Lanka ICT

Nenasala Sri Sudarsanaramaya, Rikillagaskada.

2011-09-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

Name of the Nanasala- Nenasala Sri Sudarsanaramaya, Udalumada, Rikillagaskada.

Ownership- Buddhist Temple

Location- Rikillagaskada

Economic background in the area – Agriculture is on e of the main income sources for the people wholive in the Udalumada area. In the Rikillagaskada town area people earn their living doing small businesses.

Equipment in the center- Computer Center started with 4 computers and at present they have more than 16 computers, photocopy, scanning and printing facilities together with a Internet leased line.

Conducted courses- office, graphic designing, Visual basic, internet. ICT for O/L and A/L’s

Number of people who has competed the course form the center- about 2000 people

Age limit of the participants- majority of the people are youth age ranging from 18 to 55. School children and school leavers are interested in following courses from the Nanasala.

Engagement with the local community – Since the Nanasala is located in Buddhist Temple. Villege community involvement is most . But the low course fees have attracted people from near by villages to come to the center. Users from the town area are limited.

Number of staff- Two computer instructors and a Manager and training’s students.

Number of people who come to the centre daily –About 60 people per day and the majority is young and student users

Promotional activities – Promotion is mostly done using printed leaflets targeting school children who have completed O/l and A/L

Future Plans –There is clearly a lack in space and computer facilities at the center and they are planning to build a place with more space and have more computers. Furthermore they hope to provide free computer and language skills to school dropouts in the area.

Our Fantastic Digital Storytellers!

2011-08-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

These are just some of the wonderful people who produced Digital Stories at the Telecenters!

As you can see below, they worked really hard to produce some brilliant Digital Stories!

I hope you enjoyed the little insight into what they did at the workshops to produce such fine quality stories. All the participants worked amazingly hard, and were very pleased at the products that they had created!

Our Fantastic Digital Storytellers! A Closer Look!

2011-08-30T17:33:00.000-07:00

These are just some of the wonderful people who produced Digital Stories at our Telecenters in the Central Province of Sri Lanka!

Have a closer look at them:

W.M.Aushka Weerasooriya

M.G Iresha Sandamale

R.M. Yasanthi Kumari

B.M. Sujatha Basnayaka

T.W.M.Nilma Weerasingha

Priyangika Jayasekara

D.M.T.G.Chamila Lalani Kumari

P.M.Chanuka Sithumini

Manjula Karunarathna

Bhagya Kalpani Heenkenda

G.D.Nimasha Udari Gamlath

P.D.Achini Vathsala Gamlath

Dileesha Harshani Heettiarchchi

W.M.D.G.Bisomenike

H.D.Imalka Chathurangi Kumarasinghe

Vindya Madushani Withanage

Saneewani Ranaweera

Udayabandara

Kasun Pradeep Rathnayaka

D.G.Nuwan Chandana

Hanusha Somasundaram

M.Gowry Shangary

Thilinika Ranasinghe

Tharanga Ranasinghe

I hope you enjoyed a closer look at our brilliant storytellers!

The Kothmale Telecenter!

2011-08-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

The Kothmale Community Radio center is located in Mawathura, an area with over 500 families in the area. It is run by 3 computer operators and a manager, and owned by the Kothmale Internet Listeners Club and is has visitors on average a day. The area’s main economic background is agricultural, specifically tea.

When it began, the radio station was only equipped with 3 computers, presently, it contains 9 computers, 2 printes, a scanner, a web cam and an internet connection. The center conducts courses in Graphic Design, Web Design and Internet Usage. Over the years, these courses have been taught to over 600 people, and unusually, the main users are between the ranges of 30 and 50 years of age. The Radio station is central to the community, as there is no other computer training center in the area and the center has become a crucial service provider for the people in the area.

The center promotes itself by using the community radio and conducts radio workshops for the community. The plan for improvement remains dormant, though more promotion appears to be the main aim of the center in order to reach out to a wider audience.

The Hurikaduwa Telecenter!

2011-08-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

The Hurikaduwa Telecenter is located in the Menikhinna area, in the central province close to Kandy, of Sri Lanka and managed by two computer instructors and a manager; it receives on average, 20 visitors a day. The area is home to over 350 families, whose main source of income is agriculture and handcrafts. We began the research project in this telecenter on the 5th of July 2008.

The center is one of the most fully equipped out of the four research centers. It has access to 12 computers, 2 printers, a scanner, a web cam and an internet connection. These resources are used to provide a multitude of courses, such as; , Graphic Design, Web Design, Internet Usage, Computer Accountancy, and Tamil and English language courses. This has meant that more than 300 people have completed a course at the telecenter, ranging from the age of 6 to 20, though the majority is school children. As there is no other computer training center in the area and the center has become a crucial service provider for the people in the area.

