The Internet as a tool for Development : A Web Guide
by Ana-Maria Alvarado
The Internet today is a reality more so than ever before, and it is certainly going nowhere, so why not use it as tool to help the process of development in third world countries. Who better than the underprivileged could widely benefit from the many advantages of the internet? Many feel that the internet is part of the bottom priorities when thinking about development: the poorest people of the world need food, housing and health before anything else. And I couldnÕt agree more; but when information and communication technologies (ICT) can facilitate and increase the speed of development projects, then tools such as the internet become a priority as well. The Western world should not be the only one to cash in on the advantages of the internet and the various tools provided from ICT.
When we think of ICT we think of the global economy and how ICT can help a countryÕs overall economy. However technologies can be used as part of the solution to issues related to health care, education, environmental protection, and management of resources for food, water and energy. The Internet for instance, when used properly, can help a country on all levels of society. It can be used at the level of top governmental executives of one developing country to a small farming community in a rural location of the same country. Moreover, just as mixed as the use of the internet can be, its approach can be quite diverse. This web guide looks at a few international developing agencies to learn how the use of the internet can improve the conditions of a developing country.
Satellife (http://www.essentialdrugs.org/index.html) is an international non-profit humanitarian organization that uses the internet to provide coaching in health related issues to developing countries through a global computer-based communications network called HealthNet. HealthNet connects people from over the world: approximately 19,500 health care workers in more than 150 countries worldwide use HealthNet services[1]. What makes Satellife so feasible, even economically, is that it functions as a part of a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite, simple ground stations and telephone-based computer networks, dispensing its members with all sorts of vital health information and advice.
Some of HealthNet successes involve its use in Africa, for example HealthNet has been able to cut down unnecessary traveling for health workers and patients alike, like in Gambia where one would usually have to travel hundreds of kilometers to collect necessary data. Instead through HealthNet the information can be sent via e-mail. Medical Alerts too can be immediately sent electronically. For example now in ZaireÕs Vanga Hospital health practitioners can send reports on the progress in treating Trupanosomiasis to health organizations in the North.[2]
This not only facilitates the flow of information but it gives hope of change to many developing countries. Also with such technologies human capital flight (brain drain) would slow down, because educated people in developing countries will have more of an incentive to stay if they know internet can help them do their job, not only connecting themselves with their own people but also with external internet users increasing their knowledge.
Bridges.Org (http://www.bridges.org/) is another international non-profit organization that promotes the use of ITCÕs as tools to improve peopleÕs standard of living. Bridges, unlike Satellife, does not provide infrastructure or hardware; instead their main focus is to get people to use the technology available. With offices in Cape Town, South Africa and Washington DC, Bridges mostly focuses on Southern Africa and Eastern Europe and uses a more business-like approach to their cause. Bridges believes that by doing so they can help the people of developing countries strengthen their communities, promote freedom of expression and local economies.
For Bridges, ÔempoweringÕ people is very important and essential to development. One of the case studies offered in their website relates to that very topic. The vulnerability of the ÔuntouchablesÕ in India is well known. In the winter of 2000, as part of an effort to help develop the untouchables, the government of Delhi provided internet kiosks in a multi-user environment for their neighborhood. This created line-ups of mothers and their children trying to gain access to this free information source.
Even though BridgesÕ approach is less direct, providing internet access to the people is not enough: one also needs volunteers that are willing to teach people the many advantages of the internet. Also, I believe that when parents see these advantages as a chance to improve their lives and those of their loved ones, they will be more likely to keep their children in school, instead of in the work force. In the long run, literate children have the potential to contribute to their familyÕs income more effectively than those in low paying jobs.
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (http://www.idrc.ca) is a Canadian public corporation created in the Ô70Õs to bring sustainable solutions to developing countries in the social, economic and environmental arena[3]. This organization strongly believes in the profitable effects of technology and therefore promotes the use of ICTs as a means of development.
A perfect example is the project Acadia initiated by IDRC that focuses on sub-Saharan African countries. This project works towards the development of local services and networks, promotes technical solutions to challenges, and invests in technologies that are needed. Their working pattern is one of three essential steps: (1) community focus with (2) an integrated framework together with (3) a continuous learning.[4]
The advantages of this particular organization are the years of experience in the developing field, and the direct and indirect way of managing the new advances of technology such as the internet. The IDRC embodies the same concerns of the other two web sites shown as examples.
The use of the internet as a tool of development is a fairly new concept, hence the lack of negative evidence in my findings. Reason why this web guide is fairly optimistic of the advantages of the internet, there are nonetheless issues of concern that have arisen since its use, as briefly discussed in the introduction. Furthermore, another fear involves the so-called digital divide experience. This refers to the fear that, with the advances in technology, inequality issues in developing countries will increase. There is a fear that the internet will create a greater gap between the have and the have not-s. There is much truth to this concern, but if developing countries are not given the chance now to become internet friendly, it would be virtually impossible for them to catch up with a technology that has been growing rapidly more and more complex.