 2003).

In addition, role models of women who actively par-ticipate in the socio-economic development can in-crease self-esteem and self-confidence of otherwomen and therefore encourage them to push forchanges in their own social status. Increased pressurefrom an informed constituency aware of gender in-equality could also persuade local policymakers toinclude gender as an important component of theirsocial and economic policies.

Increasing EconomicOpportunities for Women

Women have been limited from participation in manyforms of economic life. In some cultures, women areexpected to stay at home and are not permitted tohave face-to-face contact with men other than closefamily, or to travel. For such cultures, ICT may openeconomic opportunities for women since telephoneand the Internet allow them to interact with menwithout face-to-face contact, and even without be-ing in the same place (Daly 2003). ICT also helps fe-male entrepreneurs, who often have limited resourcesand experiences, reduce transaction costs, increasemarket coverage, and even expand business acrossborders. For instance, Tortas Peru is a women-ownedenterprise that uses the Internet to reach a wider mar-ket, selling cakes and desserts through their website,mainly targeting the two million Peruvians living out-side the country, who send orders by email. With justthree hours of instruction, the housewife-membersof the network learn to use email, find the website,and interact with clients through public computerbooths (World Bank 2003b).

Improving the Share of Women

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Source: World Bank (2001b)

Figure 5: Gender Ratio in Selected Indicators by Income Level

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in Non-Agriculture Jobs

Some women work in the expanding ICT indus-tries, but data from developed countries suggeststhat men dominate these new opportunities, mainlybecause from the outset women lag men in accessto ICT and skills to apply it. A study by Hafkin andTaggart (2001) indicates that women are 22 per-cent of all Internet users in Asia, 38 percent of thosein Latin America and only six percent of MiddleEast users. Women need access to educational re-sources in order to lower overall illiteracy levelsand acquire skills required for the ICT sector. Overtime, the skill requirements are gradually dimin-ishing– in the service sector, for instance, using com-puters often involves simple, repetitive tasks thatare easy to learn. As more and more ICT applica-tions become user-friendly, it is likely to increasethe value of less-skilled workers. For instance, a sig-nificant proportion of employees in the expandingtelecenter industry are women.

ICT for Women’s Education and forWomen as Educators

In most societies, women are predominantly respon-sible for child-care, food preparation, and other house-hold tasks. Therefore, providing women with usefulinformation may have multiple benefits –in additionto the benefits to the woman herself– the technicaland substantive knowledge gained by women is of-ten shared with their families. Educated women do abetter job caring for their children, increasing their

children’s chances of surviving to become healthierand better educated adults (World Bank 2002a, SeeFigure 6). In Brazil, a domestic-based NGO, Cemina,is promoting communication and information on gen-der issues through radio broadcasting. Cemina aimsto improve education on gender through strength-ening the use of community radio by low-incomewomen. In addition to providing content on genderissues, Cemina has also trained 1,500 women fromacross the country in radio production. With fundingassistance from infoDev, today Cemina broadcasts toa network of 350 Women’s Radio Programs through-out Brazil and is nationally and regionally (LatinAmerica) recognized as a focal point for informativemedia for women.8

Enhancing Women’s Ability to Know theirRights and Participate in Decision Making

Women remain vastly under-represented in nationaland local assembles accounting for less than ten per-cent of the seats in national parliaments, on averageworldwide (World Bank 2003b). Some women donot even know their rights and lack knowledge onthe political and development processes that shapetheir lives. ICT has a lot of potential for empoweringwomen by enabling them to participate in public dis-cussions and democratic processes with the use ofmulti-way communications, through electronic andnon-electronic ICT networks. In Kenya, for instance,a group of women used videos to inform thedecisionmakers about their needs and concerns.9

Figure 6: Women’s Education Significantly Reduces Under-5 Malnutrition

Source: World Bank (2003b)

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9 www.itdg.org

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IFCExpanding Mobile Services andEmpowering Women in Bangladesh1999US$18.3 million

In 1999, IFC extended a loan of US$16.7 mil-lion and invested US$1.57 million inGrameenPhone Limited, currently the largestmobile operator in Bangladesh. The financingwas IFC’s first investment in the telecommuni-cations sector in Bangladesh, and funded the ini-tial installation and operation of a Global Sys-tem for Mobiles (GSM) network.

GrameenPhone launched operations in March1997, under a 15-year license issued by theGovernment of Bangladesh. At the time therewere three other mobile operators in the mar-ket but mobile penetration stood at only 0.3%.The fixed line incumbent had just 350,000 linesin service and the waiting list for these linesstood at over 200,000 subscribers with a wait-ing time of over ten years for residential cus-tomers.

