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TechnologyHypothesis : - Sustainability of an ICT activity is likely to be strongly influenced by the technology used e.g. operation and repair may be critical to the success of the activity. In other sectors it has been found that some form of standardisation of a technology instrument has helped development ensuring a sufficient use to encourage a market that can supply spares and technology support.
Alongside staff capacity, there is of course some ICT hardware employed by the project. The range of technology within the case studies is quite broad.
At one end, Digital Village with its 35 mid range computers, fully networked with latest software is an example of what can happen when the donor is a computer and software manufacturer. Both Gyandoot and MANAGE installed mid range PC into villages. In these circumstances there is considerable expense on other items such as stabilisers and wireless networks.
FOOD has encouraged some of its marketers to use cyber cafés, effectively renting the equipment. This is an interesting concept as it makes the point that there may not be a need to invest in technology and it is an approach that supports local businesses. The UDS study mentions that UDS as a resources centre had had an impact of suppressing local (ICT access) businesses.
MIGIS has a limited number of sets of equipment. These sets contain not just standard PCs but specialist equipment such as GPS. They had to invest in generators to ensure they could work in remote locations.
CARDIN, being part of a university, used the infrastructure already available. The library had 15 computers all of which can be used to digitise the data. And each networked organisation had computers for their own administration purposes.
In contrast Deniva has a few PC but only one is connected to the email, Revistazo has a single PC and ACISAM has almost no digital equipment but relies instead on analogue video.
What conclusion if any can we draw from this breadth of technology? If anything it should be that there is no standard yet for ICT projects. Technology changes so quickly. ACISAM would benefit from going to digital cameras but this has only been potentially cost effective in the last twelve months. What have been installed as “mid range” PCs will be almost bottom end PCs by the time this document is published.
In other sectors, sustainability is often linked to standardisation. Standard spare parts are necessary to ensure maintenance of equipment. ICTs change so quickly it is unlikely that anyone could ever prescribe a standard product. What is important is that the projects are using equipment that can be found internationally. None of the studies shows a specialist innovation in technology that directly and “magically” eliminates poverty – they all demonstrate a use of standard technology within a developmental context that within that context addresses poverty issues.
There is a need for different tools for different applications.
What has become apparent is the unreliability and high repair costs attached to second hand computers. UDS and KUMINFO among others highlighted this as a major cost and hindrance of their projects. The limited life of ICT hardware can often make it a false economy to acquire second hand equipment.
Unreliability of power supplies (often grid electricity) was a technical problem mentioned in many of the case studies, and should be considered when planning projects.
Similarly connectivity still remains an issue in many of the projects. Sometimes this can be overcome by planning and management - MANAGE has got around the poor phone connections by down loading the most demanded information first thing in the morning, so that the local communities are still able to access the information offline.
Alongside ICT hardware, there is of course some software employed by the project.
Some of the case studies have developed or use adapted software. KUMINFO developed a database, and created a specific user interface. MIGIS adapted software to illustrate the outputs of the participatory process. Most of the other studies which use computers (as opposed to say Global Voices that only uses video) use standard programmes and have used them to design their interfaces (eg Revistazo web space, Digital Village training packages).
There seemed to be little awareness during the interviews for the case studies about alternatives to Microsoft. Although there is an ongoing debate in the ICT development community about open source software, this did not feature in the studies, with the exception of FOOD who use Linux for their operating system.
In terms of sustainability, the key issues in technology seem to be: ·the use of commercially available equipment i.e. that there is a local (within country) IT industry that can do repairs and source spare parts, ·a willingness to overcome technical difficulties, which are the bane of all users of ICTs, and which in many cases will get easier in the longer term e.g. increased opportunities for connectivity, more robust operating systems, ·a quantity and style of equipment that matches the use, which is a factor of matching the plans to the resources available.
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