Week 7: Public access to public technologies: community communication centres and gendered access to information.

Whereas access to communication technologies has become a normal feature of household operation in the developed world, in the developing world access is frequently organised through community facilities and community use of individual facilities. This seminar explores the operation of community communication centres in a number of developing world locations and the implications of these arrangements for women's access to travel and to information.

The key readings are:

http://www.comminit.com/strategicthinking/st2003/thinking-292.html

http://www.wigsat.org/it/womenicts.html

http://etda.libraries.psu.edu/theses/approved/WorldWideFiles/ETD-169/dumas_8_02.pdf

The first reading provides us with a detailed look at the operation of telecenters in Africa and examines the gendered operation of existing provisions. It provides suggestions for improvement.

Telecenters have become an important component to development programs that seek to narrow the digital and knowledge divides that exist throughout the world. Despite the proliferation of telecenters throughout Africa, women continue to be cut off from essential info-communication resources that could improve their lives. This thesis examines the relationship between gender differences, telecenter design and women's accessibility to information and communication technologies (ICTs). By examining how these elements interact in the context of the diffusion model, this thesis suggests that the incorporation of the gender dimension into telecenter designs can enhance the diffusion of engendered telecenters, thereby increasing women's access to ICTs and improving their ability to contribute to the evolution of Africa's information society. @http://www.comminit.com/strategicthinking/st2003/thinking-292.html

The second reading provides us with an extensive overview of female access to ICT in Africa. It provides the following analysis:

What becomes clear from these discussions and case studies, then, is that access for women in Africa will depend critically on where the technologies are located, while the most efficient and beneficial use of ICTs is closely connected to the kind of information produced and distributed, i.e. information that directly supports women's activities and responsibilities. Since personal ownership of ICTs for the vast majority of African women is not feasible for the foreseeable future, this means the question of where and how they can gain access to ICTs is central. This includes institutional, sectoral and geographical contexts. Currently, it is only middle- class and professional women who use ICTs.

In order to facilitate access for women from other classes and sectors, the indications from this survey are that ICTs will need to be located in local institutions to which women have open and equal access, such as health centres, women's NGOs, women's employment centres, libraries, women's studies departments and institutes, and perhaps even churches. The location in these types of contexts also pertains to the practical, specific kind of information that women require as a result of their time constraints. For example, placing internet access in a local health centre will facilitate women's access to the health information they need for themselves and their children, by providing access to information for which there is a specific need at the same time as making a health-related visit. When women can understand and experience the benefits of ICTs, they are quick to use them. Establishing telecommunications centres in local communities is also a potentially useful strategy, if gender obstacles to their access by women are taken into account. Information production and distribution strategies will also be an important consideration, in order to make the most of each point of access. They will need to be flexible, mixed-media and multi-technology systems in order to effectively reach the greatest number of women in Africa. @ http://www.wigsat.org/it/womenicts.html

The third reading is a detailed thesis by Dumas on ICT AND GENDER EQUITY POLICY: LESSONS OF THE MALI TELECENTRES. The abstract for this thesis provides a clear indication of the importance of ICT to gender development in the African context:

There is an urgent need for a better understanding of the interplay of information and communication technology (ICT) and the role of women in facilitating social, political and economic development.

This research examines engagement of women with ICT in traditional poor, rural, communities of Mali, a least developed country (LDC).

Mali was selected as the focus based on its broadly representative LDC challenges and the availability of locally and internationally collected data.

This research applies the theoretical framework of international regime theory and development as freedom theory to help explain how ICT diffusion can be an empowerment tool for women in development.

Women of Mali face low literacy rates, high birth rates, high infant and maternal mortality rates, and low incomes.

This research found ICT applications facilitated positive change in health, education, politics and the economy in Mali.

The relationship between international and national regimes in the process of negotiating problem solutions is particularly important to policy analysis of telecommunications and of gender equity. Policy in each of these areas permeates every sector of society.

Challenges, obstacles, solutions and benefits of ICT development with gender equity in Mali can inform policymakers’ understanding of ICT diffusion and its benefits to people in LDCs.

This analysis was based on a literature review, a survey of existing relevant research studies, a country study and a case study of the Multipurpose Community Telecentre (MCT) model for rural ICT development. The country study includes data and reports from the UNDP, ITU, IDRC, USAID and the World Bank. It incorporates history, policy, existing research, statistical human development data over time, ethnographic data, and reports of other ICT projects in Mali. Analyzed together, these data strongly suggest positive and directional change in Mali during 1990 to 2000, a period of dynamic telecommunications and gender equity policy liberalization.

The case study of the MCT in Timbuktu includes baseline communications research, onsite ethnographic research, interviews and the MCT Director's report. The Mali MCT was one of five African pilot projects initially supported by ITU, UNESCO and IDRC funds and developed with national and local community support. The MCT is a social communication center that provides ICT education and services. This research focuses on the MCT as an ICT knowledge gathering and distribution center.

Influenced by international regime policies for gender equity, Mali's national machineries have implemented gender equity policy in communication access.

Women participated in the design, implementation and operation of this MCT. The community open access design was found to be particularly conducive to ICT development through women's social networking. Research indicates women are keepers of indigenous knowledge systems in cultural communities.

Content developed from this local knowledge base can contribute to global knowledge systems, cultural integrity and sustainability as well as to economic development.

Conclusions of this study are based on findings that Malian ICT development with gender equity in the context of national and international policy engagement contributed to the positive growth in the political, educational and social sectors. @http://etda.libraries.psu.edu/theses/approved/WorldWideFiles/ETD-169/dumas_8_02.pdf

For an overview of the telecenter movement in international development go to:

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/ict/sdm/previewDocument.do~activeDocumentId=441647

http://www.digitaldividend.org/pubs/pubs_02_tele3.htm

http://www.unesco.org/webworld/build_info/networks_nat_3.html

http://www.citel.oas.org/newsletter/2005/agosto/agenda_i.asp

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