GrameenPhone’s arrival into the market in1997 helped spur competition among the ex-isting operators and led to a rapid increase inmobile penetration, as illustrated in the Figure7. GrameenPhone’s adoption of a low tariffstrategy benefited consumers as other opera-tors competed to provide a similar price, as wellas increased the range of services offered withinthe market. Since IFC’s investment, the com-pany has outperformed its original estimates andreached over one million subscribers represent-ing 67% of the market.

One of the company’s main shareholders isGrameen Telecom, a non-profit organizationand a subsidiary of Grameen Bank, an interna-tionally recognized microfinance bank.GrameenPhone is assisting in the expansion ofrural connectivity as the sole provider of tele-communications services to the Village Phoneoperators, a program run by Grameen

Telecom. The program currently provides ac-cess to mobile phone services for approximately30 million people living in rural areas of thecountry and plays a vital role in empoweringlocal women (See Box 2).

infoDevAbantu: Strengthening ElectronicCommunications Capacities ofWomen’s Organizations in Africa1999 – 2002US$500,000(infoDev contributed US$250,000)

Abantu for Development, www.abantu.org, isan international NGO established in 1991. Thefocus of Abantu’s work is on training and pro-viding information and advice on mobilizingresources for sustainable development in Af-rica. The East African office is based in Kenyaand currently has four ongoing projects: (i)Gender and Poverty; (ii) Gender and Gover-nance; (iii) Gender and Conflict; and (iv) Gen-der and ICTs. The Gender and ICT projectbegan in 1999 in collaboration with a numberof other African organizations and is mainly

Figure 7: Evolution of Mobile Penetration in Bangladesh andSubscriber Base of GrameenPhone

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ICT and Gender:Selected World Bank Group Funded Projects

0.00%

0.20%

0.40%

0.60%

0.80%

1.00%

1.20%

1.40%

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 09/30/03

Cel

lula

r Pen

etra

tion

-

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

Gra

mee

nPho

ne S

ubsc

riber

s (E

OY)

Cellular Penetration GrameenPhone subscribers

Source: GrameenPhone


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funded by infoDev. This project aims to im-prove African women’s access to, and use of theInternet.

As part of this project, Abantu has been workingclosely with policymakers to try to ensure that gen-der perspectives are part of all new policies on ICT.To accomplish this, Abantu has developed a strongand focused core group of women across Africaand information is regularly exchanged electroni-cally between Abantu’s regional offices and theircore group. Abantu is also proposing a smalltelecenter project and has recently produced gen-der-sensitive ICT guides for use by women’s orga-nizations throughout Africa. These guides coversuch issues as “Making the most of the World WideWeb” and “Advocacy and the Internet”.

World BankMexico: Gender Equity Project2000 – 2004US$3.07 million

The Gender Equity Project aims to facilitate themutual learning and piloting of community-based initiatives to promote gender equity andto provide capacity-building assistance to theMexican Institute for Women. The project con-

sists of three components:

1. The Institutional Strengthening componentprovides financing for training the Institute’s staff,studies on gender issues and the establishment of amonitoring and evaluation system to assess progressin promoting gender equity.

2. The Community-based Gender Developmentcomponent is aimed at improving equity in oppor-tunities for men and women, peaceful sociability,and respect for all social groups, regardless of sexand ethnicity through a program called Convive.Convive, a small demand-driven grant program,has distributed grants supporting community-basedinitiatives to promote gender equity in 53 small cit-ies throughout the country (average population percity is about 50,000). The total amount of grantsto be distributed is US$600,000. The Convive pro-gram also provides technical assistance to womenorganizations in eight cities by helping to increasetheir opportunities to receive credit.

3. The Gender Awareness component is intendedto raise awareness of the value of equitable rela-tions between men and women by transmittingnew ideas and successful experiences that can bereplicated throughout urban and rural Mexico.This component will utilize low-cost media distri-bution technologies including radio and televisionto transmit its nation-wide gender equity campaign.In order to increase the participation of ruralwomen, the campaign’s announcements are trans-lated into indigenous languages. The first phase ofthe campaign will begin in December 2003 includ-ing regional campaigns delivered to the 53 Convivecities. This component also contains a GenderEquity Certification Program designed to encour-age the development and implementation of gen-der equity programs by the business community.In December 2003, a first-round of 20 medium-size firms will receive “certification” for promot-ing gender equity in their operations.

