Michael Dougherty UNDP - Exploring New Modalities-Experience With ICT Interventions in the Asia Pacific Region

Exploring New

Modalities Experiences w

ith Information and Com

munications Technology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Region U

ND

P-APD

IP ICT4D

Series

US$ 14Michael Dougherty

This book is intended to explore and share the vast body of working knowledge, practical

experience, and insight gained from projects implemented across the Asia-Pacific region

and funded by the Pan-Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme between 2002-2005. The 56 project

profiles trace the course of each project’s development from the research context, target

beneficiaries and outputs through its results and outcomes. The profiles are complemented

by an analysis summarizing key lessons learned, common challenges faced and successful

models used to implement project work and create lasting impact. It is hoped that by

sharing these experiences, new contacts and collaborations will be initiated, new questions

asked and new solutions discovered. This book is a useful reference not only for

development practitioners and researchers working to promote information and

communications technology for development (ICT4D), but also for policy makers and

donor agencies supporting or planning to support ICT4D projects and programmes.

Exploring New ModalitiesExperiences with Information and CommunicationsTechnology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Region

Experiences with Information and CommunicationsTechnology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Region

A Review and Analysis of the Pan-Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme

UNDP-APDIP ICT4D Series

Exploring New Modalities


Experiences with Information andCommunications TechnologyInterventions in the Asia-Pacific Region

A Review and Analysis of the Pan-Asia ICT R&DGrants Programme


Michael Dougherty

Experiences with Information and Communications Technology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Regionii

The Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) is an initiative of the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP) that aims to promote the development and application of informationand communications technology for sustainable human development in the Asia-Pacific region.

© UNDP-APDIP 2006

For more information please contact:UNDP ASIA-PACIFIC DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION PROGRAMMERegional Centre in Bangkok3rd Floor, United Nations Service BuildingRajdamnern Nok AvenueBangkok 10200, ThailandTel: +66 2 288 1234Fax: +66 2 280 0556Email: [email protected]: http://www.apdip.net

ELSEVIERA Division of Reed Elsevier India Private LimitedShri Pratap Udyog, 274 Capt Gaur MargSriniwas Puri, New Delhi 110 065, IndiaTel: +91 11 4289 0200Fax: +91 11 4289 0201Email: [email protected]: http://asia.elsevier.com

ISBN: 81-312-0630-0

Cover photo: Roger Harris

Find out more about the Pan-Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme at http://www.apdip.net/projects/ictrnd

This publication is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 license. For full details of the license,please refer to the following: http://www.creative-commons.org/licenses/by/2.5/legalcode

The analysis and recommendations of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the UnitedNations Development Programme nor do they necessarily reflect the views of the institutions with whichthe author is affiliated.

Academic Press, Butterworth-Heinemann, Digital Press, Elsevier, Focal Press, Morgan Kauffman, NorthHolland, Pergamon are the Science and Technology Imprints of Elsevier.

Printed and bound in India



iii

Table of Content

List of Abbreviations vi

Foreword ix

Innovation for Change: Programme Review 1

About this Review 3

About the Programme 4

About the Projects 4

Project Outcomes and Lessons Learned 8

Conclusion 19

Pan-Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme: Project Review 21

Access to Information 23

1. Leveraging ICT Through Weekly Market Centres for Tribal Communities, India 24

2. Wireless Internet Post Office, India 26

3. Low-Cost IT Centre for the Philippines 28

4. ICT-Assisted Economic Empowerment: Integrated Tools Development, Malaysia 30

5. Robust Networks for Rural Areas in India 32

6. ICT-Enabled Women’s Social Net, India 35

7. Unsung Among Us, India 37

8. Bhutan 200: Lowering the Cost of Local Internet Access 39

9. Community Mesh Network for Mahavilachchiya, Sri Lanka 41

10. Achieving Universal Access: Developing a Philippine Business Model and GovernmentIntervention Strategies for Viable Community Telecentres in Rural Areas 42

11. Piloting Mobile ICT Access Models, Sri Lanka 45

12. Implementation of Wireless Last Mile Telephony Solution for Information Sharing andDisaster Mitigation in the Rural Philippine Setting 47

13. Maximizing the Use of Traditional, Digital and Satellite-Based Radio Services forEducation and Development in the Republic of Nauru 49

Capacity Building and Education 51

14. A Distance Learning Application of the Solomon Islands People First Network (PFnet) 52

15. IT-Mediated Rural Women Education and Dissemination of Health Information:A Pilot in Tamil Nadu, India 55

16. Local Government Knowledge Sharing Network (LOGOSHARE), Philippines 57

17. ICT-Enabled Life Skill and Sexuality Education for Adolescent Girls, India 59

Experiences with Information and Communications Technology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Regioniv

18. MISSION: A Secure and Easy-to-Use MIS Framework for Self-Help Groups andOther Community-Based Financial Institutions, India 61

Policy and Social Research 63

19. Evaluating the Impact of Universal Access Models, Strategies and Policies in ICT onPoor Communities in the Philippines 64

20. Diffusion of ICT in India: Labour Market Implications for Developing Countries 66

21. Policy for Integration of ICT Initiatives Across Rural Karnataka, India 68

22. Policy and Measures to Promote ICT Application and Deployment forBusiness Development in Rural Areas in Viet Nam 70

23. Roadmap for Process Re-Engineering for Extending e-Governance tothe Disadvantaged, India 72

24. Effects of ICT on Media Transformation, Education and Training inCambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam 74

25. Policy, Praxis and the Public Interest: Engendering a Strategic InfoCommsPolicy Research Programme in the Philippines 76

Technical Innovation 79

26. Nafees Nastalique: Character-Based Nastalique Font for Urdu, Pakistan 80

27. ICT-Assisted Learning Tool for the Deaf in Pakistan 82

28. Building a Philippine IPv6 Research Network 84

29. Nepal Internet Exchange 86

30. Free and Open Source Software Localization Toolkit 88

31. Scientific Journal Publishing in India: Indexing and Online Management 90

32. Dobhase: English-Nepali Translator 92

33. Developing a New Resource Sharing System and a New Tool to UseElectronic Materials in Multimedia Format Based on Grid Technology, China 94

34. Mongolian Text-to-Speech Conversion Tool 96

35. Open Source GIS/Mapping Solution for theIndian Tsunami Information Resource Centre 98

36. Automatic Synchronization and Distribution of Biological DatabasesOver Low-Bandwidth Networks Among Developing Countries 100

37. Development of a Real-Time and Mobile Integrated Water QualityMonitoring System Based on ICT: A Study Case in Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam 101

38. IPv6 Tunnel Broker: A Key for Using Next Generation Internet inDeveloping Countries, Thailand 102

39. Shahmukhi to Gurmukhi Transliteration Solution for Networking, India and Pakistan 104

40. VClass SIP-Based Mobile Classroom 105



v

Environment and Agriculture 107

41. Towards a Regional Geographic Information Infrastructure in theHindu Kush-Himalayan Region 108

42. ICT for Agriculture and Rural Development in China 110

43. Development of a Forest Fire Forecasting System forWestern Ghats, India, Using Web-Based GIS and Remote Sensing 112

44. Development of an SMS-Based Rice Seed Stock Inventory System forRice Farmers, Philippines 114

45. Web-Based e-Crop Management, China 116

46. Crop Disease Forecasting System and Expert Crop-Advisory toFarmers Over Information Kiosk Networks in India 118

Health and Medicine 121

47. ICT-Based Telemedicine System for Primary Community Health Care in Indonesia 122

48. Community Health Information Tracking System (CHITS), Philippines 124

49. Telemedicine in Nepal 126

50. Web-Based Integrated Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever Surveillance System in Indonesia 127

51. Using ICT to Build Capacities of HIV/AIDS Service Providers in India 129

52. Impact of Remote Telemedicine in Improving Rural Health, India 132

53. Development of a Web-Based Medical Information Repository Integrated with anArtificial Intelligence-Based Medical Decision Support System, Malaysia 134

54. M-DOK: Mobile Telehealth and Information Resource System forCommunity Health Workers in the Philippines 136

55. Development of ICT-Based Mobile Telemedicine System withMulti-Communication Links for Urban and Rural Areas in Indonesia 138

56. Generic Engine for Modules in PrimaCare 140

Annex 1: Assembling this Publication: Research Processand Consolidated Findings 141

Annex 2: Questionnaire to Grantees 149

Index of Keywords 152

About the Author 154

Acknowledgments

Experiences with Information and Communications Technology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Regionvi

A&RD Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentaAQUA Almost All Questions AnsweredAI Artificial IntelligenceAI3 Asian Internet Interconnection Initiatives ProjectAMIC Asian Media Information and Communication CentreAPBioNET Asia-Pacific BioInformatics NetworkAPDIP Asia-Pacific Development Information ProgrammeAPNIC Asia Pacific Network Information CentreASP Active Server PageASTI Advanced Science and Technology Institute, PhilippinesBGP Border Gateway ProtocolCAM Customer Account ManagerCCLF Centre for Conscious Living Foundation, PhilippinesccTLD Country Code Top-Level DomainCD Compact DiskCDMA Code Division Multiple AccessCeC Community e-CentreCED Centre for Environment and Development, IndiaCEO Chief Executive OfficerCHC Community Health CentreCHITS Community Health Information Tracking SystemCICT Commission on Information and Communications Technology, PhilippinesCRULP Centre for Research in Urdu Language Processing, PakistanCVISNET Central Visayas Information Sharing NetworkDHF Dengue Haemorrhagic FeverDNS Domain Name SystemDOST Department of Science and Technology, PhilippinesDOTC Department of Transportation and Communication, PhilippinesDSS Decision Support SystemDWMA Distributed Work Management ApplicationECG ElectrocardiogramEWB Engineers Without BordersFOSS Free and Open Source SoftwareGEM Generic Engine for ModulesGIS Geographic Information SystemGPK Grameena Patana KendramGPRS General Packet Radio Service

List of Abbreviations



vii

GPS Global Positioning SystemGSM Global System for Mobile CommunicationsGSML Grid Service Mark-Up LanguageHIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immunodeficiency SyndromeHKH Hindu Kush-Himalayan RegionHTML Hypertext Markup LanguageHTTP Hypertext Transfer ProtocolICIMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain DevelopmentICT Information and Communications TechnologyICT4D Information and Communications Technology for DevelopmentIDRC International Development Research Centre, CanadaIIT Indian Institute of TechnologyIITC Information Technology Centre, IndiaIP Internet ProtocolIPv4 Internet Protocol version 4IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6ISP Internet Service ProviderIT Information TechnologyITB Institut Teknologi Bandung, IndonesiaITES Information Technology Enabled ServicesIX Internet ExchangeIXP Internet Exchange PointKVK Krishi Vigyan Kendra, IndiaLGU Local Government UnitLOGOSHARE Local Government Knowledge Sharing Network, PhilippinesLPDO Local Planning and Development OfficerMIR Medical Information RepositoryMIS Management Information SystemMoU Memorandum of UnderstandingMSU-IIT Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology, PhilippinesMT Machine TranslationNCC National Computer Centre, PhilippinesNECTEC National Electronics and Computer Technology Center, ThailandNGO Non-Governmental OrganizationNpIX Nepal Internet ExchangeOJS Open Journal SystemORC Online Resource CentreOSPF Open Shortest Path FirstOTF Open Type FontP2P Peer-to-Peer

Experiences with Information and Communications Technology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Regionviii

PA Protected AreaPC Personal ComputerPCHRD Philippine Council for Health Research and DevelopmentPDA Personal Digital AssistantPDF Portable Document FormatPFnet People First NetworkPhD Doctor of PhilosophyPhilRice Philippine Rice Research InstitutePKP Public Knowledge ProjectPREGINET Philippine Research Education and Government Information NetworkPSDN Philippine Sustainable Development NetworkPSL Pakistani Sign LanguageR&D Research and DevelopmentRDF Resource Description FrameworkSAATHII Solidarity and Action Against the HIV Infection in IndiaSARS Severe Acute Respiratory SyndromeSHG Self-Help GroupSIP Session Initiation ProtocolSIRDI Satpura Integrated Rural Development Institution, IndiaSME Small- and Medium-Sized EnterpriseSMITES Small- and Medium-Sized Information Technology EnterprisesSMS Short Message ServiceSOA Service Oriented ArchitectureSQL Structured Query LanguageSRCW Seethalakshmi Ramaswamy College for Women, IndiaTESDA Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, PhilippinesTTS Text-to-SpeechUNDP United Nations Development ProgrammeUNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural OrganizationUP-EEE Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department of the University of the

PhilippinesUPS Uninterrupted Power SupplyUSP University of the South PacificVAST Vietnamese Academy of Science and TechnologyVSAT Very Small Aperture TerminalWiFi Wireless Fidelity (IEEE 802.11b wireless networking)WIPO Wireless Internet Post OfficeWSIS World Summit on the Information SocietyXML eXtensible Markup LanguageXSL eXtensible Stylesheet Language



ix

This book is a review of 56 projects funded by the Pan-Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme for Asia-Pacific from 2002-2005. The aim of this book is to examine trends within these particularinformation and communications technology (ICT) projects in order to determine factors forsuccess, and, common challenges. The underlying goal is to understand which projects have alasting impact and can be replicated on a larger scale.

The Pan-Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme builds institutional research capacity on ICT in thedeveloping countries of the Asia-Pacific region. It is a joint initiative of the United NationsDevelopment Programme’s Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (UNDP-APDIP), theInternational Development Research Centre (IDRC), of Canada, and the Asia Pacific NetworkInformation Centre (APNIC). The Programme is administered by the Asian Media Information andCommunication Centre (AMIC) and is overseen by a Committee established by all Programmepartners.

We hope this review will facilitate sharing of experiences and knowledge, and foster networkingbetween grant recipients. The material in this book is gleaned from a comprehensive canvassingof all projects, along with an independent evaluation and site visits.

In general, the review and analysis show that projects of particular value are those that increaseaccess to information, improve efficiency, and support participation in civil society and governanceinitiatives. A key factor of success is projects that embrace participation and include a consultativeprocess in their design, planning and implementation phases. However, the research showedthat building partnerships and reaching common understandings throughout the planning ofthese initiatives was a complex and challenging undertaking.

The importance of dissemination and marketing of project results is a common thread throughouteach of the projects in this book. Some projects with successfully completed research objectivescould not progress further without substantial promotional efforts. The analysis in this book alsopoints to a range of strategies in which projects can be expanded on a larger scale. For example,project models can grow by moving to new locations thereby gaining momentum elsewhere.They can increase popularity and reach through extension of services within networks, evolutionof research and establishment of new lines of inquiry. ICT growth sometimes happens throughthe often noted but difficult to quantify ripple effect, whereby users take ownership of the mediumand adapt it for their own local use.

Networking with related research and development institutions and funding organizations is vitalfor the sustainability and growth of project work. The private sector also offers an importantpotential for support through funding, technology and sharing of research work. In turn, privatebusinesses can benefit from the locally appropriate nature of innovations developed by grantrecipients. Such partnerships seem to offer potential for the growth and expansion of projects.

This review is qualitative in nature, focused primarily on project experiences. It has been notedthat as projects mature, a quantitative study on project impact may be useful. The projects

Foreword

Experiences with Information and Communications Technology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Regionx

presented are in various stages of development. Some of them are completed, some are nearlyfinished and others have just started. This book aims to present what worked and what did not.These are pilot projects involving testing and experimentation, and it is the intention of this bookto share these experiences so that we may learn from them and further our knowledge in supportof ICT development projects in the Asia-Pacific region.

Hafiz PashaUN Assistant Secretary General

UNDP Assistant Administrator andRegional Director - Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific

INNOVATION FOR CHANGE:PROGRAMME REVIEW

Photos: Kastam Astami; Richard Labelle; Alvin B. Marcelo; and Joel Umali.

2 Experiences with Information and Communications Technology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Region

3A Review and Analysis of the Pan-Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme


About this Review

This review provides an overview of the 56 projects funded by the Pan-Asia ICT R&D GrantsProgramme for Asia-Pacific from 2002-2005. The review is divided into two sections. This firstsection seeks to tease out the general trends within the array of projects and draw conclusions onsome of the common factors affecting project success, common challenges that projects faced,and the scope for lasting impact, replication and scaling up. The second section gives a profile ofeach project, with information on the objectives, research context, target beneficiaries, outputs,research results and outcomes, grant amount awarded, project duration, and contact information.To provide easy access to the projects in this review, the projects are presented in categories bytype. Within each category, the projects are ordered by their start date, and numbered sequentially.

In preparing this review, a range of research methodologies were used to provide a comprehensiveand balanced presentation of the Programme and the projects funded. This review draws on thework of an outside consultant who performed an internal review of the Programme. The consultantinterviewed each of the Programme partner organizations independently and reviewedconclusions and recommendations of all Pan-Asia ICT R&D committee meetings, in effectdocumenting the progress of the Programme from 2002-2005. In addition, the consultantperformed field visits to 13 projects as part of the internal review. Drawing on the internal reporthas been very beneficial in balancing the other research performed to develop this review.

A wide range of source materials were consulted, including internal reports and externalpublications produced by the Programme partners – the United Nations Development Programme’sAsia-Pacific Development Information Programme (UNDP-APDIP), the International DevelopmentResearch Centre (IDRC) of Canada, the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) and theAsian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC). The project profiles themselves drewon the grant recipients’ original project proposals, interim and final technical reports, and on anumber of research papers grant recipients have produced. In addition, to solicit current insightsinto the projects, an e-mail questionnaire was sent out to all grant recipients. The responses fromrecipients were followed up with additional queries; either to clarify information or further exploreaspects of the project as was considered useful. Through a number of meetings and dialogue viae-mail, the review also draws upon UNDP-APDIP and AMIC’s direct, personal experience withprojects.

There are several points regarding this review that should be noted. The projects’ start and enddates are provided by the grant recipients and Programme administrators. In some cases, theactual projects started later than expected or progress was delayed for one reason or another. Inaddition, as this review is primarily a desk study it relies largely on project reports. In many cases,the project profiles directly quote or paraphrase these reports. It should be recognized that, insome cases, the information contained in the project profiles has not been corroborated byindependent sources. Although every effort has been made to further our understanding throughthe process described above, there may be some inconsistencies or errors in reporting. In light of

Innovation for Change: Programme Review


the above, the project profiles cannot be said to represent the full scope of the project work.Several projects do not have statements on outcomes and impact. This is because the project hadjust started and did not yet have anything to report, or formal reports were not available at thetime of writing. It should also be noted that the grant amount indicated in the project informationis the amount disbursed by the Programme. Projects also contributed in-cash or in-kind, which isnot represented here. As a number of projects have received awards, a special note of these hasbeen made in the project profiles. Finally, at the time this review was published, all websitesincluded in the project profiles had been confirmed.

About the Programme

The Programme is directed at encouraging original and innovative information and communicationstechnology (ICT) solutions to development problems. Grants for suitable research and development(R&D) projects are awarded to Asia-Pacific-based organizations on a competitive basis. The ICT R&DGrants Programme Committee meets twice a year to review proposals and award grants. TheProgramme awards two levels of grants: grants up to US$ 9,000 for a project period of 12 months,and grants up to US$ 30,000 for a project period of 24 months. During project implementation,specific monitoring and evaluation processes are used. These include regular project progress reports,internal formative evaluation reports, and administrative and financial status reports. From time totime, the Programme also conducts evaluations, reviews, reports and field visits to individual projects.

The results of the awarded projects are transparent and made available publicly on the Programmeand partner websites and by other means, as appropriate. In the interest of sharing research resultsand research experiences, project results, including papers, research data and findings, resources,techniques, and tools are openly available and distributed. Grant recipients agree to freedissemination of their project research results. Copyright for project results resides with the researchteam and the Programme, as well as with other funding agencies in the case of co-financed projects.

For more information about the ICT R&D Grants Programme, please visit http://www.apdip.net/projects/ictrnd

About the Project s

Geographic Scope of the Projects

Between 2002-2005, the Programme received 642 project proposals from 34 countries; 64 projectswere funded. Eight were subsequently either delayed or cancelled for a variety of reasons. Of theremaining 56 projects, seven are specifically regional in nature while the others are located ormanaged in 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, namely, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia,Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Republic of Nauru, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailandand Viet Nam. Figure 1 provides a geographic breakdown of the 56 projects included in this review.

Some projects are local-level pilots such as M-DOK: Mobile Telehealth and Information ResourceSystem for Community Health Workers in the Philippines (no. 54), which is undertaking its researchin a rural community in Lanao del Norte, Philippines. Others are national in scale, such as theNepal Internet Exchange (no. 29), which established a consortium of national Internet ServiceProviders (ISPs) and created an Internet Exchange to manage local Internet traffic in the country.



FIGURE 1: NUMBER OF PROJECTS BY COUNTRY

Others, while locally-based, have a truly global potential for the application of their work. In thiscategory, the Nafees Nastalique: Character-Based Nastalique Font for Urdu, Pakistan (no.26)facilitates Urdu publishing through electronic media and benefits approximately 60 million Urdureaders worldwide.

Seven projects included in this review are specifically regional or trans-boundary in scope. TheEffects of ICT on Media Transformation, Education and Training in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam(no. 24) researches how ICTs are currently integrated into the media industry in these threecountries. The Free and Open Source Software Localization Toolkit (no. 30), although based inCambodia, has seen regional and global application of its localization work. The Open Source GIS/Mapping Solution for the Indian Tsunami Information Resource Centre (no. 35) serves South Indiaas well as other Southeast Asian tsunami-affected areas. The Thailand-based AutomaticSynchronization and Distribution of Biological Databases over Low-Bandwidth Networks amongDevelopment Countries (no. 36) is using Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology to develop a next generationautomatic biological software, courseware, database distribution and synchronization networkfor application throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The Shahmukhi to Gurmukhi TransliterationSolution for Networking, India and Pakistan (no. 39) is also trans-boundary in nature as its PunjabiLanguage Transliteration Tool facilitates electronic and written communication between peopleliving in East (Indian) and West (Pakistani) Punjab, as well as Punjabi people living around theworld. The VClass SIP-Based Mobile Classroom (no. 40) is developing a mobile classroom applicationfor learning institutions in the Asia-Pacific region that uses the Free and Open Source Software(FOSS) VClass. Finally, Towards a Regional Geographic Information Infrastructure in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region (no.41) combines a Geographic Information System (GIS) with a web-basedinterface to provide an information sharing solution in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region,covering the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.


FIGURE 2: PROJECTS CATEGORIZED BY TYPES

Scope of Projects by Type

The projects are presented in categories by type. The categories are: access to information, capacitybuilding and education, policy and social research, technical innovation, agriculture andenvironment, and health and medicine. There are, however, three main areas that all of the ICTR&D projects are seen to address. All projects contribute in some way to bridging of the digitaldivide. All projects use ICTs either as a central focus of their research work or in service of broaderdevelopment goals. Finally, all projects include a component of supporting community,organizational or national development, or social change initiatives.

It is within this broader programmatic scope that further delineation of the project types is made.These are outlined in Figure 2. It should be noted that almost all of the projects cross severaldifferent categories and, in addition, each of the categories includes a diverse range of projects.To provide a deeper understanding of each category, they are treated in detail below, with severalexemplary projects.

Access to Information

Included in this category are the projects that have a primary objective of increasing access toinformation and ICTs. Invariably, there is a strong social dimension to these projects. They often dealwith ‘last mile’ initiatives, increasing access and capacity building at a local level, and addressingissues such as culture, gender equity, social equity, sustainable community development and benefitsto rural areas. Projects working in this area stress that ICTs are a means to an end, not an end inthemselves. To ensure uptake of the solution and achieve lasting impact, it is important to involvelocal stakeholders throughout the design and implementation process. This was identified by theproject Low-Cost IT Centre for the Philippines (no. 3), which studied the impact of an existinginformation technology (IT) centre and created a guide for setting up viable low-cost IT centres. It isalso noted that a key to successful interventions is not just access but also the provision, or creationof content that is relevant and meaningful to the local beneficiaries. This was stressed in the project



Piloting Mobile ICT Access Models, Sri Lanka (no. 11) that developed a mobile access solution calledan eTUKTUK to bring a range of locally relevant content directly to the village level.

Capacity Building and Education

Capacity building is a key component of all projects in the Programme; however, certain projectsspecifically focus on ICT capacity building for local communities or on increasing the ICT capacityof educational and learning institutions. Projects working in these areas have commented thatcontrary to popular belief, local communities are often very willing to experiment with newtechnologies as in ICT-Enabled Life Skill and Sexuality Education for Adolescent Girls, India (no. 17)that uses ICT tools to provide comprehensive sexuality and life skills education to empoweradolescent women in Chennai, India. Interventions that will have lasting, sustained effects in thesecommunities, however, require commitment to truly understand the communities’ needs anddesires and develop relevant curricula to meet them. This is seen as central in the work of A DistanceLearning Application of the Solomon Islands People First Network (PFnet) (no.14) that pilots adistance learning facility in one of Solomon Islands’ rural community high schools.

Policy and Social Research

In this category are projects with a more traditional focus on research and analysis of outcomesand social impacts from specific ICT policies, interventions and applications. In some cases, policyis seen to be lagging behind and hindering ICT development, while in others it can be seen ashelping to drive change. Projects in this area have mentioned the need to carefully consider theimplications of how people are managing their relationship to ICTs and the role of a wide rangeof social intermediaries such as work environments, schools, institutions, and informal networkssuch as family and friends. For example, Diffusion of ICT in India: Labour Market Implications forDeveloping Countries (no. 20) explores the trade-offs between improving productivity andgenerating employment when deploying ICTs in developing countries. Some challenges ofworking in this area relate to the research and documentation of processes that are “live” or in adynamic state of evolution, as is typical in the rapidly developing area of ICTs. This was particularlynoted in the work of Policy, Praxis and the Public Interest: Engendering a Strategic InfoComms PolicyResearch Programme in the Philippines (no. 25), which examines critical ICT policy issues with clearpublic interest implications and seeks to engender a multi-stakeholder approach to policydevelopment.

Technical Innovation

This category represents those projects that have a central focus on technical innovation or dealwith the construction of digital systems or strategies that increase the capacity or efficiency ofnetwork infrastructures. Many projects in this category build on existing technology or applicationsand expand their functionality to serve development needs. For example, Building a PhilippineIPv6 Research Network (no. 28) builds on Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) work previouslyundertaken by the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) and expands on it throughcollaboration with the Philippine Research Education and Government Information Network(PREGINET). A number of projects working in this area also note that the sustainability of suchinterventions relies on local participation and ownership both at the development and deployment


stages. For example, the success of the Nepal Internet Exchange (no. 29) relied heavily on continuedactive participation and support of the initiative by local ISPs.

Environment and Agriculture

These projects specifically address the design of solutions to meet the complex demands ofenvironmental management or agriculture services such as crop forecasting, disease managementand marketing. Projects in this area are often concerned with the value or efficiency that ICTs cancontribute to environmental and agriculture management. This is the key contribution ofDevelopment of a Forest Fire Forecasting System for Western Ghats, India, Using Web-Based GIS andRemote Sensing (no. 43). The project undertakes its work in a biodiversity hotspot in the state ofKerala, India, and uses a web-based GIS and remote sensing system to develop a fire forecastingsoftware called the SWG Fire Mapper. The question of how to integrate the intervention withmore traditional modes of environmental or agriculture management also needs to be consideredwhen working in this area. Training and local level management were both cited as critical toensure the integration of indigenous knowledge with a new technical tool, contributing to thesuccess of the Web-Based e-Crop Management, China (no. 45), which uses a web-based cropsimulation and nitrogen model to optimize crop and vegetables production.

Health and Medicine

Included in this category are projects that use ICTs to address health issues. Some projects in thisarea are designing platforms to enhance information management and exchange and othersbuild on existing ones. For example, Generic Engine for Modules in PrimaCare (no. 56) builds onexisting PrimaCare technology and develops open-source medical software modules that improvethe quality of primary health care through better patient, clinical, information and statistical datamanagement. Other projects are field-testing applications, technologies and strategies that deliverhealth-related services to those who are currently not receiving them. Projects working in thisarea note that the success of implementing information systems in health care settings aredependent on the institution’s organizational readiness and that personnel, workflow, policy andenvironment should be considered during system development and implementation. This wascited as essential to the ICT-Based Telemedicine System for Primary Community Health Care inIndonesia (no. 47), which developed PC-based medical stations and conducted field-testing in anumber of locations.

Project Outcomes and Lessons Learned

Overview of Projects Outcomes

One of the key factors in determining the success of projects lies in the articulation of the linkbetween the development goals and the appropriateness of the technological solution. TheProgramme supports a range of project types, from those that primarily focus on addressingdevelopment issues and employ ICT as a component in the effort, to those that create ICT solutionsthat in turn serve development goals. In all cases, however, it should be acknowledged that, withinthe context of the Programme, ICTs are not seen as an end in themselves, but rather as tools to beused in the service of larger development initiatives.



Project Findings: Project location and intervention design

● Choose project sites based on the results of market surveys assessing demand(see project 5).

● Ensure target audiences, scope, objectives, etc. of project are clearly spelt out beforeimplementation (see project 6).

● The importance of building trust and confidence at the initiating stage is critical(see project 17).

● It is a challenge to keep up with actual policy processes and make the research relevantto governance realities (see project 25).

● Projects are most successful when there is full involvement and cooperation bystakeholders (see project 29).

When reviewing the various projects, it is important to remember that as a research anddevelopment programme, there is a degree of uncertainty at the outset of every project as towhether a project will be successful or not. It is, in fact, overcoming this uncertainty – or discoveringthe answer to the research question – that lies at the heart of any research and developmentprogramme. The following section explores some of the key common challenges projects facedand some of the key factors that can be seen to have influenced their success. This leads to afurther discussion of the strategies and opportunities projects have employed for increasing long-term project impact, scaling up and sustainability.

Common Challenges

While projects have faced many discreet challenges that are particular to the context within whichthey have undertaken their project work, the following challenges have been observed as commonacross all project reviewed.

Project location and intervention design

Selecting the entry point for an ICT intervention can have wide-ranging implications for the typeof project work that is required. In some cases, for example, when working with beneficiaries whohave low levels of education, literacy or limited experience with computers or other technology,a greater degree of energy will be spent on building capacity, than actually mobilizing thetechnological solution proposed. In other cases, the technological infrastructure may be so basicas to seriously limit the potential of an intervention. Often such cases represent the social realitiesthat form an essential barrier to bridging the digital divide. An example of this is the ICT-EnabledWomen’s Social Net, India (no. 6), project, which sought to establish an ICT service centre for women.This project undertook its work in remote rural communities in Marathwada, India, typified byextremely limited infrastructure, low levels of education and a population that is more focusedon daily survival than exploring new opportunities for employment or self-realization throughICTs. These issues are exemplary of the kinds of challenges a project can face depending on itslocation, beneficiary group and technical intervention. Among the more successful projects thathave worked in such restricted environments are those that plan appropriate strategies toovercome such technological or social constraints.


Project Findings: Partnership s and management

● Pay due attention to selection of appropriate partner (see project 4).● Ensure terms of reference with partner organizations are in place before the proposal

submission stage itself and begin community-based work only after the committedgrant amount is transferred into the project account (see project 6).

● Consider use of a MoU between implementing partners to define a clear programmeof work and scope of responsibilities (see project 16).

● Project should be prepared to respond to unforeseen political developments andtransitions in government (see project 25).

● Projects need advice on Intellectual Property Rights issues and making the agreementmore detailed (see project 26).

● Public-private partnerships with governments and NGOs help to improve the qualityof services being offered and increase acceptance (see project 52).

Partnerships and management

The process of partnership building, reaching common understandings, defining roles andresponsibilities can be complex and difficult to manage. Several projects noted problems withpartner organizations, which impeded the progress of their project. This may take the form ofworking with a private, for-profit technical partner that will obviously have different motivationsthan a not-for-profit development partner. An example of a project that experienced difficultiesin this area is the project ICT-Assisted Economic Empowerment: Integrated Tools Development,Malaysia (no. 4), which had problems with its IT partner, including technical problems that delayedthe technical handover, and unforeseen high maintenance costs that had obvious implicationsfor the project’s sustainability. In such cases, a well-defined Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)and scope of work have been recommended to avoid problems as the project work proceeds.This strategy has been used by a number projects to successfully manage partnerships with privatesector organizations. An alternative suggestion has been to seek technical partnerships with like-minded institutions such as government agencies or educational institutions.

Another management issue that has come up repeatedly relates to project planning and thetiming of the release of funds. In some cases, the receipt of funding from foreign donors is restrictedby government regulations. There have been some cases where the unexpected late release offunds to the project team hampered project work. While some of these events cannot be plannedfor, and project teams will often have to think on their feet, solid upfront research into whatresources a project requires and how and when they will be delivered is critical to its success.

● The success of information system implementation is dependent on the institution’sorganizational readiness. Human resources, workflow environment and policy should beconsidered throughout system development and implementation (see project 47).



Project Findings: The unforeseen event

● Increased controls on NGOs and tightening of rules for accepting foreign donations(see project 6).

● Premature staff departures (see project 8).● Delays in obtaining necessary licenses – in this case to broadcast using wireless

technologies (see project 11).● The project found employers were reluctant to allow them to conduct interviews with

employees (see project 19).● Unexpected technical limitations - in this case, Open Type Font specifications

(see project 26).● Project work hampered by political events and technical problems that were beyond its

control (see project 32).● Unexpected restrictions imposed on the project team due to unforeseen events, thereby

seriously hampering progress and resulting in a loss of momentum for the project(see project 42).

● Unexpected technical bugs and premature staff departures (see project 44).

The unforeseen event

Work in several projects was hampered by unforeseen events that were beyond the control of theproject team. This could be anything as simple as the issue of dust interfering with computerfunctions or the theft of project equipment. The project, Leveraging ICT Through Weekly MarketCentres for Tribal Communities, India (no. 1) faced many such difficulties in carrying out its work,with computers being used in very harsh conditions, unreliable Internet access and insufficientelectrical supply. Although the project had foreseen some of these events and ultimately wasable to overcome them, it required great perseverance and ingenuity on the part of the projectteam to develop solutions in the field. There have also been other more serious problems such ascases of a national emergency. For example, when the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)virus hit China, the project team of the ICT for Agriculture and Rural Development in China (no. 42),was severely hampered in their movement, resulting in a severe setback to the completion oftheir project work. The project Dobhase: English-Nepali Translator (no. 32) also suffered severesetbacks due to polictical unrest in Nepal. Just after the project work began, a state of emergencywas declared, affecting the transfer of funds to the project team and later project work wasimpeded by curfews that were in effect. While none of these projects were abandoned, theydemonstrate that in the face of such unforeseen events, it is the ability of the project team torespond appropriately, even redefining its objectives if necessary, and regaining projectmomentum that is the key to overcoming such challenges.

Planning for success

A number of projects that were successful in completing their research objectives found thatwithout further and often quite robust efforts regarding dissemination and promotion of researchresults, their project would not have the maximum impact possible. In many cases, the grantrecipients acknowledge that outreach and marketing of the project fell outside the scope of their


Project Findings: Planning for success

● Service providers are not always the best people to develop the kind of online servicesmost relevant to rural communities. It is vital to perform a market survey before startingsuch a project and then bring in partners such as government institutions, privatecompanies and content providers who will back the content and services (see project5).

● Social preparation programmes, awareness workshops and training are indispensablecomponents in operating telecentres, especially in rural areas where people are notcomfortable or familiar with technology (see project 10).

● It is crucial to identify a local champion who is dedicated to using ICT as a tool fordevelopment, improving the telecentre to make it relevant to the community’s context,and making its operation sustainable (see project 10).

● In rural communities, a combination of ICTs with motivated individuals is most effectivein combating social problems (see project 15).

● Overall impact of the project can be realized fully only with a significant outreachprogramme to train the end-users (see project 26).

● For optimum utilization of the end product/service, advertising the product/service andtraining end-users is critical (see project 32).

● Since data-sharing culture is still conservative in the region, a proactive role in convincingpartners to actively participate is necessary (see project 41).

work. It should also be considered that the original project team might not always be best suitedfor marketing and dissemination if it falls beyond their expertise. Initially, this was the case in theNafees Nastalique: Character-Based Nastalique Font for Urdu, Pakistan (no. 26) project. The projectteam noted in its final technical report, that “…the font has been made, but still many people donot know how to use it.” While not envisioned for this project, the team recognized the need for asignificant outreach programme to train end-users across the country in order for the project tohave its full impact. Although this project has gone on to have wide ranging applications of itswork since that time, its initial comments on completion do underscore the importance of planningfor a dissemination strategy.

Some projects, particularly those relating to telecentres and Internet kiosks have specifically lookedat marketing as a key component of their research. For example, Robust Networks for Rural Areasin India (no. 5) noted that service providers were not always the best people to develop servicesmost relevant to rural communities. They stress that it is vital to perform a market survey beforestarting such a project and then bring in partners such as government institutions, privatecompanies and content providers who will back the content and services. Another project,Achieving Universal Access: Developing a Philippine Business Model and Government InterventionStrategies for Viable Community Telecentres in Rural Areas (no. 10) notes that social preparationprogrammes, awareness workshops and training are indispensable components in operatingtelecentres, especially in rural areas where people are not comfortable or familiar with technology.Regardless of whether a project is specifically looking at marketing or not, planning fordissemination of successful project work is essential to achieving lasting impact.



