Rama Rao DarapuneniPandit Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), Hyderabad, India India
The experiences with assessment of radio and TV have significant impact on the effective use of these two traditional tools. Such studies helped in developing agri professionals to develop appropriate content and deliver. There was sufficient time for spread of these ICT tools and this gave sufficient time and scope for professionals to use them. We are in the process of using internet but see mobiles every where. The current ICT tools are evolving fast and agri-systems are slow to catchup. In such scenario, simultaneous feedback on the effectiveness of the medium use and its societal impact is more relevant now than in the past.
Although there is a growing experience in using ICT4RD, the evidence is still weak. Many ICT initiatives have been pilot projects which have been implemented with different methodologies. We at IICD believe that ICT has real value in development and can make a substantial difference to the poor as experienced by supporting more than 150 ICT4D projects. It is important for all stakeholders to identify how ICT can most effectively be used to achieve lasting and sustainable improvements in people’s lives. Herewith the focus should be on enhancing products and services. This requires an open-minded approach, better understanding of the ways in which people use ICT resources, and more effective assessment of the impact of experiences which have been completed and are underway. Impact assessment should be made a collective, participatory and continuing learning process among the stakeholders and impact should be appraised by the beneficiaries and from their own perspective.
Karl JonasFraunhofer Gesellschaft FOKUS Institute for Open Communication SystemsGermany
The question is extremely general.
* Analyzing socio-economic impact of ICT is of value, I would be surprized if anyone would question this.
* and yes, also in rural areas :-)
If we are discussing development aid projects, and the _specific_ impact of an _individual_ project, THEN this discussion may make sense. Because here we find a trade-off between the original intention of the project, and the effort to evaluate its impact. And as we know, sometimes the evaluation (and preparation, monitoring, other overhead) of projects consumes more ressources than the project itself.
* Am I wrong?
* Was the idea to focus on this last point (impact in dev projects), or was it meant to be as general as it was put?
Thanks for your question. Yes you are right, our discussion should focus on discussing specific impacts of development aid projects. However, we might come back to the general question when it comes to allocation of (research) ressources.
We should not assume that all are in agreement that there is value in the use of ICTs or analyzing their impact. Possibly this is one of the reasons behind the observation of Torbjörn Fredriksson from UNCTAD last week that many development organizations are dissolving or scaling back their ICT4D staff and activities.
As you note, there is value, but also it seems there is a question regarding the size of that value. Otherwise we would not question expenses related to valuation. As Peter notes, I agree this is an important point we should consider futher. Does anyone else have thoughts on this?
-----------
On a side note, the question is somewhat general as you have noted. There is a reason for this from a facilitation standpoint, which we could discuss more elsewhere if you are interested. Just let me know.
-----------
Karl- At least in the muiltilateral world and I would hope in development world in general - ICT projects are not done in isolation but within the bigger context of development projects.... and mostly these are done in remote rural areas.... so yes, we are talking about impact of ICT-related activities within development projects and programmes.
I would be interested to hear the views of the private sector as to how they assess the impact of their investment.... I guess for them it is easier... the impact=if they increase their revenues, while for us the impact is if we have improved the livelihoods of the people we work for and with and those who we serve
* Private sector has realised the need for Socially responsible approach in addressing Rual market needs.
* There is a shift from the term Commercial organizations to Socio-Economic enterprises in the context of Rural markets
* ROI expectations are consideraly lower (%) and longer (no. of years)
* Focus is on Volume/Scale (Low Margin-High Volume)
* Focus is on cross subsidization (What you spend to generate content for farmers can be further sold to many corporates by adding some more costs). While you charge farmers a very affordable price, you charge heavy to your Enterprise customers
* Win-Win Economics, Solid developmental impact can only lead to eventual Win-Win for all stakeholders (Consumers, Donors/Public Secotr/Private Sector/Others)
Thank you for this Prem. Understanding and learning from the private sector's perspective is important for ICTs in development, especially when we consider the types of multi-stakeholder partnerships dicussed last week at the GTZ/BMZ conference in Berlin.
ICT is surely bearing a lot of significance for the development of rural economy by using ICT tools for getting informations updated. But it obviousely depends upon the source where the information supplied. If the source did not bears the quality to supply the dependable source then a ferocious happening may be happen due to its quality. Rural economy is mainly based upon the people who are staying at rural areas and mostly they are farmer or agriproduct business man. So the economy should not be regularised by the people who are not related to the rural sector. If so happenen, then they will do something for the rural people by their imagination. Thats why the info hub should have adequate knowledge about rural people psychology and existing supports.