Box 2: Village Phone – Empowering Women

Villagers, mostly women, who are eligible for micro-credit through VillagePhone, are given loans to purchase mobile phones. These “operators” thenprovide telephone service (making and receiving phone calls) for the villagersin their community and are able to earn enough money to repay the GrameenBank loan. This program has several benefits. First, prior to the program, re-mote rural communities would make costly trips to nearby cities, which couldcost two to eight times more than a phone call. Second, owning mobile phones,empowers rural women. An “operator” expects to earn more than US$1,000/year in comparison to the country’s average of US$380 (BBC News 2002). Inaddition, villagers depend on “operators” to obtain a valuable service. Thesebenefits give women a new-found economic independence and a more promi-nent role in their communities. As of October 2003, more than 39,000 Vil-lage Phones are in operation and in nearly 28,000 villages.(www.grameenphone.com).

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Research and Training forHealth Care Workers

ICT allows health care workers in developingcountries to access the latest medical research. Italso provides a way to further their trainingthrough online educational programs. A signifi-cant percentage of health care workers in Uganda(54 percent) and Kenya (20 percent/ year) haveparticipated in radio training courses that lead toimproved health care services (Kenny 2003).Physicians in Bangladesh use the Internet to ac-cess online medical journals for a mere US$1.50per month, while physicians in Africa use theInternet to track meningitis outbreaks to curb itsspread (The Economist 2001).

ICT’s Role in AchievingHealth-related MDGs

ICT is an invaluable tool for health care workersand for the international development commu-nity in their combined effort to address three ofthe MDGs directly related to the health sector:(#4) reducing child mortality; (#5) improvingmaternal health; and (#6) combating HIV/AIDs,malaria and other diseases.

MDG#4. Reducing Child Mortality

Prior to the 1990s, child mortality rates had beensteadily declining but during the last decade,progress has slowed considerably. In fact, in someparts of Africa, child mortality rates increased. Asof 2000, nine percent of children born worldwidewould not live to see their fifth birthday accord-ing to the United Nations Development Program(UNDP 2001). The World Health Organizationestimates that disease or a combination of diseaseand malnutrition is responsible for 70 percent ofthese deaths (World Bank 2002a). These deathsare avoidable and ICT can help. Measles and other“diseases of childhood” are readily preventablethrough vaccination. The mortality due to diar-rhea can be reduced with oral rehydration

ICT utilization has had a profound impacton health care within developing countries.It enables health care workers perform re-mote consultation and diagnosis, access medicalinformation and coordinate research activitiesmore effectively than ever before. ICT also pro-vides an effective and cost-efficient channel forthe distribution of health and disease preventioninformation to the general public.

Providing Remote Health Care Services

Today, health care workers can provide remoteconsultation, diagnosis and treatment, and col-laborate with colleagues without traveling long,costly distances. In Gambia, for instance, healthcare workers use digital cameras and computersto send images of a patient’s symptoms to physi-cians in nearby towns or overseas for diagnosis.ICT has played a pivotal role in controlling On-chocerciasis (river blindness) in West Africa. Lo-cal inhabitants use computers and satellite radioto transmit data collected by sensors along 50,000km of rivers to entomologists who then calculatethe optimum time to spray against the disease-car-rying blackfly. Today, river blindness has beeneradicated in seven countries, enabling 30 millionrural inhabitants to live free of the disease (Kenny,Navas-Sabater and Qiang 2002).

Storing and Disseminating Health CareInformation

Greater access to medical information not onlyhelps the public understand general health issues,but ICT can also be used for disease prevention.By transmitting health messages via radio and tele-vision, the public can be educated on how to takepreemptive actions to prevent or curb the spreadof disease. Health care facilities utilize computersto lower costs and improve service by expeditingadministrative processes such as storing patientrecords and procuring medical supplies.

ICT and Health

ICT enableshealth careworkers toperformremoteconsultationand diagnosis,access medicalinformationand coordinateresearchactivities moreeffectivelythan everbefore.

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therapy, and vaccines exist to prevent some diar-rheal diseases. Some acute respiratory infectionscan be cured with antibiotics, others can be pre-vented using vaccines, and the mortality from vi-ral respiratory infections can be reduced with ap-propriate medical care. Health care workers canuse ICT to establish databases to track vaccinationprograms, to coordinate antibiotic shipments andto inform communities of medical services, whichcan help to reduce child mortality.

The Tygerberg Children’s Hospital of Cape Town,South Africa implemented a tele-medicine systemin 1999 with funding from the local Rotary Club.The system uses affordable, off-the-shelf computerequipment and software –a hard drive, scanner,and digital camera– to enable rural hospitals scanand send x-rays and blood-test results to Tygerberg.A Tygerberg health care worker reviews the data,forwards it to the appropriate diagnostic specialistand the specialist then emails treatment recommen-dations to the rural hospital. This system not onlyprovides rural children with life-saving medical carebut saves families costly transportation fees. Send-ing a child to Tygerberg would cost a farm workerthe equivalent of one-week’s salary (bridges.org2003a).