The telecenter is owned by the Hurikaduwa Village Development Society and the manager says that in order to benefit more people, a potential relocation of the center is believed to be able to provide more school drop outs with free computer and language skills in order to improve the community and raise income. Currently, the telecenter promotes itself by using print media to promote themselves and they educate children and parents in the Sunday School.

A map of the project!

2011-08-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

This map highlights all the locations where studies were conducted!

The Hatton Telecenter!

2011-08-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

The Hatton area is surrounded by tea plantations and the town hasa number of small businesses. On several occasions ethnic conflicts between the Sinhala and tamil populations have flared up, however on a day to day basis both ethnic groups get on with each other in a harmonious manner. It was set up in May 1997, by the Information Communication Technology Agency, and is being managed by the temple committee. It has constantly been making progress with few interruptions, now it receives 20 visits a day on average.

The center is run by two computer instructors and a manager. In terms of facilities, the center has gained 2 new computers, bringing the total to 6 computers. In addition, it has photocopy, scanning and printing facilities together with an internet connection. These facilities are used to conduct courses in Microsoft Office, Graphic Designing and Internet Usage for the general public. It has provided these courses for over 500 people. The majority of these participants are between the ages of 18 and 25, but is not limited to this range. Older school leavers and children visit the center regularly, which lies at the heart of Hatton town. Engagement with the community is somewhat limited, as the locals from the town do not use the center; however, the low cost fees for the courses attract people from nearby villages.

One of the many challenges that the telecenter has to face is the lack of space and facilities. However, it is attempting to overcome these challenges by promoting the center to students who have just completed their O and A levels, in an attempt to raise funds for new computers and make the center more geographically more accessible.

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Oparator Story

2011-01-18T08:50:00.000-08:00

Hurikadauwa Nenasala Center - Comments from Suresh

2011-01-18T07:03:00.000-08:00

Hurikadauwa Nenasala Center - Comments from Mangalika Kumari

2011-01-18T07:02:00.000-08:00

Hatton Nenasala Oparator Story

2011-01-15T06:43:00.000-08:00

Hatton Nenasala DST

2010-12-23T01:22:00.001-08:00

Hurikaduwa Nenasala DST v2

2010-12-23T01:20:00.000-08:00

Relocate ICTD – IKM

2010-12-22T01:47:00.001-08:00

Relocate ICTD – IKM

Identifying ICTD as unique field of development anchored around a technology IKM stressed the need to look beyond simplistic technology transfer models at ICTD 2009 held in Doha Qatar.

Mike Powell director of IKM and Andy Dearden reader of Sheffield Hallam University argued in a background paper that a one size fits all approach would not fit progressive ICTD use in the context of international development.

“We think ICT4D has to be based at least on a substantial adaptation and often on new invention if it is to achieve newly defined purposes in new settings” said the researchers.

The researchers point out that ICT4D needs to move away from its focus on technology and locate itself within the wider field of informational developments.

Powell and Dearden argue for a revised project cycle in implementing ICTD initiatives.

Flexibility to accommodate external factors and emergent issues associated with ICTD initiatives is emphasized within the revised project cycle proposed by the researchers.

The IKM project has been actively associated with many ICTD initiatives that encourage emergent practice.

Read full Background paper

source- telcraft.org

Information Economy Report 2010

2010-12-22T01:46:00.000-08:00

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has called on policy makers to pay greater attention to the possibilities offered by mobile telephone connectivity to help the poor to develop livelihood assets.

The recently published Information Economy Report highlights the importance of mobile telephones in boosting micro-economic activities in the developing part of the world.

According to data from the International Telecommunication Union It is expected that the total number of mobile subscriptions will reach a staggering five billion in 2010.

The report highlights many innovative enterprises, set up with the use of mobile phones and argues that mobile phones need to taken seriously by poverty alleviation initiatives.

Mobile phones are of particular importance for entrepreneurs operating in locations with limited banking services. Mobile phone money transfers are popular among customers who do low value money transfers says the report.

Sale of mobile phone handsets and accessories has been identified as an enterprise with scope for rapid expansion among micro-entrepreneurs.

Benefits

The UNCTAD report points out that mobile telecom operators could come up with innovative micro enterprise opportunities for the poor. In Gambia disabled street beggars were offered opportunities to participate in the sale of mobile subscriptions, an activity that empowered them.