Common Success Factors

There are a number of factors that have been observed as common to the more successful projects.

Participatory processes

Projects that embraced a participatory process on some scale had a marked increase in theirprobability for success. These projects have introduced participatory processes into their researchwork on a variety of levels and scales, from those that consult beneficiaries through such methodsas questionnaires, focus groups and qualitative interviews, to those where beneficiaries are indirect control in decision-making and other strategic design processes. In this light, it can beobserved that some projects use participatory methodologies as a means to an end, such as toreceive feedback on the appropriateness of an intervention, to those that focus on enablingparticipation as an end in itself.

An example of the first project type is Community Health Information Tracking System (CHITS),Philippines (no. 48). The researchers in this project noted that developing a community-basedhealth information system is a challenging task. However, by paying close attention to healthcentre events and culture and by employing purposeful immersion in the end-user’s way of life,the researchers were able to gain immense insight into their needs and requirements, and thenapply these insights into software code - a process they call evolutionary software development.Initially the researchers were leaning towards a technology-centric implementation of aninformation system. With deeper analysis and understanding of the needs and requirements ofend-users, the researchers were able to use technology to serve the genuine needs of communityhealth workers. The Nepal Internet Exchange (no. 29) falls in the second project type, focusing onenabling participation as an end in itself. Not only did the project require full cooperation of theISPs, it also commented that educating the ISPs on how to set up the networks was more valuablein the long run than having experts do it for them – as they are the ones who ultimately will beresponsible for it. The project also stressed that trust among the technical team and all localparticipants was essential to build working relationships.

Whatever the degree of participation that has been embraced by each project, it is seen thatcross learning between the project team and beneficiaries enhances the research outcomes intwo essential ways. First, by refining the appropriateness of the solution within the context thatthe projects outcomes are realized and, second, by increasing the level of ownership and equityof beneficiaries in the project. These two factors, more than any other, increase the chances forthe project work to continue to evolve and grow beyond the proposed research phase.

Project Findings: Particip atory processes

● The project team developed a participatory model that empowered those involved, builtcapacity and democratized knowledge (see project 7).

● People in rural areas are ready and capable to successfully adopt these new skills andtechnologies not only for education, but also to improve themselves and theircommunities (see project 14).


Adaptive research

Another factor that can be seen as a common success factor of applied research projects is theirdegree of responsiveness to the research environment, and their ability to adapt and changealong the way based on their experience and research findings. In this category are projects thatembrace, at least to some extent, an action research methodology, involving the following foursteps: initiation of an intervention or action, observation of results, reflection, and a refinement ofthe research question, strategy or intervention. This cyclical process can be repeated throughoutthe life of the project.

Perhaps the best example of this kind of project is the Free and Open Source Software LocalizationToolkit (no. 30). Originally the project sought to simply develop a localization toolkit, comprisedof a manual and a Compact Disc (CD) that would reduce the necessary research, work and expertisethat a country or group would require to undertake a localization project. However, as the projectproceeded, it found that the software documentation it was to draw upon was very limited andof poor quality. Therefore, the project had to complete a great deal of work it had not anticipated,including detailed research into FOSS design and, in some cases, resolving technical problems withsoftware. In addition, it came to be seen that the project would have a much more profound impactif it could link the toolkit (through documentation) to other major FOSS projects, such asOpenOffice.org. This evolution in the research has led the project to produce documentation thatnot only has value for the project itself, but also beyond it, as part of other localization projects.

Clearly, the longer term, two-year projects have more scope to benefit from such a responsivemethodology. However, in short-term projects, such a strategy - even if used on a more basic level -can greatly enhance the quality of findings to the research question. Contrary to what one mightexpect, it has not been observed that projects using such an adaptive process experience deepshifts in the principle project goals. More often, the shifts can be observed in the specific outputsthat are considered appropriate, or changes in strategies to meet those goals.

● The project performed a participatory needs assessment to determine the informationrequirements and the capacity of the users. The results of the assessment formed thebasis for the preliminary system design (see project 16).

● It is critical to build trust and confidence at the initiating stages of any community-basedwork (see project 17).

● The project stresses the value social intermediaries play in bridging the informationdivide. Institutions such as schools, the workplace, and NGOs offer important accesspoints for individuals. Informal networks of friends and family also play an importantrole in building awareness and distributing knowledge (see project 19).

● An Internet Exchange can only be successful with the full cooperation of the ISPs.Educating the ISPs about how to set up the networks is more valuable in the long runthan having experts do it for them (see project 29).

● In implementing the project, the project saw that it was critical to establish control atthe local level through a local coordinator and cooperation units (see project 45).

● The project worked in close cooperation with local government health institutions andpersonnel who are the primary users of the system (see project 47).



Project Findings: Adaptive research

● Following the analysis of the telecentre after one year of operation, the project definedthree additional research principles to improve its model (see project 3).

● Technology is merely a tool; without efforts in marketing, product improvement andother non-ICT related capacity development training, the technology usage will not bemaximized (see project 4).

● To prevent information and knowledge gaps from widening, the project suggestsintegrating traditional models of communication such as community radio, church bellsand two-way radios with more modern ICTs (see project 19).

● Through interaction with editors of journals and participants of the workshop, the projectidentified several features to improve its system (see project 31).

● The rule-based approach was selected over a more sophisticated method because asufficiently large parallel text corpus for the English-Nepali language pair was notavailable (see project 32).

● With deeper analysis and understanding of the needs and requirements of end-users,one is able to ensure that technology serves the genuine needs of communities anddoes not become an end in itself (see project 48).

● By paying close attention to health centre events and culture and by employingpurposeful immersion in the end-user’s way of life, the researchers were able to gainimmense insight into their needs and requirements and apply these insights intosoftware code, a process they call evolutionary software development (see project 48).

● The project was extended by six months to allow for a longer period of data collectionand validation, which will ensure proper analysis and interpretation (see project 53).

Common organizational models and patterns

There are several organizational models and patterns that can have a positive affect of the outcomeof projects. The strongest models can be found among those projects that have either a specificcollaborative agreement or at least inherent synergies with other organizations such as governmentoffices, development organizations or educational institutions. In particular, if the project is in someway building on the work of its partners, either by filling a gap or by extending a particular programmeor application, results can be dramatically enhanced. This is most likely because the need has alreadybeen clearly established and the project has momentum of its own at the outset. Many projects usethis model. Just one example of such collaborative projects is Impact of Remote Telemedicine inImproving Rural Health, India (no. 52). In this project, Internet kiosk operator, N-Logue is field-testinga low-cost medical kit, called ReMEDiTM, developed by a partner company NeurosynapticCommunications Pvt. Ltd. The project uses N-Logue’s existing rural kiosk network as a platform toprovide low-cost medical services to rural communities. This project also notes the importance ofcreating public-private partnerships with governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)and health institutions for remote health delivery to rural areas. They see that such partnerships canimprove the quality of services being offered and increase acceptance of it by local people.

The second type of project model that has been successful is those that further an existing initiativewithin the implementing organization itself. This might involve scaling up an existing service,


Project Findings: Common organizational models and p atterns

● Provide relevant services by partnering with other providers and make each serviceindependently sustainable. Partner with local organizations that can train operatorsand spread awareness of computers and the Internet (see project 5).

● The project began with a call for participation and selected three partners based on thecriteria of technical capability and geographic representation (see project 28).

● Deploying IPv6 has been enhanced through collaboration with schools and universities,ISPs, telecommunications companies and other IPv6 stakeholders (see project 28).

● The Free and Open Source Localization Toolkit is further developing and testing itsdocumentation through a south-south collaboration (Cambodia/South Africa) projectcalled WordForge (see project 30).

● The team has noted the importance of creating public-private partnerships withgovernments, NGOs and health institutions for remote health delivery to rural areas.They see that such partnerships can improve the quality of services being offered andincrease acceptance of it by villagers (see project 52).

1 This section also draws from and expands on the publication Empowering the Poor: Information and CommunicationsTechnology for Governance and Poverty Reduction – A Study of Rural Development Projects in India, by Harris, Roger andRajora, Rajesh, UNDP-APDIP, 2006. http://www.apdip.net/publications/ict4d/EmpoweringThePoor.pdf

exploring a new application within an existing framework, or expanding a particular area of expertisewithin the organization. The strength of this model lies in the institutional stability, human resources,knowledge and experience and perhaps independent funding sources that larger organizationscan bring to projects. An example of such a model is the project Towards a Regional GeographicInformation Infrastructure in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region (no. 41), which builds on and furtheradvances the work of the implementing organization, the International Centre for IntegratedMountain Development (ICIMOD) and its networks of partners. However, it should also be notedthat some smaller projects have succeeded without the benefits of these substantive resources.Many of these smaller organizations have overcome profound challenges and succeeded in therealization of their goals because the project is seen as essential to the achievement of greaterinstitutional aspirations. The salient point in this second type of structure is that the project is seenas a part of a larger or longer-term initiative. Thus, it can be argued that the common success factoris not the size of the organization but rather the degree of long-term commitment it brings to theproject.

Lasting Impact, Continuity and Sustainability 1

To ensure lasting impact, continuity and sustainability, the primary outcome that must be achievedis project success. On a most basic level, this means that the project work established itself asuseful to its beneficiaries. It also indicates that the projects have overcome one or more challengessuch as those outlined above. Specifically, the entry point and technological solution areappropriate for its intervention, it has been able to manage itself and partnerships effectively, ithas overcome any challenges posed by unforeseen events, and it has been able to plan for itsown success and establish the next steps that need to be taken to reach its maximum impact.



Whether or not it has integrated participatory processes, an adaptive research strategy or one ofthe organizational models outlined above, is important but less critical. The main point is that theproject’s value and appropriateness has been clearly established, and any uncertainty in the aboveareas has been addressed.

Financial sustainability is the next issue that projects will face in efforts to continue their workbeyond the grant period – be that simple continuation and development of the project workitself or scaling up to reach wider audiences. Projects have addressed this issue in several ways.First, as mentioned above, a number of projects were conceived of as a component of a largerinstitutional effort. In some of these cases, the institution can sustain the project after the intensiveinitial period of establishing capacity or infrastructure is complete, as was the case of ICIMOD’sTowards a Regional Geographic Information Infrastructure in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region(no. 41) mentioned above. Second, several projects have specifically focused on financialsustainability as a key outcome of their research work. For example, the project Achieving UniversalAccess: Developing a Philippine Business Model and Government Intervention Strategies for ViableCommunity Telecentres in Rural Areas (no. 10) is working on research to identify key principles fora citizen-centric, market-oriented business model for the viable and sustainable operation oftelecentres in rural communities. Many projects have similar aspects to their work, and if theirresearch is successful, the project is seen to be financially viable allowing it to proceed directly toscaling up. The third way financial sustainability has been addressed can be seen in those projects

Project Findings: Financial st ability

● Services offered by the centre generate enough revenue to cover costs; the project teamhas identified new services to serve the local community (see project 1).

● The application delivered has quite a high maintenance cost that has obviousimplications for the project’s sustainability (see project 4).

● To be a viable business, build wide area networks to connect a larger number of potentialusers over sparsely populated areas (see project 5).

● The key to creating demand and financial viability of the telecentre is to provideinformation and content that is relevant to the local community. Complementing this isthe need to provide programmes aimed at building relevant ICT skills, particularly inrural areas where people are not comfortable or familiar with technology (see project10).

● To cover its costs and to ensure its financial viability, the centre must charge fees fortraining programmes, and even when these fees remain low, many people in the areastill cannot afford the services (see project 11).

● Preliminary research found that most initiatives are planned with a pilot-based approach.In many cases, these rely on funding and subsidies to make the model a success. Noneof the initiatives studied were economically sustainable through private enterprise on alarge scale (see project 21).

● The project team notes that obtaining the license or acquiring the software from acommercially available GIS is prohibitively expensive. Using free and open sourcetechnologies allows users greater access to the significant benefits of powerful GISapplications (see project 35).


that have used their research period to build alliances and connections with complementaryorganizations or have gone on to seek further funding from other donor organizations.

Assuming a project has established its intervention as successful and that it has provided forongoing financial sustainability, there are four ways that projects have been observed to continueon and scale up to achieve lasting impact. The simplest way is through a multiplication of theproject model. This would involve an expansion of the project work over a larger geographic

Project Findings: Lasting imp act, continuity and scaling-up

● Since wireless networking eliminates the process of laying cables to connect villages, thedesign provides a viable and effective means of bridging the digital divide and bringinglow-cost communication to the most needy (see project 2).

● Sustainability of the telecentre requires community participation in telecentre operationand management (see project 10).

● The research findings contributed to the development of a national IT curriculum and thedevelopment of e-government (see project 14).

● Those who attend ICT learning programmes further spread the message through word ofmouth and other informal channels, creating a ripple effect that is difficult to quantify(see project 15).

● Once the systems have been tested and firmly established in one federation, the projectwill document its learning and expand the implementation to cover three other federationsin the region (see project 18).

● While ICTs enable the creation of new kinds of jobs, they also undermine the need forother kinds of jobs. The net effect depends upon the nature of labour market institutionsthat facilitate labour to move from vanishing jobs to new ones (see project 20).

● The results are anticipated to be used in the development of a continuing educationprogramme focusing on ICT-assisted reporting techniques for local journalists (see project24).

● The project built capacity at the Centre and enabled it to develop a partnership with PANLocalization and Microsoft’s Language Interface Pack for Urdu (see project 26).

● The project foresees that once the most challenging aspects of the project developmentprocess are completed, the infrastructure framework can then be used to build manydifferent kinds of resource sharing systems (see project 33).

● Once project team reaches its desired result, it is planning discussions with the Ministry ofEducation and Culture to investigate further cooperation in distributing the text-to-speechsystem (see project 34).

● The forest fire forecasting system can be adopted and replicated in other geographicalareas with necessary modifications in the ranks and weights, based on the specificcharacteristics of the local area (see project 43).

● Additional research activities evolved from this project (see project 47).● The project has seen a number of opportunities for further development and replication

(see project 48).● M-DOK is designed to be easily scalable and low-maintenance. The application is expected

to be most useful for countries where SMS messaging is prevalent (see project 54).



area, or serving a larger beneficiary group. An example of this kind of project is the Beijing-basedproject Developing a New Resource Sharing System and a New Tool to Use Electronic Materials inMultimedia Format Based on Grid Technology, China (no. 33). This project has potential to achievesubstantial scaling up through the introduction of its system throughout the many universitiesand educational institutions in China. The second way that scaling up has been observed is throughintensification of the project within the network infrastructure that has been created, serving thesame or similar beneficiary groups with the delivery of additional services or applications. TheImpact of Remote Telemedicine in Improving Rural Health, India (no. 52) project by N-Loguedescribed above is a good example of introducing new services through existing networks. Thethird way a project can scale up is through an evolution of the project work where the results ofthe project work itself lead to a new line of inquiry or exploration. This may have emerged fromthe intervention itself, or is made evident by the project work. In such cases, scaling up may beobserved through the project taking on a new direction. In the projects reviewed, the best exampleof this type of scaling is represented by the Free and Open Source Software Localization Toolkit(no. 30), which continues to grow and evolve with the FOSS movement at large.

The final way that scaling up has been observed is less direct, but nevertheless can have dramaticimpact on initial target beneficiaries and extend to larger local and regional communities. Thismodel of scaling can be seen in the ripple effects created by a project intervention. That is, once acommunity of users has been exposed to the value that a new technology can offer them, andhas overcome any barriers to its use, such as physical access, language and skills, they will tend totake the initiative themselves to further build on their own capacities to find new and innovativeuses and applications of the ICT medium. At this point, the users have established the value of themedium and adapted it for their own uses, which implies a kind of personal ownership or equitystake in the medium. It can be observed that every project in the Programme, regardless of itsdegree of success or scalability, has contributed to this kind of ripple effect. On the most macrolevel, it is this effect that will continue to contribute to the creation of new communities of usersand, in turn, creators of information and knowledge that will further shape and evolve the useand application of the ICT medium.

Conclusion

In the following pages is a compilation of 56 projects funded by the Pan-Asia ICT R&D GrantsProgramme between 2002-2005. It is hoped that this review will be useful for existing projects tobetter understand how their work fits into the overarching scope of the Programme and to relatedefforts in the Asia-Pacific region, while also providing new projects, potential projects and otherinterested parties, both within and beyond the scope of the Programme, to benefit from this vastbody of working knowledge, practical experience, research and insight. Further, it is the hopedthat, with this tool, new contacts will be made, new collaborations initiated and new solutionsdiscovered.


PAN-ASIA ICT R&D GRANTS PROGRAMME:PROJECT REVIEW

Photos: Centre for Women’s Development and Research, India; Tapan S. Parikh; Praveen, Project Team Member of Unsung Among Us; and Wireless Internet Post Office.

Experiences with Information and Communications Technology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Region22

A Review and Analysis of the Pan-Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme 23


Chapter 1

1. Leveraging ICT Through Weekly Market Centres

for Tribal Communities, India

2. Wireless Internet Post Office, India

3. Low-Cost IT Centre for the Philippines

4. ICT-Assisted Economic Empowerment:

Integrated Tools Development, Malaysia

5. Robust Networks for Rural Areas in India

6. ICT-Enabled Women’s Social Net, India

7. Unsung Among Us, India

8. Bhutan 200: Lowering the Cost of Local Internet

Access

9. Community Mesh Network for Mahavilachchiya,

Sri Lanka

10. Achieving Universal Access: Developing a

Philippine Business Model and Government

Intervention Strategies for Viable Community

Telecentres in Rural Areas

11. Piloting Mobile ICT Access Models, Sri Lanka

12. Implementation of Wireless Last Mile Telephony

Solution for Information Sharing and Disaster

Mitigation in the Rural Philippine Setting

13. Maximizing the Use of Traditional, Digital and

Satellite-Based Radio Services for Education and

Development in the Republic of Nauru

Access to Information

Photo: Wireless Internet Post Office


1. Leveraging ICT Through Weekly MarketCentres for Tribal Communities, India

Objective

The objective of this project is to promote theuse of ICT tools among selected tribalcommunities in central India.

Research Context

The project was implemented in a remote, ruralarea of central India where about 70 percent ofthe population lives below the poverty line. Theproject leverages access by basing itself in aweekly village market that is regularly visited bythe population of about 68 villages. The projectoffers e-mail, Internet and computers for localpeople to access information on government,health, employment, marketing and trading,agri-forest produce, and agriculture diseases. Theproject extends these services and identifies newareas in which Internet and other ICTs can helppoor villagers in tribal and rural areas.

Target Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries of the project include the ruralvillage and tribal population, particularly womenand those depending on agriculture or wagelabour.

Output s

● Test how and where the Internet can bebrought to remote communities;

● Assess whether weekly markets can providea platform to increase access to the Internet;

● Address infrastructure problems that effectthe use of Internet technology such as

electricity, technology and phone lines;● Identify complimentary technologies that

can be used to increase the project’seffectiveness;

● Understand how the government respondsto the use of the technology; and

● Assess the social and economic impact of theuse of the Internet in a tribal community,including the social and psychological factorsthat influence use or non-use.

Research Result s and Outcomes

In its efforts to test its method for bringing ICTsto remote communities, Satpura IntegratedRural Development Institution (SIRDI)established a Multi Facility Centre at a weeklymarket place in Sawalmendha. Thousands ofpeople from the surrounding 68 villages visit themarket every week to purchase essentialproducts and conduct routine work. SIRDI set upsimilar nodes at Taluka Town, Bhainsdehi and theDistrict Town of Betul, and established acommunication network between these villagesand Sawalmendha.

The project addressed both technical and socialissues. From a technical perspective, the mainissues were to test how ICTs can be made to workin remote areas with limited infrastructure.Computers and other instruments were testedin harsh conditions and did not break down.Telephone lines were unreliable and it tookseveral months to get the Internet connectionactivated. In addition, the power supply in thestate of Madhya Pradesh was limited. Electricitywas available between four to eight hours per

Grant Amount: US$ 29,904Keywords: INTERNET, TELECENTRE, EMPLOYMENT, COMMUNITY, EMPOWERMENT, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India



day, which was insufficient to charge thebatteries of the uninterrupted power supply(UPS) and inverters. Hence the generator backupplanned in the project proved useful.

From a social perspective, the project sought totest whether weekly markets can provide a “door-step” for access to ICTs, to assess the impact ofuse of ICTs on tribal communities andunderstand the social and psychological factorsthat influence use or non-use of ICTs. The projectnoted that because of the beneficiary’s lowliteracy rate and general lack of awareness aboutICTs, the community could not really benefit ona large scale during the short project period. Itwas also noted that response from the villageswas much healthier in those villages where SIRDIhad already been working and had socialworkers based. During the later stages of theproject, local youth started taking interest in theactivities of the centre and in learning Internettechnology skills. The percentage of requests forhelp submitted by women remained consistentthroughout the project period at about 35percent.

To build awareness, the project carried outvarious activities such as an Agricultural Campfor farmers, a Quiz Competition for students, anEye Camp for visually-impaired people, and theproduction of CDs with documents and formsfor various government projects. It also offeredservices such as photocopy, scanning, printingand lamination, and providing students’ schoolresults over the Internet at a low cost. A uniqueaspect of the project was its development of anetwork of “Saathins” (meaning women friend)who became leaders of the information initiative.The project selected two Saathins from villagesin the project area and provided a two-daytraining at the Sawalmendha ICT Centre. In total,108 Saathins from about 60 project villages weretrained to work as catalysts. The project alsoformed a federation of Saathins, using the moneycollected through photocopy and lamination

charges and through charging for the students’results on the Internet. This money wasdeposited in a separate bank account and usedto sustain the project economically. Today, thewomen’s group that started as Saathins hasgrown into 140 self-help groups (SHGs), withabout 2,000 women and their own executive andadministrative bodies.

A remote place like Sawalmendha, which couldnot have otherwise had access to ICTs, now hasan ICT facility and a network of users. It was oneof the objectives of the project that it shouldbecome economically viable over a period oftime. The initial period of one year was quitedifficult, considering the technical obstacles, lowliteracy rate and lack of awareness about ICTs inthe project region. Now that steps for revenuegeneration have been taken, the project teamsees many economic opportunities forsustaining this project. Looking ahead SIRDI’sSHGs are exploring ICT-enabled initiatives tosupport organic agriculture produce marketing,customized design and printing of hand wovenfabric and clothing, telemedicine and Internet-based education in the local language.

Project DurationStart Date: September 2002End Date: August 2003Total Duration: 12 Months

Contact InformationDr Upma Diwan, Project Manager, and AjayKumar, Chief Technical AdviserSatpura Integrated Rural DevelopmentInstitutionE-7/60, Ashoka Housing Soc, Shahpura Bhopal462016, IndiaTel: +91 72 2722 5236, +91 93 2986 8850Fax: +91 72 2322 2100E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.sirdi.org


Objective

The objective of this project is to coupleadvances in consumer electronics with anentrepreneurial model, to foster the deploymentof text-based digital communication.

Research Context

This project addresses infrastructure- andtechnology-related connectivity problems bycoupling advances in consumer electronicswith an entrepreneurial model to create aWireless Internet Post Office (WIPO). The WIPOis capable of delivering text-based messagingservices to remote villages through a networkof solar-powered wireless repeater stations.Using off-the-shelf components, operating inthe international license-free band and usingdirectional antennas to provide inexpensivelong-range wireless networking, minimize thesystems cost and complexity. Users synchronizea low-cost Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) atwireless repeater stations, much like droppingoff and picking up mail at a post office.


This research project designed a completecommunication system from the Internetgateway to the end-user. Ultimately, it is theend-users who are served by WIPO: villagerswho want to contact relatives in distantlocations, farmers who want information onprices, access to markets, and advice on diseaseand pest control, small businesses who wantaccess to trade information, educators who

want teaching materials, and medical and aidworkers who require information in theirrespective fields. WIPO also benefits peopleinvolved in the wireless network. It creates anentrepreneurial opportunity for PDA owners tobecome micro-businesses by providingservices such as scribing, data collection, croppricing, and matching buyers with sellers.

Output s

The project created a website to disseminateinformation on how to build and deploy a WIPOsystem. The website is maintained to providecomplete specification documents for thesystem design, serve as a focal point fordiscussion, and provide links to similar work,supporting material and other follow-upactivities.


The design of the WIPO system was completedand a working prototype has been set up at theIndian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. Theset-up comprises three relay nodes spread overthe IIT campus communicating over 802.11bnetwork using long-range antennas. The set-upuses three parabolic and three Yagi antennae.The system has been used to validate thedesign and to carry out performance tests.

The major research problems faced in theapplication was how to design a network thatuses low-cost commodity hardwarecomponents, is resilient to node failures due tolikely power interruptions in the application

2. Wireless Internet Post Office, India

Grant Amount: US$ 30,000Keywords: ACCESS, RURAL, WIRELESS, EMPLOYMENT, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India



environment, is easy to deploy and configure,uses public domain software, and does notrely on any specific equipment model ormanufacturers. Most of these problems wereaddressed and the validated system has beentested. The technical design for the projectconsists of: the Internet gateway station,application modules for handheld devices,wireless network architecture including thewireless communication protocols, andwireless relay stations.

Initially, the project team faced issues inimplementing the system due to interference,communication over multiple links originatingfrom the same node, and in sourcing thenecessary antenna and cabling. The projectteam solved the technical and system designissues inherent in the WIPO and provideddigital access to the widest possiblepopulation at the lowest usage and capitalcost. Since wireless networking eliminates theprocess of laying cables to connect villages,the design provides a viable and effectivemeans of bridging the digital divide andbringing low-cost communication to the mostneedy.

The project website (seehttp://genie.iitd.ernet.in/wipo/) has beenupdated to include the final integrateddesigns, information on the current set-up andthe results obtained. The site providescomplete information on the WIPO solution,the technologies used, hardware and software

modules and a complete list of ‘how tos’ onsetting up and implementing a WIPO system.A complete software package, includinginstaller scripts, is also available from thewebsite.

The project team believes that the WIPOtechnology can form a basis for a wide rangeof low-cost wireless business services inremote areas. The team from this project isnow equipped to provide technical support toan implementation agency interested indeploying a commercial network in a remotearea.

Project DurationStart Date: March 2002End Date: April 2004Total Duration: 25 Months

Contact InformationProf Huzur SaranIndian Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Computer Science andEngineeringDelhi Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, IndiaTel: +91 11 2659 6009Fax: +91 11 2658 1060E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://genie.iitd.ernet.in/wipo/

Reference Websitehttp://www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/


Objective

The objective of this project is to help bringlow-cost IT and services to communitiesthroughout the Philippines.

Research Context

In the Philippines, many IT centres offeringcomputer literacy courses and other servicesare emerging in urban areas. However, theseare often unaffordable for poor Filipinos, andinaccessible for rural Filipinos. In 2001, theTechnical Education and Skills DevelopmentAuthority ( TESDA) Lingayen approachedEngineers Without Borders (EWB) to seeksupport in setting up a low-cost IT centre thatwould offer affordable IT training to localresidents. The centre was completed in August2002. This project follows on the success ofthat initiative by studying its impact,replicating it in three additional locations, andby creating a guide on how to set up a low-cost IT centre.


The three IT centres can provide IT training forapproximately 1,500 people over three years.The research findings and trainingcomponents benefit TESDA, EWB, the provinceof Sarangani and other partners, thus enablingthe project to progress to Phase III and providelow-cost access to IT training for thousands ofpoor Filipinos.

Output s

● Three new IT centres serving the rural poorin Sarangani Province, Mindanao;

● New programming for the Lingayen andSarangani Province IT centres, based on aresearch paper evaluating the IT trainingcentre and training methodologyimplemented in Lingayen in 2002;

● A research paper evaluating the impact ofincreased availability of low-cost IT trainingon members of a local community,particularly those marginalized in society;

● A guide to setting up a low-cost IT centre andrunning low-cost training programmes;

● A policy paper on the role of western NGOsin facilitating the set up of low-cost IT centresand training programmes;

● A set of training programmes in English forbasic computer literacy;

● A series of technical appendixes oncomputer/LAN set-up; and

● A plan for Phase III of the project to help lesswell-off Filipinos gain access to technologythat can help them improve their lives.


In the process of implementation, the projectapproach to setting up a low-cost IT centreevolved. The evolution was based on thefindings of studies on the Lingayen IT centre.Initially the project established three principlesthat would ensure positive developmentoutcomes, sustainability and replication. Thesethree principles are: low initial cost borne by thecentre, so the centre is not forced to charge high

3. Low-Cost IT Centre for the Philippines

Grant Amount: US$ 9,000Keywords: CAPACITY BUILDING, EMPLOYMENT, INTERNET, TELECENTRE, PHILIPPINESGeographical Coverage: The Philippines



fees to recoup the capital investment;innovative programming that offers targetedservices for the local community based on apay-what-you-can principle; and building oflocal skills to maintain and repair the IT centreafter the implementing organization hasdeparted.

Following the analysis of the Lingayen centreafter one year of operation, the project definedthree additional research principles to improveits model. These are: monitoring to allowefficient follow-up and ensure the stability ofthe centres; impact assessment to help targetthe programming and follow the centres’development; and last, a holistic approach thataddresses the social and employment needs oftarget beneficiaries. The project thereforeshifted its focus slightly to develop the tools,training programmes and structures toembrace these new principles.

The project went on to develop a model thatincorporated the needs and socio-economicreality of underprivileged communities in thePhilippines. The new model and researchfindings were then applied to the developmentand successful implementation in four ITcentres. Overall, the most significant researchfinding is the new definition of the model.Based on the experience of the four IT centres,the project created a scalable, low-cost,appropriate and sustainable IT resource centresolution. With changes to the model andprogramming, the IT centres from the first twophases of this project – 45 computers in all –offered training to over 500 beneficiaries

including ‘out-of-school’ youth and personswith disabilities. The project accomplished thisfor less than US$ 35,000. Based on theinvestment of time, effort and funding, theproject was considered to be successful inimproving the model for the development ofIT resource centres and integrated IT trainingfor the Philippines.

Awards

This project was recognized by the GlobalKnowledge Partnership Youth Award2003, which aims to reward and bringinternational recognition to theoutstanding work of young people whohave used ICT for the promotion ofdevelopment around the world. See:http://www.globalknowledge.org

Project DurationStart Date: May 2003End Date: November 2003Total Duration: 7 Months

Contact InformationNabeel Al-KadyEngineers Without Borders5650 Yonge St. Suite 207Toronto M2M 4G3 Ontario, CanadaTel/Fax: +1 514 816 8463E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.ewb.ca


Objective

The objective of this project is to assistdisadvantaged women who are confined to theirhomes due to disabilities and othercircumstances.

Research Context

This project targets disadvantaged women who,due to disabilities and other circumstances, areconfined to their homes and as a result areeconomically constrained. The project exploresthe possibility of developing an integratedsystem of ICT tools such as computers, theInternet, telephone, Short Message System(SMS), facsimile and others to free the womenfrom the confines of their homes. Throughutilization of tools already available to them, orsupplied through this project, the women canprovide products and services to the externalmarket.


The beneficiaries of this project are 50 womenwho were short-listed from a group of 200women.

Output s

First, the project explored the feasibility,adaptability and effectiveness of using acombination of ICT tools as opposed to over-dependence on one mode such as the Internet.Second, a core group of economically-empowered women was formed as role models

for others in similar circumstances. Finally, theproject sought to expose the Malaysiancorporate sector to the use of decentralized skillsand talents.


This project focused its efforts on developingtechnical supply chain and marketing solutionsand capacity building of women to offermarketable skills. It did run into severaldifficulties, in particular it noted some seriousproblems related to its IT partner. Due to financialconstraints, the project selected the partnerbased on the lowest price quoted, not the besttechnology. This led to technical problems, whichdelayed the handover of the application until sixmonths after the project period was over. Theproject also mentioned that the applicationdelivered has quite a high maintenance cost,which has obvious implications for the project’ssustainability. Reflecting on this, eHomemakersconcluded that working with a commercialentity was problematic and that a better partnerwould have been a university or a non-profitresearch institution, although none was availableat the project design period.

Despite this, the project set up an English-language marketing website(http://www.justmarketing.info). The project alsodeveloped a Distributed Work ManagementApplication (DWMA) using mobile telephones.The necessary server hardware, interconnectivitycables and mobile handsets were purchased forthe DWMA application. System integrationbetween the mobile handset and the server was

4. ICT-Assisted Economic Empowerment:Integrated Tools Development, Malaysia

Grant Amount: US$ 29,947Keywords: GENDER, EMPOWERMENT, EMPLOYMENT, MARKETING, MALAYSIAGeographical Coverage: Malaysia



conducted and basic SMS sending and receivingfunctions were tested to support a large numberof recipients. Business logic functions are stillpending and will commence once theapplications have been migrated to theproduction server.

The DWMA system uses Malay language and anumeric code system for replies. It is designedto cater to multiple products and services,requires minimal typing and includes a distresssystem for unexpected incidents. Using its betaDWMA system, the project developed andconducted two training sessions, one in Ipoh andone in Klang Valley. The project reported that thesystem was positively received and is confidentthat it is applicable to the women’s needs. Theproject stresses that technology is only a tool andwithout complementary efforts in ICT and non-ICT related capacity development training,marketing and continual product development,technology use will not be maximized.

By using an integrated platform to manage asupply chain through a not-for-profit entity likeeHomemakers, a model for poverty reductionusing entrepreneurial principles and ICTs wascreated. Poor urban women are now linkedthrough the platform to group market theirproducts, thus earning income for the householdand reducing reliance on aid. The projectenvisions that this ICT platform will grow furtherto allow women to participate in eHomemakers’gender governance framework where womenown and manage the information network forand by themselves.

Since project completion, the user network hasexpanded beyond the original 50 subjects toinclude 200 women of different races and with arange of skills. The project was presented as abest practice model to Thailand and Indonesiaduring a press launch. Due to the mediaattention received, interest was seeded in theMalaysian government to use such an integrated

platform to address poverty reduction. Theimpact from the project was presented to policymakers to demonstrate that the pilot effort wasfruitful and can be replicated.

Awards

eHomemakers was chosen as a runner-upin the Gender and ICT Awards( h t t p : / / w w w. g e n d e r a w a r d s . n e t )sponsored by the Association forProgressive Communications Women’sNetworking Support Programme (http://www.apcwomen.org) and theGlobal Knowledge Partnership(http://www.globalknowledge.org). TheAward recognizes the project for beingable to “...provide choices andopportunities for women, provide strongencouragement for women to fulfil theirpotential, and enable women to acquirethe voice and capability to counter theirlack of socio-economic-political power inthe community.”

Project DurationStart Date: April 2004End Date: April 2005Total Duration: 13 Months

Contact InformationChong Sheau ChingeHomemakersc/o Corpcom Services Sdn. Bhd.Box 3031, Taman Tun Dr IsmailKuala Lumpur 60000, MalaysiaTel/Fax: +60 3 7727 3959E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.ehomemakers.net

Reference Websitehttp://www.justmarketing.info


Objective

The objective of this project is to disseminateinformation to users in a resource-constrained environment.

Research Context

This project addresses the dissemination ofinformation to users in resource-constrainedenvironments. To undertake its work, theproject created a partnership between anacademic institution, an NGO and privatesector organizations. The project studiedtechnical and service issues in kiosk projectsin rural parts of Maharashtra. Based on itsfindings, the project developed aconnectivity solution using a point-to-pointwireless link. It also created a service modelfor the local agricultural community,comprised of a unique online and offlinequestion and answer service. The twosolutions were deployed in a network of ruralInternet k iosks. The project combinestechnical solutions, business service modelsand strategic partnerships to ensure furtherdeployment and growth.


The beneficiaries of this project are theowners and users of 26 computer kiosks inand around Pabal, Maharashtra. A reliableInternet connection is provided to VigyanAshram, a rural vocational education NGO.Local youth gain experience in surveying anddeploying Internet kiosk-based services.

Other ICT interventions that face problems oflow bandwidth and unreliable networkconnections can learn from the publishedwork.

Output s

● Report on a field study of Pabal’s network;● Operational long distance Wireless

Fidelity (WiFi) link between Rajgurunagarand Pabal;

● Localized website for market priceinformation;

● Content pages for the villages in the Pabalregion;

● Online multilingual question and answerforum called Almost All QuestionsAnswered (aAQUA); and

● A report on kiosk services before and afterdeployment.


This project was facilitated by a partnershipbetween Media Lab Asia, IIT Bombay, VigyanAshram, and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK),Baramati. The partnership has combined aninter-disciplinary approach and an actionresearch methodology to drive itsdevelopment process.

The project conducted field research on theexisting network at Vigyan Ashram and foundthat the leased line was the weakest link inthe delivery of data from the Internet. Toaddress this, the project devised a point-to-point wireless network solution that could

5. Robust Networks for Rural Areas in India

Grant Amount: US$ 25,579Keywords: INTERNET, NETWORK DEVELOPMENT, WIRELESS, RURAL, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India



pick up Internet traffic when the leased linewas down. It built prototypes, deployed testversions and finalized the solution. This waslargely successful, although the projectfound that there was still some downtimebetween the two services. In response to this,the project sought to develop applicationsthat can function with an intermittentconnection to the Internet.

Service deliver y was studied by MBAstudents at IIT. Their study involved planningobjectives, a literature review, interviews,questionnaires, field visits, data collection,data interpretation and presentation ofresults. This inter-disciplinary research wasused to analyze the local kiosk market,prioritize use of resources and develop toolsthat had scalability and high “pull-factor”from the community.

