|
 In order to
better understand the complex transition from
digital divide to digital inclusion and
empowerment, we have interviewed our Advisor
Akhtar Badshah, a key member of the digital
empowerment movement. In his interview Akhtar
demonstrates through Digital Partners how
entrepreneurship using ICT can build sustainable
services and improve the lives of the poor. Dr.
Akhtar Badshah is the Executive Director of the Digital
Partners Institute, a Seattle based non-profit
organization, whose mission is to utilize the
digital economy to benefit the poor. Before
joining Digital Partners, he was a Senior Vice
President for Strategic Planning for Non-profits
and Government Agencies at Nimbal - an Internet
strategy firm - where he was responsible for
developing Nimbal's partnerships with non-profit
and government clients and building services for
these sectors. Dr. Badshah has
taught at MIT, Roger William College and the
University of Washington.
Digital Partners was
inspired by a conference held in Seattle three
years ago which focused on seeking solutions to
the digital divide. The conference was keynoted by
Microsoft's then Chief Technology Officer Nathan
Myhrovld. The conference brought together
executives of top Internet companies and
intergovernmental institutions to rethink and
reinvent their own efforts to alleviate poverty in
light of the opportunities afforded in the digital
age. DP is developing chapters in cities across
the US and invites volunteers to help mobilize
efforts as a network of grassroots partners.
Please contact
Akhtar for more information on how to get
involved.
To learn more about
Dr. Badshah visit
his public profile on the ICT
for Development on the Development Gateway.
Q: How did you become involved in ICT for
development?
A: Although my background is in
urban planning and sustainability, I became
convinced that it was important to use technology
to engage entrepreneurs in enterprise building in
order to support cities and villages. The mission
of Digital Partners is to develop opportunities
for social corporate responsibility and
entrepreneurship. A country's natural resource is
now its people with their mind and entrepreneurial
capacity. Computer technology has an equalizing
factor where location, age, and gender do not
matter anymore. Our vision is to bring the
benefits of IT to communities all over the world
so that each individual, especially those at the
bottom of the economic pyramid, have the ability
to utilize technology for economic and social
empowerment.
Q: How can entrepreneurship in
the digital age be used to help poor communities
leapfrog out of poverty?
A: In order for the poor to
benefit from ICT, the philosophy of development
work must move from charity to entrepreneurship.
In the digital economy, we must utilize ICT to
unleash the potential of individuals to create
value and achieve financial sustainability.
Engaging entrepreneurs to utilize technological
resources in order to build their enterprises and
the community is key to our efforts. Innovations
and ICT best practices must be shared so we can
all learn from each other. Digital Partners is
particularly interested in helping our grassroots
partners work directly with government, business
and other community leaders to collaborate on IT
solutions which can maximize the benefits for
social and economic change in the poorest of
countries. It is important to make changes at the
national level in tandem with the grassroots
level. For example, NGO's and governments must
work together to advance telecommunications policy
and piggyback on what has been done to coordinate
efforts in expanding the capacity of IT
power.
Q: Digital Partners has
developed a Social Enterprise Laboratory to
incubate the ICT-inspired ideas of social
entrepreneurs and NGO's. What is the selection
process for this program and how are you helping
entrepreneurs?
A: We work with entrepreneurs to
identify innovative uses of technology which
improve the lives of poor in rural and urban areas
through business opportunities offering vital
services. Our effort is focused on three areas:
entrepreneurship, education, and capacity
building. DP is helping on several fronts with
financial support; guidance, mentorship and
expertise on business strategy; network of
partners and supporters; and plans to scale
successful projects elsewhere in the world.
First, we identify entrepreneurs
who are engaged in implementing ICT in the field
and work with them to develop an ICT idea into a
potential scalable and sustainable business
enterprise. DP's Social Enterprise Laboratory is a
year-long process in which social entrepreneurs,
NGO's and others apply during July and August of
each year. We look for innovative IT-based efforts
that have a high social mission but will also lead
to either the effort becoming financially
sustainable or economic empowerment of poor
communities. During a six-month period, we provide
mentoring and guidance to entrepreneurs to develop
a business proposal. Then we determine if the
business proposal has the potential to acquire
start-up funding and tap into our network to
identify support from the business and development
community. Not all projects accepted to the social
laboratory are guaranteed funding.