Substance based farmers are increasingly using mobile phones to make transactions with other participants in the value chain. The report says that as a result of increased communications, farmers have been able to reduce transaction cost and obtain better market prices. Grain markets in Niger, dairy farmers in Bhutan and onion traders in Ghana are among those who have reaped the benefits of mobile connectivity.

The report calls on policy makers to look in innovative directions in setting up a mobile phone based micro-enterprise to alleviate poverty.

The UNCTAD report will be discussed at the ICTD 2010 conference Session on ICTs, Enterprises and
Read full report.
Information Economy Report 2010: ICTs, Enterprises and Poverty Alleviation.

source - .telcraft.org/

The Digital Doorway: A solution to Rural Communities.

2010-12-20T06:57:00.000-08:00

he Digital Doorway is a very robust computer kiosk. It was developed so that it could be put in rural areas among communities and school areas so that the communities can just use it to equip themselves with ICT skills and retrieve local content relevant to their needs. It is also good for school children to teach themselves how to use the computer.
The Digital Doorway is a hardy, weatherproof internet kiosk with three computer terminals, vandal-proof keyboards, reinforced screens, speakers, and webcams within a rugged steel enclosure. Deployable in cities and remote areas through satellite internet, the Digital Doorway provides internet access to children and communities that are otherwise unreachable by computer labs or internet cafes. In the absence of internet connectivity, the Digital Doorway offers interactive educational software, reference materials, game and tutorials.
Digital door way, a company in South Africa is working with UNICEF to reach out to a number of schools and communities in Uganda by deploying the digital door way in rural area. According to Jeff Benson a consultant with UNICEF in Uganda, Over 100 of these Digital Doorways are to be deployed in rural areas in Uganda said. The Digital doorways operate on purely Open source (BUNTU operating system).
For more information and Details oon the Digitaldoor way
please visit: http://www.digitaldoorway.org.za

The silent rise of the Digital Native

2010-12-20T06:55:00.001-08:00

In late August, this year, the world shook for many when they went online (on their computers, PDAs, iPads, laptops) and realised that the comfortable zone of talking, chatting, sharing and doing just about everything else, had suddenly, without a warning, changed overnight (or afternoon, or morning, depending upon the time-zone they lived in).
With a single change in its privacy and location settings, Facebook, home to billions of internet hours consisting of relationships, friendships, professional networks, social gaming, entertainment trivia, memories and exchanges, allowed its users to geo-tag themselves when on-the-move.
Much energy, rumour and panic has gone into the introduction of this feature. The interweb has been abuzz with people wearing tin-foil hats (or the digital equivalent of it) and shouting as loud as they can, about the old paranoia of Big Brother in new settings like Facebook. It is of almost no consequence that the feature is not really indulging in any private tracking but was offering an interesting mix of bringing together the everyday physicality of life on to the Facebook feed.
Geo-tagging, a term which refers to your ability to expose your location (voluntarily) using mapping visualisation tools that can triangulate your position using GPS or IP address systems, while accessing internet platforms or games, is being widely used by users of technology who enjoy blurring the lines between real life and virtual reality.

Facebook’s Places feature allowed users, accessing Facebook from their mobile phones, to ‘check-in’ to places near them, calculated on the position of their mobile phones, thus making it available for them to share where they are (or were) with their friends. While the panicwallahs who were going blue in their face have started breathing again, there is something in this panic about being located and marked, that needs further probing. I am aware of the possibilities of abuse it might lend itself to, if, say, for instance, I had stalkers (I have none, though), or if somebody accusing me of stealing their pig and my lawyer can prove that I (or at least my phone) was in a particular location at the time the crime was being committed.
To many, this might seem some sort of an exaggerated reaction. How can people be so interested in trivial things like these? How can people have time to actually be doing ‘all this stuff’? To those digitally dissonant I offer a tilt of the head but to the Digital Natives who occupy, seamlessly, their social networking sites, their everyday material life, their MMORPGs (games, in shorthand), their blogs, their photo accounts and their multiple distributed digital selves, these things are important.
You might not have heard of the phrase Digital Natives, but they are here and among us. The generation that grew up with digital technologies as a part of their social (and in some case, biological) DNA relate to technologies differently. Rather than external prostheses or tools of function, technologies are their ways of being.
The oldest Digital Native has turned 30 this year, and the youngest Digital Native is still gestating, visible only in sonograms and medical records that document its presence. Digital Natives are everywhere and they might be producing knowledge that you and I read off Wikipedia. They might be playing games and immersing themselves in fantasy universes. They might be forming communities that transcend geographies and lifestyles. They might be orchestrating political campaigns that affect the fates of nations. They might be changing the notions of ownership and property even as we read this. They are embroiled in new technologies, they move from the physical to the virtual with effortless ease. They are slowly but relentlessly changing the contours of the worlds we all occupy. Digital Natives are here to stay and it is time we start listening to them, about who they are, what they do, how they think of themselves and how they are shaping the futures of the days to come.