The key service the project developed is anonline multilingual question and answerforum called aAQUA (http://www.aaqua.org).aAQUA was deployed in a network of kioskscovering about 30 villages around the Pabalarea. Kiosk operators charge farmers a lowper query fee for consultancy. Farmers useaAQUA to have questions answered on cropand animal disease, farming techniques andmarketing information. Most questions areanswered in the local language, Marathi.aAQUA is complemented by a Digital Libraryallowing users to browse the aAQUA portaloffline and synchronize the content with theserver when connectivity is available.

The project has made the followingrecommendations on successful Internetservice deployments in rural areas. To be aviable business:

● Build wide area networks to connect alarger number of potential users oversparsely populated areas;

● Address security and maintenance ofequipment in remote areas;

● Ensure that vendors of equipment adhereto their maintenance contracts;

● Choose project sites based on theresultsof market surveys assessing demand;

● Provide relevant services by partneringwith other providers and make eachservice independently sustainable;

● Partner with local organizations that cantrain operators and spread awareness ofcomputers and the Internet; and

● In the case of e-governance services,ensure that the kiosk operator has thenecessary statutory powers.

The project has actively developed a rangeof strategic par tnerships with relevantinstitutions to scale up and expand aAQUA-related services across India. Further growthis strengthened by the business revenuemodels developed by the project. Contentfrom aAQUA and the Digital Library projectshave been integrated in the curriculum ofKVK Baramati’s BSc and MSc (Agriculture)degrees and Vigyan Ashram’s degree in RuralTechnology. The knowledge and experiencegained from the project is disseminatedthrough the project website.

Awards

aAQUA was honoured with the ManthanGold Medal Award in July 2005, for “India’sbest e-Content Practices” under thee-Inclusion category. This award is givenfor measures supporting integration ofleast developed states of India into theinformation society. It is also given forreducing the digital divide and contentgap between technology-empoweredand technology-excluded communitiesand groups, such as rural areas andwomen, and for bridging society throughmultimedia.See: http://www.manthanaward.com


Project DurationStart Date: March 2004End Date: May 2006Total Duration: 26 Months

Contact InformationProf Krithi RamamrithamIndian Institute of Technology BombayKReSIT, IIT Campus, PowaiMumbai 400076, IndiaTel: +91 22 2576 7900 / 01 / 02Fax: +91 22 2572 0022E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.iitb.ac.in

Reference Websiteshttp://www.aaqua.orghttp://www.it.iitb.ac.in/~it625/http://www.manthanaward.com



Objective

The objective of this project is to establish anICT Service Centre that caters exclusively towomen.

Research Context

This project explored the use of ICTs as anempowerment tool for women in India throughthe establishment of an ICT Seva Kendra(service centre). The Seva Kendra catersexclusively to women, in an effort to encourageparticipation, build capacity and support theirwork towards social transformation. ICT SevaKendra focused on leveraging ICTs like e-mail,word processing and database management toredress the problems faced by self-employedwomen, SHG members and elected womenrepresentatives of local self-governmentbodies. Thus, the centre sought to catalyze andsupport the building of ICT-enabled women’ssocial networks.


This project benefits self-employed women,members of SHGs and elected womenrepresentatives of local government bodies.

Output s

● Effective use of ICTs to advance women’slives through awareness of information;

● Generation of content and software thatrespond to the practical and strategic needsof the target constituency;

● Increased economic benefit, sharing ofresources and reduced costs;

● Support for women to demandentitlements, counter stereotyping, takeaction against neglect; and

● Empowerment of women to play an activerole in decision-making and collectiveaction at a regional level to advance theirlives.


While this project failed to achieve some of itsproposed outputs, it has had some importantoutcomes and offers valuable lessons learned.In addition, it should be noted that the grantrecipients are continuing their work in this area,beyond the scope of the original proposal.

The main challenge faced by the project wasproblems with its partner organization, theMaharashtra Foundation. Its unwillingness toadvance funds is the main reason the projecthas remained incomplete. Two lessons theproject learnt from this experience were: one, toensure terms of reference with partnerorganizations are in place before the proposalsubmission stage itself and, two, to begincommunity-based work only after thecommitted grant amount is transferred into theproject account. The team also notes that theIndian government is increasing controls onNGOs and tightening rules for accepting foreigndonations. They suggest there is an urgent needfor grant agencies to develop strategies that willensure that the support they provide can beaccessed by small organizations like this one.

6. ICT-Enabled Women’s Social Net, India

Grant Amount: US$ 9,000Keywords: GENDER, EQUITY, EMPOWERMENT, PRODUCTIVITY, CAPACITY BUILDING, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India


The project researched data of the villages inTuljapur Taluka, and selected two remotevillages, Savargoan and Kemwadi. Theconditions in the villages were highlyconstrained. Infrastructure, such as transport,water supply, sanitation and drainage, wasinsufficient. According to a government schoolworker, children in the villages weremalnourished. People in the villages had noopportunities for higher education and limitedoptions for employment. Many young girls areforced to quit school, regardless of theirperformance, either to work in the fields or tobe married. Most young girls and women workas farm labour and were not involved incommunity decision-making processes. Thevillages were not being served by any otherNGOs.

The project team spent a great deal of time inthe field and gained first hand experience ofthe realities of life in rural Marathwada. Basedon this experience, they saw the challenge asthree-fold. First, to demonstrate the value thatICTs could offer women; second, to connect thisvalue with the realities women faced in dailylife; and third, to build women’s confidence inmastering and using technology.

To meet these challenges, the project teamundertook a number of initiatives. Theyproduced a poster-based campaign on thevalue of ICTs. They held numerous meetingsand focus groups in both villages covering avariety of subjects such as ICT literacy, financialmechanisms of SHGs, nutrition, health, andpolitical participation. The project noted that

these engagements did have positive effects onthe empowerment of women. This wasdemonstrated by a variety of new initiativesundertaken by the women in the villagesthemselves. For example, women started acommunity-managed library. Local women alsovolunteered to create a literacy programme.Women formed health committees thatdeveloped and collected daily activity chartsdocumenting the health status and nutritionalpatterns in the village.

Marathmoli’s work in the field was progressingsatisfactory until October 2004, when it had tobe scaled down due to the lack of funds.Although the project suffered from financialproblems and instability, the project representsthe small but crucial steps that need to be takento realize the vision of using ICTs to empowerwomen and young girls, especially frommarginalized communities.

Project DurationStart Date: March 2004End Date: February 2005Total Duration: 12 Months

Contact InformationSwatija Manorama, Programme ManagerMarathmoli, Maharashtra Women’s Action Net601, Wing A, Siddhivinayak SocietyGurunanak RoadBandra W, Mumbai 400050, IndiaTel: +91 22 2532 4538E-mail: [email protected]@[email protected]



Objective

The objective of this project is to use ICT toolsfor preserving the cultural heritage of small andmarginalized communities.

Research Context

The project team conceptualized UnsungAmong Us with the vision to collect, documentand disseminate indigenous knowledgethrough the creation of digital film and media.The project was started as part of the People’sPlan Programme in 1997 under the leadershipof Karakulam Grama Panchayath, in Kerala.Unsung Among Us evolved into an organizedcentre focused on rural development throughICTs and human resource development suchas self-help and employment training.


The direct beneficiaries are the indigenouspeople of Kerala whose culture and knowledgeis showcased to the global community thoughICT-based content creation and distribution.Cultural heritage and indigenous knowledge isa valuable resource for all and thus, humanity asa whole benefits from their preservation.

Output s

● Multimedia CDs containing audio, videoand animation;

● A multimedia website with space for

ongoing development of the project; and● A project report.


The project goal to identify, familiarize anddocument those who are living but ‘UnsungAmong Us’ was successful. The project teamdeveloped a participatory model to documentindigenous knowledge of Kerala and noted thatthis process demonstrated local strengths,empowered those involved, built capacity anddemocratized knowledge.

To implement this project, the Unsung teamworked with an organization called Adikala asthe local associate. With the partnership andparticipation of Adikala volunteers, the teamwas able to undertake the entire filmmakingprocess, from the discussion of goals andobjectives, through development of scripts andstories, into filming and editing and finallydisseminating the completed work. The projectteam provided training in cinematography,sound recording and editing, held a workshopon the development of scripts and conductedseminars to brainstorm with interested groups,discuss characters and manage group forums.The team has also implemented pilot filmprojects in Thiruvananthapuram andPathanamthitta Districts.

The completed films cover folklore and folkdrama, ritualistic art forms, linguistics, music,martial arts, Dalit2 culture, indigenous

7. Unsung Among Us, India

Grant Amount: US$ 20,211Keywords: CULTURE, EQUITY, DISSEMINATION, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India

2 In India’s caste system, a Dalit is a person of the lower sections of the ‘shudra’ class: the lowest of the four castes. Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit_(outcaste)


technology and indigenous medicine. Theproject team also produced a number of relatedmedia outputs such as: an anti-epidemicawareness film; a handbook on health,sanitation and environmental management; abook on management developmentmechanisms; and periodicals on ruralemployment, women empowerment andpublic participation.

The team established an office facility at theInformation Technology Centre (IITC) atGrameena Patana Kendram (GPK). The studioprovides technological know-how and qualitycontrol to the project. The project team hasemployed a group of professionals from IITC/GPK for post-production. Members of the teamacquired knowledge related to documentaryfilmmaking, helping them to facilitate morecreative contributions from the communitystakeholders in the future.

Project DurationStart Date: January 2004End Date: December 2004Total Duration: 12 Months

Contact InformationSuhruth KumarGrammena Patna KendramKarakulam, ThiruvantapuramKerala 695564, IndiaTel: +91 47 1237 1463Fax: +91 47 1237 2287E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.unsung.info

Reference Websitehttp://www.grameena.org



Objective

The objective of this project is to researchways of reducing Internet access costs inBhutan.

Research Context

Many studies on Internet use in Bhutan haveidentified the high cost of access, lowinternational bandwidth and lack of relevantlocal content as the main barriers to adoptionof Internet-based technologies. As aconsequence, citizens are missing out on theefficient dissemination of information andservices and the beneficial ‘network effect’ ofincreasing the number of citizens online. Theproject aims to research alternativeapproaches and propose technical andbusiness solutions that can be deployed byBhutan’s ISPs to increase domestic Internettraffic. The project will evaluate the use of analternative dial-up Internet access number(200), to access Bhutanese hosted content.


The beneficiaries of the project are the citizensof Bhutan, who can benefit from lowerInternet access charges for domestic Internettraffic. Other beneficiaries include ISPs and thelocal ICT industry that benefit from increaseddemand for local content and locally hostedapplications.

Output s

The research outputs are a technicalfeasibility report that distinguishes betweenlocal and international Internet traffic, and ahow-to business guide for current and futureISPs in Bhutan. These results are relevant toany country in the Asia-Pacific interested inincreasing local web content and reducingInternet access prices for citizens to accesslocal content.


At the time of writing this project remainedtechnically incomplete. Some reasons fordelays are that the project manager left theorganization and that additional funding wasbeing sought from other sources to meet thetotal amount required to complete theproject.

The project is outsourced to Druknet, BhutanTelecom Ltd., a local service provider.Druknet carried out a technical feasibilitystudy to identify the equipment required torestrict Internet traffic within Bhutan andperformed testing on the introduction ofIntranet services in the country. A local firmhas been identified for establishing thenational intranet. The project has beengranted an extension.

8. Bhutan 200: Lowering the Cost of LocalInternet Access

Grant Amount: US$ 9,000Keywords: INTERNET, ACCESS, BANDWIDTH, RURAL, GOVERNANCE, BHUTANGeographical Coverage: Bhutan


Project DurationStart Date: February 2005End Date: September 2006Total Duration: 19 Months

Contact InformationTenzin Chhoeda, DirectorDepartment of Information TechnologyMinistry of Information and CommunicationsRoyal Government of BhutanPost Box 482, Thimphu, BhutanTel: +97 5 232 2925Fax: +97 5 232 8440E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.dit.gov.bt



Objective

The objective of this project is to develop a low-cost wireless broadband architecture forproviding high-speed Internet access servicesin Mahavilachchiya, Sri Lanka.

Research Context

High capital and operating costs have limitedInternet access in rural Sri Lanka. Innovativeintegrated strategies, based on existingtechnology and rural social structures, couldhelp overcome a variety of barriers andultimately help large numbers of rural peopleaccess the Internet. This project aims to designand develop a low-cost wireless broadbandarchitecture using Mesh technology to providehigh-speed Internet access services inMahavilachchiya, and identify key successfactors for sustainable services.


This project benefits the entire population ofMahavilachchiya. Special beneficiaries withinthis large group are the agriculture community,educational institutes, small businesses, creditsocieties and people seeking employment.Increased Internet access can stimulateeconomic growth by creating new commercialopportunities and increasing productivity. Ingeneral, access to information can help increaseparticipation in civil society and foster socialcohesion and inclusion.

Output s

This pilot project aims to create a wireless Meshnetwork to provide villagers with access toinformation available on the Internet.


The project experienced delays beginning itswork because of legal issues. Initial funding wasnot disbursed to the project until July 2005. Atthe time of writing, reports on the project’sprogress were not yet available.

Project DurationStart Date: December 2004End Date: June 2006Total Duration: 18 Months

Contact InformationCEO/Managing DirectorInformation and Communication TechnologyAgency of Sri Lanka160/24, Kirimandala MawathaColombo 5, Sri LankaTel: +94 11 236 9100Fax: +94 11 236 9091E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.icta.lk

9. Community Mesh Network forMahavilachchiya, Sri Lanka

Grant Amount: US$ 27,656Keywords: INTERNET, ACCESS, COMMUNITY, WIRELESS, NETWORK DEVELOPMENT, SRI LANKAGeographical Coverage: Sri Lanka


Objective

The objective of this project is to develop aviable and self-sustaining Philippinetelecentre business model, leading to wideraccess to information in marginalizedcommunities.

Research Context

Convergence in ICT tools offers new cost-effective means for the achievement ofuniversal access. This project develops a modelfor community telecentres that integratesdevelopment goals and business objectives.The model expands marketing anddistribution channels, lowers transactionscosts, aggregates demand and buying power,and provides access to ICTs for isolatedcommunities. The project aims to recommendgovernment intervention strategies insupport of telecentre development andcontribute to learning about ICT fordevelopment (ICT4D) initiatives bydocumenting various efforts and partnershipsamong the government, private sector, NGOsand donor agencies that promote telecentresin the Philippines.


The survey and analysis of community needs,identification of relevant technologies andapplications and development of asustainable telecentre business model are

expected to benefit a wide range of public andprivate sector telecentre operators. Results canbe used by government agencies such as theNational Computer Centre (NCC) and ASTI ofthe Department of Science and Technology(DOST ). The database, policyrecommendations and analysis of ICT4Dprogrammes can benefit governmentagencies by providing an enablingenvironment to achieve universal accessthrough deployment of communitytelecentres. This includes the Department ofTransportation and Communication (DOTC),the Commission on Information andCommunications Technology (CICT), the NCC,the Telecommunications Office, the NationalTelecommunications Commission, and LocalGovernment Units (LGUs). Finally, rural end-users benefit from the proliferation andenhanced services of community telecentres.

Output s

● Recommendations on governmentintervention strategies and policies for thecreation of an investment climate that isfavourable to the establishment andoperation of telecentres in rural areas;

● A business model for a viable and self-sustaining telecentre in rural areas;

● A database of existing telecentres andsimilar efforts to achieve universal access,such as projects using ICT as a developmenttool; and

● Presentation of survey results.

10. Achieving Universal Access: Developing aPhilippine Business Model and GovernmentIntervention Strategies for ViableCommunity Telecentres in Rural Areas

Grant Amount: US$ 29,974Keywords: TELECENTRE, DATABASE, RURAL, ECONOMIC, PHILIPPINESGeographical Coverage: The Philippines




To date the project completed acomprehensive overview of past and existingtelecentre initiatives in the country andconducted an analysis to identify the mainfeatures of a successful telecentre.

The Philippine Government beganestablishing telecentres called public callingoffices in 1989. In 2002, a policy promotingprivate sector participation was issued. In2003, the CICT developed the concept ofCommunity e-Centres (CeCs). In the 2005National Budget, each Congressional districtwas allotted PHP 1 million for theestablishment of CeCs. As of December 2005,the e-Government Fund had helped set upabout 60 CeC sites nationwide and providedequipment to 39 CeCs. Additional telecentresaround the country are funded by NGOs,international donor agencies and LGUs.Private sector participation includescontribution of equipment and connectivitysolutions from organizations such asMicrosoft, Intel, Smart Communication, GlobeTelecom, Bitsop and CVISNet. While many ofthese projects are in their pilot stages, projectresearch shows that the lack of sustainableplans for training, maintenance andeconomic viability has caused a number ofthem to fail. These efforts are oftendisaggregated and do not adhere to anoverarching national developmentprogramme. Although, the objectives ofproviding convenient access to informationand communications services are clear, theoverall direction and sustainability plan varies,if present at all.

The research team has undertaken study toursto four telecentres located in the three majorregions of the country and conducted clientexit surveys and interviews with keystakeholders. The team also conducted a studytour to a successful learning centre in BaanSamkha, Lampang in Thailand that uses ICT

applications in support of communitydevelopment programmes. From these results,the project concludes that the most salientfeatures of successful telecentres that can beapplied in the local context are as follows.

The key to create demand and financialviability of the telecentre is to provideinformation and content that is relevant to thelocal community. Complementing this is theneed to provide programmes aimed atbuilding relevant ICT skills, particularly in ruralareas where people are not comfortable orfamiliar with technology.

The project also found that it is useful toidentify a local champion (such as a farmer,teacher, or out-of-school youth) who isdedicated to promoting the centre anddeveloping services that are relevant in thecommunity context.

The sustainability of the centre requirescommunity participation in telecentreoperation and management. The projectrecognizes that many initiatives are in differentstages of development and have differentneeds at different times. To address this, theproject recommends that an incrementalapproach to introducing the interventionsmentioned above may be most appropriate.

The project has made progress in developingits recommendations on governmentintervention strategies and policy options thataddress “information poverty”, expanduniversal access and bridge the digital gap. Theteam developed an initial draft of the databaseof ICT and telecentre projects in thePhilippines. The database is being regularlyupdated and will include a matrix of projectsinitiated by the government, NGOs,international funding agencies and the privatesector. Finally, the project is working tocomplete a citizen-centric, market-orientedbusiness model for the viable and sustainableoperation of telecentres in rural communities


with the end goal of achieving universalaccess, bridging the digital divide, enhancingeconomic development and improving thewelfare of the community.

Project DurationStart Date: January 2005End Date: August 2006Total Duration: 19 Months

Contact InformationEnrico Basilio, Director for Special ProjectsCentre for Research and CommunicationFoundationUnit 1103 Pacific Centre BuildingSan Miguel AvenueOrtigas Centre, Pasig City, PhilippinesE-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.crc.org.ph



Objective

The objective of this project is to explore newmodels of access, creation and disseminationof a range of locally relevant content.

Research Context

This pilot project provides a framework forextending community radio and multimediato incorporate a mobile ICT unit that deliverscost-effective access to relevant informationand knowledge that can help reduce povertyand isolation in remote communities of thedeveloping world. The Kothmale CommunityRadio website will be extended byincorporating a web-based communityinformation, communications and knowledgemanagement system. In order to effectivelyaddress poverty, software tools provide agateway allowing communities to accessknowledge sources and services that aretailored to their own information andcommunication needs.


The mobile design of the project providesaccess to information in remote areas of theKothmale region that can help improve thelives and livelihoods of all members of thecommunity, including its 17 schools, numerousbusinesses and other organizations. Projectpartners, governments and NGOs can use theresults to understand the potential of mobileICT solutions and to explore new models ofaccess to locally relevant content.

Output s

● A working model for a mobile multipurposecommunity telecentre and radio unit;

● An increase in social capital, skills andcapacity; and

● A localized information and knowledge-sharing portal.


This project explores methods for extendingthe role of community radio and telecentres todeliver ICT content directly at the village level.Ethnographic Action Research that precededthe development of the mobile prototypeidentified a variety of factors that hinder theability to access the Kothmale CommunityTelecentre facilities. Limited local transport andan unreliable and overcrowded bus systemwere highlighted as the major factors that limitaccessibility to the centre. The cost of trainingprogrammes is also problematic. To cover itscosts and to ensure its financial viability, thecentre must charge fees for trainingprogrammes; even when these fees remain low,many people in the area still cannot afford theservices. The survey also revealed thatcommunity members questioned therelevance of technology to the community.Contributing to this perhaps is the fact that theamount of Internet content available inSinhalese is very low and what is available istailored to the urban elite in Colombo.

In response to research results, the projectconcentrated on the development of an

11. Piloting Mobile ICT Access Models,Sri Lanka

Grant Amount: US$ 18,940Keywords: COMMUNITY, ACCESS, RADIO, MULTIMEDIA,TELECENTRE, SRI LANKAGeographical Coverage: : Sri Lanka


appropriate model for mobile distribution ofcontent – the eTUKTUK. This is a self-containedmobile telecentre and radio broadcasting unithoused within a Tuk-Tuk, or three-wheeledmotorcycle, a favoured form of transportcommon throughout South Asia. A laptopcomputer is located inside the vehicle, as is abattery-operated printer, camera, telephoneand scanner. Internet connectivity is providedvia a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)-enabled wireless connection and electricity isprovided via a generator, which in turn chargesa battery that is used to provide additionalpower for short periods of time. A roof rackallows the vehicle to carry other equipmentsuch as the Kothmale Community RadioStation’s mobile broadcasting unit.Narrowcasting of radio programmes isachieved via two loud speakers mounted to theroof rack. This system is used to announce thetelecentre’s presence when it arrives in a villageor designated location. The weekly route of theeTUKTUK is broadcast over the radio to informthe listeners about the location and the timethat it will arrive in their community.

The project faced a number of early setbacksrelating to the acquisition of a license tobroadcast using wireless technologies. Whilethis application is still pending, the project hassuccessfully adapted to CDMA technology. Thisis not ideal, as the community does not ownthe network; however an agreement has beensigned with a commercial telecommunicationscompany to provide access to their networkfree of charge.

With the e-TUKTUK complete and abroadcasting solution in place, project

operations have turned to focus on capacitybuilding of the Kothmale CommunityMultimedia Centre facilities and staff. A numberof content production workshops and trainingsessions have been held and more are plannedfor the future. Partnerships have been formedwith the Sri Lankan government’s ICT Agency.Researchers and staff of the telecentre haveparticipated in several regional conferenceswhere they have shared their experiences andgained knowledge and skills from theircounterparts in UNESCO-supportedCommunity Multimedia and Learning Centresthroughout South and South East Asia. Theproject recently joined a UNESCO-supportedthree-year research project entitled ‘Finding aVoice’. The project has received substantial pressattention both locally and globally.

Project DurationStart Date: October 2005End Date: January 2008Total Duration: 27 Months

Contact InformationSunil Wijesinghe, PresidentKothmale Internet Listeners ClubRiverside, Mawathura, VIA GampolaSri LankaTel: +94 81 235 0422Mobile: +94 77 910 1787E-mail: [email protected]

Websiteshttp://www.kothmale.orghttp://www.etuktuk.nethttp://www.nanasala.lk



Objectives

The objectives are to pilot a wireless connectivitysolution for rural communities in the Philippinesand develop technical and proceduralguidelines.

Research Context

This project addresses the lack of access to ICTtools in marginalized sectors of society throughthe development of a wireless ‘last mile’ solutionthat provides low-cost connectivity to ruralcommunities in the Philippines. As the solutionis unconstrained by traditional cable capacity, itoffers the higher bandwidth needed for efficientdistribution of information and services to ruralcommunities. This pilot project researches andidentifies relevant technologies, developstechnical and procedural guidelines, and formsstrategies and recommendations for thegovernment and private sector on theestablishment and operation of wirelessconnected communities. Rural communitiesbenefit from efficient distribution of ICT-basedinformation and services.


● Investors and operators include the DOTC,public telecommunications entities, small-and medium-sized information technologyenterprises (SMITES) and other private firms;

● ASTI of DOST benefits from theidentification and recommendation ofdifferent technologies available;

● CICT benefits from the technical andprocedural guidelines formed by theproject; and

● Rural communities in identified locationsbenefit from the inexpensive services thewireless facilities provide.

Output s

● Development of technical and proceduralguidelines for the establishment of aneconomically and technically feasiblewireless ‘last mile’ connectivity solutionfor a rural setting;

● Establishment of a pilot wireless connectedcommunity;

● Formulation of strategies for theestablishment and continued operation ofwireless connected communities for thegovernment and private sector; and

● Presentation of the results andrecommendations from the pilotprogramme.

Project DurationStart Date: January 2006End Date: June 2006Total Duration: 6 Months

12. Implementation of Wireless Last MileTelephony Solution for Information Sharingand Disaster Mitigation in the RuralPhilippine Setting

Grant Amount: US$ 8,925Keywords: WIRELESS, DISASTER, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS,PHILIPPINESGeographical Coverage: The Philippines


Contact InformationDenis F. Villorente, DirectorAdvanced Science and Technology InstituteASTI Building, UP Technology Park ComplexC. P. Garcia Avenue, DilimanQuezon City 1101, PhilippinesTel: +63 2 426 9766 / 67Fax: +63 2 426 9756E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.asti.dost.gov.ph



Objective

The objective of this project is to adaptexisting traditional digital and satellite radiocommunication resources to serve theeducation and development needs of thestudents and people of the Republic of Nauru.

Research Context

The Republic of Nauru suffers severely fromenvironmental degradation due to nowexhausted phosphate mining activities. Poorfiscal management has led to massiveunemployment, unreliable energy andenvironmental infrastructure, lack of food andwater, low life expectancy, decliningeducation rates, reliance on foreign aidsubsidies and political instability. This projectaims to combine existing satellite-communication networks at the University ofthe South Pacific (USP), a regional leader indistance education, with proven radiotechnology, so students and the generalpublic can receive educational materials andcommunity development information. Theradio project can serve as a model for similarinitiatives in other countries.


● Students of the USP based in Nauru;● The general public residing in Nauru,

including primary and secondary schoolstudents and teachers; and

● Regional NGOs which benefit from a newcommunications outlet for disseminationof information on communitydevelopment, health, youth and microenterprise.

Output s

● Creation of a broadcast vehicle to deliveracademic programmes from the USP tostudents in Nauru (secondary and tertiarylevels) and their teachers (for in-servicetraining);

● Creation of a community radio station forNauru;

● Training of community residents tooversee operation and management ofthe radio station; and

● Dissemination of community-developedinformation on business, health andenvironmental issues.

13. Maximizing the Use of Traditional,Digital and Satellite-Based Radio Servicesfor Education and Development in theRepublic of Nauru

Grant Amount: US$ 26,562Keywords: INTERNET, CAPACITY BUILDING, RADIO, GOVERNANCE, REPUBLIC OF NAURUGeographical Coverage: Republic of Nauru



Contact InformationLinda Austin, Media Resource CoordinatorMedia Centre, The University of the SouthPacificPO Box 1168, Suva, FijiTel: +67 9 323 2129Fax: +67 9 323 2038E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.usp.ac.fj/index.php?id=media_centre



Chapter 1

14. A Distance Learning Application of the Solomon

Islands People First Network (PFnet)

15. IT-Mediated Rural Women Education and

Dissemination of Health Information: A Pilot in

Tamil Nadu, India

16. Local Government Knowledge Sharing Network

(LOGOSHARE), Philippines

17. ICT-Enabled Life Skill and Sexuality Education

for Adolescent Girls, India

18. MISSION: A Secure and Easy-to-Use MIS

Framework for Self-Help Groups and Other

Community-Based Financial Institutions, India

Capacity Building and Education

Photo: Tapan S. Parikh


Objective

The objective of this project is to pilot a distancelearning facility in one of Solomon Islands’ ruralcommunity high schools.

Research Context

This project used an existing rural Internetconnection through the rural development andpeace ICT initiative, The People First Network(PFnet), to pilot a distance learning facility inone of Solomon Islands’ rural community highschools. The project entailed the design andapplication of a distance learning programmethat was configured to integrate with existingPFnet facilities. It studies the impact of ane-mail station on the wider community,focusing on particularly vulnerable groups suchas women and young people. In doing so, thisproject provides an example of a PFnetapplication, as well as valuable baseline data forthe further expansion of PFnet to all rural areasof the country.


Beneficiaries of this project are the remote ruralcommunities that suffer most from deficienttransportation and communication networks.The project enables professional andcommercial linkages, economic activities, civilsociety participation and government services.Indirectly, PFnet benefits organizations workingin rural development, allowing them to improvetheir operations through better logistics and

14. A Distance Learning Application of theSolomon Islands People First Network (PFnet)

information exchange, while improving theliving conditions of their staff in remotelocations.

Output s

● Distance Learning ICT Centre established ina rural area as a model application for thenational PFnet programme;

● The USP Distance Learning Programmeadapted and optimized for PFnet, includingfield-testing using an established PFnetcommunity e-mail facility and confirmingthat it can be successfully expanded to otherrural areas with the growth of PFnet;

● Increased understanding of the impact ofICTs on rural populations;

● Outreach to vulnerable groups who are notaccessing the services;

● Baseline data for expansion of the network;● The ICT capacity of teachers and students

of Sasamungga Community Schools built;and

● Continuous project monitoring.


This pilot project used a participatory processthroughout its implementation. Stakeholderswere consulted through focus interviews,evaluations and workshops. Based on theirinput the project developed a practical modelof how ICTs benefit the education sector. Theproject results provide valuable baseline dataon the impacts of the distance learning centreand the general impact of the e-mail facility

Grant Amount: US$ 8,994Keywords: INTERNET, CAPACITY BUILDING, COMMUNITY, TELECENTRE, SOLOMON ISLANDSGeographical Coverage: Solomon Islands



on the wider community. Education providers,such as the Solomon Islands College of HigherEducation and PFnet as well as USP, can usethese results to further develop the model andexpand distance education at the nationallevel.

The success of the project is illustrated by thefact that the 19 students who directly tookpart in the three-month training are nowconfident computer and e-mail users. Of thestudents who responded to thequestionnaires, 68 percent said they wouldlike to study further. As foreseen, the projectalso had a number of benefits to the widercommunity as it provided easy and affordablecommunication to individuals, localbusinesses and organizations. The e-mailstation improved access to medical servicesfor the people of Sasamunga by enhancingcommunication and coordination betweenthe local hospital and other health providers.Local businesses actively use the e-mailstation to contact their suppliers, place orders,check prices and for basic banking. Finally, itwas noted that the centres improvedcommunication between rural people andtheir relatives and friends within the countryand abroad. These results demonstrate whatmay be the most important outcome of theproject, that people in rural areas are readyand capable to successfully adopt these newskills and technologies not only for education,but also to improve themselves and theircommunities.

The successful completion of the distancelearning trials and research findingsculminated in a series of summits andworkshops between the stakeholders to findways to improve and maintain the distancelearning model. These events providedcollective and in-depth inputs useful forfurther expansion of the programme. Forexample, the need for additional research tocollect first-hand information that could

inform more effective planning andimplementation of policies aimed at reachingand improving the lives of the rural populationwas identified. It was also noted that for ruralpeople in the Solomon Islands, access to fundsto meet school fees is a common problem.While during the project implementation,student enrolment fees were supported bythe national parliament, it was suggested thata broader scholarship scheme be put in placeso that interested students from rural areascould continue to study through distancelearning programmes. Minor problems werealso identified, particularly with the distancelearning trials. The project saw that theseissues could be resolved by developing astandardized approach with the distanceeducation provider and PFnet. A number ofmore detailed recommendations forimprovements in the programme were made,primarily relating to continued build up oftechnical capabilities and expanding therange of training areas for users and tutors.

The project promises positive ongoing resultsfor rural communities throughout the SolomonIslands. Based on its findings, a nationalDistance Learning Centre project was designedand is being implemented for the Ministry ofEducation with funding from the EuropeanUnion (http://www.schoolnet.net.sb). Theresults of the research also made it possible fora Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) systemto be set up in a community high school in eachof the nine provinces of Solomon Islands. Thesystem allows schoolteachers, students andcommunity members to have full Internetaccess for studies, research and distancelearning. Finally, the research findingscontributed to the development of a nationalIT curriculum and the development ofe-government in Honiara through the Ministryof Finance.


Project DurationStart Date: February 2002End Date: June 2002Total Duration: 5 Months

Contact InformationAlan S. Agassi, Executive ChairmanRural Development Volunteers AssociationDepartment of Provincial Government andConstituency DevelopmentAnthony Saru Building, 5th Floor, PO Box G35Solomon IslandsTel/Fax: +67 7 23288E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.peoplefirst.net.sb

Reference Websitehttp://www.schoolnet.net.sb



Objective

The objective of this project is to design andevaluate a web-based education and healthinformation tool targeting rural women in TamilNadu, India.

Research Context

This project addresses the United Nationscharter for improving the health and socialwelfare of women in developing countriesthrough education. The project designed,tested and implemented an IT-based womeneducation and health informationdissemination pilot targeting rural women inthe Tiruchirapalli District of Tamil Nadu, India.The project uses existing educationinfrastructure to demonstrate the economicviability and the social benefits of such aprogramme in a developing country withcomplex social and religious interrelationships.A charitable educational institution, theSeethalakshmi Ramaswamy College forWomen (SRCW), Tiruchirapalli served as a focalpoint to educate and disseminate informationto rural women.


The beneficiaries of this project are ruralwomen of Tamil Nadu, India, ten rural schoolsand ten government schools run by theTiruchirapalli Corporation.

Output s

● A research report on social, health andeducation issues facing the targetpopulation and alternative strategies forsolutions;

● A health information website operatingthrough SRCW to disseminate relevantinformation to participants and otherinterested parties;

● A practical training module fordisseminating information to participants;and

● A network of volunteers and social serviceorganizations to provide ongoing support.


This project was carried out in three phases. Thefirst phase involved a survey in 25 villages andfive private schools to assess the level ofawareness of health issues such as prenatalcare, postnatal care, HIV/AIDS, and theimportance of school education for students inthe target area. Using this information theproject developed IT tools for dissemination ofinformation and tested them in the villages andschools. In the second phase the IT tools weremodified based on feedback received in phaseone. Using the tools, information wasdisseminated to women and children in about25 villages that had high school dropout ratesand low health awareness, and to youngwomen from two different colleges. The finalphase involved coordination with thegovernment for project sustainability.

Grant Amount: US$ 10,250Keywords: GENDER, EQUITY, HEALTH, CAPACITY BUILDING, HIV/AIDS, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India

15. IT-Mediated Rural Women Educationand Dissemination of Health Information:A Pilot in Tamil Nadu, India


The pilot has been successful in meeting andsurpassing its objectives of raising IT awarenessamong young female students in target areas.The project targeted a population in excess of50,000 in 39 villages and two suburbs of Trichytown. Over 1,000 women from 25 villagesparticipated in various stages of theprogramme. SRCW trained a group ofapproximately 200 rural girl students. Theseresults indicate a high, intangible return oninvestment although the project does note thatit is difficult to quantify the impact it has had.The impact can be qualitatively assessed fromthe response of the participants, which showthe project is having a significant impact onraising the awareness of women in thesevillages. The project notes that those whoattend such programmes further spread themessage through word of mouth and otherinformal channels creating a ripple effect thatis difficult to quantify.

The project gave the researchers and studentsinsight into where ITs will work and where theywill not. The project notes that women’s abilityto access health information is impeded bypoverty, lack of education, lack of knowledgeand resources, social systems, religious beliefsand a variety of other social, economic andpolitical factors. The project sees that thesolution to this problem is beyond what a smallIT-based project (such as this one) can solve. IT

tools can however play a significant role indistilling information and disseminating it at areasonable cost, thus providing an effective toolfor combating social problems in ruralcommunities. The project felt that a micro-system with local community ownership couldbe a forerunner to similar ones in other parts ofIndia. Subsequent to this project, theresearchers proposed to communicate thesefindings to State Government authorities andto discuss strategies for further implementation.The researchers note that one year wasprobably too short a time to make a substantialimpact.

Project DurationStart Date: July 2003End Date: July 2004Total Duration: 13 Months

Contact InformationDr V. S. VenkatesanUniversity of Western Australia GraduateSchool of Management23 Caporn Street, Nedlands 6009 WAAustraliaTel/Fax: +61 8 9386 8765E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.gsm.uwa.edu.au



Objective

The objective of this project is to test an ICT-mediated mechanism for knowledge sharingamong LGUs.

Research Context

The Philippine e-Commerce Law of 2000mandated all government agencies develope-governance capabilities. LGUs have sincestarted a range of databases, knowledge basesand websites. LGU staff is receiving ICT trainingand is learning from one another’s efforts. Assuch, a wealth of technical and practicalknowledge useful for local developmentplanning and management has beenaccumulated in the Philippine government andNGOs. This project aims to inventory and classifythis knowledge, to define and test best practices,and create systems for sharing and integratinginnovative strategies and practices at thenational and local level.


Philippine LGUs and national governmentagencies.

Output s

● Inventory of existing local governancepractices and development of a knowledgebase;

● Design of a classification system and ane-directory of existing expertise;

● Action research and piloting of an e-groupamong local planning and developmentofficers (LPDOs), to define priorityknowledge needs and promote aknowledge sharing culture;

● Development of a bottom-up systemallowing LPDOs to design and maintain aknowledge base system;

● Development of a top-down ‘Help Desk’where experts on various technical areas oflocal governance and developmentcontribute their expertise through onlineconsultation; and

● Launch of LOGOSHARE, including the abovecomponents.