MDG #5. Improve Maternal Health

In 1995, more than 500,000 woman died fromcomplications during pregnancy and childbirth,which in most cases are preventable or at least, treat-able. Developing countries are particularly suscep-tible to these complications, as maternal death is theleading cause of death for women of reproductiveage (World Bank 2002a). The World Bank Group’sWorld Development Report 2002 noted that em-pirical studies found a woman’s access to the mediais associated with better health and fertility out-comes.10 ICT can also help providers in their effortsto make maternal health care services more efficientand effective. Therefore, ICT can play a critical rolein reducing the incidence of maternal death num-bers by facilitating access to information and to healthcare services.

In 1996, the Ugandan Ministry of Health, UNFPAand the Uganda Population Secretariat initiated theRural Extended Services and Care for UltimateEmergency Relief (RESCUER) project to reduce amortality rate estimated at 506 per 100,000. Theproject was designed to improve maternal health byconnecting traditional rural community health pro-viders with a cost-effective formal health deliverysystem. Due to the scarcity of electric power in mostrural areas and the lack of fixed telephone lines,Ugandan officials decided to employ very high fre-quency (VHF) radio technology that operated onfixed base stations, mobile walkie-talkies and vehicleradios. In 1999, three years after the project wasimplemented, a study sample of the Iganga districtconcluded that the maternal mortality rate had de-creased by nearly 50 percent (World Bank 2002b).

MDG #6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria andOther Diseases

Infectious diseases cause tremendous suffering, leavechildren orphans, stifle economic productivity andburden health care systems around the world. ICToffers new opportunities to effectively combat thesediseases.

For instance, Cape Town, South Africa, has one ofthe highest rates of tuberculosis (TB) worldwide. Inorder to treat and contain TB, patients must adhereto a strict treatment of four tablets, five times a week,for six months. The treatment too often fails becausepatients forget to take their medication. In 2002,South Africans tried a different approach that led totremendous success. They used mobile phones, ShortMessaging Service (SMS) technology and a pilotcomputer database. Every half-hour, the databasescans a list of patients and sends a SMS text messageto those patients needing to take their medication.Of the 138 patients participating in the pilot, onlyone treatment failure occurred (bridges.org 2003b).

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10 Differences in income andeducation levels were takeninto consideration and theassociation held true.

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infoDevVoxiva: A Voice Portal for HealthPeru, 2001 – PresentUS$700,000(infoDev contributed US$250,000)

Voxiva is an international organization estab-lished in 2001 to provide voice and data solu-tions for the public health sector. Through thecreation of a shared application platform,ALERTA, Voxiva enables both the collection ofdata from health care workers on the groundand the interaction between health care work-ers across countries. This project targets 76health care facilities and 204 users among doc-tors, nurses, technicians and other health carepersonnel in two geographic zones south ofLima. These zones comprise over 200,000 ha-bitants and 49 districts. Peru was chosen to pi-lot this system due to the recent expansion ofits telecommunications infrastructure.

6,000 health centers across Peru are currentlyrequired to report on outbreaks of certain typesof diseases (e.g. cholera, dengue, malaria, po-lio) to enable the Ministry of Health to take re-medial action. However, prior to Voxiva, thereporting system was entirely paper-based andit could take up to three weeks before the in-formation was received at the Ministry ofHealth, by which point the disease would haveincreased and maybe spread to many otherparts of the country. Beyond the challenge ofreporting disease, the health care system facedthe problem of providing feedback to remotehealth care workers. More than 90% of usersreported receiving health alerts “never”,“rarely” or “less than once a month”.

To help tackle these problems, Voxiva startedwork in Peru in March 2002 with the objec-tive to improve the speed and reach of com-munications between health care professionals

and organizations. Currently 76 health care fa-cilities have been connected to the network andhave been able to submit 4,269 reports and28,296 cases electronically. Designated healthcare authorities now receive immediate notifi-cations of suspected cholera, Bartonellosis (avector borne disease of the Andean region),other diseases, and local disasters. Thus, healthcare officials have been able to learn about newcases and to respond in a matter of hours anddays instead of weeks.

IFCSalutia, Argentina and BrazilHealth Care Sector2001 – 2004US$12.5 million(IFC contributed US$2.5 million)

Established in 1999, Salutia is a privately heldhealth care connectivity company focused prima-rily on payer/provider transactions in Brazil andmore recently, in Argentina. The company is start-ing a proprietary, multichannel, Internet-centrictransaction platform –Health24TM– to efficientlyand securely process transactions and exchangeinformation among health care payers and pro-viders and eventually among patients and suppli-ers. Salutia’s core clients are health care payerswho determine initial care eligibility and authori-zation.