Mapping Communities

2010-12-20T06:54:00.000-08:00

ICT for Agriculture in Sri Lanka

2010-12-17T08:26:00.005-08:00

The agriculture sector in Sri Lanka employs 31.3% of the total labor force of the country, but its contribution to the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) is just 11.9% (Central Bank of Sri Lanka). So, basically one third of the labor force is utilized to produce the just over ten percent of the GDP.

This is just one side of the issue, but when we consider other issues related to this, such as large amount of government’s money spent on agriculture as subsidies (fertilizer subsidies, etc.) which can be invested on some other sector for better results, continuous poverty of rural people who are engaged in agriculture, etc. - it is clear that we have a issue of productivity within the agriculture sector and we need to address it immediately.

There are many factors (policy, legal framework, technology, knowledge, markets, research, etc.) to be considered while trying to improve the productivity of agriculture, but in all of them the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can definitely play a role of a catalyst.

Fortunately this has been understood, by the various stakeholders in the agriculture sector and as a result we can see many initiatives under the theme of ICT4 Agriculture today in Sri Lanka. As an attempt to bring all those different initiatives to one platform, Prof. Mangala De Zoysa (University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka) and some other likeminded people have organized the Sri Lanka’s first ever ICT4 Agriculture Conference (http://www.itfac.mrt.ac.lk/conference/), which is really a need of the hour.

Agricultural Commodity Prices via Mobile Phones

2010-12-17T08:25:00.000-08:00

Minister of Trade, Marketing Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs, Bandula Gunawardena, is addressing gathering at the launch on 22nd December .

Dialog Telekom, a telecommunication company, together with Farmer Intelligence Services [Govi Gnana Seva (GGS)] has launched a service to deliver spot and forward agricultural commodity price information via mobile phones.

Dialog tradenet is a project initiated by the Dialog’s ICT4D team to go beyond the conventional entertainment focused Value Added Services and make a meaningful relevance of ICT to the all the segments of the society, especially to the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP). So everyone will be able to reap the dividends of ICT for their own socio-economic development.

Initially this will provide agri-produce price information from three Dedicated Economic Centres in Sri Lanka (Dambulla, Meegoda and Narahenpita). The scope of tradenet will be gradually expanded to industrial and service sectors also. GGS, as an organisation with the expertise on agriculture markets has joined with a technology expert, Dialog to make this initiative a success, by making it a win-win-win solution for all, including the poor farmers.

Among many other unique features, the usage of multiple channels/technologies to reach the end-users has made the system Affordable, Available and Accessible to the all the levels of the society including the BoP.

Call Centre : 977 (in local languages)

SMS : (in local languages)
Web : http://www.tradenet.dialog.lk/ (in local languages)
WAP : tradenetwap.dialog.lk
USSD : #977#

Moving farmers from subsistence agriculture to some level of agri-business will help them to come out of poverty. But for those poor farmers to actively participate in agri-business we have to create efficient agricultural markets with minimum information asymmetry.

Research on “Mobile Phones for Agricultural Development in Sri Lanka”

2010-12-17T08:22:00.000-08:00

With the exponential growth of mobile telephony in developing world, mainly in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the mobile phone has become one of the best channels to reach the rural farmers.

Here in Sri Lanka, already there are some mobile phone (telephone) based initiatives to provide the agricultural and other related services. In this research some of the existing initiatives were studied to understand the reasons for success/failure and new ways for improvements;

Following are three main initiatives studied;

1920 – Agrarian advisory service by Ministry of Agriculture
1919 – Government Information Centre, Telephone Service
GovSMS –SMS based Commodity Price Dissemination Service

The survey was conducted in Dambull (in Central Province of Sri Lanka) area with hundred (100) vegetable and fruit farmers and covered many areas such as; Agricultural information requirements of farmers, practical challenges, their existing information sources, their perceptions and expectations with regard to mobile telephony in agriculture, technical aspects, financial aspects, etc.

Source- ict4d-in-srilanka.blogspot.com/

ICT4D Truth

2010-12-17T08:21:00.000-08:00

The concept of ICT4D is being abused by many people / companies / organizations for their own benefit. So now it is a challenge to convince people and get their support for genuine ICT4 Development (ICT4D) initiatives.