The project is being implemented on a co-management and partnership basis betweenthe Galing Pook Foundation, PhilippineSustainable Development Network (PSDN) andthe Centre for Conscious Living Foundation(CCLF). Galing Pook Foundation serves as therepository of best practices in good localgovernance. Much of the expertise and bestpractices are drawn from Galing Pook’s chestof awarded programmes. The PSDN is taskedto undertake all ICT-related activities, includingthe creation of an experts’ directory, design andexecution of a web-based knowledge database,the development of a portal and help desk, andthe corresponding workshops and training thatthe initial users of the network require. CCLFprovides advisory services to the partnerorganizations in the areas of knowledge

16. Local Government Knowledge SharingNetwork (LOGOSHARE), Philippines

Grant Amount: US$ 30,000Keywords: GOVERNANCE, KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT,DATABASE, PHILIPPINESGeographical Coverage: The Philippines


management and organizational learning. Theimplementing partners used an MoU to definea clear programme of work and scope ofresponsibilities.

So far 15 LGUs have signified their willingnessand commitment to enter into partnership onthe ICT-enabled knowledge sharing project. Ofthese, 11 have consistently participated inproject activities. The project performed aparticipatory LGU needs assessment todetermine the information requirements andthe capacity of the users. The results of theassessment formed the basis for the preliminarysystem design. The project also consulted theLGUs to facilitate the process of identifyingpriority areas of knowledge that would be mosthelpful to the LPDOs.

Two major workshops were held. The first wasLOGOSHARE Consultation Workshop held on 8September 2004, at the NCC, University of thePhilippines in Diliman, Quezon City. Thisworkshop organized a core group of userscomposed of selected LPDOs that would helpdefine the LOGOSHARE ICT infrastructurecontents and protocols. Results from thismeeting helped determine the informationrequirements and define the capacity of users.The second workshop was the LOGOSHAREProject ICT Training Workshop, held on 3-4November 2004 at the NCC. A follow-upworkshop was held on 28 March 2005 at theNCC to test run the portal and LOGOSHAREwebsite (http://www.logoshare.ph).

Based on interim reports the remaining monthsof the project were devoted to completing thetechnical aspects of the project, developing a

sustainability plan and strengthening thenetwork. The following components were inprogress: a knowledge base of best practicesin local governance and development calledthe e-Kaban Galing (“Kaban” means storagechest), an e-directory of expertise in localgovernance and development, pilot of ane-group among LPDOs, set up of the bottom-up portal, design and testing of an LGU HelpDesk, and launch of LOGOSHARE.

The project notes that the establishment of thephysical infrastructure (website), although anend in itself, is more appropriately understoodas a means to reach the desired outcome; a coregroup of people able to identify and resolvelocal governance issues aided by a network ofpractitioners providing knowledge andexpertise.

Project DurationStart Date: February 2004End Date: March 2006Total Duration: 26 Months

Contact InformationPamela Grafilo, Programme OfficerGaling Pook FoundationRoom 1604 Jollibee Plaza, Emerald AvenueOrtigas Centre, Pasig City 1605, PhilippinesTel: +63 2 687 1347 / 48Fax: +63 2 687 7719E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.galingpook.org

Reference Websitehttp://www.logoshare.ph



Output s

With beneficiaries’ participation, the projectproposed to create profiles of families in villageand slum areas for use in education and planning.It proposed to develop interactive learningmaterials and design an interactive ICT-basedinformation dissemination system for use amongrural and urban adolescent women.


The project began by holding focus groupmeetings with adolescent women to assessgeneral knowledge and beliefs about sexualityand sexual health, as well as to understand thesocio-cultural context that contributes to thesebeliefs. Based on the results, the projectdeveloped modules for sexuality educationcurriculum. They include: Growing Up(including puberty), Sex and Sexuality, SexualViolence, Abuse and Decision-Making(including counselling and legal resources),Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and KnowledgeAssessment and Feedback.

The results of the focus group revealed thatmany of the adolescent women had never beenspoken to about these subjects before. Inresponse to this, the project sought to deviseculturally-sensitive ways of approaching thetopic of sexuality education, and generalwomen’s health issues, without alienating ordistressing the young women in the process.The strategy employed was to gradually buildrapport with the young women throughtraining in computer technology skills.

Objective

The objective of this project use ICT tools toprovide comprehensive sexuality and life skillseducation that empower adolescent women inChennai, India.

Research Context

In India, there are approximately 10 millionpregnant adolescents and adolescentmothers at any given time. Unfortunately,education, health and family welfareprogrammes are not adequately addressingthe special needs of these women. Thisproject uses ICTs to provide comprehensivesexuality education and life skills training foryoung women to develop relevant skillsneeded to plan their career and life. Theproject employs computers, Internet anddigital cameras to educate, organize andempower these adolescent women. Theproject targets adolescent women in urbanand rural areas in Chennai, India


The project targets adolescent women,including Dalits from Othiyur village ofEddaikazhinadu town, Panchayath,Kancheepuram District, and from the slums ofThiruvanmiyur, Chennai. Adolescent womenattending school and working are beneficiaries.

17. ICT-Enabled Life Skill and SexualityEducation for Adolescent Girls, India

Grant Amount: US$ 8,911Keywords: GENDER, EQUITY, LIFE SKILLS, SEXUALITY, CAPACITY BUILDING, INTERNET, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India


In the slums of Thiruvanmiyur the projectnetworked and disseminated informationabout the centre and the computer lessons thatthey offer. This resulted in approximately 100adolescent women attending the lessons at thecentre. The project reports that the youngwomen have been taught basic computer skills,program applications and use of the Internetand in general have gained confidence in usingthe computers. After some issues withelectricity and phone connections, the projectwas able to set up a computer in Othiyur villageand began computer lessons for the girls in amanner similar to those in the Thiruvanmiyurcentre.

At the interim point in the project, it surveyed98 out of 109 girls using the centre. Of therespondents, 71 percent were introduced tocomputers at the centre and began using themthere for the first time. 78 percent of the girlsreported coming to the centre several times aweek to use the computers, 65 percentreported they came everyday. 98 percentreported feeling comfortable using thecomputer at the time of the survey, however,much less - 31 percent of the girls - reported aninterest in learning about personal health fromthe computer, with a greater number of girlswanting to learn vocation-related skills, such astyping. The project observed that the girlsseemed to identify more with learning tangibleskills that can be gained from computer use.Thus the project saw the need to focus on waysto convey ICTs potential for accessingeducational information, primarily throughtraining sessions with young women that cometo the centre.

At the six-month point, the project reportedthat the following had been completed: a

growing database of family and communityprofiles, a portion of the sexuality curriculum,data on adolescent women’s proficiency andcomfort with computer use, and the formationof women’s club, or “Snehidhi”, with acorresponding newsletter and website(http://www.snehidhi.org).

The project is of the view that its main strengthlies in its commitment to truly understand thecommunities it is working with and developcurricula and relationships that will have lasting,sustained effects in these communities. Theproject anticipated that the coming six monthswould produce more quantifiable outcomesalthough they stress the importance of buildingtrust and confidence at the initiating stage inthis type of community-based work.

Project DurationStart Date: August 2004End Date: July 2005Total Duration: 12 Months

Contact InformationK.R. Renuka, DirectorCentre for Women’s Development and Research5/359 Annai Indiar Nagar, OkkiyampetThuraipakkamChennai 600096, IndiaTel: +91 44 2448 2821, +91 44 2496 3621E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.cwdr.org.in

Reference Websitehttp://www.snehidhi.org



Objective

The objective of this project is to develop aManagement Information System (MIS) for SHGoperations.

Research Context

SHGs, federations and other community-basedfinancial institutions have proven to be effectiveempowering agents for local communities toachieve sustainable livelihoods and ruraldevelopment. One of the main limitations fortheir continued growth and sustainability is thelack of management capacity. The MISSIONproject is a secure, extensible and easy-to-useMIS to improve financial performance,sustainability and growth of these institutions.Recognizing that such institutions have infinitelyvarying requirements, this project develops amodular tool-based framework for MIS systemswith components that can be used together orseparately. The modular system can serve theneeds of a wide range of SHGs, from small localinstitutions all the way to large multi-statenetworks.


This project benefits thousands of community-based financial institutions that have difficultycollating, analyzing and reporting data collectedfrom the field. The project provides a standardset of tools to carry out tasks, ultimately

contributing to the competitiveness of theseorganizations in the formal capital market.

Output s

The project output is a detailed andcomprehensive project report that includes: adescription of the software design for replication,descriptions of the testing methodology andimplementation strategy, observations fromtraining and testing phases, and an analysis ofthe project results. When complete, detailedhardware and software designs will be madepublicly available at no charge.


SHGs are cooperative community-based financialinstitutions, owned and managed by themembers themselves. SHGs can groupthemselves into structures of 20-25 groups calledclusters, which are further grouped into largerstructures called federations. Federations canlegally be registered as non-profit, for-profit oras cooperative entities.

As SHGs mature, they often start to providefinancial services to their members such asinsurance, savings accounts, fixed-term deposits,and brokering financial agreements with formalentities in the capital market. These requireproper accounting standards and financialmanagement tools that produce informationacceptable to external regulatory agencies and

18. MISSION: A Secure and Easy-to-Use MISFramework for Self-Help Groups and OtherCommunity-Based Financial Institutions,India

Grant Amount: US$ 30,000Keywords: ECONOMIC, PRODUCTIVITY, SELF-HELP GROUPS, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India


funding organizations. This can prove to beunmanageable for most SHGs due to the highvolume of transactions, remote location ofmembers, and limited capacity of staff to maintainrecords, produce reports, or use computer systems.

MISSION is a distributed yet integrated top-to-bottom MIS for SHG operations that requiresminimum investment in local resources orcapacity. It allows SHGs to ‘outsource’ most of thedata processing and management tasks to morecapable remote staff, while maintaining theoverall ownership and management of theirinstitution and the ability to access accuratefinancial data. The model is conceived on threelevels, a paper-based MIS for accounting in thefield, a mobile phone-based application to storeand transmit data, and a web-based MIS toprocess and store data.

The project commenced with a detailedcontextual study of the existing documentationpractices at the SHG, cluster and federationlevels. Based on this study, a paper-based MIS‘flap-book’ was designed as an easy-to-useledger for recording and processing of financialand non-financial information. The flap bookremoves redundancies, streamlines informationflows and fills information gaps. The flap-bookwas piloted for three months with 50 SHGs andlater implemented in about 500 SHGs.

The second step was the development of aCustomer Account Manager (CAM) frameworkthat provides a way to aggregate data from paper-based records in the field using mobile phones.The driving element of the CAM architecture is amobile phone application called the CAMBrowser.Users enter information by capturing barcodesusing the mobile phone camera, or by enteringnumbers. The CAMBrowser downloads theinformation and executes accounting processes inXML-based applications. When a wirelessconnection is not available, information is cachedin the phone’s outgoing SMS message queue andautomatically sent when the phone is connected.

Data is synchronized using get-and-put functions.The third component is a web-based MISprocessing and storage centre. It consists of adatabase and a set of PHP scripts that allow fordata entry and comprehensive financial reportgeneration. The system can be deployed assoftware in a federation office or as an onlineserver accessible from any Internet access point.If connected by a GSM modem transactions canbe sent to the software using a mobile phone.

The project has conducted quantitative andqualitative usability testing. The next step is apilot implementation in one SHG federation(approximately 100 groups). The web-based MISwill be deployed to provide users with theopportunity to gain familiarity with thecomputerized records and reports. Once thesystems have been tested and firmly establishedin one federation, the project will document itslearning and expand the implementation tocover three other federations in the region.Finally software, documentation and associatedtools in will be released as free and open sourcefor use by institutions facing similar challenges.

Project DurationStart Date: March 2005End Date: March 2007Total duration: 25 Months

Contact InformationVijay Pratap Singh Aditya, CEOEkgaon Technologies Pvt. Ltd.C 2/6, First FloorSafdurjung Development AreaNew Delhi 110016, IndiaTel: +91 11 4165 7166, +91 11 2653 4990Fax: +91 11 4165 7167E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://ekgaon.com/?q=node/29

Reference Websitehttp://www.microfinance.in



Chapter 1

19. Evaluating the Impact of Universal Access

Models, Strategies and Policies in ICT on Poor

Communities in the Philippines

20. Diffusion of ICT in India: Labour Market

Implications for Developing Countries

21. Policy for Integration of ICT Initiatives Across

Rural Karnataka, India

22. Policy and Measures to Promote ICT Application

and Deployment for Business Development in

Rural Areas in Viet Nam

23. Roadmap for Process Re-Engineering for

Extending e-Governance to the Disadvantaged,

India

24. Effects of ICT on Media Transformation,

Education and Training in Cambodia, Lao PDR

and Viet Nam

25. Policy, Praxis and the Public Interest:

Engendering a Strategic InfoComms Policy

Research Programme in the Philippines

Policy and Social Research

Photo: Roger Harris


3 A barangay is a village, district or ward.

Objective

The objective of this project is to assess therelevance and impact of public policy andprivate strategy on access to ICT tools withinpoor communities in the Philippines.

Research Context

Access to information through ICTs can makean important contribution to sustaining anddeveloping the lives of the urban and rural poor.While many ICT programmes are shaped bygovernment policies and private sectorstrategies, empirical evidence on the nature andeffects of these policies and strategies is lacking.This project addresses this problem byexploring the diffusion of ICTs to poorcommunities in the Philippines. The projectassesses the relevance and impact of ICTdiffusion by focusing on the gaps betweenpolicy and strategy and the livelihood needs ofpoor communities.


The beneficiaries of this project are poorcommunities who are in need of access to ICTs,government regulatory officials and policymakers working on improving universal accessto ICTs, corporate strategic planners who wantto tap potential markets in marginalizedcommunities, and LGUs and communityorganizations who want to use ICTs indevelopment projects.

Output

The project output is a handbook for use bygovernment policy makers, advisers, advocacygroups and private sector entities.


This research project investigated the extent towhich people have access to ICTs, thecharacteristics of people who use ICTs, and howand for what ends ICTs are used. The projectconducted household surveys in urban andrural barangays3 in Puerto Princesa City. Theresearch defined key demographic traits in thecommunities and how they influenced ICT use.Although the survey areas were different interms of infrastructure, size, topography andeconomy, demographics such as income,gender, education level and age were fairlyconsistent. Corresponding to this, findings weresimilar in both survey areas.

The study showed that awareness of ICTbenefits was the primary factor effecting ICTuse. The move from knowledge of anapplication, such as e-mail and the Internet, toactually trying them was seen to be effected bythe level of education. The study clearly showedthat people with higher education tend to useand value ICTs more. There was also a significantrelationship between education level and theperceived need for services that use ICTs,particularly in the areas of work and study.

19. Evaluating the Impact of UniversalAccess Models, Strategies and Policies in ICTon Poor Communities in the Philippines

Grant Amount: US$ 9,646.88Keywords: ACCESS, POLICY, RURAL, URBAN, PHILIPPINESGeographical Coverage: The Philippines



Of those people surveyed who knew how touse a computer, many did not possess acomputer of their own. This suggests that themajority of users have access to computersthrough schools, offices, public Internet cafesor computer rental shops. Furthermore, of therespondents who had e-mail accounts, 64percent said their office or school provided theiraccount. The remainder had a free Internet-based account. This indicates the important roleorganizations (e.g. schools, workplaces,community organizations) play in providingaccess to ICTs. The study shows that householdownership of an ICT tool such as a personalcomputer did not necessarily indicate thateveryone in the household knew how tooperate it, although they were more likely tolearn compared to those who do not have a PCin the house.

Findings from the survey did not indicatesignificant differences between females andmales in ICT use, with the exception that morewomen use ICTs such as mobile phones and e-mail. This was found to be consistent with otherstudies.

The study highlights that policy makers needto consider the different ways by which peoplemanage their limitations to access and theimplications of how people send and retrieveinformation. To prevent information andknowledge-gaps from widening, the projectsuggests integrating traditional models ofcommunication such as community radio,church bells and two-way radios with moremodern ICTs like the Internet and cellular

technologies. The project also stresses the valueof social intermediaries in bridging theinformation divide. Institutions such as schools,the workplace and NGOs offer important accesspoints for individuals. Informal networks offriends and family also play an important rolein building awareness and distributingknowledge.

The project produced a handbook entitledBridging the Information Divide: A PhilippineGuidebook on ICTs for Development(http://www.apdip.net/documents/policy/misc/ph/bridging-info.pdf) and disseminated itto policy makers, NGOs and publicadministration students working oninformation and knowledge management.

Project DurationStart Date: March 2002End Date: July 2003Total Duration: 17 Months

Contact InformationErwin A. Alampay, PhD, Assistant ProfessorThe National College of Public Administrationand GovernanceUniversity of the PhilippinesDiliman, Quezon City 1101, PhilippinesTel: +63 2 928 5411Fax: +63 2 928 3861E-mail: [email protected]

Websiteshttp://www.upd.edu.ph/~ncpag/http://www.apdip.net/documents/policy/misc/ph/bridging-info.pdf


Objective

The objective of this project is to examine howdifferent modes of ICT use impact labourmarkets in developing countries.

Research Context

This project examines how different modes ofICT use impact labour markets where policymakers have encouraged ICT-basedindustrialization to simultaneously generateemployment and improve economicproductivity. While the emergence of a new ICTindustry promises to generate employment,deploying ICTs to automate and rationalizeexisting industries also threatens to cause jobloss and skill redundancies. The findings of thisstudy provide policy makers in developingcountries with insights into the trade-offsbetween improving productivity andemployment generation when deploying ICTs.


The results of the study benefit various agentsseeking to ensure work and employmentstandards in developing countries such aspolicy makers and labour representatives,particularly those representing womenworkers. The findings of this research havecontributed to the field of labour economytheory through advancing the understandingof the impacts of ICT diffusion in developingeconomies.

Output s

The primary output of the project is ananalytical report on the impact of ICTs on thelabour market in India and its significance forother developing countries. The report is freelyavailable to download at http://www.idrc.ca/panasia/ev-70651-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html. Alimited number of hard copies are alsoavailable for free distribution to those whorequest them. In addition to the analyticalreport, the project also generated at least 300hours of interviews on the effects of ICT-basedindustrialization. The interviews are archivedand preserved by the project coordinator, DrM. Vijayabaskar, and are available to otherresearchers.


While successfully completed, the projectnoted that it encountered several difficultiesin conducting its research work. The firstobstacle was the lack of an official databaseon labour conditions in the Indian IT andInformation Technology Enabled Services(ITES) sectors. The second more substantialdifficulty was that the project foundemployers were reluctant to allow them toconduct interviews with employees. Theproject recommends that the State shouldprovide a mandate compelling firms to allowresearchers to conduct fieldwork, at leastfrom government-recognized researchinstitutions.

Grant Amount: US$ 8,400Keywords: ECONOMIC, EMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTIVITY, GENDER, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India

20. Diffusion of ICT in India: Labour MarketImplications for Developing Countries



Despite these setbacks, the research followedits planned course of development with someminor modifications. The research studybegan with a detailed review of the literatureto locate the issue in larger theoretical debateson the impact of ICTs on labour markets.Subsequent to this exercise, the automobileand ITES sectors in India were selected for thefocus of the research study. Secondary datapertaining to these two sectors was collectedand used to stress the relevance of the choiceand to delineate their key characteristics. Theproject went on to develop questionnairesand conduct interviews in each industry,modifying its approach due to the accessissues mentioned above. Based on thefindings of the research, one paper has beenpublished and at the time writing, another onewas in the process of production. Papers basedon this study have been presented in twoAMIC conferences and at three conferences inIndia.

The study results offer a detailed analysis of howthe new organizational shift towards a moreglobal, flexible mode relies heavily ondeployment of ICTs to coordinate decentralizedproduction and distribution. The study focuseson the impact this trend has had on thegeneration of quality employment, especiallyfor women, and it covers such areas as skillpolarization, de-skilling, disintermediation,gender neutrality, labour market flexibility andautonomy at work.

The study indicates that deployment of ICTsdoes increase employment opportunities forwomen. The ability of women to access suchemployment opportunities however dependsupon first, access to skills and, second, a stronghousehold-based care economy that allowsthem to move into high intensity paid

employment. In addition, while ICTs mayenable more employment opportunities forwomen, that does not imply improved genderequity. Many jobs remain highly gendered andthe fluidity of the gendering process alsoallows re-gendering, whereby men occupyjobs traditionally seen as ‘feminine’.

The study stresses that the effects ofintroducing ICTs into the workplace dependson a wide range of technical, social and marketfactors. It does not, however, see a clearcorrespondence between diffusion of ICTs andemployment generation and quality of work.While ICTs enable the creation of new kinds ofjobs they also undermine the need for otherkinds of jobs. The net effect depends upon thenature of labour market institutions thatfacilitate labour to move from vanishing jobsto new ones. The study demonstrates thatpublic policy plays a critical role in ensuringpositive outcomes.

Project DurationStart Date: April 2002End Date: May 2003Total Duration: 13 Months

Contact InformationDr M. Vijayabaskar, Assistant ProfessorMadras Institute of Development Studies79, II Main, Gandhinagar, Chennai 600020, IndiaTel: +91 44 2441 2589 /1574 / 2295 / 9771Fax: +91 44 2491 0872E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.mids.ac.in

Reference Websitehttp://www.idrc.ca/panasia/ev-70651-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html


Objective

The objective of this project is to developstrategies and policy recommendations for theintegration of ICT interventions in ruralKarnataka, India.

Research Context

The Karnataka Government has initiated arange of e-governance initiatives for enhancingrural development. The implementation ofthese initiatives, however, has not had theexpected impact for the rural population dueto insufficient inter-departmental coordinationand lack of integration with private sectororganizations working on similar initiatives.This research project develops strategies andpolicy recommendations for the integration ofICT interventions in rural Karnataka,encompassing available infrastructure,applications, information and human resourceswith the aim to accelerate rural developmentthrough leveraging ICT interventions.


The integration of ICT interventions benefitsthe rural community of Karnataka, the localgovernment and the private sector.

Output s

● An interim research report that analyzespreliminary findings of the research; and

● A final report with research findings,policy recommendations and a practicalimplementation methodology for theeffective integration of ICTs in ruralKarnataka.


At the time of writing, no final report wasavailable on this project. At the time of theinterim report, much of the proposed researchon the provider side had been completed anda number of conclusions had been reached.However, the final goals of proposing systemsthat could provide the rural population ofKarnataka with ICT-based multi-sectoradvantages and initiating privateentrepreneurship models that could make theICT schemes sustainable, had not been reached.

The project began by examining the existinginfrastructure, services and human resourcesprovided by government authorities, non-profitorganizations and the private sector. Theproject produced a compilation of ICT initiativesacross the state that profiled 36 organizations.Government departments were profiled in thesectors of public administration,communication, energy, agriculture,commerce, financing, taxation, education,health and family welfare. Also profiled wereprivate sector companies that manufacture ICT

21. Policy for Integration of ICT InitiativesAcross Rural Karnataka, India

Grant Amount: US$ 15,019Keywords: INTERNET, GOVERNANCE, POLICY, RURAL, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India



equipment and provide ICT services for ruralcommunities, a nationalized bank providingmicrocredit services in Karnataka, and anumber of NGOs working on rural ICTinitiatives. This compilation was regularlyupdated during the course of the project asmore information became available.

Preliminary research found that most initiativesare planned with a pilot-based approach and,in many cases, rely on funding and subsidies tomake the model a success. None of theinitiatives studied were economicallysustainable through private enterprise on alarge scale. The researchers found littleintegration either within sectors or acrosssectors. Although service providers indicatedthey understood the relevance of collaboratingwith others, concern over the dilution of theirdistinct mandate resulted in a lack of action. Thepotential for collaboration is further hamperedby the lack of an apex body that is analyzingthe needs of the community in relation to theservices being offered. Thus the larger contextin which the various sectors function has notbeen presented.

Two technical issues were revealed in thereview. First, nearly every service provideridentified the power situation in the state asbeing a major bottleneck to ICT initiatives.Many pilot projects have addressed this issuethrough the provision of power supplyequipment such as UPS units and dieselgenerator sets, but these were not consideredadequate in the long run. Renewable energy

devices have been considered, but the highcapital investments made them prohibitive. Thesecond obstacle is that connectivity was foundto be unreliable across rural Karnataka,although the project noted that efforts using avariety of technologies were being undertakento address this problem.

At the time of the interim report, the researchershad yet to map the needs of the villagers andcross-reference these with the services that arebeing provided. The mapping is intended todraw on surveys conducted in two villageswhere ICT initiatives are operational. Since todate, no reports were available on the project’sassessment of community needs, it is difficultto assess the use, effect and impact of servicesbeing offered to the rural public using ICTs.

Project DurationStart Date: December 2003End Date: July 2004Total Duration: 8 Months

Contact InformationDr Purandar ChakravartyCentre for Environmental StudiesThe Energy and Resources Institute4th Main, 2nd Cross, Domlut II StageBangalore 560071, IndiaTel/Fax: +91 80 535 6590 / 95E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.teriin.org


Objective

The objective of this project is to prepare policyrecommendations to increase the use of ICTtools in rural business.

Research Context

The rapid development of ICTs in Viet Nam hascreated opportunities and challenges for socio-economic development in rural areas. Thisproject focuses on the shift to new modes ofeconomic activity influenced by the applicationof ICTs by investigating the policy environmentand the experiences of grassrootsorganizations, businesses, and households inrural areas. The project aims to producerecommendations for policy-making that canbe used by government authorities andbusinesses to increase ICT development in ruralareas.


The project contributes to the formulation ofstrategy, policy and master plans that promoteICT development in rural areas of Viet Nam.Government bodies, donor agencies,researchers, companies and local communitiesin rural areas can use the study for fundingplans, input for further research, awarenessraising campaigns or education and training.

Output s

● Recommendations on policy measures;● Report on policy affecting deployment of

ICTs in rural areas of Viet Nam;● Report assessing ICT application for

business development in rural areas in VietNam;

● Report on experiences from other countrieson ICT deployment in rural areas; and

● A final project report.


At the time of writing, no final report wasavailable for this project although it hadcompleted a number of its stated objectivesand outputs as outlined below.

The project held an inception workshop on ICTdevelopment in Viet Nam. Among the more than70 participants in this workshop were ICTexperts, researchers, policy makers, officers fromministries, government organizations, NGOs, ICTsoftware and hardware developers, serviceproviders, ICT training centres and universities,small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), andhouseholds from villages in the Red River Deltaand Northern Viet Nam.

The project completed an assessment of thecurrent state polices and strategies on ICTdevelopment in Viet Nam. The assessmentcovered a review of legal documents andincluded a series of interviews with

22. Policy and Measures to Promote ICTApplication and Deployment for BusinessDevelopment in Rural Areas in Viet Nam

Grant Amount: US$ 29,500Keywords: INTERNET, GOVERNANCE, POLICY, RURAL, VIET NAMGeographical Coverage: Viet Nam



government officials from provinces andministries on the current situation and futurevision for ICT development in rural areas.

The project completed the compilation offoreign experiences on challenges in ICTdeployments in rural areas, their social andeconomic impacts, common policyframeworks, and common strategies forsuccessful initiatives.

The project is conducting a national survey ofbusiness enterprises in rural areas. The surveywill be used to assess the impact of ICTs onbusiness development, and analyze thedifficulties, needs and readiness of businesses.The survey will also consider how the ICT policyenvironment affects businesses.

Recommendations of the researchers havecontributed to the development ofgovernment ICT policy and strategydocuments. Among the most notable of theseare the National Strategy for ICT Developmentto 2010, ICT Orientation to 2020 and theNational Master Plan for Telecommunicationsand Internet Development to 2010. ICT for ruralareas and business development has beenhighlighted in these documents.

Some research results have also been utilizedin other research projects such as e-CommerceDevelopment in Viet Nam, Development ofTraditional Villages in Viet Nam, Measures toProvide Science and Technology Information toRural and Remote Areas, and FOSS for ICTDevelopment. Completed work to date, relateddocuments and materials are available from theproject office.

Project DurationStart Date: August 2004End Date: May 2006Total Duration: 22 Months

Contact InformationVu Thi Thanh HuongExpert, Department for Planning and FinanceMinistry of Science and Technology39 Tran Hung Dao Street, Ha Noi, Viet NamTel: +84 4 943 8519Fax: +84 4 943 9736E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.most.gov.vn


Objective

The objective of this project is to explore waysof using ICT tools for integrated delivery ofgovernment services to Indian citizens, inparticular disadvantaged groups.

Research Context

Many state and local level governments in Indiaare in the process of developing ICT solutionsto provide integrated delivery of services tocitizens. Attempts however, have not deliveredon services that require complex organizationalprocesses, such as cross-referencing, discretion,evaluation and judgment. These types ofprocesses are often essential to servedisadvantaged sections of society. This researchproject aims to study six initiatives in India, andcombine its findings with the experience ofCentrelink (http://www.centrelink.gov.au), acommunity service department of theGovernment of Australia. The project goal is todevelop a roadmap for process re-engineeringand integrated service delivery. The outcomesof the research are policy briefs forgovernments and guidelines setting up front-end agencies for e-governance services.


The direct beneficiaries are the stategovernments involved in e-governanceinitiatives and administrative reforms in India.The ultimate beneficiaries are the citizens of Indiathemselves, particularly the disadvantaged.

Output s

The output of the research study is a documentthat will serve as a policy brief for thegovernment and provide guidelines forimplementing officials. It includes detaileddocumentation of issues and solutions fordeveloping an e-governance front-end agencyand a road map from the present ad hocarrangements to a full-fledged institutionalizedagency or department with appropriateoutreach components.


This project was still in progress at the time ofwriting, however interim reports indicate thatgovernment online services in India are still ata developmental level. The project sees themost critical issue is that many ICT initiativeshave not motivated any fundamental changesin the way government works or in the waypublic services are provided. Several issueshave been identified as cause of this, such asa lack of ownership at the ministerial level orthat ministries consider e-governance to be anIT issue, not one of changing the waygovernment works. The result, however, is thatlittle structural change is underway in theIndian administration, change that isnecessary for e-government services toevolve.

The project will compare and contrast thesituation in India with the experience ofAustralia’s CentreLink, the front-end

23. Roadmap for Process Re-Engineering forExtending e-Governance to theDisadvantaged, India

Grant Amount: US$ 8,888Keywords: INTERNET, GOVERNANCE, POLICY, COMMUNITY, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India



department for all other departments. Thisonline service provides 60-70 percent of allwelfare services delivered and is recognized asan independent ministry. The project willcompare this with six initiatives undertaken bydifferent states in India, representing differentmodels at various stages of maturity. Oneexample given was in Kerala, where the ITMinistry has initiated a programme calledAkshaya – a large multi-stakeholder wirelessnetwork used to devolve responsibilities to thelocal level.

The results of the comparative analysis will beused to develop policy briefs for the Indiangovernment and a series of guidelines onsetting up front-end agencies for e-governanceservices. The briefs will be used to make policyrecommendations to governmentdepartments throughout India.

Project DurationStart Date: April 2006End Date: September 2006Total Duration: 6 Months

Contact InformationParminder Jeet Singh, DirectorIT for Change393, 17th Main, 4th T BlockJayanagar, Bangalore 560011, IndiaTel: +91 80 4146 1055Fax: +91 80 2665 4134E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.ITforChange.net

Reference Websitehttp://www.centrelink.gov.au


Objective

The objective of this project is to survey theextent to which ICT tools have been integratedinto the media industry.

Research Context

While the Internet is widely used in Cambodia,Lao PDR and Viet Nam, the systematicintegration of ICTs into the news industry is notevident. This limits the industry’s accessibilityto global information resources, connectivityamong journalists and its contribution toparticipatory politics through dissemination ofpublic interest news. This project responds tothe lack of research on ICTs in Cambodia, LaoPDR and Viet Nam media by surveying how ICTsare currently integrated into the industry. Itaims to identify the strategic application of ICTsfor reporting public interest issues in a state-controlled media environment. Based on itsassessment, the project will produce a range ofreports and learning tools to increaseintegration of ICTs into the local media industry.


The immediate beneficiaries are journalists andmedia educators in Cambodia, Lao PDR and VietNam. At the regional level, aid agencies,government organization and “think tanks”focused on the development of ICTs in the regioncan benefit from the analysis and reports. At theglobal level, the academic community andmedia-research funding organizations benefit

from a better understanding of how ICTs arebeing applied to journalism in a region that isrelatively undocumented.

Output s

● An assessment of ICT application needs byjournalists in Cambodia, Lao PDR and VietNam;

● A profile of the journalists’ strengths,limitations and opportunities for ICTapplications;

● An industry report on existing ICT supportsystems for journalists;

● A regional training and education model forICT-assisted journalism;

● A learning resource manual; and● A 45-minute digital video recording of

interviews with journalists and governmentrepresentatives.


To date, this research project has gatheredrelevant empirical data on ICT issues andtraining needs for newspaper journalists in HaNoi, Phnom Penh and Vientiane. The project hasfound that, contrary to general assumptions,the Internet has not brought about a significanttransformation in the way that journalism ispracticed or produced. This is due to softwarelimitations, high cost of Internet connectionsand inadequate infrastructure support withinthe media organizations. Political factors werenot perceived to be critical impediments in thewider use of Internet by journalists.

24. Effects of ICT on Media Transformation,Education and Training in Cambodia,Lao PDR and Viet Nam

Grant Amount: US$ 19,269Keywords: MEDIA, INTERNET, ACCESS, CAPACITY BUILDING, CAMBODIA, LAO PDR, VIET NAMGeographical Coverage: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Viet Nam



The project research methodology combinesprimary literature reviews, policy studies,empirical surveys, personal interviews withnewspaper editors and government officials,and an ICT needs and inventory study basedon a structured questionnaire. Thequestionnaire was piloted with 65 journalistsin Ha Noi in December 2005. Based on theresults of the pilot the questionnaire wasrefined.

With the background research complete, theresearchers traveled to Ha Noi, Phnom Penhand Vientiane to meet with the countryresearchers and provide on-site training inquestionnaire administration, data coding, andhow to conduct the interviews. Countryresearchers arranged interviews withjournalists, editors and relevant governmentrepresentatives. All interviews were recorded bya digital video camera. The project devotedsignificant time to observing operations in thelocal newsrooms and examining journalist’saccess to Internet connectivity and theavailability of computers andtelecommunications services. Cultural issuessuch as the use of different Asian languages onthe Internet were also examined, along with theproblems of displaying languages that do notuse the Roman alphabet on the Internet.

The strength in this project lies in thecorroboration of data from the questionnairesurvey with the on-camera interviews witheditors and policy makers. The utilitarian focusof the project takes the discussion of Internetusage in the newsroom beyond academicinquiry. The project’s weakness, perhaps, maylie in the fact that the questionnaires weretranslated into Vietnamese, Lao and Khmer bythe country researchers. Every effort, however,was made to ensure that the translations werecorrect by vetting the translated questionnaire

by a second reader. The inventory check ofinfrastructure support in the mediaorganizations was less than satisfactory as therespondents had difficulties in providingaccurate figures of, for instance, how manyoffice computers were connected to theInternet.

The project focuses on pragmatic issues suchas the journalist’s access to technologicalinfrastructure support facilities, economics andwork routines. Results point to varied levels oflanguage, economic, hardware and softwareconstraints that the journalists face in their useof the Internet in the newsroom. The empiricaldata obtained from the survey are anticipatedto be of use to foreign agencies that plan todeploy media training programmes in thetarget areas. The project report will provide abasis for formulating policies to facilitate fullintegration of Internet technology into the dailyoperations of news organizations. The resultsare anticipated to be used in the developmentof a continuing education programme focusingon ICT-assisted reporting techniques for localjournalists. The project anticipates that thistraining and education model will be itsprimary contribution to journalism inCambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam.

Project DurationStart Date: August 2005End Date: December 2006Total Duration: 17 Months

Contact InformationDr Dinh Thi Thuy HangInstitute of Journalism and CommunicationHo Chi Minh National Political AcademyHa Noi, Viet NamE-mail: [email protected]@isp.net.au


Objectives

The objectives of this project are to examinecritical ICT policy issues with clear publicinterest implications in the Philippines and toengender a multi-stakeholder approach topolicy development.

Research Context

This project aims to support and strengthen therecently set up Philippine CICT by examiningcritical ICT policy areas with clear public interestimplications. It targets issues where it is seenthat public policy is underdeveloped andwhere civil society can make a positivecontribution. The project aims to develop sevenresearch papers on strategic policy areas, usinga multi-stakeholder approach duringproduction and validation. Roundtablediscussions and validation workshops willcomplement the research process and produceoutputs that benefit the national and regionalcommunity with sound information andcommunications policies. This process is seento strengthen a public interest multi-stakeholder constituency that will activelyengage in the implementation and oversightof each policy area studied.


The direct beneficiary is the grant recipient’sproject partner, CICT, to which the outputs ofthis project will be turned over. Indirectbeneficiaries are other policy stakeholders in

the Philippines, policy communities in othercountries of the Asia-Pacific region, andultimately the people of the Philippines.