E-health connectivity companies offer tremen-dous promise in Latin America and worldwide.Through connectivity, administrative inefficien-cies are reduced and the distribution of clinical in-formation is improved. Salutia has the potentialto not only reduce health care administrativewaste, but also improve the quality of care by giv-ing health care professionals more complete, ac-curate data at the point of care. This project dem-onstrates that health care connectivity, enabledby ICT, can play a significant role in improvinghealth care services.

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infoDevThe Child Health CareTelemedicine Network, Russia1999 – 2002US$3.75 million(infoDev contributed US$250,000)

In St. Petersburg, the oncology unit of First Mu-nicipal Children’s Hospital is the center for the treat-ment of leukemia for the northwest region of theRussian Federation. Prior to installing computersand Internet access, hospital physicians were iso-lated from the medical community outside St. Pe-tersburg. By using ICT, a network was formed thatlinks the St. Petersburg hospital to the GeorgetownUniversity Children’s Medical Center and theLombardi Cancer Center in Washington, DC, pro-viding access to educational and consultative re-sources.

The network consists of desktop computers, aserver, Internet access, an electronic microscopewith monitor and digital imagining equipment en-abling physicians to conduct medical consultationsvia email by transmitting digitized images. The suc-cess of this low-tech, user-friendly and cost-efficientnetwork quickly led to an expansion of its geo-graphic reach to include additional medical facili-ties in the Russia Federation and new connectionsin Europe.

Today, physicians in St. Petersburg consult withtheir counterparts in Moscow and in the West on adaily basis. Examples of international medical con-sultations between Russian physicians and UnitedStates, United Kingdom and German cancer spe-cialists have opened new lines of communicationacross great distances and cultural barriers. The re-sult is improved care for pediatric patients. In thecase of a 16-year-old boy with Acute Lympho-cytic Leukemia, a consultation with a specialist inthe UK spared the boy painful and dangerous bloodtransfusions (Amoss 2002).

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ICT ANDENVIRONMENTAL

SUSTAINABILITY

The environment is a large complex sys-tem. Managing and protecting it contrib-utes to improving human health conditions,sustaining agricultural and other primary produc-tion, and reducing risks of disastrous floods as well aswildfires, mudslides and other natural disasters. Theeffects of ICT on sustaining the environment aremultidimensional. The most fundamental effects in-volve the following areas.

Raising Awareness and SharingKnowledge

ICT can improve people’s understanding of envi-ronmental issues and their policy implications. It canensure that environmental knowledge is communi-cated to a broader audience, especially by using elec-tronic media to educate a new generation that doesnot believe that declining environmental quality hasto be sacrificed for economic growth. This genera-tion is more sensitive and willing to be involved informulating policies that affect their communities,countries and the world in the medium and longterm.

Environmental Monitoring andAssociated Resource Managementand Risk Mitigation

ICT improves the ability to obtain, store and inte-grate large volumes of environmental data and toconduct simulation and analysis in real time. It per-mits monitoring (See Table 2) of environmental qual-ity, accuracy in detecting sources of pollution andprojecting environmental problems. Geographic In-formation Systems (GIS), linking satellite imagingwith computer analysis, are increasingly powerfultools in designing management plans and forecast-ing environmental threats.

Environmental Progress in the ICT Sector

The ICT sector has made substantial advances inimproving the internal environmental performance.

By developing more efficient systems and equip-ment, the ICT sector uses fewer materials and haseliminated ozone-depleting chemicals. For example,between 1997 and 1999, signatories to the Environ-ment Charter of the European TelecommunicationsNetwork Operators Association (ETNO) improvedenergy use by 21 percent and fuel consumption by26 percent (UNEP 2002).

Enabling Greater EnvironmentalSustainability in Other Sectors

By intelligently using ICT products and services,other industrial, commercial and agricultural sectorscan reduce resource use and save energy. For in-stance, microchips can create more efficient car en-gines. Electronic controls can improve energy effi-ciency and reduce pollution in many industrial pro-cesses. Email and online applications can reduce pa-per consumption. Amazon.com, the online book-store, is an example of a new business model thatsprung from the ICT revolution. The potential forits positive environmental impacts is demonstratedin Table 3. Substituting a service for a product is anexample of dematerialization. A virtual network an-swering service requires about four percent of theenergy for production and operation and generatesapproximately 1.5 percent of the waste, comparedwith a physical answering machine (Tuppen 2002).In 2000, it is estimated that tele- and video-confer-ences enabled by telecommunications services pre-vented 540,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissionsfrom being released in North America (UNEP 2002)

Communication in Developing and Enforc-ing Policies Affecting the Environment

Communication among governments, business, sci-entific experts and concerned citizens is vital ifenvironmental remediation programs intend tomeet their objectives efficiently and equitably.ICT can promote the public’s participation andincorporate its ideas. This leads to more inclusiveand accountable policies and more environmen-tally sustainable outcomes. In Indonesia, for ex-

ICT and Environm

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ICT improvesthe ability toobtain, storeand integratelarge volumesofenvironmentaldata and toconductsimulationand analysis inreal time.