Q: Please describe a current
project which is in the incubation process and the
desired outcome of this project.
A: There are several projects in
the incubation phase. For example Drishtee, an
organization based out of New Delhi, is setting up
"Village Information Kiosks" in 5 states in India.
Putting computers in villages makes economic sense
because of the revenue generating capacity of the
technology and services which can now be made
available to the community. Farmers in two remote
locations in India can now connect via the
Internet and exchange electronic information such
as IP addresses, or access kiosks which provide
e-governance services such as land-records,
licenses, certificates, government application
forms, etc. The use of computers has become
valuable to these farmers who save time and money
by accessing information electronically rather
than traveling a great distance to an office in
the city. Drishtee established this business as a
franchise model with independent kiosk operators
who provide services to the villagers. We work
with Drishtee to help identify other services that
can be offered through the kiosks and increase the
revenue they earn per month. Currently the kiosk
operator earns about Rs. 4,500 to 5,000 per month.
The aim is to increase the revenue to about Rs
7,000 per month. Currently Drishtee operates about
160 kiosks. (There's more on Drishtee
in this year's Stockholm
Challenge.)
Q: Women and youth are members
of society who suffer the most from poverty and
have the least opportunity to utilize ICT to
attain economic independence. How are ICT programs
being utilized to provide women and youth with IT
training and opportunities to use technology to
improve their economic status?
A: For ICT to succeed in combating
poverty, it is important that women and youth are
involved in entrepreneurship and business
opportunities. DP is partnering with Computers on
Wheels (COW), a pilot implementation of a mobile
ISP service which serves rural areas of India. DP
is working with local NGOs to identify targeted
villages in Andhra Pradesh which can benefit from
this program and train youth to provide
information services to these villages via
lap-tops. The program generates revenue by selling
content developed specifically for the needs of
the villagers. If this pilot is successful, then
the program can expand to offer fixed kiosks in
some of the larger villages. We are also working
on projects which target women as the main
beneficiaries. For example, SEWA provides poor
women in India with computer training in order to
better market their goods as well as develop new
skills which will allow them to participate in the
digital economy. We are funding and mentoring SKS,
a Grameen replication project that is developing a
MIS system for micro-finance organizations using a
PDA and a Smart Card. Loan records which have been
documented in written form on paper are now
available electronically. Through computerized
automation, there is greater efficiency and
savings which can lead to lower interest rates for
the poor women borrowers and also enable a more
effective access to market funding
sources.
Q: What is the Global
Classmates initiatives? What role does Digital
Partners play in the education community and what
is Digital Partners trying to achieve in
developing this program?
A: We believe it is important to
use the power of IT to enhance the educational and
learning experiences of young people, thereby
effectively engaging them and preparing them to
contribute to the global community at an early
age. DP sees its role in education as a way to
take schools which are wired to the next level by
providing an opportunity to develop global and
cultural understanding using technology. Our
vision is to build bridges between classrooms
around the world resulting in richer academic
exchanges and better cultural understanding, and
overall to enable children to become better global
citizens. By utilizing technology for
cross-continental learning, students can develop
skills needed to work together across cultural and
geographic boundaries, which is key to
participation in the evolving knowledge economy.
We developed the Global Classmates
program as a virtual collaboratory for teachers
and students across cultures and borders to learn
about topics and issues together and thereby
enrich their learning experience. We have adapted
technology originally developed for corporate
knowledge sharing for students to use in the
classroom. Teachers can now meet with each other
outside the constraints of their school building
throughout their country and overseas to share
their academic interests. Student teams
communicate and collaborate using the robust
features of the Internet platform with guidance
from their teachers. ICT-enhanced education
provides an opportunity to empower more of the
world's youth by providing them with a wider
worldview, greater aspirations, and enhanced
economic opportunity.
October, 2002
|
.gif)