Output s

The production of research papers in sevenareas of information and communicationspolicy that correspond to Philippine nationalpriorities for policy development. For eachpolicy research area, the project will conductroundtable discussions and research validationworkshops involving strategic stakeholders inPhilippine information and communicationspolicy development (with CICT and attachedagencies, academe, key IT associations, NGOsand other civil society organizations). Theproject will publish the papers, includingrelevant outputs of the related roundtablediscussions and validation workshops, inmonograph form or as a single volume in onlineand offline (CD) versions. The policy researchpapers include:

● Internet Governance for the Administrationof Country Code Top-Level Domains(ccTLDs);

● Internet Governance and Policy Implicationsfor Emerging Technologies and UniversalAccess Programmes;

● The Question of Agency in InfoCommsPolicy Development: An evaluative historyof Philippine ICT governance from aninstitutional standpoint;

● FOSS: Evolving a policy framework andaction plan for the Philippines;

25. Policy, Praxis and the Public Interest:Engendering a Strategic InfoComms PolicyResearch Programme in the Philippines

Grant Amount: US$ 26,477Keywords: GOVERNANCE, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, POLICY, PHILIPPINESGeographical Coverage: The Philippines



● WSIS@PH: An assessment of Philippineparticipation in international spaces,national processes;

● Locating the Digital Divide in thePhilippines; and

● Mainstreaming Gender Issues in ICT PolicyDevelopment.


This project seeks to engender a new way ofdeveloping policy that relies on the researchcapacities of different stakeholders and thebalancing of quantitative and qualitativeindicators and methods. To achieve this, a multi-stakeholder approach is embedded into theproject. This collaborative researchmethodology ensures participation of variousstakeholders from different sectors throughoutthe project development process. Thematicroundtable discussions provide input beforethe research papers are prepared, and researchvalidation workshops provide further inputafter the drafts are finished. The project alsoplaces emphasis on a knowledge sharingframework. Most of the papers consult existingstate-of-the-art research and, similarly, outputswill be widely disseminated internationally. Itis foreseen that these processes can form thebasis of ongoing knowledge networking withgovernments and NGOs in other developingcountries.

The thematic areas covered by the projectinvolve a broad array of information andcommunications concerns which cut acrosssectors and issues, such as FOSS, ccTLDadministration, digital divide indicators, gender,emerging access technologies, participation ininternational forums, and policy institutions.Research agendas for each thematic areanecessitate different methodologies that cutacross various disciplines - both on the level oftheory and praxis. Some of the research areasalso suggest new data sets that may beimportant for the government to consider in its

statistical systems. Each thematic area will beused to pinpoint and mobilize a multi-stakeholder community based on practice andinterest within civil society and withgovernment agencies. This broad-basedprocess is seen to adhere to the principles ofinclusion, participation and knowledgenetworking. The policy development focus ofthe project is a key component of sound, multi-stakeholder governance in the area ofinformation and communications. Hopefully,governance mechanisms will be improved, asthe project will seek to demonstrate the valueof multi-stakeholder policy development.

The project has noted several factors thateffected progress. First, a number of theresearchers could not be mobilized accordingto the original timetable for a variety of reasons.This caused some delay, as some of themesbeing explored are specialized areas, and it wasdifficult to find alternatives. The project notes,however, that to date all of the seven papersare in various stages of production. In addition,some of the thematic areas are “live” - meaning,these are current areas of actual policy debate.The project noted that it was a challenge tokeep up with policy processes and make theresearch relevant to governance realities. Theproject also notes that since a primarybeneficiary and partner is CICT, there has beena need to be flexible in response to politicaldevelopments and transitions in thatgovernment agency.

It is envisioned that all of the research outputswill be integrated to make concretesubmissions to the Philippine ICT StrategicRoadmap of the CICT. The research process alsoseeks to empower non-government actors suchas NGOs, academe, activists and genderadvocates to continually engage in policydevelopment for the public interest. Broaddissemination of the results will facilitatesharing of this knowledge internationally withsimilarly placed civil societies.


Project DurationStart Date: June 2005End Date: December 2006Total Duration: 19 Months

Contact InformationAlan G. Alegre, Executive DirectorFoundation for Media AlternativesUnit 1, #32 Esteban Abada StreetLoyola Heights, Quezon City 1108PhilippinesTel: +63 2 435 6684Fax: +63 2 433 2192E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.fma.ph



Chapter 1

26. Nafees Nastalique: Character-Based Nastalique

Font for Urdu, Pakistan

27. ICT-Assisted Learning Tool for the Deaf in Pakistan

28. Building a Philippine IPv6 Research Network

29. Nepal Internet Exchange

30. Free and Open Source Software Localization

Toolkit

31. Scientific Journal Publishing in India: Indexing

and Online Management

32. Dobhase: English-Nepali Translator

33. Developing a New Resource Sharing System and

a New Tool to Use Electronic Materials in

Multimedia Format Based on Grid Technology,

China

34. Mongolian Text-to-Speech Conversion Tool

35. Open Source GIS/Mapping Solution for the

Indian Tsunami Information Resource Centre

36. Automatic Synchronization and Distribution of

Biological Databases Over Low-Bandwidth

Networks Among Developing Countries

37. Development of a Real-Time and Mobile

Integrated Water Quality Monitoring System

Based on ICT: A Study Case in Ha Long Bay, Viet

Nam

38. IPv6 Tunnel Broker: A Key for Using Next

Generation Internet in Developing Countries,

Thailand

39. Shahmukhi to Gurmukhi Transliteration Solution

for Networking, India and Pakistan

40. VClass SIP-Based Mobile Classroom

Technical Innovation

Image: Beijing Earthview Environment Education and Research Center


Objectives

The objective of this project is to develop aNastalique font for Urdu.

Research Context

Urdu is written in Nastalique script, which iscursive and has a complex and context-sensitive structure. Its application for computersand the Internet have been limited by a lack ofquantitative detail on its rules and themathematical inability of traditional fonts suchas True Type to model its complexity. Recentadvances in font technology such as Open TypeFont (OTF) now enable the modeling ofcomplex scripts like Nastalique. This projectperformed a quantitative analysis of Nastaliquerules and modeled them using OTF. The projectresults provide the facility for users todisseminate information in Urdu languagethrough electronic media. As OTF is a formalstandard, no specialized software is required toread and render this font.


Definition and free disbursement of Nastaliquefont for Urdu accelerates Urdu publishingthrough electronic media and benefits the 60million readers of Urdu across the world. In thisgroup, those who do not understand a secondlanguage (e.g. English) are able to publish andaccess web pages, e-mail, chat and a variety ofother computer applications.

Output s

The output of this project is a character-basedNastalique font for Urdu. The project alsoproduced research papers quantifyingNastalique rules with significant detail andanalyzed methods for modeling and renderingcomplex fonts.


In its effort to model a Nastalique font, theproject sought to understand the font’sunderlying principles, including thecalligrapher’s intuition. Through a series oflectures on Nastalique, in-depth discussionswith calligraphers and the analysis ofhandwritten books, the project matured itsperception of Nastalique’s inherent architectureand enhanced the knowledge base of itswriting style. At the end of this research, theproject succeeded in consolidating Nastaliqueand producing its logical model. Major researchresults include: capturing context-sensitivesubstitution grammar of Nastalique,formulating its cursive positioning rules,deriving optimized Nuqta (marks on alphabet)placement rules, and implementing kerningrules where necessary. These results also havethe benefit of preserving the rich culturalheritage of Nastalique calligraphy.

Towards the end of its effort, the project facedunexpected limitations in OTF specifications.Within these limitations the project sought theoptimal solutions. The project work testedexisting OTF technology for font development,

26. Nafees Nastalique: Character-BasedNastalique Font for Urdu, Pakistan

Grant Amount: US$ 29,833Keywords: LOCALIZATION, OPEN TYPE FONTS, URDU, PAKISTANGeographical Coverage: Pakistan, Global



identified its limitations (with reference toNastalique font) and indicated areas whereenhancements are needed. The project teamnotes that the OTF font model is now beingextended, allowing greater capacity to realizemore complex fonts such as Nastalique.Regardless of this, the project met its objectivesand target outputs and the Nafees Nastaliquefont was released. This font is freelydownloadable at http://www.crulp.org

The project team credits the hard work ofstudents at the Centre for Research in UrduLanguage Processing (CRULP) and thecalligraphers who worked with a great deal ofunderstanding and patience with the team ofcomputer scientists. The project built capacityat CRULP to develop fonts and this capacity isnow being shared with other organizations. Theproject has enabled CRULP to develop apartnership with PAN Localization, Microsoft’sLanguage Interface Pack for Urdu(http://www.PANL10n.net). CRULP also won agrant from the Government of Pakistan todevelop a software system for machinetranslation.

The results have provided 60 million Urdu userswith an essential tool to develop and publishweb pages as well as to access Urdu contenton the Internet. On project completion, theproject team felt that the overall impact of theproject could not be fully realized without asignificant outreach programme to train theend-users across the country. Since that time.however, over 25,000 downloads of the fonthave been made from the project website,indicating that a significant number of peopleare using the font for development of Urdudocuments online in standard Unicode format.

An additional issue that came up was whetherit is in the best interest of the font to be freeand open source as required by the grant. Themain issue is that the font can be freelymanipulated and, if this is done poorly, itsaesthetic and functional properties could bedegraded. Also related to this matter are thecommercialization opportunities inherent inthe development of such products. Forexample, the project was contacted by BBC UKwho wanted to purchase rights for the font sothat they could modify it for the BBC Urduwebsite. The project team recommends thatadministering agencies should look intoadvising and guiding their partners in relevantintellectual property rights issues and makingthe agreement more detailed in this area.

Project DurationStart Date: March 2002End Date: August 2003Total Duration: 18 Months

Contact InformationDr Sarmad HussainSenior Research FellowNational University of Computer and EmergingSciences852B Block, Faisal Town, Lahore, PakistanE-mail: [email protected]

Websiteshttp://www.nu.edu.pkhttp://www.crulp.org

Reference Websitehttp://www.PANL10n.net


Objective

The objective of this project is to use emergingICT tools to develop an Urdu Pakistani SignLanguage (PSL) learning model.

Research Context

New ICTs offer a flexible medium for hearingimpaired people to communicate. This researchproject focused on practical and replicablelearning solutions for the deaf in Pakistan. Thesolution was modeled using online and CDtechnologies. The CD is comprised of easy-to-understand lesson plans and assessment tests,graphically illustrated using PSL. Selected datasets from the exercises are also made availableonline through the Internet as a freeware fordownload by the hearing impaired community.The product can be adapted across the countryto increase the integration of the deaf andhearing impaired into society.


The beneficiaries are Pakistani deaf and hearingimpaired individuals and academic staff ineducation institutions.

Output s

The project website (http://www.special.net.pk)and CD include the following components:

● An Urdu PSL compendium dictionary of 500words;

● 50 new environmental terms in PSL;

● Font conversion utility; and● Sign alphabets, basic Urdu PSL grammar

and traffic signs.


PSL is the main form of communication forPakistan’s hearing impaired people. PSLpresently contains approximately 4,000different gestures with diverse dialects. Theproject started with a multi-purpose aim ofcoming up with a selected set of usablePakistani sign language gestures andintroducing ICT-based education tools for thecommunity. ICT as a communication mediumand learning instrument were used to enhanceaccess to PSL, facilitate uniformity and improveliteracy of the hearing impaired.

The project’s first phase explored and developedthe PSL symbol set. The project completed aliterature review of available PSL resources anddocumentation detailing the methodology forcompiling a representative set of new andexisting PSL. These results from the study formedthe basis for evolving technological educationvariants under the second phase of work. Thisphase involved developing software forconverting Urdu alphabets to PSL, defining thePSL font structure, and modeling PSL for CD packsand the web. A unique aspect of the project wasto infuse an awareness of environmentalconcerns into the hearing impaired curriculumthrough the development and introduction ofPSL environmental terms.

27. ICT-Assisted Learning Tool for the Deafin Pakistan

Grant Amount: US$ 28,500Keywords: HEALTH, HEARING IMPAIRED, CAPACITY BUILDING, URDU, PAKISTANGeographical Coverage: Pakistan



The last two phases of the project focused onresearch to evaluate multiple learningapproaches using ICTs and exploring thevarious options of online and offline instructiontechniques for the hearing impaired. Thus, theresearch resulted in the development of a CD-based learning tool for the hearing impaired.The CD is distributed through the PakistanAssociation of the Deaf and the contents areavailable for download from the projectwebsite (http://www.special.net.pk). Thelaunching of the CD received coverage in themost widely distributed English languagepublication of Pakistan (see: http://www.dawn.com/2004/03/08/local10.htm).

The project noted several challenges it facedin carrying out its work. In particular, it citeddifficulties working within the somewhatfragmented and complex political dynamics ofthe special education sector. It also noted thatthe perception of ICTs as a tool of the elite wasa hindrance to adoption of the new tools,although with continued integration ofcomputers and ICTs into schools this was seento be less of a problem in the future. In addition,the project approach, which was to promotethe use of ICTs for sustainable development,was something new in Pakistan’s special sector.

The main challenge lies in the dissemination ofthe CD to relevant institutions and targetbeneficiaries. As the project has ended and theteam members of the project are working inother organizations, the overall disseminationof the product has suffered after the project’scompletion. The project recommends that thePan-Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme furthersupport dissemination and showcasing of theproject work.

Project DurationStart Date: December 2002End Date: November 2003Total Duration: 12 Months

Contact InformationSabahat Saeed KhanTel: +92 21 481 7997E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.iucnp.org

Reference Websiteshttp://www.special.net.pkhttp://www.dawn.com/2004/03/08/local10.htm


Objective

The objective of this project is to initiate IPv6use by the PREGINET infrastructure.

Research Context

While the Philippines has experienced a rapidrate of adoption of the Internet since 1993, it hasbeen slow to adopt IPv6, the new IP standard thatincreases the address size to 128 bits and solvesaddress availability problems. Considering highlevel of Internet use in the Philippines, this projectrecognized the need to start building internalcapability and a knowledge base on IPv6. Theeducation institutions involved in the projectused a test-bed to explore transition mechanismsand pursue in-depth research on the protocol.The project is sustained by PREGINET.


The direct beneficiaries in this project are theparticipating educational institutes. This includes thefaculty that builds the test-bed (an added researchcomponent in their laboratories) and the students whouse it to conduct research on IPv6. The project benefitsmembers of the academe, government institutions,and the IT industry that participated in seminars,trainings and workshops organized by the project.Philippine Internet users in general benefit throughthe diffusion of IPv6.

Output s

● Papers outlining research findings deliveredto at least two conferences or meetings;

● Online documentation of technical detailsand creation of how-to guides; and

● Final research report on the projectexperience and recommendations onuniversal access strategies and policies.


ASTI initiated IPv6 research in the Philippinesthrough the Asian Internet InterconnectionInitiatives Project (AI3). ASTI drew on thatexperience for this project.

The project began with a call for participationand selected three partners based on the criteriaof technical capability and geographicrepresentation of the three major island clustersin the Philippines. The partners selected werethe Electrical and Electronics EngineeringDepartment of the University of the Philippines(UP-EEE) in Diliman, Quezon City, the MindanaoState University – Iligan Institute of Technology(MSU-IIT) in Iligan City and the Central VisayasInformation Sharing Network (CVISNET) in CebuCity. The project team experienced somedifficulties during the initial implementationdue to a lack of experience with the intricaciesof IPv6 among some of the institutions involved.There were also challenges relating to the factthat CVISNET and MSU-IIT are remote sitesalthough the ultimately successful partnershipdemonstrates that distance is not necessarily ahindrance in achieving collaborative research.

The project has had a wide range of outputsbeyond those outlined in the original proposal.It conducted a number of workshops on IPv6

28. Building a Philippine IPv6 ResearchNetwork

Grant Amount: US$ 8,990Keywords: INTERNET PROTOCOL, IPV6, NETWORK DEVELOPMENT, PHILIPPINESGeographical Coverage: The Philippines



routing, domain name system (DNS) servers,web servers, web proxies, e-mail and IPv6-enabled applications for faculty, students,government staff and project managers. Itorganized an IPv6 Forum on applications,operations and business models thatcompanies can use when adopting IPv6. Theproject deployed hardware to the three projectsites, including computers, routers andapplication servers. It also connected severalnon-partner institutions to the test-bed.CVISNET, UP-EEE and MSU-IIT were able toestablish IPv6 connectivity to ASTI, and to otherinternational IPv6 networks through ASTI andAI3.

The project developed a number ofpresentations and materials. It produced apaper for the IPv6 Promotion Council Retreatentitled Hurdles and issues in advancing IPv6deployment in the Philippines presented in theIPv6 Summer Retreat in Seoul, Korea on 23August 2003. The project supported two Asia-Pacific College undergraduate students whodeveloped Macromedia tutorials and an award-winning project by the students from MSU-IITcalled Dynamic DNS Solution for a CampusNetwork. It made technical presentations onIPv6 to the Philippine Internet ServicesOrganization. The project attended the APANConference held in Fukuoka, Japan, 22-24January 2003 and PREGINET attended the firstAsia-Pacific Global IPv6 Summit, APRICOT 2003Conference in Taipei, Taiwan. The projectprovided research assistance to anundergraduate thesis entitled Internet ProtocolVersion 6 (IPv6) Implementation for the AMD Net186 Demonstration Boar. Finally, the projectprovided technical support to the firstPhilippines IPv6 mailing list. The list supportsresearch and deployment of IPv6 in thePhilippines through the exchange oftheoretical and practical information.

ASTI’s aim of deploying IPv6 in the Philippineshas been enhanced through collaboration with

schools and universities, ISPs,telecommunications companies, and other IPv6stakeholders. The range of seminars, workshopsand reports developed by the project hasincreased awareness and appreciation of IPv6within the government and the networkengineering community of the Philippines, andcontributes to the global IPv6 research anddevelopment community and related advocacyefforts. The IPv6 network developed throughthis project continues to be used by faculty,researchers and students of participatinginstitutions as a test-bed for the design,development and testing of IPv6 applications.ASTI continues to conduct research anddevelopment in IPv6.

Awards

Dynamic DNS Solution for a CampusNetwork project of the students fromMSU-IIT was among the top 20 GrandPrize Winners of the 2004 Linux ScholarsChallenge.

Project DurationStart Date: November 2002End Date: September 2003Total Duration: 11 Months

Contact InformationDenis F. Villorente, DirectorAdvanced Science and Technology InstituteASTI Building, UP Technology Park ComplexC.P. Garcia Avenue, DilimanQuezon City 1101, PhilippinesTel: +63 2 426 9766 / 67Fax: +63 2 426 9756E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.pregi.net/content/section/10/64/

Reference Websitehttp://www.ai3.net


Objective

The objective of this project is to address theproblems associated with local Internet trafficrouting within Nepal.

Research Context

Many ISPs in Nepal have their own internationalgateway. Since there is no way to separate localfrom international traffic, local traffic musttraverse the global Internet backbone beforereaching the ISP in the next block. Theformation of a local Internet Exchange (IX)facilitates the exchange of local traffic whilereducing the load on global gateways. Theresearch importance of the Nepal InternetExchange (NpIX) continues to increase as thesize of the Internet community in Nepal grows.A joint NpIX working group, with participationfrom all stakeholders, did much of thepreliminary work and a sustainable operationalmodality for the NpIX was established. An NpIXboard with representation from all relevantbodies oversaw the entire project, includingdevelopment of appropriate procedures andprocesses for the operation of the IX.


The project beneficiaries are ISPs and users whobenefit through preservation of bandwidth andInternet access. The NpIX also provides a“looking glass” facility for researchers toascertain the size of the Internet infrastructurein Nepal.

Output s

The project documented the procedures andprocesses required for the establishment andoperation of an IX. Other countries can studythe results as they consider establishing theirrespective IX.


At the time the project was implemented, therewere about 15 companies providingcommercial Internet services in Kathmandu,some of which also had a presence outside theKathmandu Valley. More than half of these hadtheir own international gateways and severalhad international connections through satellitelinks. As there was no way to separateinternational traffic and local traffic, all trafficwould have to pass through the internationalgateways before reaching the ISP next door,resulting in extra expenditure, slower Internetaccess and hindering broadband deployment.Additionally, almost all ISPs in Nepal were usingstatic routing in their respective IP networks.This created constraints in networkmanagement and did not provide automaticswitchover if the network link went down.

The NpIX was established following the LondonIX standards. Its goal was to enable theexchange of local traffic between the ISPs,content providers and network operators inNepal. To evaluate the significance of the IX, theproject team collected data from the ISPs andpeering partners using statistical analysis,

29. Nepal Internet Exchange

Grant Amount: US$ 9,000Keywords: INTERNET EXCHANGE, INTERNET SERVER PROVIDER, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT,NEPALGeographical Coverage: Nepal



questionnaires and interviews. Internet usepatterns and data flow directions wasestablished through data collected at the IX andin cooperation with the ISPs. This researchenabled the establishment of an online dataexchange facility that provided aggregateddata on the total traffic flowing through theInternet Exchange Points (IXPs). A detailedanalysis based on information provided by theISPs was published every three months.

The project held training workshops everythree months to provide ISPs with the necessaryskills to use the IX. Training focused on BorderGateway Protocol (BGP) peering technology. Allthe ISPs successfully upgraded to dynamicrouting with Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)and BGP. The IX is now stable, so if one of thepeers or the IX fails, all the peer traffic is nowautomatically routed through the Internetgateways of the respective ISPs.

With the introduction of the NpIX, ISPs are nowable to separate international traffic and localtraffic. The IX facilitates the exchange of localtraffic. This has benefited the ISPs directlythrough preservation of bandwidth and a 10percent increase in cost effectiveness. The NpIXproject also provides a “looking glass” facility forresearchers to ascertain the size of Internetinfrastructure in Nepal. The government hasbenefited as the IX is the platform that hoststhe government portal, including the contentgenerated under its e-governmentprogramme. Finally, users experience faster andmore reliable connections. The results fromNpIX provide a convincing set of economicreasons for policy makers in developingcountries to form an IX.

The project team achieved its objectives and isactively working to improve and expand the

exchange facility by enrolling more ISPs,universities, educational institutes andcorporate networks. NpIX is conductingcontinuous research, for as the Internetinfrastructure grows such research will continueto help solve IP issues, routing and otherproblems.

The establishment of an IX in any country orregion helps foster the growth of the local IT andInternet industry. However, the project teamnotes that an IX can only be successful with thefull cooperation of the ISPs. Educating the ISPsabout how to set up the networks is morevaluable in the long run than having experts doit for them. In addition, the core team mustconsist of people who possess a goodunderstanding of the Internet routing systemand have the trust of all the local participants.Based on the findings of the project, the teamrecommends giving the participants in the IXfull control over their network routinginfrastructure.

Project DurationStart Date: January 2003End Date: October 2003Total Duration: 10 Months

Contact InformationRupesh ShrestaComputer Association of Nepal235/39 Dhobidhara Marg, Kumari GalliKathmandu, NepalTel: +977 1 432 700, +977 1 434 836Fax: +977 1 424 043E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.npix.net.np


Objective

The objective of this project is to reduce thenecessary research, work and expertise that acountry or group needs to undertake alocalization project.

Research Context

This project addresses the localization ofsoftware for countries in the Asia-Pacific regionthat lack the human and technical resourcesrequired to undertake these complex projects.The project is developing a toolkit in layman’slanguage to allow countries to developlocalization projects without the need ofspecialized help. The toolkit is being developedover a two-year period, with preliminaryreleases made public during that time.


The project benefits all countries in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly small countries andnational minorities that use their own script butdo not have the necessary expertise andknowledge to undertake a localization project.

Output s

The development of a FOSS Localization Toolkit,including a manual and a CD. The manualconsists of a series of how-to sub-manuals thatinclude everything a prospective localizerneeds to learn: from management issues suchas “how to decide what you need” and “how towrite up a localization project” to more

technical issues, including installation oftranslation tools, finding and processing thefiles that need to be translated and finallybuilding applications in a local language.


For countries or regions that do not have anycomputer programs in their own language,FOSS can be translated and localized (adjustedfor local standards) making it possible to createa complete set of free programs in a locallanguage. The main barrier localized softwareremoves for local people is the requirement oflearning a new language such as English, priorto learning to use computer applications.

The problem is that the FOSS community issometimes highly technical and the proceduresto be followed to localize text are not welldocumented. Gathering the necessaryinformation to start a complete localizationproject, understanding the procedures,evaluating the necessary resources andpreparing a plan can take up to six months fora trained computer technician. To address this,the project was first conceived as an umbrellaproject that would gather information aboutdifferent FOSS projects and document theirlocalization methods and integration.

Once the project work began, however, initialfindings made a change in methodologynecessary. Either little or no localizationinformation was available for key programs, orthey were highly technical, which was notappropriate for the toolkit. In many cases, the

30. Free and Open Source SoftwareLocalization Toolkit

Grant Amount: US$ 29,732Keywords: FREE AND OPEN SOURCE, SOFTWARE, LOCALIZATION, CAMBODIA, ASIA-PACIFICGeographical Coverage: Cambodia, Asia-Pacific



tools for easy technology-independenttranslation of FOSS did not exist, or were notdefined. Finally, the researches found there waslittle written on how to develop a localizationprogram. In response to these findings, theproject considered that it could best reach itsgoals by defining a translation system for FOSS,thus simplifying the process and helping smalleconomies reach their localization goals muchfaster.

The project found that coordinated localizationprojects could be improved by using the sameprograms and the same format. The SouthAfrica-based Translate Toolkit project does thisby converting the files that need to betranslated into a standard format and convertsthem back to the application’s format once thetranslation is done. However, the project feltthat the Translate Toolkit had insufficientdocumentation. Thus, developing referencedocumentation of the Translate Toolkit softwarebecame the first technical task completed bythe project.

As a follow up to this, it was necessary to link(through documentation) the Translate Toolkitto other major FOSS projects. TheOpenOffice.org project started using theTranslate Toolkit and the localizationdocumentation developed by the FOSSLocalization Toolkit. This has simplified thelocalization procedure for this product.

The FOSS Localization Toolkit is furtherdeveloping and testing its documentationthrough a south-south collaboration(Cambodia/South Africa) project calledWordForge (http://www.wordforge.org). Thegoal of WordForge is to use the latest computer-

assisted translation technology to produce thebest possible localization tools for FOSS. Wherethe FOSS Localization Toolkit has worked ondocumentation to facilitate the work,WordForge goes one step further to create easy-to-use tools that continue the work offacilitating localization. Translators that are nothighly skilled can use these tools.

A key document produced by the project is adetailed manual on how to plan and write alocalization project for a given country andlanguage. It covers all aspects of the project,from defining its social goals to understandingthe workload and preparing a plan and abudget. Documentation from the project isalready being used by localization projects inAsia (Bhutan, Lao PDR, Nepal).

Project DurationStart Date: August 2004End Date: July 2006Total Duration: 24 Months

Contact InformationJavier Solá, CoordinatorKhmer Software Initiative (KhmerOS)Open Forum for CambodiaPO Box 177, Phnom Penh, CambodiaTel: +855 23 360 345E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.forum.org.kh

Reference Websiteshttp://www.translate.org.zahttp://translate.sourceforge.net/wikihttp://www.wordforge.org


Objective

The objective of this project is to improveaccessibility to scientific literature published inIndian journals by introducing an indexingsystem.

Research Context

This project aims to improve accessibility toresearch and scientific literature published inIndian journals by introducing an indexingsystem with the ability to generate metadatafor each article. This collaborative project buildson the Public Knowledge Project’s (PKP) OpenJournals Systems (OJS), which manages andpublishes peer-reviewed journals. Theproposed system is self-sustaining under theexisting infrastructure for Indian scientificjournals and academic publishing. The projectcontributes to the research capacities of Indiaas well as other nations in the process ofutilizing new technologies to improve theirknowledge infrastructure.


This project benefits Indian researchers andjournal publishers through improved visibilityand impact of their work locally and globally,creating opportunities to expand contacts andundertake collaborative research, and byfacilitating the launch of online journals intopical research areas.

31. Scientific Journal Publishing in India:Indexing and Online Management

Grant Amount: US$ 28,000Keywords: OPEN ACCESS, PUBLISHING, KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India

Output s

● Web accessible indexing and search systemfor Indian Academy of Sciences journals;

● Web accessible indexing portal for OpenArchives Initiative compliant Indian journals;

● Online journal publishing system forJournals of the Indian Institute of Science;

● Enhancements to PKP OJS and Harvestersystem software; and

● A national level workshop on open accessjournal publishing and indexing.


This project is still underway and has requestedan extension. The central issue the projectaddresses is that, although a number of Indianjournals have adopted Open Access publishing,most of them are not compliant to the OpenArchives Initiative Protocol for MetadataHarvesting, the emerging standard for indexingor searching online research databases andarchives. The aim of the project is to set upprototype journal websites using PKP’s OJS. Sofar the project has developed web accessibleindexing, search and publishing systemsprototypes for 13 existing journals.

These have been demonstrated to editors ofvarious journals to showcase the advantages ofgood metadata and how to use the JournalManagement System. The key benefits are thatthe system simplifies publishers’ work, improvescontent indexing and enhances web presenceby making the information easier to access bysearch engines. Several publishers have taken



the initiative to install and start experimentingwith the Journal Management System. Theproject acknowledges that publishing officestaff requires training, guidance and assistancefrom the project team to understand thesystem interfaces and use them.

Through interaction with editors of journalsand participants of the workshop, the projectidentified several features to improve OJS.Some of these are specifically beneficial toIndian publishers and some may be useful topublishers worldwide. These include a Hindilanguage interface, latex code to render specialcharacters like mathematical and astronomicalsymbols commonly found in physical sciencesresearch literature, and a subject classificationscheme for documents in particular domainssuch as the Physics and AstronomyClassification Scheme numbers. The projectintends to add these features to the OJSsoftware during the extension period of theproject.

The project conducted a workshop on 10-11February 2006 for which it received about 60applications for participation. Due to limitationsin resources, however, only 20 participantscould be accommodated. All the trainingmaterial and reports of the workshop areavailable online at the workshop website(http://www.ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/ojs-workshop). Tofacilitate discussion amongst the workshopparticipants, a mailing list to discuss issues inIndian journal publishing has been started(http://ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/mailman/listinfo/oajp).The project plans to conduct another workshopto popularize the concept of publishing usingstandard protocols and open access.

The PKP is committed to produce upgrades forOJS that support publishing efforts in India. Itwill also continue to work with the NationalCentre for Science Information to ensure thatindexing modules and other components of thesystems developed collaboratively continue tobenefit from the international community’scontribution to the PKP’s free and open sourceprojects. In this way the results contribute notonly to the research capacities of India, but alsoto other nations in the process of using newtechnologies to improve their knowledgeinfrastructure.

Project DurationStart Date: October 2004End Date: March 2006Total Duration: 18 Months

Contact InformationProf N.V. Joshi, ChairmanNational Centre for Science InformationIndian Institute of ScienceBangalore 560012, IndiaTel: +91 80 2360 0271, +91 80 2293 2511 /2654 / 2655Fax: +91 80 2360 1426 / 0683E-mail: [email protected]@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in

Websitehttp://144.16.72.144/

Reference Websiteshttp://sjpi.ncsi.iisc.ernet.inhttp://www.openarchives.org/http://pkp.sfu.ca/http://www.ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/ojs-workshop/http://ncsi.iisc.ernet.in/mailman/listinfo/oajp/


Objective

The objective of this project is to develop aweb-based engine that can provide a “gisttranslation” of general English source text intocorresponding Nepali target text.

Research Context

The number of Internet users in Nepal isgrowing rapidly but only a small portion of thepopulation can read and understand English,thus limiting access to global Internet content.The project addresses this problem through thedevelopment of an English-to-Nepali MachineTranslation (MT) system. The MT project aimsto create a web-based engine that can translategeneral English texts to Nepali on demand. Atransfer-based approach is used to develop themain translation engine, with server sidescripting and Hypertext Markup Language(HTML) used to integrate the engine with a webserver.


The free online distribution of the softwarepackage benefits Nepali speaking Internetusers. The MT also benefits a wide range oforganizations that require translation of webcontent, manuals and documents from Englishto Nepali. Experience in MT and local languagecomputing benefits students and faculty atKathmandu University. The project work alsofurthers research related to languagecomputing.

32. Dobhase: English-Nepali Translator

Grant Amount: US$ 29,990Keywords: ENGLISH-NEPALI, INTERNET, LOCALIZATION, NEPALGeographical Coverage: Nepal

Output s

● Bilingual English-Nepali Dictionary;● English morphological analyzer;● English parser;● Nepali morphological analyzer;● Nepali generator;● Transfer rules;● Web interface; and● An integrated MT engine.


This project work was hampered by politicalevents and technical problems that werebeyond its control. Just after the project workbegan, a state of emergency was declared inNepal, affecting the transfer of funds to theproject team. The project also faced setbacksdue to a drought that limited hydroelectricpower supply. Finally, project work wasimpeded by curfews that were in effect duringthe recent political unrest. Despite thesesetbacks, the project team has noted that theseproblems are past and continued its work.

The project can be viewed as a two-stepprocess. The first step consists of the analysis,design of the system architecture andimplementation of the MT system, Dobhase.The second step consists of making theDobhase system available over the Internet.This requires the design of user interfaces,choice of appropriate web locations for thesystem and popularization of the system in thecommunity that can benefit from its use.



The project followed an evolutionary approachto system development. Prototypes wereplaced online to allow end-users from differentbackgrounds to offer feedback and suggestionson the quality of translation. The project goals,design and implementation were presented inconferences, seminars and workshops. On thebasis of the feedback received from both ofthese sources, the system has been continuallyrefined and upgraded.

The Dobhase MT system uses a transfer-basedapproach that first analyzes the sourcelanguage and then generates a representationcalled a parse tree. Transfer rules are thenapplied to this representation and generate thesyntax of the target language. Finally,morphology generation rules are applied toeach terminal (lexical items) of the parse tree.The system has a pipeline architecture. Eachmodule has an input, which is the output ofanother module. Output from the system isguaranteed even if the input English sentenceis grammatically incorrect. In the worst cases,the system is able to produce word-to-wordtranslation.

The rule-based approach was selected over amore sophisticated method because asufficiently large parallel text corpus for theEnglish-Nepali language pair was not available.The system being developed is enough toprovide a gist translation, however it mayrequire post editing for the quality oftranslation to be acceptable for publicationsand formal writing. Looking at other initiativesin Nepal, it is likely that in a couple of year’s timethere may be a sufficiently large parallel corpuswhich could be used to modify the currentsystem and incorporate hybrid modules(statistic/example-based) with greater

accuracy, thus, improving the quality of thetranslated data.

The system is now online and available toeveryone who has access to the Internet. Theproject team notes that the full realization ofthe project requires further advertising of theproduct and training of users, which is beyondthe scope of the present initiative. Nevertheless,the Dobhase MT project has designed andimplemented a “rule-based” MT system that canbe further developed and enhanced. Theproject has produced a number of by-products,which enhance the linguistic resources ofNepali language in general, such as thebilingual dictionary and grammar rules, amongothers. The project results and outputs havebeen widely disseminated through referredconferences, journal publications andpresentations.

Project DurationStart Date: January 2005End Date: June 2006Total Duration: 18 Months

Contact InformationSanat Kumar Bista, Assistant ProfessorInformation and Language Processing ResearchLabKathmandu University, Dhulikhel, KavrePO Box 6250, Kathmandu, NepalTel: +977 11 661 399Fax: +977 11 661 443E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.ku.edu.np

Reference Websitehttp://www.ku.edu.np/~dobhase


Objective

The objective of this project is to use gridtechnology to build multimedia knowledgerepositories for universities in China.

Research Context

Many universities and schools in China havetheir own computer servers to store multimediacontent and other educational resources. Theefficiency of these systems, however, is limitedby a lack of integration and inability for users torevise and store materials. This project aims todevelop a new system based on gridtechnology that will help institutions buildintegrated multimedia knowledge repositoriesand allow teachers and students to publish theirwork for sharing, modification and use inclasses. The system and tools created by thisproject can be applied to fit a variety ofinstitutional circumstances so that a universalapplication is possible.


The project benefits teachers and students atuniversities and schools that use a computerserver with information stored in differentformats. The project also benefits designers ofthese knowledge repositories. The project’sscalability ensures that the end-users can usebasic services such as searching and browsingthe flyweight resources even if high bandwidthinfrastructure is not available.

Output s

● Display modules of multi-type media (text,image, audio, video), embedded in a GridService Mark-Up Language (GSML) browser;

● Authoring tool for composing multi-typemedia;

● Standard searching service with a unifiedresource information exchange betweenknowledge repositories;

● Standard indexing service to distil metadatafrom resources and automatically enterthem into the repositories;

● Standard service for users to publish theirwork into the repositories; and

● A running sample system based on theresources of Earthview EnvironmentalEducation Digital Library.


At the time of writing, the project team hadcompleted the analysis of requirements and thesystem design. The project noted that the mosttechnically challenging aspect of the projectwas defining the common requirements of theresource sharing system and forming theinfrastructure framework using gridtechnology. The project has finished thedevelopment and testing of several displaymodules that work with popular media formats.Future work remains for sample systemdeployment, field-testing, assessment and

33. Developing a New Resource SharingSystem and a New Tool to Use ElectronicMaterials in Multimedia Format Based onGrid Technology, China

Grant Amount: US$ 30,000Keywords: INTERNET, MULTIMEDIA, LIBRARY, CAPACITY BUILDING, CHINAGeographical Coverage: China



refinement. It is anticipated that the project willbe successfully completed by the proposeddeadline.