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ample, government officials tackled weak en-forcement of water pollution standards by devel-oping a public-access information database. Itrated how well firms complied with pollution-dis-charge requirements. Even before the informa-tion became public, firms rushed to improve theirratings. Regulators, meanwhile, could focus lim-

Initiative and Application Model Impact Environmental Information Network (EIN) Project of Ghana. Launched in 1999, EIN uses ICT to link the databases of two national environmental agencies – the Environmental Protection Agency and the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana. By sharing databases, local and international researchers, government agencies and other environmental groups can use the information to support decision-making, intervention strategies, and awareness campaigns about environmental protection. The database is publicly available for free use. http://www.bridges.org/iicd_casestudies/ein/index.html

• EIN is now pivotal in preventing the destruction of Ghana’s natural resources and developing them in a sustainable way. • By sharing project details with other African countries with a similar historical and developmental background, EIN helps them avoid reinventing the wheel of pest management practices. • EIN provides access to international sources and facilitates collaboration between researchers and agencies.

SIDSNet, the Small Island Developing States Network, is a communication medium to discuss and share information on biodiversity, climate change, coastal and marine management, energy sources and trade. It promotes sharing experiences and developing a global SIDS agenda. http://www.sidsnet.org/

• The web site receives an average of 300,000 hits per month from over 100 countries including donors and SIDS. • The site heightens awareness among SIDS decision-makers about the link between the environment and human development

Global Forest Watch (GFW) is an international data and mapping network. It combines on-the-ground knowledge with digital technology to provide accurate information about the world's forests. Since 1997, GFW has worked with Cameroon, Canada, Gabon, Indonesia, Chile, Russia, Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the US. By the end of 2005, GFW is expected to have its forest-monitoring network operational in 21 countries, covering three-fourths of the world’s remaining frontier forests. www.globalforestwatch.org

• Scrutinizing the practices of forest product companies and ensuring they honor pledges to harvest only from sustainably-managed forests. • Providing information on what is happening to the forests, helping promote and establish successful forest management practices.

Weather/Pest Information Network provides weather data to forecast pest problems. This reduces pesticide use and its subsequent impact on environmental quality and farming sustainability. The network benefits farmers in developing countries such as Zimbabwe, Armenia, Israel and Jordan by helping them improve their pest management. http://ppathw3.cals.cornell.edu/iipmweb/veg_fruit_IPM.htm

• Seven existing pest models have saved the fruit and vegetable industry an estimated US$7.1 million by using improved forecast data to guide pest management practices.

Table 2: Selected Initiatives Using ICT in Environmental Monitoring

ited enforcement resources on the worst offend-ers. In the program’s first 15 months, roughly one-third of the poorly performing firms came intocompliance with regulations (World Bank 1998).

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World BankLake Victoria EnvironmentalManagement Project (LVEMP)Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda,1997-2002US$70 million, co-funded with GlobalEnvironment Facility (GEF)

LVEMP is a comprehensive program aimed atmaximizing the benefits to riparian11 commu-nities by:

using resources within the basin to supplysafe water and ensure a disease-free environ-ment;

conserving biodiversity and genetic re-sources; and

integrating national and regional manage-ment programs to reverse –to the maximum ex-tent possible– environmental degradation ofLake Victoria.

To reach these goals, LVEMP uses ICT exten-sively in managing its environmental resources.The project has used ICT to create and updatescientific and socio-economic baseline data onthe current status of Lake Victoria’s forestgrowth, land-use practices, wetlands, industrialand municipal waste management, fishing fac-tors, satellite lakes, water quality and quantity,sedimentation, limnology and hydraulic condi-tions. GIS is the main tool used to investigatechanges in the wetland habitats around LakeVictoria. The satellite imaging helps to quicklyassess Lake Victoria’s wetlands, identify andquantify threats, propose solutions and formu-late guidelines for its wetland management.