The experiences with assessment of radio and TV have significant impact on the effective use of these two traditional tools. Such studies helped in developing agri professionals to develop appropriate content and deliver. There was sufficient time for spread of these ICT tools and this gave sufficient time and scope for professionals to use them. We are in the process of using internet but see mobiles every where. The current ICT tools are evolving fast and agri-systems are slow to catchup. In such scenario, simultaneous feedback on the effectiveness of the medium use and its societal impact is more relevant now than in the past.
Although there is a growing experience in using ICT4RD, the evidence is still weak. Many ICT initiatives have been pilot projects which have been implemented with different methodologies. We at IICD believe that ICT has real value in development and can make a substantial difference to the poor as experienced by supporting more than 150 ICT4D projects. It is important for all stakeholders to identify how ICT can most effectively be used to achieve lasting and sustainable improvements in people’s lives. Herewith the focus should be on enhancing products and services. This requires an open-minded approach, better understanding of the ways in which people use ICT resources, and more effective assessment of the impact of experiences which have been completed and are underway. Impact assessment should be made a collective, participatory and continuing learning process among the stakeholders and impact should be appraised by the beneficiaries and from their own perspective.
Could not agree more that we should move beyond pilots and start mainstreaming and scaling up ICT4D interventions. Love to hear people's view on a recent blogpost http://rsamii.blogspot.com/2010/09/enough-with-pilots-lets-get-serious-a...
The question is extremely general.
* Analyzing socio-economic impact of ICT is of value, I would be surprized if anyone would question this.
* and yes, also in rural areas :-)
If we are discussing development aid projects, and the _specific_ impact of an _individual_ project, THEN this discussion may make sense. Because here we find a trade-off between the original intention of the project, and the effort to evaluate its impact. And as we know, sometimes the evaluation (and preparation, monitoring, other overhead) of projects consumes more ressources than the project itself.
* Am I wrong?
* Was the idea to focus on this last point (impact in dev projects), or was it meant to be as general as it was put?
karl
Thanks for your question. Yes you are right, our discussion should focus on discussing specific impacts of development aid projects. However, we might come back to the general question when it comes to allocation of (research) ressources.
peter
We should not assume that all are in agreement that there is value in the use of ICTs or analyzing their impact. Possibly this is one of the reasons behind the observation of Torbjörn Fredriksson from UNCTAD last week that many development organizations are dissolving or scaling back their ICT4D staff and activities.
As you note, there is value, but also it seems there is a question regarding the size of that value. Otherwise we would not question expenses related to valuation. As Peter notes, I agree this is an important point we should consider futher. Does anyone else have thoughts on this?
-----------
On a side note, the question is somewhat general as you have noted. There is a reason for this from a facilitation standpoint, which we could discuss more elsewhere if you are interested. Just let me know.
-----------
Karl- At least in the muiltilateral world and I would hope in development world in general - ICT projects are not done in isolation but within the bigger context of development projects.... and mostly these are done in remote rural areas.... so yes, we are talking about impact of ICT-related activities within development projects and programmes.
I would be interested to hear the views of the private sector as to how they assess the impact of their investment.... I guess for them it is easier... the impact=if they increase their revenues, while for us the impact is if we have improved the livelihoods of the people we work for and with and those who we serve
* Private sector has realised the need for Socially responsible approach in addressing Rual market needs.
* There is a shift from the term Commercial organizations to Socio-Economic enterprises in the context of Rural markets
* ROI expectations are consideraly lower (%) and longer (no. of years)
* Focus is on Volume/Scale (Low Margin-High Volume)
* Focus is on cross subsidization (What you spend to generate content for farmers can be further sold to many corporates by adding some more costs). While you charge farmers a very affordable price, you charge heavy to your Enterprise customers
* Win-Win Economics, Solid developmental impact can only lead to eventual Win-Win for all stakeholders (Consumers, Donors/Public Secotr/Private Sector/Others)
Thank you for this Prem. Understanding and learning from the private sector's perspective is important for ICTs in development, especially when we consider the types of multi-stakeholder partnerships dicussed last week at the GTZ/BMZ conference in Berlin.
ICT is surely bearing a lot of significance for the development of rural economy by using ICT tools for getting informations updated. But it obviousely depends upon the source where the information supplied. If the source did not bears the quality to supply the dependable source then a ferocious happening may be happen due to its quality. Rural economy is mainly based upon the people who are staying at rural areas and mostly they are farmer or agriproduct business man. So the economy should not be regularised by the people who are not related to the rural sector. If so happenen, then they will do something for the rural people by their imagination. Thats why the info hub should have adequate knowledge about rural people psychology and existing supports.