The results reported on to date can besummarized in three parts: system design,integration of metadata resources anddevelopment of a multimedia browser.

In the design of the resource sharing system,grid technology is used in combination withService Oriented Architecture (SOA) tointegrate distributed heterogeneousenvironments with non-trivial qualities ofservices, export interfaces based on openstandards and provide a uniform access pointfor end-users. The system has three layers: alower model layer for heterogeneousdatabases, a control layer that handles objectsfrom the lower layer and provides functionalityto the upper layer, and an upper view layer,which is the user interface. The architectureprovides for a traditional web-style portal anda new powerful, operable user-side client.

To describe the basic information of theresources, the author must supply metadatainformation. The most common metadatastandards include: Dublin Core MetadataInitiative, Machine-Readable CataloguingStandard and the Format for BibliographicRecords. The system uses Resource DescriptionFramework (RDF) to achieve the interoperabilitybetween different standards. The RDF works likea market where resource providers usingdifferent standards can publish and exchangetheir own metadata.

A resource in the system can be in a variety ofdifferent media formats (text, image, audio,

video). To access these, the project developeda corresponding display plug-in for the user-side GSML browser supporting most popularmedia formats. There is also an authoring toolin the resource sharing system. Using a visualeditor, the GSML composer, authors can dragand drop plug-ins at any place they want andthen modify the event route to obtainsynchronization.

The project foresees that once the mostchallenging aspects of the project developmentprocess are completed, the infrastructureframework can then be used to build manydifferent kinds of resource sharing systems.Though the project is still underway, manyEarthview Environment Education DigitalLibrary users have shown strong interest in theproject and have cited its strengths inorganization, interactive facilities and interfacepresentation.

Project DurationStart Date: February 2005End Date: December 2006Total Duration: 23 Months

Contact InformationDr Li Hao, DirectorBeijing Earthview Environment Education andResearch CenterHeng Xing Da Sha 20 CZhong Guan Cun East Road No.89Beijing 100080, ChinaTel/Fax: +86 10 6263 2675E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.earthview.org


Objective

The objective of this project is to develop aMongolian text-to-speech (TTS) converter anda simple human computer interface that issuitable for visually impaired people.

Research Context

TTS conversion tools offer visually impairedpeople the ability to access and use personalcomputers and software. Currently, there is noTTS software for visually impaired people inMongolia. This project aims to develop a TTSconverter tool with a simple computerinterface in local language that meets theneeds of visually impaired people and providesa foundation for further development of TTSapplications.


This project benefits visually impaired people,general users of computer systems, studentsand researchers and Mongolian IT companies.The Mongolian TTS synthesizer will be availableonline and released under a General PublicLicense.

Output s

● Mongolian TTS converter;● Mongolian character recognition tool;● TTS converter software package for visually

impaired people; and● A user manual in Mongolian.


Developing the Mongolian TTS system requiresexpertise in ICT and research into Mongolianlanguage and related theories. During researchon the technical aspects of the project, the teamidentified key work on research anddevelopment of TTS by the MBROLA project(http://tcts.fpms.ac.be/synthesis/mbrola.html)and Festvox project (http://www.festvox.org).The MBROLA project concentrates on academicresearch for speech synthesis, particularly onprosody generation, known as one of thebiggest challenges for developers of TTSsynthesizers, and the Festvox project providestechnical tools for TTS. The work of theseprojects was cited as useful to the developmentof the Mongolian TTS system, although theproject does not simply replicate them.

The project also undertook research to furtherits understanding of Mongolian language,which is a branch of Altaic and has differentphonetics, structure and grammar than westernlanguages. The project conducted relativestudies on existing Mongolian languagetheories and held consultations and formalmeetings with leading linguistic theorists inMongolia, in particular with members of theDepartment of Stage Speech Art of theMongolian University of Arts and Culture. Theobjective was to identify potential conflicts anddiscuss possible solutions regarding existinglanguage theories and their practical use in TTS.Two main theories for pronouncing Mongolianwords (developed by Sh. Lavsanvandan, D.Scand M. Bazarragchaa D.Sc) are being used to

34. Mongolian Text-to-SpeechConversion Tool

Grant Amount: US$ 29,790Keywords: TEXT-TO-SPEECH, VISUALLY IMPAIRED, MONGOLIAGeographical Coverage: Mongolia



obtain consistent and practical approach indeveloping Mongolian TTS converter. Thegrammar theory of Ts. Damdinsuren was alsofound to be useful. In this theory, words are splitinto syllables. To process syllables into TTS,research was performed on how to form wordsand program correct pronunciation. Thisinvolved defining rules for tones,unpronounced syllables and characters andover 700 frequently used abbreviations. Inaddition, 400 commonly used foreign wordswere identified and are being integrated intothe system.

At the time of writing, the necessary linguisticresearch activities for the development ofMongolian TTS converter were complete. Theteam had developed a software package foridentifying the different syllables that occur inMongolian lexis and storing them in a database.An additional software package was developedfor collecting abbreviations. The alpha versionof the Mongolian TTS converter engine hasbeen developed and is able to read those wordsand syllables registered and recorded in thedatabase. The sound and mouse click driveninterface of the Mongolian TTS converter toolhas been designed. The database is beingpopulated with recorded sounds, syllables,abbreviations and foreign words.

The following activities have been conductedto promote the activities and results of theproject. The project’s website(http://www.infocon.mn/tts) has beendeveloped and is being regularly updated withthe results from the Mongolian TTS converter

tool project, its source code and other relevantoutputs and information. Plans are underwayto cooperate with OpenMN(http://www.openmn.org) and the MongolianUnix User Group (http://www.mnbsd.org) forwider dissemination of project outputs aftercompletion. The project will distribute the TTSconverter package on CDs and through freedownload from the project website. Once theproject team reaches the desired result, it isplanning discussions with the Ministry ofEducation and Culture to investigate furthercooperation in distributing the TTS system.

Project DurationStart Date: September 2005End Date: September 2006Total Duration: 13 Months

Contact InformationBatpurev BatchuluunExecutive DirectorInfoCon Co. Ltd., PO Box 24Ulaanbaatar 210646, MongoliaTel: +97 6 9909 1465Fax: +97 6 1132 8469E-mail: [email protected]@infocon.mn

Websitehttp://www.infocon.mn/tts/

Reference Websiteshttp://tcts.fpms.ac.be/synthesis/mbrola.htmlhttp://www.festvox.orghttp://www.openmn.orghttp://www.mnbsd.org


Objective

The objective of this project is to develop a freeand open source GIS mapping solution for theIndian Tsunami Information Resource Centre.

Research Context

In the aftermath of the Southeast Asia tsunami,a large and diverse array of organizationsworked collectively on relief efforts over a largegeographical area. This created a huge demandto coordinate complex activities and locationdata. This project aims to add a free and opensource GIS/mapping solution into the existingIndian Tsunami Information Resource Centre. Itwill train organizations on how to collect GISdata, how to enter data into the system andhow to use the system to visualize the data. Thefree and open source GIS/mapping solutioncan be used by any organization to GIS-enabletheir data.


The beneficiaries of this project are NGOs, non-profit organizations, volunteers, donors andgrant making bodies who are contributing tothe tsunami relief and rehabilitation work inSouth India and other tsunami-affected areas.

Output s

● A free and open source GIS/mappingsolution integrated into the existing Indian

Tsunami Information Resource Centre;● Interface with the agencies collecting

tsunami data, training them on collectionof GIS data required by the system, how toenter their data into the system and howto use the system to visualize the data; and

● Release free and open source GIS/mappingsolution as independent software that canbe used by any organization to GIS-enabletheir data, including training modules forsoftware developers to GIS-enable theirtools using the system.


At the time of writing, no final report on thisproject was available although significantprogress had been documented.

A key research contribution this project makesis the development of a free and open sourceGIS solution. The project team notes thatobtaining the license or acquiring thesoftware from a commercially available GISsystem such as those produced by companiessuch as ESRI (http://www.esri.com) isprohibitively expensive. Using free and opensource technologies combined with toolsdeveloped by Janastu (the Pantoto toolkit)allows users greater access to the significantbenefits of powerful GIS applications.

The project is developing the Pantoto platformenvironment to allow mapping of a databaseto a geo-referenced data set. Since geo-

35. Open Source GIS/Mapping Solution forthe Indian Tsunami Information ResourceCentre

Grant Amount: US$ 8,902Keywords: FREE AND OPEN SOURCE, GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM, CAPACITYBUILDING, INDIA, ASIA-PACIFICGeographical Coverage: India, Asia-Pacific



referenced data are not available in India,activists collect their own data using GlobalPositioning System (GPS) and other tools.Existing geo-referenced data sets from USsources are being used to assist with thisprocess.

Work on developing the training modules isongoing. NGOs and community groups havebeen trained in data entry and the use of GPSdevices for entering geo-referenced data. Theproject seeks to train 50 NGOs in affectedcoastal villages over the coming months. Theproject noted it is waiting for the release offunds to undertake this training component.

The project sees potential for local communitiesto use geospatial-planning tools for communitydevelopment. To this end, it has established aworking relationship with villagers directlyimpacted by the tsunami and is planning totrain villagers to use the GIS mapping systemfor planning purposes. The project foresees thatthe visual documentation of environmentaland human impact on their surroundings willempower villagers to make claims with supportof visual evidence.

The project team has developed thehttp://www.mapunity.org site. The site isequipped with features to allow users to addtheir own bookmarks to the database and maps.Janastu is working with others on the contentand to build a community of users andpractitioners around this website.

Project DurationStart Date: June 2005End Date: February 2006Total Duration: 9 Months

Contact InformationJason E. Steward, Technical DirectorJanastu3354, K.R Road, BangaloreKarnataka 560070, IndiaTel: +91 80 2676 2963E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.openrun.com

Reference Websitehttp://www.mapunity.org


Objectives

The objectives of this project are to research,implement and test a next generationautomatic biological software, courseware,database distribution, and synchronizationnetwork based on P2P technology for countriesin the Asia-Pacific region with low-bandwidthInternet links.

Research Context

Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region aremoving into the field of bioinformatics, involvingthe collection, organization and analysis of largeamounts of biological data through computernetworks. For many, however, progress isimpeded by the computational infrastructureand network bandwidths. This project addressesthe problem of low bandwidth and reliabilitythrough the introduction of third generation P2Pprotocols that use the computing power of theentire network and allows file transfers tocontinue in the case of a disconnection. P2Ppromises to help facilitate the distribution andsynchronization of biological databases acrossthe Asia-Pacific region.


The major beneficiaries are research andeducational institutes in countries such asChina, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and

Thailand that are just moving intobioinformatics but do not have the necessaryInternet bandwidth.

Output s

● Free and open source client software basedon third generation P2P technology, forautomatic downloading and synchronizationof biological software, to be made availablefree of charge through the Asia-PacificBioInformatics Network (APBioNET); and

● Reports on performance of the test-bed willbe published in relevant journals andconferences, and will be made availablethrough the APBioNet website(http://www.apbionet.org).

Project DurationStart Date: February 2006End Date: June 2007Total Duration: 17 Months

Contact InformationAmornrat Phongdara, DirectorCentre for Genomics and Bioinformatics ResearchFaculty of Science, Prince of Songkhla UniversityKanchanawanish Road, Hat YaiSongkhla 90112, ThailandTel/Fax: +66 7 428 8384E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.apbionet.org

36. Automatic Synchronization andDistribution of Biological Databases OverLow-Bandwidth Networks AmongDeveloping Countries

Grant Amount: US$ 29,800Keywords: NETWORK DEVELOPMENT, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, THAILAND, ASIA-PACIFICGeographical Coverage: Thailand, Asia-Pacific



Objective

To develop a real-time integrated waterquality monitoring system in Viet Nam

Research Context

This project addresses the complexity andcosts associated with managing Viet Nam’sabundant coastal and fresh water resources.The project aims to extend the ComputerizedWater Quality Measurement Systemdeveloped by the Institute of Chemistry at theVietnamese Academy of Science andTechnology (VAST). The system uses a GPS andwater quality monitoring combined with dataacquisition, transmission and web-basedinformation sharing. In the system, local dataare transmitted by radio to a nearby centre.After preliminary treatment, the information istransmitted to the main server by an Uplinkconnection for sharing in the community.


The water quality monitoring system benefitsresearch, forecasting and decision-making bywater management personnel,environmentalists and academics. The datacan also be used for community awarenessand education campaigns on environmentalprotection.

Output s

The project output is a complete system forwater quality measurement consisting of:

● Three sets of water quality sensors,electronic devices, data acquisition, datatransmission, a server for web-basedinformation sharing and related software;

● Data sets for water quality parameterssuch as pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity,conductivity, temperature and oxidationreduction potential;

● Completion of communication and web-based information sharing system;

● Confirmation of the system’s long-termoperational performance;

● Reliability of the system’s replication forother locations in Viet Nam; and

● A project report.

Project DurationStart Date: February 2006End Date: February 2008Total Duration: 25 Months

Contact InformationLe Quoc Hung, Associate ProfessorInstitute of Chemistry, Vietnamese Academyof Science and Technology18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Ha Noi, Viet NamTel: +84 4 836 2008Fax: +84 4 836 1283E-mail: [email protected]

Grant Amount: US$ 30,000Keywords: ENVIRONMENT, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, GOVERNANCE, VIET NAMGeographical Coverage: Viet Nam

37. Development of a Real-Time and MobileIntegrated Water Quality MonitoringSystem Based on ICT: A Study Case in HaLong Bay, Viet Nam


Internet users in Thailand and other developingcountries without IPv6 connections.

Output s

This project aims to produce a commercial-levelprototype IPv6 tunnel broker system withhardware and software components anddeploy it on the Thailand IPv6 test-bed network.Specific outputs are:

● A hardware component consisting of a webserver that acts as a tunnel broker, IPv6tunnel servers and a DNS server;

● A software component consisting of atunnel broker administrator and databasethat runs on the web server, and the clientsoftware that runs on the end-user’scomputer;

● Two versions of the client software, one forWindows XP platform and one for Linux;

● Deployment of the IPv6 tunnel brokerservice through the National Electronics andComputer Technology Center (NECTEC)IPv6; and

● Test-bed website. Users can download clientsoftware and configuration manual from thewebsite (http://www.ipv6.nectec.or.th).

Project DurationStart Date: February 2006End Date: February 2007Total Duration: 13 Months

Objective

The objective of this project is to develop anIPv6 tunnel broker configuration systemallowing Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) usersto connect to IPv6 networks.

Research Context

The shortage of IP addresses is a problem facingall Internet users in developing countries. IPv6,with its 128-bit addresses, is expected toalleviate this shortage. Several mechanisms areavailable for connecting users to global IPv6networks. One popular mechanism is an IPv6-over-IPv4 tunnel where IPv6 packets areencapsulated inside IPv4 packets and aretransmitted over IPv4 networks. Many types oftunnel mechanisms exist, but most are far toocomplex for general Internet users. This projectaims to develop a semi-automatic IPv6 tunnelconfiguration system that will connect end-users to IPv6 networks in a simple, convenientmanner. The proposed IPv6 tunnel brokersystem will also provide a secure authenticationprocess and support a variety of clientplatforms.


This project benefits all Internet users who wantto get on the IPv6 network quickly withouthaving to wait for IPv6 service from their ISPs.The proposed IPv6 tunnel broker benefits

Grant Amount: US$ 9,000Keywords: INTERNET PROTOCOL, IPV4, IPV6, NETWORK DEVELOPMENT, INFORMATIONMANAGEMENT, THAILANDGeographical Coverage: Thailand

38. IPv6 Tunnel Broker: A Key for Using NextGeneration Internet in DevelopingCountries, Thailand



Contact InformationDr Panita PongpaiboolNational Electronics and Computer TechnologyCenter112 Phahol Yothin Road, Klong LuangPathumthani 12120, ThailandTel: +66 2 564 6900 ext. 2568Fax: +66 2 564 6863E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.nectec.or.th

Reference Websitehttp://www.ipv6.nectec.or.th


Objective

The objective of this project is to develop asoftware package facilitating transliterationfrom Shahmukhi to Gurmukhi languages andenabling web-based networking between Eastand West Punjab.

Research Context

This project is a culmination of 10 years ofacademic research and literacy development inthe United Kingdom, Pakistan and India. Theaim of the project is to facilitate electronic andwritten communication between people in East(Indian) and West (Pakistani) Punjab throughthe development of a Punjabi LanguageTransliteration Tool. The intellectualbackground to this work has already beencompleted through a grant from the EuropeanUnion, Asia-ITC programme. The projectexpands on a Gurmukhi to ShahmukhiTransliteration software developed by thePunjabi University at Patiala and aims todevelop a complementary Shamukhi toGurmukhi processor to facilitate use of thesetechnologies on the web and enhancenetworking between India and Pakistan.


The general beneficiaries of this project are thePunjabi community, and in particular mediaorganizations, schools, colleges, literacypromotional organizations, writers and NGOsinvolved in dissemination activities.

Output s

● Online Shahmukhi-Gurmukhi transliterationutility to transliterate Punjabi text inShahmukhi script to Gurmukhi script;

● An offline Windows-based software totransliterate Punjabi text in Shahmukhiscript encoded in popular formats such asInpage or Unicode to Gurmukhi script in anyof the popular Gurmukhi fonts or Unicode;

● Shahmukhi-Gurmukhi direct transliterationdictionary with 25,000 entries;

● A morphological analyzer and synthesizertool for Shahmukhi text;

● Documentation for usage of transliterationtool; and

● Training materials for usage oftransliteration software.


Contact InformationDr Gurpreet Singh Lehal, DirectorAdvanced Centre for Technical Developmentof Punjabi Language Literature and CulturePunjabi University, Patiala, IndiaTel: +91 17 5304 6171Fax: +91 17 5304 6313E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.advancedcentrepunjabi.org

39. Shahmukhi to Gurmukhi TransliterationSolution for Networking, India and Pakistan

Grant Amount: US$ 29,865Keywords: LOCALIZATION, SOFTWARE, SHAMUKHI, GURMUKHI, INDIA, PAKISTANGeographical Coverage: Punjab, India and Punjab, Pakistan



Objective

The objective of this project is to developmobile classroom facilities using SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP) technology.

Research Context

This project addresses problems associatedwith mobility in e-learning platforms. Mobilityallows teachers to design and conductmeaningful interactive courses by reachingstudents at their PDAs, personal computers orlaptops. The project integrates SIP with a freeand open source e-learning platform calledVClass, to create an easy and effective way toreach students during a class and to extractlearning objects from mobile resources. Theproject aims to produce a mobility-enhancedVClass e-learning platform called a MobileClassroom that provides greater flexibility forlearning environments.


The primary target beneficiaries of the newfunctionality offered by the VClass SIP-basedMobile Classroom are the many learninginstitutions in the Asia-Pacific region who usethe FOSS VClass to power online, web-enhanced and hybrid education programmes.Other institutions interested in e-learning mayalso benefit from the results of this project.

Output s

The project output is a mobility-enhancedVClass e-learning platform. The mobileclassroom will be available both as a webaccessible Java application and for installationon mobile and stationary computing devices.Courseware on cultural studies will be archivedand made public to researchers and students.


Contact InformationProf Kanchana Kanchanasut, DirectorIntERLab, Asian Institute of TechnologyPO Box 4, Klong LuangPathumthani 12120, ThailandTel: +66 2 524 5703Fax: +66 2 524 6618E-mail:[email protected], [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.interlab.ait.ac.th

40. VClass SIP-Based Mobile Classroom

Grant Amount: US$ 30,000Keywords: INTERNET, CAPACITY BUILDING, FREE AND OPEN SOURCE, THAILAND, ASIA-PACIFICGeographical Coverage: Thailand, Asia-Pacific




Chapter 1

41. Towards a Regional Geographic Information

Infrastructure in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan

Region

42. ICT for Agriculture and Rural Development in

China

43. Development of a Forest Fire Forecasting System

for Western Ghats, India Using Web-Based GIS

and Remote Sensing

44. Development of an SMS-Based Rice Seed Stock

Inventory System for Rice Farmers, Philippines

45. Web-Based e-Crop Management, China

46. Crop Disease Forecasting System and Expert

Crop-Advisory to Farmers Over Information

Kiosk Networks in India

Environment and Agriculture

Image: International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development


Objectives

The objectives of this project are to increase theavailability and accessibility of relevantgeographic data and to enhance the exchangeof geographic information within the HKHregion.

Research Context

Decision-making in the HKH region requiressystematic generation and access to data tomake a realistic assessment of natural resourcesand socio-economic conditions. Many spatialdatabases in the region have been developed inisolation from one another and thus informationis dispersed, heterogeneous, inaccessible, or notrelevant due to their continuity, reliability ornature of parameters. In response, this projectworked with partners from Bangladesh, Bhutanand Nepal and used Internet mappingtechnology such as ARCIMS(http://www.esri.com) and a Structured QueryLanguage (SQL) server to develop an Internet-based GIS metadata system. The system adheresto international standards for compatibility withother regional and global partners. It providesan integrated regional platform to increase theavailability and accessibility of relevantgeographic data and enhances the exchange ofgeographic information.


Researchers, development projects and agenciesworking with GIS in the region are the directbeneficiaries of the project. The adoption ofstandardized formats for database queries,information sharing and consistent presentationacross multiple participating organizationsfacilitates the development of more realisticpolicy planning and action plans, ultimatelybenefiting the mountain community at large.

Output s

The major outputs of the project are:

● An Internet-based mapping system forpublishing geographic data andinformation; and

● A metadata system based on internationalstandards for documentation of existingspatial databases to facilitate Internet-based searches and encourage data sharingin the region.


In the initial phase of the project, a conceptualframework was developed to share GISresources and services. The main GIS resourcesidentified were database and metadataresources, map resources, applications andtraining resources. A concept of the portalsystem was developed to provide a commonplatform to access and share information and

41. Towards a Regional GeographicInformation Infrastructure in the HinduKush-Himalayan Region

Grant Amount: US$ 29,816Keywords: GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT,HINDU KUSH-HIMALAYASGeographical Coverage: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Hindu Kush-Himalayan region



knowledge about GIS technology and itsapplications in mountain environments.

A comprehensive underlying structure for theportal was developed based on ESRI’s g.netarchitecture. The portal was designed to be avirtual platform for sharing data and informationamong users in the region. The portal was namedthe Mountain GIS Portal and can be accessed athttp:www.icimod-gis.net. It provides a numberof web-based GIS services and resources such asmetadata, maps, applications and trainingresources. Similarly, users can submit their owndata, metadata, maps or application case studies.The system administrator manages thesematerials and posts them as appropriate. In thisway, a user is also a provider of the resources.

The main software packages used to build theMountain GIS Portal are ArcGIS, ArcIMS and IISHypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server.eXtensible Markup Language (XML) provides theunderlying database for metadata and itsadministration. The system is tied togetherthrough a combination of eXtensible StylesheetLanguage (XSL), Active Server Page (ASP),JavaScript programs and various web pages.

Based on the conceptual design, the followingsystems were developed for the implementationof the portal: a metadata system with searchcapabilities; online data services to view andquery data, and to create online maps; a mapcatalogue to serve the published maps on theInternet; and a website(http://menris.icimod.net) and web pagesintegrating the systems in a common framework.Other features included in the portal are adiscussion forum, news and events, andnumerous links to GIS resources on the Internet.A moderated e-mail list was established tofurther strengthen collaboration andcommunication. ICIMOD has partnered withFood and Agriculture Organization of the UnitedNations and United Nations EnvironmentProgramme to implement the GeoNetworkmetadata system in a free and open source

environment with data harvesting technology.Further, in partnership with the European SpaceAgency, a special page has been created for spacetechnology applications for mountainenvironments.

The implementation of the Mountain GIS Portal hashelped in organizing, documenting anddisseminating ICIMOD’s and its partners’ owngeographic data and information. With theframework in place, the effort is now focused onencouraging more partners to join and publishtheir metadata and spatial databases using thesystem. The application has the potential to beextended to other regional and nationalinstitutions of the HKH, an important step towardsrealizing the vision of a Regional GeographicInformation Infrastructure. Since the data-sharingculture is still conservative in the region, ICIMODhas to play a proactive role in convincing more ofits partners to actively participate in the framework.The project continues to grow through additionalinformation inputs and by extension to othercountries and institutions.

Project DurationStart Date: March 2002End Date: April 2004Total Duration: 26 Months

Contact InformationBasanta Shrestha, Division HeadMountain Environment and Natural ResourcesInformation SystemsInternational Centre for Integrated MountainDevelopmentGPO Box 3226, Jawalakhel, Kathmandu, NepalTel: +977 1 525 316 / 313Fax: +977 1 524 509, +977 1 536 747E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.icimod.org

Reference Websiteshttp://menris.icimod.net/http://www.esri.com


Objective

The objective of this project is to assist farmersin marketing activities using ICT tools.

Research Context

This project constructed a prototype ICTservice for agriculture marketing in Cangzhou,located in the southeast of Hebei province,China. The core Internet technology is basedon a hierarchical model of four levels includingregion, county, towns and villages. The projectmeets farmers’ needs by creating an “all-roundICT service” using web-based informationsystems combined with call centres andtraining components. The project uses aparticipatory strategy to develop itsinformation services and mobilizestakeholders.


This project benefits the municipal governmentof Qingdao, farmers, companies and traders inthe target area.

Output s

The project outputs include the AgCangzhousystem, a key component of Cangzhou’se-government facility, an e-extension serviceon agricultural research and technologies, ane-commerce system for marketing ofagricultural products and a call centre servingfarmers.


The project began by defining criteria to selectthe project area. Factors included geographiclocation, sufficient ICT infrastructure, thewillingness of the local farming community totry the new technology and a local governmentthat would support the application of ICT foragriculture and farming. Based on theseconditions, the project selected Cangzhou asthe county to implement the prototype project.

The project began its work with the localgovernment in March 2003 and had gainedsupport from local officials and organizations.At this stage the project encountered a majorsetback. The SARS epidemic broke out in mid-April 2003 and travel restrictions imposed onthe project team seriously hampered progressof the project for almost a year. The loss of timeresulted in a loss of momentum for the project.Finally the project team was able to redefine theproject and move to Hebei province.

To forge the prototype of an “all-round ICTservice” for agriculture and rural development,the project created a hierarchical model of fourlevels, consisting of region, county, town andvillage. This project framework was applied inHebei province as follows: Cangzhou representsthe regional level, Qingxian the county level,Mumendianzhen the town level, andDoyaoxinzhuang and Dongpaozhuang thevillage level. Using ICTs to create “informationvillages” and link them across all of these levelsis the core concept of the AgCangzhou system.

42. ICT for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment in China

Grant Amount: US$ 9,000Keywords: AGRICULTURE, ECONOMIC, PRODUCTIVITY, GOVERNANCE, CHINAGeographical Coverage: China



The project developed a number ICT drivensolutions towards the creation of the“information villages”. Due to governmentprogrammes intended to increase access tocommunications, almost every house inmainland China has a telephone, makingtechnical consultancy through telephone andmobile phone feasible. Building on thisinfrastructure, the project set up a range oftelephone consulting services. These includethe 121 Hotline Service that provides answersto frequently asked questions from farmers. Thiswas further enhanced with an expert hotlinesystem to bridge the knowledge gap betweenfarmers and experts in Qingxian. The projectnotes that more than 30,000 farmers have usedthe service since the system was founded. Anadditional service was the creation of anAgriculture and Rural Development (A&RD)Ambulance that is dispatched to villages toconsult on pests, diseases or to bring medicine,pesticides and seeds to farmers.

The project also set up a range of web-basedtools and applications. The project developedtwo multimedia systems on fruit diseases andpest control. It integrated its work with an A&RDwebsite (http://www.qxkjj.com), to developmodules on News on Agricultural Science andTechnology, a Farmer School, the Garden ofAgricultural Science and Technology and anAgricultural Expert System. The website alsofeatures information on policy, law and links torelated websites. In a separate initiative, theproject integrated several websites to form anational web-based service system athttp://www.agri.com.cn/. The branch websitescover more than 700 counties in 26 provinceswith over 120,000 clients, and continues toexpand.

The team worked with the Qingxian Bureau ofScience and Technology to found the Centre forProductivity Promoting. During the first year,the Centre provided local communities withmore than 2,000 items of information and

trained about 10,000 farmers on theintroduction of new crops farming techniques.The project is seen to have contributed tosubstantially improved production yields in thetarget area. The total area of fruit trees is 0.8million hectares and is comprised primarily ofdates, pears and apples. In these areas theproject has seen some remarkable increase inyields. The increase of yield per hectare is 2.25tonnes for dates, 90 tonnes for pear and 52.5tonnes for apples. Together, the increased yieldsindicate an increase in production value ofRMB 330.28 million.

Awards

The project was awarded with the Prize ofProgress in Science and Technology,conferred successively by Cangzhougovernment and Hebei provincialgovernment in 2003 and 2004 respectively.

Project DurationStart Date: March 2003End Date: May 2005Total Duration: 27 Months

Contact InformationProf Shen ZuoRuiChina Agriculture University2 Yuanmingyuan Xilu RoadBeijing 100094, ChinaTel: +86 10 6273 3015Fax: +86 10 6273 3343E-mail: [email protected]

Reference Websiteshttp://cct.insm.org/firstPage.dohttp://www.agri.com.cnhttp://www.agri.gov.cnhttp://www.agrionline.net.cnhttp://www.aweb.com.cnhttp://www.cangzhou.gov.cnhttp://www.qxkjj.com


Objective

The objective of this project is to develop aforest fire forecasting system using GIS andRemote Sensing to help reduce thedegradation and loss of biodiversity in KeralaState, India.

Research Context

Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot andessential environmental resource for the stateof Kerala, is under severe threat due to therecurrence of forest fires. Between 1991 and2003, fires destroyed more than 25,000hectares of forests in Kerala. This project aimsto develop an effective method for forest fireforecasting by using GIS and Remote Sensingto create a forest fire hazard index. The systemdeveloped by this project can be used by theForest Department to manage and conservethe fire-prone areas more efficiently. Theforecasting and prevention of forest fires alsobenefits the local communities residing in andaround the forest whose livelihood depends onnatural resources.


The Forest Department can use the fireforecasting system to mange and conserve thefire-prone areas more efficiently. This benefitslocal communities in the area, helps to reducedegradation and loss of biodiversity of the area,

and contributes to the wise use of themountains of Western Ghats.

Output s

● Forest Fire Risk Area Map of SouthernWestern Ghats;

● Forest Fire Forecasting System;● Project report on forest fire, its causes,

consequences and solutions;● Presentation of the Fire Forecasting System

on the Centre for Environment andDevelopment (CED) website(http://www.cedindia.org) that can be freelyused by stakeholders;

● A network of local organizations and people;and

● Skills development of Forest Departmentpersonnel and local people.


This project was still in process at the time ofthis report. However, the project has submittedtwo interim reports and is well on its way tocompleting its final results.

From the beginning, the project adopted aparticipatory and multi-disciplinary approach.The participatory approach is consideredcrucial as local stakeholders such as forestdepartment personnel and local people bestknow the cause and effect of forest fires.During the project implementation experts

43. Development of a Forest FireForecasting System for Western Ghats,India, Using Web-Based GIS and RemoteSensing

Grant Amount: US$ 30,000Keywords: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST FIRE, GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India



from the following organizations wereconsulted: Kerala Forests and WildlifeDepartment; College of Forestry, KeralaAgricultural University, Vellanikkara; KeralaForest Research Institute, Peechi, Thrissur;Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology andEnvironment, Bangalore; EnvironmentalSystems Research Institute, Bangalore; and theDepartment of Statistics, University College,Thiruvananthapuram.

The project’s multi-disciplinary approachemploys a variety of research tools andtechniques such as participatory resourceappraisal, remote sensing tools to providedata for vegetation maps, GIS for spatial dataanalysis, statistical techniques fordevelopment of the model, and programmingtools like Visual Basic for developing theautomated system.

Primary and secondary data were collectedfrom 10 protected areas (PAs) and used todevelop a forest fire-prone area prioritizationmodel that combines information from aseries of maps and tables. Vegetation mapswere prepared using remote sensing datathrough Digital Image Processing. Staff furtherclassified this information and the results weresubsequently verified during field visits. Otherthematic base maps were prepared fromsurvey of India topographic sheets, includingdrainage, land use, contour, settlements, roadsand trek paths. The different parameters thatinfluence forest fires were identified and ranks(intra parameter) and weights (interparameter) have been assigned for eachparameter through knowledge-based andlogistic regression approaches. These wereused in the overlay analysis to generate firerisk area maps. The data output is in the formof maps (spatial) and tables (non-spatial) tocreate the fire forecasting system.

At present the team has designed the ForestFire Forecasting System (SWG Fire Mapper 1.0),

which takes into consideration a variety ofparameters that effect the initiation and spreadof wildfires. The weights and ranks need to befinalized and input into the SWG Fire Mapper1.0 to get acceptable results for fire predictionmaps of the PAs. The website of CED(http://www.cedindia.org) is proposed to be theplatform for the web-based Fire PredictionSystem.

The project plans to hold a series of training,capacity building and awareness programmes.These include training programmes for ForestDepartment officials and decision makers andawareness programmes on the causes andspread of forest fires for local communities inselected areas.

Although this project is still underway, it hasalready developed a model for the predictionof forest fires. The approach can be adopted andreplicated in other geographical areas withnecessary modifications in the ranks andweights, based on the specific characteristics ofthe local area. The design, construction,deployment, data collection and data analysisis a pioneering effort and can be taken as abaseline study by other researchers.

Project DurationStart Date: August 2004End Date: August 2006Total Duration: 25 Months

Contact InformationDr Babu AmbatCentre for Environment and DevelopmentT.C. 9/2598, Elankom Gardens, VellayambalamTrivandrum, Kerala 695010, IndiaTel/Fax: +91 47 1272 6793 / 6792E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.cedindia.org


Objective

The objective of this project is to enable seedgrowers and seed centres to link together andshare a real-time seed stock inventory system.

Research Context

In 1994, the Philippine Rice Research Institutecreated a national seed network called “SeedNet”with 100 seed centres that multiply foundationseeds from local farmers and sell them tocommercial seed growers for furthermultiplication. As the network has been limitedby lack of connectivity and real-time exchangeof information, this project aims to develop anSMS-based Rice Seed Stock Inventory Systemusing mobile phones that will enable seedgrowers and seed centres to link together andshare information using a real-time seed stockinventory system. The system will have an SMSserver to handle incoming data and queries anda database to process data and generate reports.


Key beneficiaries are considered to be the 100accredited SeedNet members, 35,000 seedgrowers and about one million rice farmersnationwide in the Philippines.

Output s

● Develop a real-time seed stock inventorysystem;

● Enable farmers to query seed stock throughSMS; and

● Link breeding centres, SeedNet andcommercial seed growers.


To date, project work has focused on devisingan appropriate technology solution. Thesolution has gone through several evolutionssince the project began. First, ASTI of DOSTprovided a GSM modem linked to a MicrosoftWindows-based user interface that allowed anoperator to read and reply to text messages. Theproject then subscribed to a line account froma cellular company (SMART Communications)offering SMS. However the system proved to beunstable due to bugs in the coding and hadlimitations in the number of text messages thesystem could handle. Another setback at thispoint was the resignation of the programmerwho left the project without completing thedatabase.

In response to these setbacks, the projectdecided to acquire a new system called GIVEME Unlimited SMS from M2M company. Theservice is an SMS-based customer supportsoftware, much like a call centre that can beaccessed from the Internet. The new systemproved more stable. It allowed the project teamto create keywords and assign them to contentproviders (breeders, seed personnel, salesoffice, SeedNet managers) and has a databaseto store names, phone numbers and addresses.

44. Development of an SMS-Based RiceSeed Stock Inventory System for RiceFarmers, Philippines

Grant Amount: US$ 30,000Keywords: AGRICULTURE, ECONOMIC, PRODUCTIVITY, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, SMS,PHILIPPINESGeographical Coverage: The Philippines



This was deployed in a Farmers’ Call Centre. ByMarch 2006, the project was receiving morethan 600 text queries per month. In a furtherevolution, the project negotiated with acommercial Telco to provide a web-based SMSplatform that could handle over 1,000 users andtransfer the cost of the text queries to users. InNovember 2005, the project joined with SMARTCommunications Inc. to provide a web-basedcustomer support system via text, and inDecember it launched the SMART 700RICE SMSservice.

At this point, the project signed MoUs with twofarmer cooperatives in Davao, Del Sur,Mindanao that agreed to test the services.These are the Magsaysay Farmers MultiPurposeCooperative, Inc. and the Hagonoy Farmers’Cooperative. Under the agreement, PhilippineRice Research Institute (PhilRice) will work withthe cooperatives to test the web portal services,farmers’ call centre and online payment.PhilRice provided the cooperatives with awireless Internet connection installed in adesktop computer. Using this system, thecooperatives will explore selling hybrid andorganic rice products to areas outside ofMindanao.

Since that time the project has launched its webportal at (http://www.openacademy.ph). The

project is currently developing its database, andwhen completed, it will be tested in theSeedNet Organization. The test will involvereporting of production data from membersand compiling the inventory lists at PhilRice andthen having members inquire about theavailability of seed stocks. The working systemwill then be deployed in the cooperativesalready identified by the project. The project isalso looking at other features to enhance itsservice such as online payment and marketingtools.