LVEMP made it easier for riparian govern-ments to embark on a long-term resource man-agement and environmental improvement pro-gram. For instance, surface coverage of thewater hyacinth12 in Lake Victoria, which in thelate 1990’s spread across 12,000 hectares, hasbeen reduced by 80 percent and fish exports tothe European Union have resumed. Theproject’s training programs have enhanced theawareness and capacities of local people andgovernment institutions.

infoDevData Fusion for Flood Analysis andDecision Support (ANFAS)China, Slovakia and France2000 – 2003US$4.2 million, co-funded with theEuropean Commission (infoDevcontributed US$250,000)

The ANFAS project’s objective is to create an in-formation system that will provide solutions forflood prevention and protection. The new simu-lation system will help make decisions that couldreduce flood damage. The final product will be aDecision Support System –as opposed to an earlywarning system– with near real-time predictioncapabilities.

During the pilot flood data analysis period (2000– 2002), applications were tried on the Vah riverin Slovakia, the Loire river in France and the JingJiang Reach in China. Partners from Europe andChina shared expertise –in remote sensing, scien-

Traditional Bookshop Amazon.com Sales per square foot 250 2000 Energy cost per square foot 1.1 0.56 Energy cost per 100 sales 0.44 0.03

h d

Table 3: Energy Saving – Traditional Bookshop vs. Amazon.com (US$)

Source: Sawhney and Contreras

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11 Communities that arelocated on the bank of ariver, lake or tidewater.

12 A pervasive floatingaquatic plant notorious forclogging waterways.

ICT andEnvironmental Sustainability:

Selected World Bank Group Funded Projects


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tific computing, computer vision, Internet tech-nology, GIS, knowledge-based systems and soilsciences– to make the most appropriate decisionswhen there is a flood risk.

The ANFAS system performs flood simulation ofwater flow based on likely scenarios and can as-sess flood damage by using either simulated re-sults or remote-sensed images of a real flood event.At a prospective level, the system can analyzeflood-plain morphology including changes in theriverbed and subsurface properties that followrepeated flooding.

IFCNatural Disaster RiskManagement ProjectHonduras, 2004 – 2014US$50 million, to be co-funded withInter-American Development Bankand major international re-insurers

This project involves designing a private sector-driven, comprehensive natural disaster risk-man-agement scheme. The project combines finan-cial, technical (early warning systems, watershedmanagement and emergency planning), regula-tory and educational infrastructures into a mutu-ally supportive system that creates a secure andsound foundation for development.

In order to effectively implement this scheme, theproject utilizes a GIS, which is a computer systemcapable of capturing, storing, analyzing, and dis-playing geographically referenced information(data identified according to location). Sourcesof data for GIS include aerial photographs, satel-lite data, and digital maps. GIS technology can beused for scientific investigations and environmen-tal management. For example, GIS can enableemergency planners to easily calculate emergencyresponse times in the event of a natural disaster orscientists to find wetlands that are threatened bypollution.

In 1998, Honduras was devastated by HurricaneMitch. As a result, Honduras has been selected asthe first country to implement this natural disas-ter risk-management scheme. Both the public andprivate sectors are very receptive to the project.After Honduras, project developers are interestedin extending the natural disaster risk-managementscheme to all of Central America and SouthAmerica, beginning with Nicaragua, the Domini-can Republic and Colombia.

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Globalization has intertwined the world’seconomies and societies creating a glo-bal marketplace with new opportunitiesand challenges –particularly for developing coun-tries striving to participate in the global economyand improve their competitiveness. Without arobust international framework supported bygood economic policies and governance at boththe national and international level, trade and in-vestment could deter economic and social devel-opment. By leveraging ICT, countries can fosterglobal participation and partnerships that promotejob creation, knowledge transfer and greater effi-ciency and transparency in politics and business.

Good Governance

ICT is an invaluable resource to national and in-ternational efforts to institute good governanceand economic policies. Through greater accessto information via traditional technologies suchas radio and emerging technologies like theInternet, governments can use ICT to improvepublic services and promote accountability andtransparency. For instance, Vijaywada, India, acity with a population of one million, has loweredcorruption, expedited services and improved gov-ernment responsiveness by providing municipalservices through five kiosks located throughoutthe city and linked to the municipal office via theInternet (World Bank 2001a).

Using ICT to provide public services not only im-proves transparency but can yield high economicreturns. Singapore estimates that ICT use by gov-ernment services has yielded a US$2.70 return foreach dollar invested (Kenny 2003). For instance,ICT utilization can improve the administration oftaxation. Tax revenues provide resources for pub-lic services, infrastructure investment and debtservices. Many developing countries suffer fromopaque tax systems that spur corruption and dis-courage foreign investment. To remedy this prob-lem, some countries have utilized ICT in parallelto instituting tax reforms to improve their tax sys-tems through greater transparency.

