Africa needs to explore new, innovative, and more cost-effective ICT solutions available to fight poverty and create economic opportunities for rural communities.
This is according to a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Southern African NGO Network (Sangonet).
With this in mind, the NGO is releasing a comprehensive report on the use of ICT for rural development in Africa later this year.
The report will cover a number of key sectors like agriculture, education, financial services, health, governance and infrastructure.
Sangonet says while ICT and mobile technology have played different roles and received disparate levels of attention across these sectors to date, the study will provide an overview of ICT projects and products related to these sectors.
This is to be followed by a deeper analysis of a selected set of initiatives drawn from across the continent and beyond, the organisation promises.
“The analysis will focus on key indicators of success and failure by drilling down into key parameters such as the national policy and business ecosystem, and barriers and constraints that affect impact, scale and sustainability,” Sangonet says.
Deepening poverty
In Sub-Saharan Africa, rural communities account for 67% of the total population and rural poverty in this region is deepening. “Rural areas in SA share similar characteristics,” it says.
Sangonet explains that rural communities lack economic opportunities and have difficulty accessing basic services. “These are the communities with a limited voice in governance and remain extremely vulnerable to poverty shocks.”
The NGO says public participation in decision-making is essential in fostering the use of ICTs as social coherence platforms for nation building.
It adds that the successful uses of ICT in rural development include improved access to markets, financial services and employment.
“With the use of technology, we can also see increased access to education and healthcare; improvement in emergency and disaster relief. ICT, and in particular mobile technology, provides access to information and communication; it complements successful development initiatives; drives innovation; and empowers communities and individuals to co-create new solutions,” the NGO points out.
Rural realities
The report, an outcome of Sangonet's seventh annual conference, will focus on ICT for rural development (ICT4RD) with a theme titled 'Rural Realities, Real Solutions.'
The conference is aimed at measuring the value and impact of ICT tools in support of rural development, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The NGO hopes the report will create an analytical foundation for ICT4RD 2011 participants to formulate options for strategic interventions.
“This will help in making appropriate recommendations to realise the potential of ICT and mobiles as enablers of broader social and economic development.”
According to Sangonet, the conference will bring together more than 250 key innovators, implementers, social entrepreneurs and thinkers from across the developing world to explore how ICT innovations can benefit rural populations in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The conference will also assess the current state of ICT4RD projects, products and policies; create an environment for matchmaking and deep knowledge sharing; and contribute to the successful use of ICT in response to the realities of rural development, it points out.
The 'Rural Realities, Real Solutions' conference will be held from the 1 to 3 November at the Wanderers Club in Johannesburg.
This initiative is in line with the government's ICT Rural Development Strategy, which was developed within the context of the empowerment of rural communities. It includes programmes that would encourage civil society to promote the uptake and usage of ICT services and provide the necessary infrastructure.
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