Comment by Klaus Stoll on July 25, 2012 at 7:15pm

ICT4D E-Readiness and Capacity Building Initiative

 

One of the main GKPF action lines is the creation and execution of an ICT4D E-Readiness and Capacity Building Initiative with its members and partners.

 

One of the biggest and basic challenges that face those implementing development is that none of the stakeholders in development are actually able to take full advantage of the available ICT tools and solutions. The basic fact is that a huge majority of those involved in development are not ICT ready and lack basic and operational e-literacy.

 International donor organizations are facing major problem because of the lack of e-readiness and literacy, prevents them from identifying those project partners in the field  that are ready and able take full advantage of the resources and ICT solutions available. It is a fact, that a lot of development resources do not reach the field or are wasted because of a lack qualified implementation partners.

 ICT infrastructures are often created without adequately taking into account the need for training and the development of the strategic uses of the same infrastructure, which will make it effective and sustainable.

 

From all this follows the need to initiate a global ICT4D capacity building and certification program for e-readiness in development for all sectors and stakeholders.

 

Such an e-readiness and capacity building initiative cannot be created over night and not by one organization. GKPF has therefore decided to initiate the process by creating the ICT4D E-Readiness and Capacity Building Initiative, (DERCI), as one of the GKPF action lines that will be implemented by GKPF, his members and his partners.

 

The initial steps DERCI will take are threefold:

 

1)      Creation of a DERCI working group. Organizations such as IICD and AKVO have already indicated that they want to join GKPF in this working group.

2)      Preparation of an initial DERCI meeting and workshop at the upcoming WSIS Forum, Geneva, 13-17 May, 2013.

3)      In order to prepare for the workshop, DERCI will initiate a stories collection initiative on the GKPF www site under the title “Infrastructure s not enough for Development”. There is still a huge need to demonstrate with practical examples from the development field that development is not dependent on infrastructure but the wise strategic use of the infrastructures and resources available. As a clear outcome of this we want to promote the adoption of an “infrastructure plus”, (plus capacity building and e-readiness certification), strategy in development.

 

 

Comment by Tony Harris on August 28, 2012 at 6:59pm

The problem of capacity building and e-readiness, has surfaced in countries in Latin America, specifically when there are government initiatives that give free notebooks to school children and their teachers, in underprivileged locations. Even if connectivity is also provided for the school, one of the questions that remains unsolved is how to bring the teachers into the tech world. Children are quick to pick up on the use of a notebook, but for teachers it often is not that easy, and it also challenges their self-confidence as they see the children quickly becoming adept at handling their notebooks. In Argentina this situation is being addressed through a program labeled Conectar-Conectar, implemented by the Argentina Internet Association (CABASE - www.cabase.org.ar ).

Through a capacity building initiative funded by sponsors, and coordinated with the National Government's notebook and connectivity programs, CABASE sets up groups of teachers who have volunteered to be trained, and provides them with online tuition, local support where they live (provided by an ISP), and one year of free Internet access (mostly Wi-Fi) in the teachers' homes. This initiative is launching in September, 2012, with a pilot test involving 30 teachers in underprivileged locations in the Province of Neuquén, Argentina.

Comment by Krishna Mishra on September 19, 2012 at 3:54pm

Infrastructure Plus will give the required fillip to the adoption of ICT for Development.Infrastructure is an enabler and but to use it requires an understanding .For example we started an eAgro Project where the ICT infrastructure was made available but there was a lack of conviction by the users that ICT can play a role for the Farmers.We created an eAgro Activity card under eLiteracy Training Programme which are being imparted to all the stakeholders of that Agro ecosystem like Government Agriculture Extension Workers,eKutir entrepreneurs,Input suppliers,Market Aggregators and Farmers.This intervention helped in creating a demand for the ICT based Agro Services.Like this different eco systems require different modules and the main focus of all those modules should take IT as a tool for productivity.IT as a tool of productivity has got a better acceptance than IT as an enabler of employability.KCMishra

Comment by Klaus Stoll on October 6, 2012 at 9:00pm

Dear Caroline, Dear Friends

Thanks Caroline for this excellent document. I think the only things that are missing are;

a) what concrete e-readiness and capacity building events should we undertake as part of DERCI until the WSISForum next May. I have the following proposal;

1.) A string of Internet Governance themed webinars. I have reached an agreement with Miguel Raimilla from telecenters.org on this, so we have GKPF, NPOC, TC.org on board and I think we will be able to attract many more organizations once we have a more concrete proposal ready in a week or so. Which organization from this group would also join this effort?. Raul, any interest from UNDP?

2.) Second;y we should also have a string on webinars which are more general ICT capacity building based, but these events also need a good theme. In my observation, many NGO’s still have no idea about the workings and opportunities of online resource mobilization like AKVO offers. How about we have 1-2 webinars on this theme, and this effort should be lead by IICD and AKVO. Just a thought.

b) The second thing which we should explain a little bit better in the paper, how we want to go exactly about in creating the DERCI alliance. Maybe a sentence or more on this would be helpful.

c) Maybe we should also include clearly the expected outcomes. I know they are mentioned partially, but I think it would be helpful is they are clearer.

Another thing that is missing in the paper but which is not essential for the WSIS proposal is how we finance all this. I think the most realistic proposal is that we seek sponsorship for each of the events planned as soon as we have a plan for these events. It’s easier to fundraise 5x10.000 USD from several sources then 50.000 USD from one source.

Caroline, would it be possible, if they are acceptable, IICD staff integrates the points above, and the comments from other members of the group, in the second draft?

Yours

Klaus

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