Following are some instances of fake ICT4D projects;

ICT4D projects to gain Political Mileage
ICT4D projects to get mere publicity
Projects just targeting Awards not real results
Projects to just please donors
‘D’ neglected ICT4D projects

Any organization, which implements ICT4D projects, could have many objectives, which is natural. But it is essential to give priority to people and their development if those are to be genuine ICT4D initiatives.

So, as development activists / ICT4D activists, it is our responsibility to highlight genuine ICT4D initiatives, give them due recognition and make them models for others to follow.

Source- ict4d-in-srilanka.blogspot.com/

New Businesses for the Sustainability of Telecentres

2010-12-17T08:20:00.000-08:00

“My farther reads the news paper online, now he does not want to buy the papers” – some anecdotes tries to prove that Telecentres are fully integrated with rural societies and they depend on the Telecentres for various services.

In fact, if a person in rural Sri Lanka tries to read a news paper on line, he has to pay at least $ 0.5 whereas he can buy the new paper for around $ 0.25. It may be worth for a busy executive to read the online version of a news paper but may not be for rural folks.

Telecentres made the technology available for rural communities. So what?

The real issue was we didn’t have applicable content and services to deliver through Telecentres. So services such as Dialog tradenet (www.tradenet.lk) can make a real difference in terms of providing relevant services to the community while sustaining Telecentres with incremental revenue.

Three potential roles

Finding products or services at cheaper rates for the community in the area (used products, etc.). That could be even finding the raw materials for SME businesses.

Help entrepreneurs to find the market. Exploit the free advertising opportunity in tradenet. There is a potential of reaching a huge market of nearly seven million people (customer base of Dialog).

Playing the role of an intermediary/Broker. Most of the rural products and service sellers find it difficult to interact with modern markets. So telecentre operator can play the role of intermediary to bridge the gap.

Source - ict4d-in-srilanka.blogspot.com

About Kothmale area

2010-12-15T03:25:00.000-08:00

Branchless Banking 2010: Who’s Served? At What Price? What’s Next?

2010-12-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

Author Organization:

CGAP

Short teaser:

CGAP's focus note looks at the reach, pricing and services available in 18 branchless banking provider examples.

Excitement for branchless banking is growing, and the private sector is taking action. Of the 79 live mobile money deployments tracked by the GSM Association (GSMA), two-thirds have launched in 2009 and 2010. Will these sizeable investments pay off? Many in the private sector believe reaching large numbers of mass market clients is a precondition to large-scale profits, but at the same time, they are uncertain about how quickly branchless banking will gain traction with the unbanked, low-income clients who make up the mass market. In other words, the prospects of branchless banking are still unclear.

CGAP’s Focus Note Branchless Banking 2010: Who’s Served? At What Price? What’s Next? evaluates the evidence from 18 branchless banking providers with a collective total of more than 50 million customers to answer three questions:

Does branchless banking reach large numbers of low-income and unbanked clients?
Are prices for branchless banking lower than prices for traditional banking for the kinds of transactions low-income and unbanked people want to do?
What other services do these customers want from branchless banking?

Source - microlinks.kdid.org/

ICT Profile - Sri Lanka

2010-12-12T22:55:00.000-08:00

Total population	18.73 million (2001)
Rural population as a percentage of total population	70% (2001 estimated)
Key economic sectors (with percentages of GDP)	Agriculture (19.4%), industry (26.5%), services (54.1%)
Literacy in the national language(s)	91.4% (1999)
Literacy in English	Not officially measured, but believed to be around 3-5%
Computer ownership per 100 inhabitants	0.79 (2001)
Telephone lines per 100 inhabitants	8.0 (fixed and mobile combined) (2001)
Internet hosts per 10,000 inhabitants	1.20 (2001)
Internet cafés/telecentres per 10,000 inhabitants	No data available on telecentres, but Internet cafés estimated to be around 0.1 per 10,000
Internet users per 100 inhabitants	0.785 (2001)
Cell phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants	3.6 (2001)
Number of websites in the national language	Estimated to be around 500 for both Sinhala and Tamil
Number of websites in English and other language(s)	25,000 (estimated)

ICT Developments	ICT Policy
Teledensity — 8.0% Three fixed-line operators Four mobile phone operators 32 ISPs Telephone services to 595 rural sub-post offices underway	Ministry of Economic Reforms, Science and Technology National Computer Policy, 1983 ICT Roadmap through eSL Initiative Objectives of eSL policy, 2003 Implementation Infrastructure & environment Human resource e-Government ICT for development