Project DurationStart Date: January 2005End Date: January 2007Total Duration: 25 Months

Contact InformationRoger F. Barroga, Head, Information andCommunications Technology DivisionPhilippine Rice Research InstitutePhilippinesE-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.openacademy.ph

Reference Websiteshttp://www.smart.com.phhttp://www.b2bpricenow.com


Objective

The objective of this project is to use a web-based crop simulation and nitrogen model tooptimize crop and vegetables production.

Research Context

This project aims to develop an “e-Farm” systemthat provides dynamic web-based cropinformation and simulation services. Thesystem supports decision-making onagriculture production for farmers and smallcooperative agencies in Fuyang, Anji County,Zhejiang Province of China. The crop simulationmodels combine nitrogen and water modules,economic analysis and decision-making toolsto provide users with methods for optimizingcrop and vegetable production.


The e-Farm web-based application toolsdeveloped in this project benefit countye-government facilities, farmers, companiesand produce traders.

Output s

● The e-Crop Management SimuSystem forcrop management at the field level, and alsopartially as e-extension of agriculturalscience and technologies at the institutionallevel;

● Performance tests of the e-CropManagement SimuSystem model;

● Training for users of the system; and

● Project report on system and trainingmodules.


At the time of writing, this project remainedincomplete although it had achieved many ofits proposed objectives. The project team notedthat the proposed project duration of 12months was probably insufficient to coverassessment and feedback from the farmers onthe use of the technology, as it would take atleast one year to see the results from using thee-Crop management tools.

The project website provides cropmanagement and dynamic decision-makingsupport for farmers by combining informationon soil, weather, labour, economics, and waterand nitrogen inputs. The system is designed toincrease economic benefit and reduceenvironmental degradation associated withnitrogen fertilizers. The main software toolsused are SQL, ASP and the simulation program.The project selected Fuyang, Anji County inZhejiang Province of China to implement itsprototype.

The project has three levels of users - localfarmers, local government and the educationalinstitute. The success of the project relies onfarmer’s ability to advance production skills bycombining this new technology tool withtraditional agriculture production techniques.Thus a critical aspect of the project is a user-friendly interface combined with training onthe use of the system. For local governments,

45. Web-Based e-Crop Management, China

Grant Amount: US$ 9,000Keywords: INTERNET, AGRICULTURE, RURAL, PRODUCTIVITY, CHINAGeographical Coverage: China



the project provides information on social,economic and environmental issues related toagricultural production that can be used toenhance policy and decision-making. Theeducational institute plays an important role,as it is responsible for the transfer ofappropriate technology to local communities.Thus the project builds the educationalinstitute’s capacity to develop technologysolutions that are directly tied to real worldissues, as in the case of crop management.

In implementing the project, the project sawthat it was critical to establish control at thelocal level through local coordinator andcooperation units in Fuyang and Anji County.The definition of needs, issues andrecommendations generated at the field levelwere passed to the teams at the Agro-ecologyInstitute at Zhejiang University who providedadministrative and technical support. Theproject team noted that this presented somechallenges, particularly relating to technicalproblems in coordinating the work with theestablished government-guided e-Serviceinformation provider in the county. Through thedesign, implementation and utilization stages,80 farmers, producers and technicians from thetowns and county attended training courses onthe e-Crop management system. Training

involved investigative exercises, fieldexperiments and modules on working with thesoftware. The results of using the software havebeen a 30 percent reduction in nitrogenapplication in rice production, representingsubstantial savings in labour and fertilizer costs.

The project is sharing its results with the Agro-ecology Institute of Zhejiang University tocompile training materials and demonstrate theinstitute’s research activities on Internetapplications for public and community use inother sites of Zhejiang province.

Project DurationStart Date: February 2005End Date: December 2005Total Duration: 11 Months

Contact InformationDr Jingping YangAgro-ecology Institute, Hua-Jia-Chi CampusZhejiang University268 Kai Xuan Road, HangzhouZhejiang 310029, ChinaTel: +86 571 8697 1154, +86 130 6775 5647E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.cls.zju.edu.cn


Objective

The objectives of this project are to disseminatecrop advisory and disease forecasting servicesto farmers in a resource-constrainedenvironment.

Research Context

aAQUA farmer clubs and KVK Baramati useonline information kiosks to provide cropadvisory and disease forecasting services tofarmers. The usefulness of the predictions,however, is limited due to the nature of theinput parameters, which change from place toplace. This project plans to enhance theaccuracy of forecasts to farmers by placingmore sensors in surrounding regions. Theproject uses existing kiosks and mobilenetworks to distribute the information. Tobenefit a wider number of farmers, the projectalso provides content to a local communityradio station, hosted by KVK Baramati. Thedisease forecasting services model can bereplicated across the country using the networkof KVKs.


The main beneficiaries are farmers in Punedistrict and kiosk operators in Pabal andBaramati. KVK experts also benefit by learningto use new ICT tools for disease forecasting.Others who are implementing agri-extensionservices can use results from the project toestablish disease-forecasting centres.

Output s

● Documentation of the model for expertcrop assistance using remote sensors;

● Information on diseases presented in user-friendly interfaces;

● Alerts and recommendations for farmerclubs; and

● Feedback from agri-experts and farmerclubs.


The start-up for this project was delayed dueto legal problems and, at the time of writing,reports on project progress were not yet due.The project team has communicated that, todate, it had defined the tasks to be undertakenby various partners, selected the field sites forthe pilot and identified several methods fordissemination of project results.

KVK Baramati and Developmental InformaticsLab of IIT Bombay will be responsible forassessment of sensors and design input. KVKBaramati farmer clubs and possibly, GodrejAgrovet will undertake the task of interpretingsensor information to predict crop diseases.Vigyan Ashram will host field staff and providesecurity of equipment. Students from IITBombay will participate in the projectdevelopment through site visits andassessment studies.

Grant Amount: US$ 30,000Keywords: AGRICULTURE, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, TELECENTRE, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India

46. Crop Disease Forecasting System andExpert Crop-Advisory to Farmers OverInformation Kiosk Networks in India



A site survey was conducted and six locationshave been identified of which four will beselected for the pilot. Good agriculturalpractices will be documented anddisseminated in the local language. These willinclude recommendations on organic andchemical-based production methods. Theproject intends to submit publications inleading technical and ICT conferences. Inaddition, the project foresees that some of itsresults can be applied to the development of aMasters level course offered at IIT Bombay titledICT for Socio-Economic Development.

Project DurationStart Date: September 2005End Date: May 2007Total Duration: 21 Months

Contact InformationKrithi RamamrithamIndian Institute of Technology BombayKReSIT, IIT Campus, PowaiMumbai 400076, IndiaTel: +91 22 2576 7900 / 01 / 02Fax: +91 22 2572 0022E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.iitb.ac.in




Chapter 1

47. ICT-Based Telemedicine System for Primary

Community Health Care in Indonesia

48. Community Health Information Tracking System

(CHITS), Philippines

49. Telemedicine in Nepal

50. Web-Based Integrated Dengue Haemorrhagic

Fever Surveillance System in Indonesia

51. Using ICT to Build Capacities of HIV/AIDS Service

Providers in India

52. Impact of Remote Telemedicine in Improving

Rural Health, India

53. Development of a Web-Based Medical

Information Repository Integrated with an

Artificial Intelligence-Based Medical Decision

Support System, Malaysia

54. M-DOK: Mobile Telehealth and Information

Resource System for Community Health Workers

in the Philippines

55. Development of ICT-Based Mobile Telemedicine

System with Multi-Communication Links for

Urban and Rural Areas in Indonesia

56. Generic Engine for Modules in PrimaCare

Health and Medicine

Photo: Richard Labelle


Objectives

The objectives of this project are to develop PC-based medical stations and conduct field-testing in at least eight locations.

Research Context

This project involved the development of a pilotInternet and communication technology-basedtelemedicine system for primary communityhealth care in urban and rural areas of Indonesia.The project used existing Internet technology toenhance PC-based medical stations andperformed field-testing. The pilot telemedicinenetwork consists of six stations for communityhealth centres and a station for referral hospitals,a health office and test laboratory. The projectincludes software development and networkintegration. The resulting system can beexpanded to cover a larger number of stations.


● Users of telemedicine for primarycommunity health care;

● Under-served communities in rural andurban areas, especially mothers andchildren; and

● Providers of primary community health carein Indonesia including health care providers,primary community health centres(Puskesmas), referral health offices andhospitals.

Output s

● White Paper containing practicalrecommendations for ICT policy reformregarding social and community use of theInternet in Indonesia;

● A generic Internet-based telemedicinesystem and software modules for primarycommunity health care in communityhealthcentres;

● Dissemination activities (seminars,meetings, mailing lists, websites) topromote the application of the ICT -basedtelemedicine systems; and

● Use of the system by community healthcentres, through the Research Group onBiomedical Engineering, Institut TeknologiBandung (ITB).


The project successfully completed itsobjectives within the proposed timeframe. Inthe first few months of implementation, theproject faced unforeseen difficulties in initiatingcollaboration with various target institutions,namely, the Bandung Health Office, referralhospitals and the 70 existing community healthcentres in the Bandung area. Althoughunavoidable delays occurred on certainaspects, the project achieved its objectives andeven surpassed them, as the number ofcommunity health centres joining thetelemedicine system was double the project’starget.

47. ICT-Based Telemedicine System forPrimary Community Health Care inIndonesia

Grant Amount: US$ 26,992Keywords: TELEHEALTH, PRIMARY HEALTH CARE, POLICY, INDONESIAGeographical Coverage: Indonesia



The project integrated the fields of communityhealth care, ICT and biomedical engineering todevelop and implement a community healthcare telemedicine system. The system iscomprised of a health office, a referral maternityhospital and a number of selected communityhealth centres. Associated telemedicine softwaremodules developed include: medicine datarecording and reporting, patient data recordingand reporting; telecoordination, communityhealth education and teleconsultation. Theproject integrated ICT training for medicalpersonnel on the use of computers for dailyhealth care. It also undertook efforts to improvethe quality of maternal health care delivery, anddeveloped a web-based community health careinformation system to provide public access toa range of health care facilities and relatedinformation.

The project worked in close cooperation withlocal government health institutions andpersonnel, especially the personnel ofcommunity health centres in Bandung, who arethe primary users of the system. More than 70percent of the medical doctors andadministrative staff involved in the project arewomen. Local health institutions and personnelparticipated in the project at two key stages. Thefirst stage involved the collection of information,definition of system requirements and thesystem design. The second stage involveddeployment and integration of the system intodaily health care delivery activities at the selectedcommunity health centres.

Significant improvements were noted in theprovision of daily health care services atcommunity health centres. The softwarepackages that were particularly useful wereMedicine Data Recording and Reporting andPatient Data Recording and Reporting. However,the project found that human resource training,in particular familiarization and socialization withcomputer use and telemedicine in general,required significantly more time than expected.Thus the project has shown the significant role

that human resource development plays in thesustainable implementation of ICT-basedtelemedicine systems. This implies that thesuccess of telemedicine and other informationsystem implementation in health care settings isdependent on the institution’s organizationalreadiness. The project recommends thatpersonnel, workflow, policy and environmentshould be considered throughout systemdevelopment and implementation. At a macroscale the support of government andimplementing institutions is vital for the successof programmes. Support should not be limitedto recommendations, but should also includepolicy change and financial allocations for healthcare institutions to implement ICT-related healthcare solutions.

Additional research activities that evolved fromthis project include: Development of ICT-BasedMobile Telemedicine System with Multi-Communication Links for Urban and Rural Areasin Indonesia - also receiving a Pan-Asia ICT R&DGrant (no. 55), Development of SMS-basedTelemedicine System for Communicable DiseaseMonitoring and Outbreak Management, andDevelopment of an Integrated ICT-BasedTelemedicine/Telecentre System for Application inRural Areas of Indonesia.

Project DurationStart Date: November 2002End Date: June 2004Total Duration: 20 Months

Contact InformationProf Dr Ir Soegijardjo SoegijokoResearch Group on Biomedical EngineeringBiomedical Engineering ProgrammeSchool of Electrical Engineering and InformaticsInstitut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesha 10Bandung 40132, IndonesiaTel/Fax: +62 22 253 4117E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://biomed.ee.itb.ac.id


Objective

The objective of this project is to improve injuryprevention programmes through an injuryregistry.

Research Context

In this study free and open source tools fromthe Linux community combined withparticipatory people-centric strategies wereemployed to enable implementation of aninjury surveillance system by health workers.The project has three main components: SMSfor reporting injuries, training of health workerson injury surveillance and a web-based systemfor the graphic presentation of injury data usedby decision makers. The pilot project wasimplemented in a poor urban village of thePhilippines. SMS was selected because of itswidespread penetration in the Philippines andits wireless capabilities.


The beneficiaries of this project are communityhealth workers in Pasay City, Metro Manila,Philippines. Other beneficiaries are localgovernment officials who can use the healthreports generated by the system forcommunity and local level decision-making.

Output s

● Rapid prototyping of injury codes, SMS andlandline phone submission formats and

protocols, and community health workersurveillance kits;

● Data modelling for the surveillance system;● Development of applications to receive data

and generate reports, including bug fixesand enhancements;

● Training on the system including preparingrelated content such as manuals, exams andcertificates;

● Pilot testing and evaluation of the system;and

● Deployment of the system with actualsubmissions of data.


The project’s initial aim was to create a datacollection system using SMS over mobilephones, called the Community-Based ChildInjury Surveillance System. After preliminaryinvestigations, however, the researchersdiscovered several constraints associated withthe original strategy. These related to the costof sending messages and public healthpolicies that only allowed official governmenthealth centres to submit health data.

The project responded to these factors byshifting strategies and creating a computer-based information system that served,primarily, the needs of the health centrefacility and, secondarily, of the national publichealth system. The project was renamedCHITS.

48. Community Health Information TrackingSystem (CHITS), Philippines

Grant Amount: US$ 22,642Keywords: TELEHEALTH, PRIMARY HEALTH CARE, INTERNET, SMS, PHILIPPINESGeographical Coverage: The Philippines



By employing a combination of methods,including community immersion, systemsanalysis, joint rapid application development,onsite technical assistance and grassroots-oriented training, CHITS was piloted in two of13 health centres in Pasay City. The pilots hadtwo major components: first, an extensible andcustomizable software engine for healthfacilities and, second, a training programme forhealth data collectors, such as health centrestaff and community health workers.

The researchers note that developing acommunity-based health information system isa challenging task, closely approximating thelevel of difficulty found in the development ofhospital and clinical information systems. Bypaying close attention to health centre eventsand culture, and by employing purposefulimmersion in the end-user’s way of life, theresearchers were able to gain immense insightinto their needs and requirements and applythese insights into software code, a processcalled “evolutionary software development”.The researchers were originally leaning towardsa technology-centric implementation of aninformation system. With deeper analysis andunderstanding of the needs and requirementsof end-users, the researchers were able to puttechnology in its place to serve the genuineneeds of community health workers.

The CHITS project has seen a number ofopportunities for further development andreplication. A blood bank and a national surgicalregistry are already using the CHITS genericsoftware engine. CHITS also attracted theattention of the Department of Health and the

CHITS Tuberculosis module has been presentedto tuberculosis control programme managersin the private health sector who are consideringthe system for adoption. There are also plansfor citywide implementation of CHITS in thecities of Pasay and Marikina. Inquiries fromthree other municipalities have also beenmade.

Awards

CHITS was selected as a finalist in the 2006Stockholm Challenge under the healthcategory. To learn more see: http://event.stockholmchallenge.se/finalists.php


Contact InformationHerman D. Tolentino, Alvin B. MarceloMedical Informatics Unit, UP College ofMedicine, University of the Philippines547 Pedro Gil Street, Ermita, Manila 1000PhilippinesTel/Fax: +63 2 522 9231E-mail: [email protected]

Websiteshttp://www.chits.infohttp://www.upm.edu.ph

Reference Websiteh t t p : / / e v en t . s t o c k h o l m c h a l l e n g e . s e /finalists.php


Objective

The objective of this project is to test thepotential of telemedicine for pathology,dermatology and radiology in rural Nepal.

Research Context

Nepal has an acute shortage of doctors with aratio of approximately 6,000 people per doctor.In addition to this, health workers in rural areas,who serve the majority of the population, areisolated from specialist support and currentinformation. This project sees the advent of ICTtools as offering new opportunities to addressthis situation and support the delivery of healthservices. This pilot project intends to gainexperience in this area, emphasizing the use oftechnologies such as imaging, low-costconnectivity techniques, and training of localhealth care workers who will take the lead indeveloping and operating telemedicineprojects. In its implementation the project willconsider local technical and cultural conditions,the appropriateness of solutions, and addresssustainability issues to ensure continuity of thesystem.


The project benefits under-served communitiesin the rural and urban areas of Butwal, Jhapa andBhaktapur and the primary health care projectof Bhutanese refugees in Jhapa in MorangDistrict. Health workers at Siddhi MemorialFoundation, Bhaktapur, Siddhartha Children andWomen Hospital, Butwal and AMDA-Hospital,Damak will also benefit from the project work.

49. Telemedicine in Nepal

Output s

● Develop a telemedicine system based on astore and foreword principle suitable forNepal;

● Create a pool of health professionals atHealthNet Nepal who are trained in the useof digital cameras and related equipment fordiagnosis and management of cases;

● Plan a potential collaboration with theMinistry of Health to implement thetelemedicine system in remote areas;

● Make the imaging technology for diagnosisand management of health cases availableto other organizations in Nepal; and

● Use FOSS in telemedicine in remote areas.


At the time of writing no reports were availableon the progress of this project.

Project DurationStart Date: August 2004End Date: December 2006Total Duration: 29 Months

Contact InformationDr Mohan Raj PradhanHealthNet NepalP.B. 2533, MaharajgunjKathmandu, NepalTel/Fax: +977 1 442 9722E-mail: [email protected]

Grant Amount: US$ 30,000Keywords: TELEHEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES, CONNECTIVITY, ACCESS, NEPALGeographical Coverage: Nepal



Objectives

The objectives of this project are to improve thedetection and management of DengueHaemorrhagic Fever (DHF) cases and helpcontrol dengue transmission in the community.

Research Context

DHF is the leading cause of hospitalization anddeath among children in Indonesia and in otherendemic areas in the developing world. Theability to prevent and manage DHF outbreaksis often limited by poor disease detection,surveillance and management systems and acorresponding lack of coordination amongcommunity-based control efforts. This actionresearch project aims to involve the localgovernment, community members and healthcare personnel in the development of anintegrated, web-based GIS on DHF outbreaks.The system is expected to improve thedetection and management of DHF cases in thecommunity and become a model for DHFcontrol in other endemic areas. It may also beapplied to other communicable diseases.


The direct beneficiaries of the project arecommunities who live in urban and suburbanareas, where the incidence of DHF is highest.The health sector can use data from the systemto plan, mobilize resources, advocate andimplement coordinated DHF control efforts.

Output s

The project aims to integrate DHF surveillanceand control activities among health carepersonnel and public health administratorsthrough a web-based geographic informationand decision support system, so that hospitals,community health centres and health officesare able to monitor the incidence and time-space clustering of DHF cases and fatalities. Toachieve this, the project will:

● Develop guidelines for the mobilization ofresources to minimize DHF morbidity andmortality, especially in the form of web-based interactive programs;

● Enhance learning on the successes andfailures of DHF case management andcontrol in the community; and

● Report on the effectiveness of the web-based DHF surveillance system publishedon the website and in a peer-reviewedjournal.


At the time of writing, formal reports from thisproject were not available. The project,however, has communicated the followingprogress. The intended project site wasoriginally only one district (Sleman). After initialproject socialization, the administrators ofnearby Yogyakarta Municipality, which sharescontiguous DHF risk areas, also requested toparticipate in the project. As the Yogyakarta

50. Web-Based Integrated DengueHaemorrhagic Fever Surveillance System inIndonesia

Grant Amount: US$ 24,877Keywords: HEALTH, FREE AND OPEN SOURCE, GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM, INDONESIAGeographical Coverage: Indonesia


Municipal Government was willing to pay fieldworkers to monitor Aedes larvae in thecommunity, no additional resources from theICT R&D Grants Programme were required forthis project expansion. At the time of writingthe government had committed to funding theproject for an additional year.

The networked surveillance system is a tool toutilize data that are systematically collected,processed and presented in an electronic virtualmap. The map can be used to inform strategiesto control the spread of DHF. The surveillancesystem has covered the project areas and wasused to generate spatial clusters of DHF cases.The information on the location and increasein the number of cases is monitored by twolocal health officials who inform hospitalsadmitting DHF cases, allowing them to improveearly diagnosis and case management. Theincidence of cases in Sleman District from 2003to 2005 has been 552, 732 and 316, respectively.Up until May 2006, there have been 176 cases.

The project is now mapping vector densities(percentage of houses with Aedes larvae) inYogyakarta Municipality. After this is complete,the DHF control programme will focus onpreventing dengue transmission in two highlyendemic villages, Caturtunggal andCondongcatur. Ovitrap will be used to monitorvector density in the two villages, and then theproject will map the results for surveillancepurposes.

The project is collaborating with social scientiststo develop ways to use evidence generated bythe mapping system to influence policy-

making and promote community behaviourchanges campaigns that can help control DHFoutbreaks. Social scientists in the Departmentof Public Health, Faculty of Medicine at GadjahMada University are conducting research onbehaviour change relating to dengue vectorelimination and intend to publish key messagesand a summary of their findings on the projectwebsite (under construction).

The project developed training modules on GISfor disease surveillance. Health staff responsiblefor infectious disease control in SouthKalimantan, East Java and Yogyakarta provinceshas attended the training. Four seminar papersin Indonesian have been produced and twoarticles were submitted to the American Journalof Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and TropicalMedicine and International Health.

Project DurationStart Date: January 2005End Date: September 2006Total Duration: 21 Months

Contact InformationProf Dr Hari KusnantoCentre for Health Informatics and LearningDepartment of Public Health, Faculty ofMedicine, Gadjah Mada UniversitySekip Utara, Yogyakarta 55281, IndonesiaTel/Fax: +62 274 549 432E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://map.depkes.go.id



Objectives

The objective of this project is to develop anOnline Resource Centre (ORC) on HIV/AIDS withe-Training programmes, e-Forums ande-Support.

Research Context

India accounts for 60 percent of the HIV/AIDSepidemic in South Asia, with an estimated 5.1million people infected in 2004. A nationwideneeds assessment survey conducted by theSolidarity and Action Against the HIV Infectionin India (SAATHII) indicate that while over 1,200agencies are attempting to respond to the crisis,delivering quality services has been impeded bya lack of ICT capacity building programmes, lackof digital forums for networking, sharing ofknowledge and best practices, and inadequateaccess to relevant electronic resources. In thisproject SAATHII aims to develop an ORC onHIV/AIDS in India. The centre provides HIV/AIDSe-Training programmes, interactive e-Forumsand e-Support tailored to different organization’sneeds. The project intends to assess theseprogrammes using both quantitative andqualitative analyses, the results of which willconstitute core determinants of an enhancedresponse to the fight against HIV/AIDS in India.


The project focuses on four categories ofstakeholders involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS in India: non-profit HIV/AIDS service-provider organizations in rural and semi-urban

areas who have access to the Internet; physicians,counsellors, and social workers involved inoffering prevention, treatment, care and supportservices; HIV/AIDS positive people; and membersof the public seeking current information onHIV/AIDS-related issues ranging from preventionto treatment to policy.

Output s

An integrated ORC for HIV/AIDS in Indiaconsisting of:

● Training modules with interactivecomponents delivered via dedicated webpages on the http://www.saathii.org website;

● An e-Forum for general use beyond theproject period, that will be consolidated intoFrequently Asked Questions and BestPractices documents for wider disseminationon the website;

● Research papers and reports based onanalyses of the e-Training, e-Forum ande-Support components, comparisons withoffline training and support programmes,and quantitative and qualitative analyses ofthe capacity building of programmeparticipants; and

● A model of capacity building through ICTsthat can be tested and adapted to otherresource-constrained environments.


All the specific objectives proposed by SAATHII(e-Training, e-Forums and e-Support) have thecommon goal of facilitating knowledge

51. Using ICT to Build Capacities ofHIV/AIDS Service Providers in India

Grant Amount: US$ 29,786Keywords: HEALTH, HIV/AIDS, INTERNET, CAPACITY BUILDING, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India


transfer, information and exchange. Afterexploring various methods of implementation,it was decided that all these objectives couldbe addressed by the development of acomprehensive information andcommunications management system thatwould host the ORC.

The ORC system took four months to developand involved a close collaboration betweenSAATHII and Janastu, a non-profit IT agency inBangalore. The ORC provides a simple webinterface to collect data combined with adirectory and database structure to collatecontext-specific data. The ORC is a cost-effectiveand highly flexible software built from Pantoto,an online community model that uses free andopen source technologies such as Java, MySQLand WebMacro.

Modules for e-Training have been designedusing ICT-based instruction to reach a largenumber of geographically-dispersed HIV/AIDSorganizations. A total of 15 modules wereproposed, each intended to reach about 50participants at a time. Three of these moduleswill be piloted during the project period. Themodules cover topics in prevention andtreatment that are relevant to service providers.These include Biostatistics and ResearchMethods, Monitoring and Evaluation, andHIV/AIDS and Nutrition. The project has alreadylaunched the online training programme inBiostatistics and Research Methods. The coursehas enrolled 80 students from 11 states in India,and uses a combination of lecture notes, onlinechat sessions and a mailing list for discussionof scientific articles.

The project designed e-Forums to facilitate andenhance collaboration, information exchangeand sharing of best practices, and strengthen

technical capacity among stakeholders in Indiathrough electronic bulletin-board forums. Thee-Forums have been structured to the needs ofcommunities of practice covering such areas asanti-retroviral therapy, counselling, nutrition,infected-affected-vulnerable children,prevention and home-based care.

The project is in the process of developinge-Support to provide focused support servicesand referrals to organizations with specificresource needs. The assessment of needs isdetermined during the course of field visits andthrough the e-Trainings and e-Forums. Twelveorganizations will be selected to receivee-Support during the project period.

The project has also launched an e-Library thathosts a growing collection (currently over 360)of India-related HIV/AIDS articles, toolkits andbest practices documentation, covering science,policy, education, training, media coverage andcase studies. The interactive nature of this libraryallows users to share their own documents andreports in addition to retrieving materials.Additionally, the e-Library contains sub-databases of conferences, training workshops,grants and job vacancy announcements.

The components and services available underthis project have been publicized on theSAATHII listserve (with membership of 2,800),through a print brochure describing the ORCand its components, and through site visits byresearchers and staff from NGOs. SAATHII’sexperience with development of the ORC hasbeen shared at an ICT panel organized byUNAIDS-India at the India HIV/AIDS conferenceheld in Chennai in 2005. Additionally, anabstract ICT for HIV/AIDS Capacity Building hasbeen accepted by the International AIDSconference held in Toronto in August 2006.



Project DurationStart Date: March 2005End Date: September 2006Total Duration: 19 months

Contact InformationDr L. Ramakrishnan, Country Director(Programmes and Research)Solidarity and Action Against the HIVInfection in India78 Pushpa Nagar Main Road, NungambakkamChennai 600034, IndiaTel: +91 44 2817 3948Fax: +91 44 2817 3947E-mail: [email protected][email protected]

Websiteshttp://www.saathii.orghttp://www.saathii.org/orc


Objective

The objective of this project is to study theimpact of remote telemedicine in selectedvillages in India.

Research Context

Internet kiosk operator, N-Logue, currently offersrural people access to doctors from its Internetkiosks using video-conferencing. The service hasbeen limited because vital medical informationof patients is not available. This project aims tofield test a low-cost medical kit, called ReMEDiTM,developed by a partner company NeurosynapticCommunications Pvt. Ltd. that works inconjunction with a rural kiosk and transmits datato a doctor in a town. The data sets that can becaptured are electrocardiogram (ECG), bloodpressure, temperature and heart rate. The projectexpects to study the impact of this product inthe selected villages over a 24-month period.


Through this deployment N-Logue seeks toincrease the rural population’s access toadequate and timely health care services. Theproject monitors the direct economic benefitsto villagers and the indirect benefits associatedwith timely medical support.

Output s

● Identification of test-site locations;● Implementation of the remote diagnostic

solution;

52. Impact of Remote Telemedicine inImproving Rural Health, India

Grant Amount: US$ 29,313Keywords: HEALTH, TELEHEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES, INDIAGeographical Coverage: India

● Monitoring of the project; and● Compilation of information and preparation

of a final report.


This project is still in process at the time ofwriting and was proceeding well towardsmeeting its stated goals and objectives. Theproject had selected the kiosks to test itsprogramme, it has trained kiosk operators in theuse of the ReMEDiTM, has secured a partneringdoctor, and begun conducting field tests of thesystem.

The selection of kiosks was based on criteriadefining their readiness to take on theReMEDiTM kit. The criteria took into accountsuch factors as distance from the nearesthospital, location of the nearest pharmacy,gender of users, location and age of the kiosk,and available space to set up the system. Theproject selected villages of Sivagangai Districtin rural Tamil Nadu. In the Sivagangai Districtmedical facilities of one type or another areavailable in 163 villages, which constitute 33.54percent of the total number of inhabitedvillages. N-Logue has set up the project with theAccess Centre at Tirupattur and five Internetkiosks in the villages around it. The partneringdoctor is based at a hospital in Tirupattur about25 km radius away from the selected villages.Consultation hours are 5 pm to 7 pm daily.

A kiosk operator training methodology wasdeveloped and implemented in three parts.First, Neurosynaptic Communications Pvt. Ltd.



trained the operator on the use of theReMEDiTM. Training covered kit operations,maintenance, troubleshooting, and Dos andDon’ts. The second part involved training by adoctor on how to attend to a patient andadminister the tests. Topics included how todeal with a patient, what kind of cases can behandled by the kiosk operator, what kind ofcases must not be handled under anycircumstances, instructions on the customerwaiver form and training on using the varioustools – where to place the stethoscope,thermometer and so forth. The third part of thetraining was provided by N-Logue and coveredthe business model and service promotion. Thetraining included cost and revenues, rates forvarious tests and consultations, features,advantages and benefits of the telemedicineservice, and how to communicate these to thevillagers.

The project promoted the service throughconducting a Health Camp where all visitorswere given free blood pressure and ECG tests.To gain the support of the DistrictAdministration for the effort and to increase theacceptability of the service in the village, theproject held an inauguration of the service withthe District Collector, who is the highest-ranking administrative official in the district.

Immediately after the launch of the service, aspike in visitors to the kiosk was observed.Subsequently, the number has dropped to afew regular, repeat visitors. A survey instrumentwas designed to analyze the reasons for thedrop in the consultations. Some of the possiblereasons being analyzed are: kiosk operator’s

inability to administer the kit properly,unacceptability by the villagers, pooridentification of the kiosk as a place wheremedical care is dispensed, lack of awareness ofthe service, the distance of the doctor from thevillage, and the availability of competingservices such as registered Indian medicalpractitioners, primary health centres and localdoctors. Based on feedback, the service is beingrefined.

While the project is still underway and finalresults have not been reached, the project teamhas noted the importance of creating public-private partnerships with governments, NGOsand health institutions for remote healthdelivery to rural areas. They see that suchpartnerships can improve the quality of servicesbeing offered and increase acceptance of it byvillagers.

Project DurationStart Date: January 2005End Date: October 2006Total Duration: 22 Months

Contact InformationP.G. Ponnapa, Chief Executive OfficerN-Logue Communications Pvt. Ltd.5th Floor, Gokul Arcade2 Sardar Patel Road, AdyarChennai, Tamil Nadu 600020, IndiaTel: +91 44 3918 1920Fax: +91 44 2445 5335E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.n-logue.com


Objective

The objective of this project is to provideadvanced, quality health care information andservices through the use of ICT tools andArtificial Intelligence (AI).

Research Context

The aim of this project is to provide quality healthcare information and services for the Malaysianpeople, especially those in rural communities.The project employs ICTs and AI to develop andimplement a web-based medical informationrepository (MIR) integrated with a medicaldecision support system (DSS). The novelty of theproject lies in the inclusion of an AI-based DSSinto the MIR. The system is able to learnincrementally in real-time, non-stationaryenvironments with minimum intervention. Withthis autonomous learning capability, medicalpractitioners are able to train and fine-tune theDSS, and to assume ownership of the system.


The project serves as a prototype system todemonstrate the significance of informationsharing through a web-based repository tosynergize activities in medical practice, training,and research using ICT and AI methodologies.It is envisaged that medical practitioners andresearchers will be able to access anonymousmedical records with heuristic diagnostic rules

from the MIR through the Internet. Theinformation obtained helps clinicians apply themost effective curative and rehabilitativeregimes to enhance quality of health care ofpatients, especially for those in poor and remoteareas where infrastructure and medicalexpertise are scarce. The MIR and DSS can beused as a resource, which contains up-to-datehealth care procedures and information, forcontinuing education and training of cliniciansand medical practitioners. In addition, theproject can be integrated into the telemedicineflagship application under the MultimediaSuper Corridor project spearheaded by theMalaysian government.

Output s

The main output of the project is a web-basedMIR and DSS software comprising:

● Anonymous medical records of patientsuseful for medical practitioners andresearchers including physical symptoms,family history and bio-chemical testresults;

● Heuristic prognostic and diagnostic rulesuseful for junior and inexperiencedclinicians elicited from medical specialistsand the DSS; and

● Disease statistics and facts useful for healthcare administrators and policy makers.

53. Development of a Web-Based MedicalInformation Repository Integrated with anArtificial Intelligence-Based MedicalDecision Support System, Malaysia

Grant Amount: US$ 9,000Keywords: HEALTH, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, MALAYSIAGeographical Coverage: Malaysia




The project involves collection of anonymouspatient data from participating hospitals anddevelopment of an AI-based decision supporttool to assist medical practitioners in makingaccurate and timely diagnostic decisions. It isanticipated that medical doctors and healthcare workers, especially those in remote areaswhere specialized medical knowledge (e.g.stroke diagnosis) is difficult to come by, will usethe system for validation of patient informationas well as consultation for medical decision-making.

To date, the algorithm of the DSS has beendeveloped using AI methodologies. Rigorouslab-based testing and evaluation of thealgorithms has been conducted. A database ofmore than 1,000 anonymous patient records onacute stroke diagnosis has been collected foranalysis. Currently the process of data cleansingto remove “noise” and missing information isbeing conducted. The project is working witha consultant neurologist who providesfeedback and information on the importantsymptoms of a disease and details on how tointerpret the relevant diagnoses. Students atthe postgraduate level (Master’s and PhD) arebeing trained in the development of the DSS.A specific focus of this training relates toalgorithm deployment and state-of-the-artmethodologies in AI, particularly in the areasof artificial neural networks and fuzzy systems.

The greatest challenge the project faced relatesto the establishment of the medical informationrepository. The project has insisted on using real(anonymous) patient records. However, the

medical data collected was often incomplete,making the analysis difficult and time-consuming. Therefore, the project wasextended by six months to allow for a longerperiod of data collection and validation, whichwill ensure proper analysis and interpretation.This process is important, as the AI-baseddecision will be “trained” to recognize diseasesymptoms autonomously by using thedatabase. Thus, a good quality medicaldatabase is a crucial factor in determining theeffectiveness of the resulting DSS.

After the project team conducts a systematicevaluation of the performance of the AI-basedalgorithm, medical doctors will be enlisted tofurther evaluate the system. Suggestions andfeedback received will be taken intoconsideration to improve the effectiveness ofthe system and finally a web-basedimplementation of the DSS will be conducted.

Project DurationStart Date: February 2005End Date: July 2006Total Duration: 18 Months

Contact InformationDr Lim Chee Peng, Associate ProfessorSchool of Electrical and Electronic EngineeringUniversiti Sains MalaysiaEngineering Campus, 14300 Nibong TebalPenang, MalaysiaTel: +60 4 599 6033Fax: +60 4 594 1023E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.usm.my


Objective

The objective of this project is to transmit storeand forward diagnosis and treatment data fromthe community health worker to a remotephysician.

Research Context

Delivery of health care services and informationat the rural level can be improved with the useof innovative ICT tools. This project aims todevelop a user-friendly graphic interface for amobile phone telehealth information systemusing SMS to deliver pertinent healthinformation for rural users. This project employsa Java-enabled mobile phone to transmit, storeand forward diagnosis and treatment data fromthe community health worker at the point ofcare to a remote physician. Deployment of thetechnology developed in this project is thusapplicable to developing countries that requirecost-effective hardware platforms and havelittle or no General Packet Radio Service (GPRS).


The main beneficiary of this project is a ruralcommunity in Lanao del Norte where theproject partner, the Philippine Council forHealth Research and Development (PCHRD),has an established initiative for an Internetmultipurpose community telecentre. Otherbeneficiaries include technology partners

involved in the development of the mobiletelehealth system with SMS, and LGUs workingto increase health services for theirconstituents.

Output s

The project seeks to deliver a mobile electronicpatient record system using Java over SMS withrelevant health information stored on amultimedia card.