Prior to reform, Cameroon’s tax system wasplagued by long processing delays, ambiguousregulations and outdated information. These ham-pered proper tax collection and discouraged for-eign investors. In 2001, the situation improvedwhen the government of Cameroon published thelatest tax information online, which allowed indi-viduals, corporate taxpayers and foreign investorsquick and easy access to tax information. In lessthan a year, the tax department’s website becamethe third most-visited site in Cameroon (WorldBank 2002c).

Leveraging ICT to Promote Trade

Increased international trade can have profoundimplications for the economic prosperity of de-veloping countries. The World Bank estimates thatif trade protection were cut in half, developingcountries would gain about US$200 billion by2015 (World Bank 2002a). ICT can help devel-oping countries overcome inefficiencies in tradepromotion, logistics and customs services to be-come more competitive and integrated in the in-ternational trading system. Malaysia’s ICT infra-structure investment policies have increased thetelephone penetration rate from 16.6 percent in1995 to 23.2 percent in 1999 and fueled the de-velopment of a vibrant ICT manufacturing ex-port sector. In 1999, the ICT sector contributedroughly 36.5 percent of GNP (Accenture, MarkleFoundation and UNDP 2001).

Access to ICT through Public-PrivatePartnership

Making available the benefits of ICT is itself anMDG target. In this context, access to basic tele-communication services is essential. Telecommu-nication sector reforms creating an enabling pro-competitive environment and public-subsidiesthat support rural expansion have improved ac-cess and lowered costs. Cross-country evidencestrongly suggests that economies with well-regu-

ICT AND PARTNERSHIPS

ICT and Partnerships

By leveragingICT, countriescan fosterglobalparticipationandpartnershipsthat promotejob creation,knowledgetransfer andgreaterefficiency andtransparencyin politics andbusiness.


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make searching for specific information cumber-some, time consuming and costly. To remedy thissituation, the Accessible Information on Develop-ment Activities (AiDA) site was launched to facili-tate the consolidation of information for analysisand interpretation around issues and topics ofcommon interest to the international develop-ment community.

AiDA is a multilingual platform offering informa-tion on development activities from more than100 multilateral, bilateral and smaller organiza-tions, on 33 sectors in more than 200 locations,including countries and regions. AiDA currentlycontains more than 450,000 records, and thenumber of projects is growing. Participating or-ganizations share information on planned, currentand completed projects and programs that theyfund, execute or implement. Today, AiDA is thelargest single source of integrated information ondevelopment activities.(aida.developmentgateway.org)

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Separateregulator

No separate regulatorLiberalized

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Figure 8: Cumulative Annual Growth Rate of MainlinePenetration in Developing Countries, 1996-2001

lated, competitive information and communica-tion infrastructure experience lower costs, betterservice, wider access (See Figure 8) and greaterdissemination of telecommunications and Internetservices (Qiang and Pitt with Ayers 2003).

In the mid-1990s, the Chilean government fi-nanced a fund to support the expansion of tele-communication services to rural communities.Five-years after initiating the fund, pay phone ser-vice was extended to more than 6,000 rural lo-calities. The percentage of Chile’s population with-out access to basic voice communication droppedfrom 15 percent in 1994 to one percent in 2002(Wellenius 2002).

Effective Data Management forInternational Development

In order for the international development com-munity to foster partnerships and leverage theircollective development experience, access totimely and reliable information on who is doingwhat and with what results is critical. The Internetenables the international development commu-nity to exchange vital project information and bestpractices at an unprecedented rate. However, theproliferation of information available online can

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The World Bank Group’s Global ICTDepartment (Policy and InvestmentDivisions)Introducing TelecommunicationsCompetition in Morocco1996 – 2000US$100 million, co-funded with theAfrican Development Bank

The Global ICT Department (GICT) was instru-mental in liberalizing Morocco’s telecommu-nications sector and in successfully issuing a sec-ond Global System for Mobiles (GSM) license.This has led to improved access and lower costs.The GICT Policy Division provided advice ondrafting Telecommunications Law 24/96,which enabled competition, established an in-dependent regulatory body and allowed for theprivatization of Itissalat-al-Maghrib (IAM), thestate-owned telecommunications monopoly.

The GICT Policy Division also assisted in the is-suance of a second GSM license to Meditel inAugust 1999 for US$1.1 billion, which in-creased Morocco’s fiscal revenue for 1999 byabout 13 percent. World Bank estimates sug-gest that the total fiscal impact of the secondGSM license (including future taxes and re-search and development) could range fromUS$2.0 to US$3.5 billion by 2008.

In the fall of 2000, the GICT Investment Divi-sion disbursed a US$400 million equivalentmulti-currency debt package to Meditel,owned 61 percent jointly by Telefonica Inter-national of Spain and Portugal Teleco

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