WTO Issues	Regulatory Frameworks
Member since 1995 Liberalized international voice telephone Telecom regulatory commission to promote fair competition Intellectual Property Act No 36 supersedes No 53 of 1979 and conforms to WTO and TRIPS.	Telecom Regulatory Commission ICT Act (No 27), 2003 establishes ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA — 2003) Science and Technology Act is parent regulatory instrument under ICTA functions Evidence Act No 14, 1995 Computer Crimes Bill Code of IPR,Act No 52, 1979, amended 1997

Key ICT Information

The first step in restructuring the telecom sector in 1980 when the postal service was separated from then Department of Posts and Telecommunications. But it was only in 1991, after the department was transformed into a government owned corporation called Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), that the pace of development accelerated. In 1997, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT), the Japanese telecom giant, bought 35% of SLT shares for US$ 225 million, and also took over all of SLT's management.
Drastic changes have occurred in the telecommunications sector since 1990. The wire-line telephone connections have grown from 121,388 in 1991 to 829,282 in 2001 - an increase of almost 700%.
The number of cellular connections, which stood at 1,800 in 1991, increased to 667,662 in 2001. During 2001, the cellular services expanded by 55%, making the ratio of mobile phones to fixed access telephones to 81 (Central Bank, 2002, p. 105).
The overall tele-density has increased from 0.7 in 1991 to 8 phones per every 1,000 persons by 2001.
In 2001, there were 9,324 pay phone booths and 6,535 radio pagers in Sri Lanka. However, the PDA usage was still extremely limited.
Commercially available satellite phone services were introduced only in early 2002, and the number of users remains very small, mainly due to the high cost of the hardware and operation.
The computer population started growing in the late 1980s with the introduction of Personal Computers (PCs).
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has estimated the current PC density to be 7.9 PCs for every 100 persons.
According to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), the total number of Internet accounts was 61,532 in 2001.
ITU data for 2001 gives the total number of Internet users in Sri Lanka as 150,000. (However, these figures are based only on the Internet accounts provided by licensed ISPs, and does not count the Internet accounts provided by corporate servers and unlicensed ISPs. Factoring all these, the total number of Internet accounts in Sri Lanka in mid 2002 can be estimated to be around 100,000. Using a conservative number of 3 users per account, there are approximately 300,000 regular Internet users in Sri Lanka.)
Industry data shows that subscribers to internet and email services grew by 52% during 2001 (Central Bank, 2002, p. 106).
Similarly, 70% of the country's communication infrastructure is concentrated in the Western Province where Colombo is located. ICT proliferation outside Greater Colombo is still limited.
The telecommunication and Internet access charges in Sri Lanka are relatively high compared with developed countries. One major factor is the 20% Value Added Tax (VAT) applicable on telephone charges.
An Internet user in Greater Colombo has to pay between US$ 1.80 and US$ 2.15 per hour (including all taxes) for Internet access; the exact amount depends on the kind of package and the number of hours used. A resident outside Greater Colombo pays between US$ 2.45 and 3.45 per hour. Cyber cafes in Colombo charge US$ 1.20 - 1.50 per hour of access (Wattegama, 2002a, p. 44).
One study among 560 Internet users in Sri Lanka (Shrestha and Amarasinghe, 2001, pp. 7-8) provided the following insights:
- 71% respondents were male, and 17% were female. (12% did not indicate their gender.)
- The largest number of Internet users was aged from 26 - 35 years (23%), followed by 36 - 45 years group (21%) and 19 - 25 years group (19%).
- Nearly 6% of the users were 18 years or younger, while users above 56 years accounted for only 8%. the users.
- More than a third of users had completed at least a basic degree; 13% were still engaged in full-time studies.
A locally assembled entry level PC now costs between US$ 500 and 750, while a branded machine with comparable features costs between US$ 900 and 1,000. The locally assembled PCs achieve this cost advantage partially by installing pirated copies of the operating system software. They have become popular especially among the domestic and individual users. An estimated 300 companies are engaged in this trade in Colombo alone.

Software Origination

Sri Lankan software exports which stood at around US$ 5 million in 1996 increased to US$ 58 million in 2000. This figure was expected to hit the US$ 75 million mark in 2001, but the recession in global markets had an adverse effect.
Sri Lankan software industry has shown an average annual growth rate of around 40% during 1996 to 2001.
According to the Board of Investments (BOI), there were around 50 Sri Lankan software development houses with an employee strength of 25 or more. Some of these firms are housed at Colombo's World Trade Centre, where the first software park was established in 1999 (Wattegama, 2002d).
A software company that exports more than 70% of its output is given an eight-year comprehensive tax holiday, followed by a 12-year 15% concessionary tax holiday. A software company that mainly caters to the local market gets a five-year tax holiday.
Past experience shows that annual GDP growth has to be at least 10% to ensure a healthy growth in ICT industries. With lower rates, ICT developments will either not show appreciable growth (as happened in the past few years), or might actually decline.
The present growth in the telecommunication services, both in fixed-line and mobile, will continue. The number of mobile phones will increase more rapidly. The tele-density will go up to at least 25, maybe even 40, per 1,000 persons by 2010.