The M-DOK project thus far has fulfilled thefollowing objectives: development of an end-to-end mobile telehealth system composed ofa mobile Java application and a Windows-basedreceiver application; health informationmodules stored offline on the mobile phone; amobile electronic patient record; and alightweight mobile encryption algorithm.Windows was initially chosen instead of Linuxbecause of its greater potential for adoptionand ease of installation. A Linux version of thesystem is planned to be developed.

Health information modules were developedusing simple Portable Document Format (PDF)and graphics. By clicking on the pertinent file,the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on themobile phone will launch and view thecontents of the HTML file. The project will alsodevelop a version that uses another phone to

54. M-DOK: Mobile Telehealth andInformation Resource System forCommunity Health Workers in thePhilippines

Grant Amount: US$ 29,784Keywords: TELEHEALTH, TELEPHONY, SMS, SOCIAL SERVICES, PHILIPPINESGeographical Coverage: The Philippines



receive SMS messages (instead of a computeras it is currently configured).

Its only remaining deliverable is thedevelopment of a network of communityhealth workers and referral physicians for thesystem. The project has already coordinatedthis with the PCHRD who has agreed to deploythe application in one of their multipurposecommunity telecentres in Lanao. Thisrepresents an opportunity to compare theInternet-based telehealth system and themobile telehealth system. Deployment isscheduled to begin with a test run. Theapplication will be revised based on theresponse from these tests.

Unlike Internet telehealth applications, or morecomplex mobile telehealth applications,M-DOK is designed to be easily scalable andlow-maintenance. The health informationmodules will be made freely available, withtranslation shouldered by the downloadingparty. The application is expected to augment

the delivery of health care in communitieswhere the primary health workers arecommunity health workers and not tertiary carephysicians. It is also expected to be most usefulfor countries where SMS messaging isprevalent, allowing for greater disseminationand use.

Project DurationStart Date: July 2005End Date: June 2006Total Duration: 12 Months

Contact InformationDr Ayedee Ace DomingoSynapseHealth8A Malumanay Street, Sikatuna VillageQuezon City 1101, PhilippinesTel: +63 917 537 2023E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://www.synapsehealth.com


Objective

The objective of this project is to develop atested, working mobile telemedicine systemprototype.

Research Context

This project aims to develop an ICT-basedmobile telemedicine system with multi-communication links for urban and rural areasin Indonesia. The project uses existing Internetcommunication technology to develop aprototype telemedicine system that can beeasily moved from one place to another. Thetelemedicine application is focused ondiagnostics, consultation, and recording andreporting patient’s information. The system canalso be used for other health care serviceapplications and is considered to be particularlyuseful in many remote areas in Indonesia.


Patients who live far away from a hospital can begiven a routine check-up using a mobile phone.Local hospitals with limited human resourcesbenefit as the system provides a faster responseto critical medical care and contact withspecialists in spite of geographic barriers. Theprogramme for reducing maternal mortality rateand improving mother and child health benefitslocal authorities that provide these services.

Output s

A tested, working model of an ICT-based mobiletelemedicine system. The system is expected tobe used for community health care and can beimplemented easily in emergency situations.


The project began by conducting several fieldsurveys in the implementation area ofSukabumi, West Java. The target area coversabout 4,248 sq km and has a population ofabout 2.3 million people. The altitude varieswithin the range of from sea level to nearly3,000 m. The topography consists of highlands,hills and coasts. Three hospitals and 71community health centres serve the localpopulation. The project has also completedfield surveys on the quality of the existingcommunication signals in about 35 locations inSukabumi area. The main challenge that theproject identified for its implementation is thedifficult topography and availability ofcommunication infrastructure.

Based on the results of these surveys, theproject has moved forward with system design,and a number of protocols, applications,software and hardware components have beencompleted. These include: the protocol designof the teleconsultation and telediagnosisapplications; preliminary software design and

55. Development of ICT-Based MobileTelemedicine System withMulti-Communication Links for Urban andRural Areas in Indonesia

Grant Amount: US$ 29,479Keywords: TELEHEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES, RURAL, URBAN, INDONESIAGeographical Coverage: Indonesia



schematic communication links selection; thefirst prototype of the medical informationconcentrator display software; and thehardware design and implementation of ablood pressure and foetal heart rate pilotinterface. A number of activities are currentlyin progress including: the development of anECG interface; the improvement of thecommunication links selection software;improvements on patient and hospitalinformation systems; and the telediagnosis andteleconsultation software.

The team notes that the project is challenging.The system is relatively complex as it involvescombining a number of technologies anddisciplines, such as communications,computers, sensors, instrumentation, medical,electronics and other resources.

The project has a highly participatorydevelopment structure. Participants include theDirector and staff of R.S. Samsuddin, 56community health centres (CHCs) in theSukabumi area, Sukabumi Health Office, LocalAuthority Development of Sukabumi, and theInformation and Communication Departmentof Sukabumi. Health care personnel from R.S.Samsuddin and the CHCs will participate asusers of the system during test periods andafter the project has completed. Some stafffrom R.S. Samsuddin is also participating in theproject design and implementation. The project

involves graduates students in the ResearchGroup on Biomedical Engineering at ITB.Sukabumi Health Office is involved inmanagement policy for health services in thearea. The Local Authority Development isexpected to support the project sustainability.

To date, the results of the project researchactivities have been presented in two nationalseminars, the National Biomedical EngineeringSeminar, Yogyakarta, 25 February 2006 and theSymposium on Development of Emergencyand Disaster Communication and InformationSystems, Jakarta, 7 March 2006.

Project DurationStart Date: July 2005End Date: June 2007Total Duration: 24 Months

Contact InformationProf Dr Ir Soegijardjo SoegijokoResearch Group on Biomedical EngineeringBiomedical Engineering ProgrammeSchool of Electrical Engineering and InformaticsInstitut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesha 10Bandung 40132, IndonesiaTel/Fax: +62 22 253 4117E-mail: [email protected]

Websitehttp://biomed.ee.itb.ac.id


Objectives

The objectives of this project are to develop freeand open source medical software modules inPrimaCare to improve the quality of primaryhealth care through better patient clinicalinformation and statistical data management.

Research Context

Primary health care provides the first line ofpreventive and curative medical services to theindividual, the family and the community. Poorclinical information and weak statistical datamanagement, however, often hinder primaryhealth care’s effectiveness. This project aims toenhance the existing PrimaCare with free andopen source medical software for clinical andoperational aspects of primary medical practice.The project aims to develop a Generic Engine forModules (GEM) with specialized modules forgeneral paediatrics, general women’s health andbasic epidemiology. The GEM will empowermedical practitioner developers to build orexpand their own modules based on their needs,thus providing an important tool to extend theimpact of PrimaCare beyond primary health care.


● Patients of primary health care in Malaysiaand other developing countries;

● Primary health care doctors and clinics inMalaysia and other developing countries;and

● The development team of PrimaCare.

Output s

● Generic engine through which specializedmodules can be developed;

● Free and open source medical software forgeneral primary health care, includingmodules for Paediatrics, Women’s Healthand Epidemiology;

● Test of the GEM by a quality assurance team;● Field test of the specialized modules by local

primary health care doctors;● Evaluation and monitoring results of the

GEM and specialized modules;● Regional dissemination to participating

countries through international conferencesand workshops; and

● Technical and user manuals in English.

Project DurationStart Date: February 2006End Date: February 2007Total duration: 13 Months

Contact InformationDr Molly CheahPrimary Care Doctors’ Organization Malaysia2-B Jalan SS 3/31, University GardenPetaling Jaya, Selangor D.E. 47300, MalaysiaTel: +60 3 7875 0076Fax: +60 3 7874 9208E-mail: [email protected]@pcdom.org.my

Websitehttp://pcdom.org.my/

56. Generic Engine for Modules inPrimaCare

Grant Amount: US$ 30,000Keywords: PRIMARY HEALTH CARE, FREE AND OPEN SOURCE, MALAYSIAGeographical Coverage: : Malaysia



This Annex seeks to highlight the research context and process undertaken to develop ExploringNew Modalities and share some reflections on its outcomes. It is offered to provide some additionalbackground into the document itself and to make general notes on what was involved in carryingout the analysis. The Annex is divided into four sections. The first is a brief discussion of broaderICT4D issues that contextualize the Pan-Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme and the researchapproach. The second describes the research question and approach. The third explains theresearch methodology and its outcomes. Finally, it reflects briefly on the strengths and limitationsof this study.

The Programme Context

While it is beyond the scope here to enter into a thorough analysis of how the ICT R&D GrantsProgramme fits into the overall debate of ICT4D, there are several areas that can be explored tothe extent that they might shed light on the project findings.

The most relevant development issue that the Programme addresses is that of globalization andthe digital divide. Castells (1996, 1997, 1998, 2001) argues throughout his work on ICTs in societythat recent developments across all social sectors – government, business, education, science,health, the environment and so on – have been propelled by innovations in ICTs. Castells is carefulto state that ICTs are not in themselves development, but that rather it is use of ICTs tools – theability of networked systems to process complex information into useful knowledge combinedwith vast efficiencies offered by inexpensive global communication and the corresponding transferof symbolic narratives – that has been one of the defining characteristics of social and institutionalchange over the past several decades. ICTs central role across all development sectors and theimportance of bridging the digital divide is similarly treated in the text of the 2005 TunisCommitment of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The argument of the digitaldivide centres around the proposition that the global information network is such a dominantand powerful feature of contemporary society and institutions that to be outside of it is in itselftantamount to marginalization (Castells, 2000, p.405). Those outside the system not only do notbenefit from these technologies but in fact are increasingly excluded, marginalized and finallymade irrelevant. It must be acknowledged that while ICT use is growing rapidly worldwide, arelatively small percentage of people have access to these promising technologies and most ofthese are in developed societies. The greatest barriers to entry into the network society areinfrastructure, education and cost.

In general, many of these arguments are supported by the project findings. The project worksillustrate a wide range of practical benefits that can be derived from using ICTs to address localdevelopment concerns. The relevance of ICT4D is demonstrated by the willingness and capacityof local communities to engage with new technologies and adapt them for their own purposes.The broad range of project categories in the Programme (access to information, capacity buildingand education, policy and social research, technical innovation, environment and agriculture, and

Annex 1

Assembling this Publication: Research Processand Consolidated Findings


health and medicine) clearly cross development, social and institutional sectors. This supportsthe argument that ICT4D should not be seen as a stand alone effort, but rather as integral to alldevelopment areas as emphasized in the 2005 WSIS Tunis Commitment. It should be noted thatnot all interventions we reviewed have been successful, and there remain many complexchallenges to overcome the barriers of infrastructure, education and cost. These can be dauntingand several projects came right up against these barriers and failed to overcome them. Yet, thereare some highly innovative solutions that have been developed and a range of strategies emergedfor further growth of such initiatives.

But the discussion of the digital divide should not be seen as solely related to physical technology.The deeper issue relates to what people do with technology. As Rao states “the information societyis not just about passively using ‘black box’ technologies, but about actively creating and shapingthe underlying technical information and service infrastructure” (Rao, 2005, p.275). The implicationhere, as it relates to the digital divide, is that we need to look at the local relevance of technologicalinterventions. Without considering this dimension, ‘bridging the gap’ might be seen to relateprimarily to the simple diffusion of physical technology. The importance of local relevance is treatedby Granqvist, who argues that the use of the term digital divide in itself implies that “in the typicalICT-for-development case, non Western communities are conceived of as ‘know-nots’,underdeveloped, and in need of Western structures and infrastructures” (Granqvist, 2005, p.292).Granqvist’s critique underscores the importance of participatory methodologies in interventionsthat acknowledge “…the right of inhabitants of these regions to define their own solutions (andproblems for that matter) instead of having ready-made models and accompanying technologiesforced upon them” (Granqvist, 2005. p.293).

The statement that the information society is not about technology, but rather what people dowith it, is supported by the projects and can even be said to be embedded at the programmaticlevel. Each project funded represents a very unique example of an interaction taking place betweennew technologies and a local application. In fact the success of the projects was often seen torelate specifically to how this interaction evolved. Correspondingly, the local relevance ofinterventions is seen to be probably the most critical factor effecting project success. It is clearthat the projects that embraced participatory, consultative processes in their design, planningand implementation phases had a marked increase in their probability to achieve their objectives.The benefits of participatory processes were further enhanced in those projects that used theseinteractions to inform, adapt and modify their intervention as this was seen to influence the qualityand relevance of the projects outcomes. Therefore, Granqvist’s call for participatory interventionstrategies is seen to be strongly supported by the research.

On the other hand, Granqvist’s argument that “in the typical ICT-for-development case, nonWestern communities are conceived of as ‘know-nots’” (Granqvist, 2005. p.292) is not supported,at least within the context of this research. The majority of the projects in the Programme arelocally led, demonstrating a high degree of local capacity to conceptualize and manage both thetechnical and social aspects of these interventions. While one still might argue that these projectsare led by an educated and privileged ‘elite’ the fact remains that a first-world third-world modelis seen to have little relevance here. Further blurring these boundaries are the many cases whereprojects have engaged in collaborative processes and partnerships with a range of local, regionaland global institutions and actors. It should be noted that these ‘partnerships’ were not alwayseasy to forge; a number of projects noted problems in managing these sometimes complex



relationships. Operating in such a terrain of blurred boundaries and multiple perspectives impliesthat there can be no single solution to development issues, but rather solutions. These solutionsas they relate to ICT4D are perhaps best framed as processes of interaction between local concerns,global options and a range of actors operating in many different social spheres.

Considered in this light, we can entertain a refined understanding of geography. The logic ofnetworked systems does not necessarily follow the traditional geography of developed andunderdeveloped countries or regions. Castells notes that “Internet use is diffusing fast, but thisdiffusion follows a spatial pattern that fragments its geography according to wealth, technologyand power: it is the new geography of development” (Castells, 2001, p.212). This is paralleled inthe discussion by Hemer and Tufte in which the notion of development is re-conceptualized underthe concept of ‘world development’. This model recognizes that the “entire world is in ‘transition’”(Hemer & Tufte, 2005, p.15) and thus the logic of first and third worlds lose their relevance, anddevelopment is seen as a project in which we are all engaged in – for better or for worse – acrosscultures, geographic boundaries and ideological positions.

The underlying logic here is supported by the projects. The most successful are those that haveshown the sensitivity and ability to network at the local, regional and global level. They havebeen able to articulate the link between the local development goals and the appropriateness ofthe technological solution. They demonstrate technical proficiency, a commitment to overcomeany challenges, and the imagination to innovate and develop solutions.

The Research Question and Approach

The central question the study addresses is “what works and what does not”. It is easy to say yes,ICT with all their exceptional efficiencies and inexpensive access to global networks of informationis surely beneficial to development. Such an answer, however, does not take into account themany complexities of the local situation. It is this question of local relevance that is central to thestudy.

To answer this question one must look at the intervention in context. This includes not only thecontext of the project’s objectives, beneficiaries and outputs, but also the financial, social andinstitutional context in which the project was undertaken and perhaps most critically, the contextthat the project creates. To answer this question one must try to really understand these issues.What are these people telling us? How does that relate to what other people are telling us? Whatcan we learn from them individually and as a group? As the researcher, we found ourselves facedwith the task of attempting to explore and understand these projects through reviewing andtranscribing documents, by asking questions and responding to feedback, and finally by usingwriting as a reflexive process to distill the information and draw conclusions.

Research Methodology and Result s

Overview of research methodology

The research methodology combined a desktop study of project reports and other internaldocuments, an e-mail questionnaire that was sent out to all grant recipients, and a feedback


mechanism comprised of sending out the text developed to recipients and partners for comment.This section describes the process UNDP-APDIP had undertaken to develop the case studies, theanalysis and other compositional elements, and highlights some of the main issues that came upalong the way.

Developing the case studies

The primary source of information on the projects was derived from project reports. By contracteach project is required to submit interim progress reports and a final report on completion. Manyof these are publicly available on the UNDP-APDIP website (http://www.apdip.net/projects/ictrnd/recipients), although a number of new project reports were sourced directly from AMIC, theprogramme administrator.

Our secondary source of information was comprised of feedback from grant recipients. It wasseen quite early on that we could not rely completely on the project reports for our information.Most importantly, as a key goal of the book was to provide a networking tool for recipients andother interested parties it was seen as crucial that we had updated contact information for theprojects. In addition, we recognized that there may be weaknesses in the reporting or that thereports did not fully represent the project work. To address this we developed an e-mailquestionnaire and sent it out to all grant recipients. The purpose of the e-mail questionnaire wasto update project information, solicit additional comments on the project work and if possible toget images that could be used in the final publication.

The questionnaire was sent out to all 56 projects. We initially thought that the response rate wouldnot be high as some people may have moved on and of course people are busy and may simplynot have had time to answer. In the end, we were surprised as a total of 46 projects did respondeither in full or in part to the questionnaire. The information provided was then used to updatethe project profiles. It should be noted that although the response rate was quite high, the qualityof feedback was somewhat mixed, with the exception of the updated contact information whichwas very useful. There were many cases where we found that the answers to the questions weasked were simply cut and pasted out of the reports we had already reviewed. But this was notalways the case and some projects did offer fresh insights that were incorporated into the finalreport. Photographs in general, as one would expect, were mixed. Many were below print quality,although there were some real gems. Several of these were used in the final layout of the book.

After the project case studies were complete, we sent out our write-up to the grant recipients andproject partners for feedback. In some cases we also posed specific questions either to clarifydiscrepancies in the reporting or to get more information on various aspects of the project. Overall,there were about 850 e-mails exchanged during the course of the research and writing of thedocument. While managing all this information was a significant effort, it was seen as useful tostrengthen the integrity of the final document.

The main task, however, was to review the project documents and compose a short review oneach project in a consistent format. This included project name, keywords, location, amountawarded, objectives, research context, target beneficiaries, outputs, project dates and contactinformation. For those projects that were either complete or at midway point (judged by thepresence of an interim report or final report) a section on research results and outcomes was also



developed. A total of 63 projects had been funded between 2002 and 2005, of which eight hadbeen closed or put on hold due to problems in undertaking the project work. This left a total of 56projects to report on. Obviously, all of these projects had a project proposal from which to drawbasic project information. Of the 56 projects nine were new or delayed and did not have interimor final reports, leaving 47 projects that were in some state of progress that could be reported on.This represented a large volume of information that had to be reviewed, digested and written up.We estimate that these project reports probably totaled somewhere around 2,500 pages of text.The project reports were also enhanced or at least cross-referenced with other internal documents,such as the internal programme review that included 14 site visits, as well as a range of documentsproduced by the programme and grant recipients. This body of information represented anotherseveral hundred pages of text.

An important point to make regarding the case studies is that in many cases they directly quoteor paraphrase the project reports. This strategy had the benefit of keeping the text as close aspossible to the grant recipients’ presentation of their work. On the other hand however, it waschallenging to pair down what was in some cases 60 or more pages of text into a three-pagestatement. The project reports were very diverse in the way they presented material. Some werevery well-organized and written and provided a clear picture of the project in its totality. Othersfocused mostly on technical development and were difficult to understand without specificexpertise in the relevant field. Still, others focused on the social process undertaken and in somecases read almost like a personal diary, exploring the emotional aspects of their work as it unfolded.In addition to the variety of report writing approaches taken, language was certainly an issue. Ofcourse many of the project reports were written by people for whom English was not a firstlanguage, nor were their strengths necessarily in report writing. Considering all of these factors, itshould be acknowledged that it was sometimes a challenge to ascertain the meaning of the text,and correspondingly the project work. We felt it was important to keep in mind that just becausea report was not clear, it did not necessarily indicate that the project was not a good one. Thisrequired some discipline and sensitivity when reviewing these documents. The process had manybenefits, but it should be acknowledged that one overall result of this process is that the casestudies are sometimes rather awkwardly written.

Another area that required particular focus was locating the projects in time. Grant recipientsproject work can take place between less than a year and up to two years. Due, however, to therealities of implementing the projects, some started late, or took more time to complete than wasoriginally anticipated. In addition, some projects we reported on were complete, some were atvarious stages of progress and others were either just beginning or had not yet started. Asmentioned above, we did not have all project reports available from the beginning and a numbercame in during the writing period. This not only meant that the case study needed to be updatedwith the new information, but the tense (past, present, future) also had to be changed throughoutto reflect the projects status. This reporting on ‘live’ projects constituted something of a challenge.Compounding this was the factor that many of the projects were part of some larger organizationaleffort, and the project teams did not see their work as complete when the grant period ended.For example in one case when we asked for a completion date the project responded “notapplicable”.

Related to this somewhat technical task of locating the projects in time is the question of capturingprocess. At the beginning we approached the case studies from the perspective of proposal and


results (e.g. did they write the three papers they said they would write?). Of course these areimportant indicators of the projects success and we did document them. As time went on however,we realized the most valuable information the project reports captured was the research processthat was undertaken. They were about how the project implemented their ideas, how theyresponded to challenges, how their intervention evolved along the way. This seemed to be therichest terrain for learning and therefore the most valuable aspect that we could communicate toothers who were undertaking similar work. This represented a conceptual shift from a quantitativeresearch approach to a qualitative one.

The final note on the case studies is that there was simply a lot of plain legwork involved in verifyingthe practical information. A great deal of time was spent confirming addresses, project dates,websites and other information presented in the case studies.

Development of the analysis and lessons learned

The analysis and lessons learned section has three functions. The first is to introduce the documentitself, the second is to provide an overview of the projects and the third is to elucidate commonlessons learned that might be useful to others. The primary source of the conclusions emergedfrom the case studies themselves. As such, the basic strategy for developing this section was toonly make statements that could be backed up by references to the specific projects.

To provide an overview of the projects we undertook two exercises. The first was a ratherstraightforward process of defining the projects by geographic area. The second exercise was togroup the projects by category. This was done by taking all the development categories from ourquestionnaire, combining them with other categories previously applied to the projects (this hadbeen done in a variety of ways in different Programme documents) and finally narrowing themdown, removing redundancies and generalizing. This can be seen as somewhat superficial asmany projects could fit in more than one category. However it does have the benefit of offeringan overview and more importantly providing a structure for the document. We defined eachcategory by consolidating project information in each area and then pulling out key issues projectsin the category faced. Specific projects were used as references.

The lessons learned were also derived from the case studies. Since we knew from the beginningthat we would present lessons learned, as we went through the project reports we were alwayson the lookout for specific comments the projects made relating to what they learned or otherareas where they noted problems encountered and how they were solved. To develop the sectionwe went through the document and highlighted these, pulled them out and grouped them intocommon areas. These were tied together with general summary statements and correspondingreferences to the projects. This was complemented with a second exercise to go through and pullout the lessons learned and present them as simple bullet points in boxes. What is nice about thisis it provides space to those comments and notes from projects that do not fall neatly into thebroader categories.

Other compositional elements

There are three other compositional components of the document that should be briefly noted.These are the keywords, acronyms and use of new language. To develop the keywords, we



compiled a list for each project. These were integrated with keywords provided by grant recipientsand subsequently rationalized through a process of standardization, eliminating redundanciesand grouping similar concepts. Acronyms were also used frequently for both organizations andtechnical terms. It should also be noted that keeping acronyms consistent across the documentwas a challenge, as they were used by different projects in different formats. Somewhat related tothis, was the use of new language to define the ICT aspect of traditional social services. For example,there were many variations on e-governance, e-health, telemedicine, telecentres and so on. Aneffort was made to make these consistent as well.

Conclusion

By way of a conclusion, we will briefly reflect on some of the strengths and limitations of thisstudy. As might be expected they are integral to one another and emerge out of the assumptionthat to answer the question of what works and what does not, we have to try to understand theprojects within the context they are working, at least to the extent possible given the materialsand access available. The strength of this approach is obvious; claims are validated by the projectreports. There does however, remain the underlying issue of relying on project reports as theprimary source of information, and the question of whether they can provide the means to fullycomprehend the project work. To address this issue, efforts were made within the limitations oftime and budget to seek direct feedback from the projects themselves. These efforts however,had mixed results. The result of these limitations is that the case studies are sometimes lessrevealing than might be desirable. While this may detract somewhat from the overall document,it does not undermine the essential value of the work – that is to share experiences.

The document’s greatest strength lies in its consolidation of around over 3,000 pages of projectreports, feedback from proponents and other programme documentation into a more digestible200-page report. In order to provide an overview it is useful to present the information in a commonformat, and base conclusions on “common” issues. It should be recognized that the consolidationprocess limits the full representation of each project’s diversity. This was mitigated by the use ofthe bullet point boxes in the analysis section and, of course, the project-specific information suchas references to websites does provide additional access points for those who seek furtherinformation. The value of undertaking this work is to make the project experiences and findingsmore accessible to, first and foremost, the researchers involved in undertaking this research aswell as to other interested parties, hopefully generating additional opportunities for networking,collaboration and the implementation of new solutions. In addition, by exploring the question ofwhat works, new projects can benefit from the experiences of others, avoiding common pitfallsand using strategies that have been demonstrated as successful.


References

Appadurai, A. (1996) Modernity at Large. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press

Castells, M. (1996, 2000) The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, The Rise of The NetworkSociety. Oxford: Blackwell

Castells, M. (1997) The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, The Power of Identity. Oxford:Blackwell

Castells, M. (1998, 2000) The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, End of the Millennium.Oxford: Blackwell

Castells, M. (2001) The Internet Galaxy. New York: Oxford University Press

Granqvist, M. (2005) Assessing ICT in development: a critical perspective. In Hemer, O., Tufte, T.(Ed.) Media & Glocal Change: Rethinking Communication for Development. Buenos Aires; Göteborg:CLACSO Books/Nordicom

Hawisher, G., Selfe, C. (Ed.) (2000) Global Literacies and the World Wide Web. London: Routledge

Hemer, O., Tufte, T. (2005) The challenge of the glocal. In Hemer, O., Tufte, T. (Ed.) Media & GlocalChange: Rethinking Communication for Development . Buenos Aires; Göteborg: CLACSO Books/Nordicom

Hemer, O., Tufte, T. (Ed.) (2005) Media & Glocal Change: Rethinking Communication for Development.Buenos Aires; Göteborg: CLACSO Books/Nordicom

Morley, D., Robins, K. (1995) Spaces of Identity. Global media, electronic landscapes and culturalboundaries. London: Routledge

Pieterse, J. N. (2001) Development Theory – deconstructions/reconstructions. London: Sage

Rao, M. (2005) The information society: visions and realities in developing countries. In Hemer, O.,Tufte, T. (Ed.) Media & Glocal Change: Rethinking Communication for Development . Buenos Aires;Göteborg: CLACSO Books/Nordicom

Singhal, A. , Rogers, E. (2001) India’s Communication Revolution, from bullock carts to cyber marts.New Dehli/Thousand Oaks/London: Sage Publications

Skelton, T., Allen, T. (Ed.) (1999) Culture and Global Change. London: Routledge

Digital References

UNDP Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (2006) Grant Recipients. Retrievedbetween 15 February and 2 August 2006 from http://www.apdip.net/projects/ictrnd/recipients

Digital Review of the Asia Pacific (2005-2006) Home. Retrieved 2 August 2006 fromhttp://www.digital-review.org

World Summit on the Information Society (2005) Tunis Commitment. Retrieved 18 August 2006from http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.html



Annex 2

Questionnaire to Grantees

PART 1 – CONFIRM PROJECT INFORMATION

1.1 Project title:

1.2 Project Duration (if project has not started or is not completed please provideexpected start and end dates)

Start Date:

End Date:

Total (months):

1.3 Project keywords: List 5-10 words describing the project (e.g. e-government, free/open source software, e-health, information management system, poverty reduction, etc.)

1.4 Contact Information

Implementing organization:

Project leader name & title:

Mailing address:

Telephone:

Fax:

Email:

Website: (project website or implementing organization website)

PART 2 - PROJECT ASSESSMENT

2.1 Participatory Indicators: If applicable, describe how people other than the beneficiarieshave participated or will participate in the project at design, implementation, result and utilizationstages (100 words or less).

2.2 Interdisciplinary aspects of project: Briefly describe what other fields of study / activitiesthe project involves apart from the one proposed (e.g. cultural preservation, disaster risk reduction,education, gender mainstreaming, rural development, etc.) Include any comments on how thedisciplines / activities were or are intended to be integrated (100 words or less).


2.3 Development Impact: Use the list below to select which areas the project had or can bereasonably expected to have a significant, positive development impact. Use the commentscolumn to briefly describe the impacts (50 words or less each).

Development Areas: Comments:

Utilization of Results

Technology Development and Management

Social Services

Public Policy

Public Health and Safety

National Research System Capacity

International Cooperation

Information Management

Household Economy

Governance

Gender Equity

Ethnic Equity

Environment & Resource Management

Employment Generation

Economic Productivity

Community Process/Networking

Others

2.4 Project outputsPlease indicate what activities (e.g. conference, training) and products (publication, multimediaCD, seminar paper) planned or completed by the project to share and/or disseminate researchresults widely.

2.5 Suggested improvements and lessons learnedReflect on any obstacles the project either has or may encounter and describe how they eitherwere or will be addressed. Please offer any suggestions for areas of improvement that mighthave help address these problems (100 words or less).

2.6 Other remarksPlease provide other comments you consider necessary for a full and proper understanding ofthe project implementation processes and impact (100 words or less).



PART 3 – IMAGE DETAILS

Each project may submit up to 3 images, no smaller than 1050 X 1400 pixels in any standard fileformat. Please name the picture with your project name and a number (example:projectname1.jpg). Also include a brief description and credit for photographer in the spaceprovided below.

Image file name: Caption: Credit:


Index of Keywords

ACCESS 26, 39, 41, 45, 64, 74, 126

AGRICULTURE 110, 114, 116, 118

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 134

ASIA-PACIFIC 88, 98, 100, 105

BANDWIDTH 39

BHUTAN 39

CAMBODIA 74, 88

CAPACITY BUILDING 28, 35, 49, 52, 55, 59, 74, 82, 94, 98, 105, 129

CHINA 94, 110, 116

COMMUNITY 24, 41, 45, 52, 72

CONNECTIVITY 126

CULTURE 37

DATABASE 42, 57

DISASTER 47

DISSEMINATION 37

EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS 47

ECONOMIC 42, 61, 66, 110, 114

EMPLOYMENT 24, 26, 28, 30, 66

EMPOWERMENT 24, 30, 35

ENGLISH-NEPALI 92

ENVIRONMENT 101, 112

EQUITY 35, 37, 55, 59

FOREST FIRE 112

FREE AND OPEN SOURCE 88, 98, 105, 127, 140

GENDER 30, 35, 55, 59, 66

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM 98, 108, 112, 127

GOVERNANCE 39, 49, 57, 68, 70, 72, 76, 101, 110

GURMUKHI 104

HEALTH 55, 82, 122, 124, 127, 129, 132, 134, 140

HEARING IMPAIRED 82

HINDU KUSH-HIMALAYAS 108

HIV/AIDS 55, 129

INDIA 24, 26, 32, 35, 37, 55, 59, 61, 66, 68, 72, 90, 98, 104,112, 118, 129, 132

INDONESIA 122, 127, 138

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT 47, 57, 61, 76, 86, 100, 101, 102, 108, 114, 118, 134

INTERNET 24, 28, 32, 39, 41, 49, 52, 59, 68, 70, 72, 74, 84, 86, 92,94, 102, 105, 116, 124, 129

INTERNET EXCHANGE 86

INTERNET PROTOCOL 84, 102

INTERNET SERVER PROVIDER 86



IPV4 102

IPV6 84, 102

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT 57, 90

LAO PDR 74

LIBRARY 94

LIFE SKILLS 59

LOCALIZATION 80, 88, 92, 104

MALAYSIA 30, 134, 140

MARKETING 30

MEDIA 74

MONGOLIA 96

MULTIMEDIA 45, 94

NEPAL 86, 92, 108, 126

NETWORK DEVELOPMENT 32, 41, 84, 100, 102

OPEN ACCESS 90

OPEN TYPE FONTS 80

PAKISTAN 80, 82, 104

PHILIPPINES 28, 42, 47, 57, 64, 76, 84, 114, 124, 136

POLICY 64, 68, 70, 72, 76, 122

PRIMARY HEALTH CARE 122, 124, 140

PRODUCTIVITY 35, 61, 66, 110, 114, 116

PUBLISHING 90

RADIO 45, 49

REPUBLIC OF NAURU 49

RURAL 26, 32, 39, 42, 64, 68, 70, 116, 138

SELF-HELP GROUPS 61

SEXUALITY 59

SHAMUKHI 104

SMS 114, 124, 136

SOCIAL SERVICES 126, 132, 136, 138

SOFTWARE 88, 104

SOLOMON ISLANDS 52

SRI LANKA 41, 45

TELECENTRE 24, 28, 42, 45, 52, 118

TELEHEALTH 122, 124, 126, 132, 136, 138

TELEPHONY 136

TEXT-TO-SPEECH 96

THAILAND 100, 102, 105

URBAN 64, 138

URDU 80, 82

VIET NAM 70, 74, 101

VISUALLY IMPAIRED 96

WIRELESS 26, 32, 41, 47


About the Author

Michael Dougherty is a communications consultant based in Bangkok, Thailand. Since 1995, hehas contributed to the design and development of diverse communications products for a rangeof regional and global non-governmental organizations, the United Nations and private sectorclients. He has an MFA (Hon) from the Massachusetts College of Art and an MA in Communicationsfor Development at Malmö University, Sweden.



Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge the many contributions of the UNDP-APDIP team, withoutwhose support this publication would not have been possible. In particular, the author wouldlike to thank Shahid Akhtar for insights on how to most effectively present the programme andincrease accessibility to the information in this book; Phet Sayo, for providing backgroundinformation about the programme and for his tireless follow-up with projects and partners; andChristine Apikul for her close reading and cross checking of the many details. In addition, theauthor acknowledges the valuable input and updates on projects provided by Nanditha Ramanof AMIC. Finally, the author would like to thank the project proponents who responded to ourquestionnaires and drafts and provided deeper understanding of their work.

UNDP-APDIP ICT4D SeriesICT Policies and e-Strategies in the Asia-Pacific: A Critical Assessment of the Way Forward, Elsevier, 2004

An Overview of ICT Policies and e-Strategies of Select Asian Economies, Elsevier, 2004

Information and Communications Technology for Development: A Sourcebook for Parliamentarians,Elsevier, 2004

An Overview of ICT Policy Formulation and e-Strategy Development: A Comprehensive Guidebook,Elsevier, 2005

Internet Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives, Elsevier, 2005

Gender in the Information Society: Emerging issues, Elsevier, 2006

Breaking Barriers: The Potential of Free and Open Source Software for Sustainable Human Development– A Compilation of Case Studies from Across the World, Elsevier, 2006

Empowering the Poor: Information and Communications Technology for Governance and PovertyReduction – A Study of Rural Development Projects in India, Elsevier, 2006

e-Primers for the Information Economy,Society and Polity SeriesThe Information Age, 2003

Legal and Regulatory Issues in the Information Economy, 2003

Nets, Webs and the Information Infrastructure, 2003

e-Commerce and e-Business, 2003

e-Government, 2003

ICT in Education, 2003

Genes, Technology and Policy, 2003

Information and Communication Technologies for Poverty Alleviation, 2004

Internet Governance, Elsevier, 2005

e-Primers on Free/Open Source Software (FOSS)FOSS: A General Introduction, Elsevier, 2004

FOSS: Education, Elsevier, 2004

FOSS: Government Policy, Elsevier, 2005

FOSS: Localization, Elsevier, 2005

FOSS: Open Standards, Elsevier, 2006

FOSS: Licensing, Elsevier, 2006

Other UNDP-APDIP PublicationsDigital Review of Asia Pacific 2003/2004

Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2005/2006

Regional Human Development Report - Promoting ICT for Human Development in Asia 2004: Realisingthe Millennium Development Goals - Summary, Elsevier, 2004

Technical Paper - ICT and Human Development: Towards Building a Composite Index for Asia, Elsevier,2004

Regional Human Development Report - Promoting ICT for Human Development in Asia: Realising theMillennium Development Goals, Elsevier, 2005

Also AAlso AAlso AAlso AAlso Availablevailablevailablevailablevailable

For a complete list of UNDP-APDIP publications, please visit http://www.apdip.net/elibraryFor all Elsevier publications, please order at http://books.elsevier.com

Exploring New

Modalities Experiences w

ith Information and Com

munications Technology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Region U

ND

P-APD

IP ICT4D

Series

US$ 14Michael Dougherty

This book is intended to explore and share the vast body of working knowledge, practical

experience, and insight gained from projects implemented across the Asia-Pacific region

and funded by the Pan-Asia ICT R&D Grants Programme between 2002-2005. The 56 project

profiles trace the course of each project’s development from the research context, target

beneficiaries and outputs through its results and outcomes. The profiles are complemented

by an analysis summarizing key lessons learned, common challenges faced and successful

models used to implement project work and create lasting impact. It is hoped that by

sharing these experiences, new contacts and collaborations will be initiated, new questions

asked and new solutions discovered. This book is a useful reference not only for

development practitioners and researchers working to promote information and

communications technology for development (ICT4D), but also for policy makers and

donor agencies supporting or planning to support ICT4D projects and programmes.

Exploring New ModalitiesExperiences with Information and CommunicationsTechnology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Region

Experiences with Information and CommunicationsTechnology Interventions in the Asia-Pacific Region


UNDP-APDIP ICT4D Series



Documents

Michael Dougherty UNDP - Exploring New Modalities-Experience With ICT Interventions in the Asia Pacific Region