Alcatel`s Digital Bridge Initiative (DBI), already under way in Tunisia and Senegal, is expected to launch in rural SA in spring.
The DBI forms part of Alcatel`s sustainable development programme, which operates in line with decisions taken at the World Summit on Information Society held in Geneva, Switzerland, in December last year.
"Obviously, our interest in bridging the digital divide is not entirely altruistic, but we want to create a win-win situation, where the interests of the community and our own are served by furthering the development of the communications environment in general," says Souheil Marine, Alcatel`s digital bridge manager.
"There is no magic in ICT, it is simply a tool. However, it is a tool that if used correctly can - in certain circumstances - significantly make up for the lack of roads, teachers and so on in under-developed areas."
He says bridging the divide entails creating a 'virtuous cycle`, which effectively means that the more people use ICT to improve their standard of living, the more their improved circumstances mean better access to information technology.
"The key issue is to ensure there is a strong ICT infrastructure, because once this is strong, usage will improve and the organisations that installed the infrastructure will see a return on investment," says Marine.
"The best way of achieving this is through private-public partnerships, where the public side absorbs the social impact of the developments, while the private side deals with the economic impact."
He says the creation of a virtual marketplace - such as is under way in Senegal, where prices for the town markets are placed on a mobile network that can be accessed by traders to find the best price - is an example of the economic gains that can be made.
"An aggregation of such services will thus drive the business case for further investment."
On the social side, Marine says that a lack of paediatricians in a region has been dealt with by using a database which sees underprivileged children in the region being weighed once a week and the data sent to a central facility.
"A single doctor can monitor the weights for any aberrations and immediately inform the mother to bring her child to hospital if there appears to be any problem.
"This manner of operation may not make up for a lack of doctors in the area, but it does allow for the best use of a scarce resource," he says.
Marine says bridging the digital divide is a tricky issue that won`t be solved overnight, but there are certain key factors that are critical for success.
"It is necessary to have both international and regional cooperation, as well as a favourable regulatory environment, ICT projects tailored to serve a local need and it is also important to encourage local entrepreneurship," says Marine.
"Alcatel will have to tailor its initiative especially for SA, since different nations have different quirks, so it is necessary to tailor the DBI for each country in which it is implemented."
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