Initiatives

Wijeya Pariganaka
This is a monthly Sinhala magazine exclusively covering ICT, published by Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. Since its launch in 1997, the magazine has blazed a new trail in nurturing indigenous traditions and talent to meet ICT challenges. While its editorials offer the perceptive analysis of ICT policies and practices, its combination of journalistic and instructional material have helped clarify and demystify the role of ICTs in economic, social and personal development. Because it does not engage in business promotion of individuals or companies, this magazine comes closest to a chronicle of the emerging ICT culture in Sri Lanka.
Antharjalaya Obe Niwasata (Internet to Your Home)
This was a weekly television programme, broadcast live during evening prime time by the national broadcaster Rupavahini. It took viewers on a guided tour of interesting websites, and provided answers to their questions on Internet and IT. Although targeted at those who had no access to the web, the programme gained a wide following and was instrumental in popularising the new medium among Sri Lankans. It registered the highest audience ratings for a factual programme during 1999-2000, but was discontinued in 2001. It has since been replaced by IT@Rupavahini, in a different format and reduced to half hour.
The Kotmale Internet Radio Project
This project used a rural transmission of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation to bring the world wide web closer to its listeners. A daily two-hour interactive radio programme allowed listeners to request (by live telephone or the post) specific information on any topic, which the presenters sourced from relevant websites and summarised on air in Sinhala. This helped overcome the twin problems of access and English proficiency. The station also provided Internet access free of charge at two public libraries in its signal coverage area, and operated a cyber café at the station itself. The project ended in 2001 after donor funds ran out.
VillagePDA
This is a portable device that provides real time access to email, contacts, calendar and messaging functions and is an 'end-to-end' solution that is designed to help bridge the digital divide and to address the core communication needs of rural communities. Designed in 2001 by the Sri Lankan company MediaSolv , it is the world's first Bluetooth enabled PDA, and has all the low-cost, wireless, Internet-ready attributes of ETHERchip, an embedded application for personal area networks developed by the same company. The device costs between US$ 25 and 50, and has already been field testes in Kenya and Sri Lanka.

Quotes
Sri Lankan diplomat Ravinatha Aryasinha, who in 2001 studied the development of internet and other ICTs in South Asia, notes that most such empowerment and innovative projects remain as micro level exercises. In most cases, sustainability is a major concern given that they run on grants and subsidies, and have little potential for replication on a broader scale
"There was hardly any opposition to them (the LTTE) in the information war. They campaigned quite early on the Internet, and the general information scene, more or less unopposed; and in this way, they built a bank of international sympathy, leading to misinterpretation of facts about Sri Lanka, the government, its armed forces, efforts towards peace, and so on. They gained much political as well as economic advantages assisted by these international links. There are supposed to be about 25 Internet websites spreading false news and misinformation on behalf of the LTTE, whereas, for a long time, any established counter-action was not forthcoming." - Lakshman Jayawardene, Senior Journalist 1997
"Our aim should be to become an IT hub where East meets West. To do so, we might need to create a strategic authority, somewhere along the lines of Malaysia's Multimedia Development Corporation, which acts as the nodal authority for….the multimedia super corridor. However, our authority should be faster, small and more proactive than the MDC." - Milinda Moragoda, Minister of Economic Reform, Science and Technology , April 2002
"'Unshackle the binding constraints in the area of IT'. Similarly, Minister Moragoda was reported as saying that many existing regulations were acting as an impediment to the future development of IT." - Mission of Government - Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe
"According to the top government official handling media and telecommunications, the partial liberalisation approach adopted thus far has left a number of complicated issues 'which thwart the rapid growth of the ICT industry'." -
Abeysinghe, 2002
"As yet, Internet banking facilities are used only by a small portion of the total banking population in Sri Lanka. The reasons for this include the high cost of Internet access; lack of computer literacy and/or English proficiency; and an overall lack of awareness and appreciation of the benefits of using Internet-based banking. Unless these broader issues are resolved, this activity will remain confined to a few." - Wattegama, 2002a, p. 44

Source: Digital Review for Asia Pacific

Additional Resources

BBC News - Country Profiles

Community Mesh Network Project for Mahavilachchiya, Sri Lanka

Development Gateway e-Readiness Survey, 2003

Development Gateway January 2004 - e-Sri Lanka: Transforming Government, Business and Society

Digital Review 2005/2006

Digital Review 2003/2004

The First Model e-Village in Sri Lanka Paves the Way for 24-Hour Connectivity in Other Rural Communities

Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka

Information Technology Landscape of Sri Lanka

Insights from Sri Lanka - ICT: Hypes and Realities by Nalaka Gunawardene (Source: i4d, June 2006)

Piloting Mobile ICT Access Models, Sri Lanka

Telecom Brief

UNDP Sri Lanka

UNESCO - ICTs in Education

Wikipedia

World Bank - ICT at a Glance

source - apdip.net/

e-Sri Lanka Transforming a Nation through ICT- World Bank

2010-12-12T22:45:00.000-08:00

Call 1919 from a telephone anywhere in Sri Lanka and you can access information from 77 Government organizations in any of the country’s three main languages - Sinhala, Tamil or English. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s over 100,000 hearing and vision impaired, stand to benefit from an Impaired Aid Project that has introduced “Digital talking Books” using a new suite of local language accessibility applications.

“1919,” the online Government Information Centre, and the Impaired Aid project won awards at the 2009 World Summit Awards (WSA), a global initiative for selecting and promoting the world’s best e-contents and applications. Both projects are part of e-Sri Lanka, one of the first World Bank projects designed to bring Information Communication Technology (ICT) to every village, citizen, and business, and transform the way the government thinks and works.

The vision expressed at the launch of the project in 2004 was that “e-Sri Lanka aspires to the ideal of making Sri Lanka the most connected government to its people, and raising the quality of life of all its citizens with access to better public services, learning opportunities, and information.” Sri Lanka is now on course to realising this vision.

The E- Sri Lanka Development Project was developed collaboratively between the World Bank South Asia Region’s Finance and Private Sector Development Unit and the Global ICT Unit. It pioneered integrating a comprehensive ICT vision and planning into the development process.

“Initially, we felt unprepared to take on the challenges and risks of the new e-Development paradigm,” says Simon Bell, Sector Manager for Finance and Private Sector. “But this project has demonstrated that ICT can have an enormous impact in terms of improving government services, creating jobs, and enhancing skills of young people, especially in rural areas.”

The project has created a vast eco system of ICT-based resources in the rural sector, resulting in the ICT literacy rate increasing from 9.7 percent in 2004 to 22 percent in 2008.

“The programme is now having a high impact. Sri Lanka is ahead of the learning curve with this pioneering programme. Many countries are watching and want to learn from it.” says Philippe Dongier, Sector Manager for the ICT Sector.

The project’s main goal is to bring the benefits of the global knowledge economy to both urban centres and rural areas of Sri Lanka. This was to be achieved through a series of programmes that included strategic policy and regulatory reforms, expansion of the broadband network throughout the country, providing government services online, establishing nenasalas (telecentres) in remote areas. It also aims to enhance the competitiveness of the country’s ICT private sector and opening up opportunities for investment in outsourced IT-Enabled services, and implementing several rural ICT initiatives through grants.

The Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), was established by the Government to define, catalyze, and lead implementation of the country’s ICT policy. ICTA has a very effective institutional model that draws on Singapore’s and Korea’s unique e-Development experience. It has been granted independence to implement a multi-pronged program of activities that it calls – “Actioning ideas.”

E-Society and reaching the rural poor through Tele/Knowledge Centres
– Nenasalas

One of the ideas actioned was to create an e-society where communities of farmers, students and small entrepreneurs are linked to information, learning and trading facilities. The actioning was via tele/knowledge centres called Nenaselas (Nena=knowledge+ selas=shops), that spawned across the country bringing within easy reach computer technology, the Internet, and IT skills training to many people who had never even seen a computer.
For example, in a remote village in the Southeast, Janaka Srimal founded the Lak Aruna Nenasala seven years ago. With only one computer, he started teaching basic computer skills to the village children. Today the Nenasala has more than 100 members.

“In addition to running our two websites, I keep telling the children here to improve their English through the use of internet,” says Srimal. “They are logged on to their Skype and Google accounts. These children have lots of friends all over the world with whom they chat to improve their English.”

The Nenasalas are also the base for citizen access to:

*Local radio broadcasts of market prices and crop/agricultural information to farmers,
*E-health/telemedicine facilities to rural patients,
*Availability of digital “talking books” (audio books) for the visually impaired and
*Visual hearing aids for the hearing impaired.

“Private entrepreneurs, community groups, and even religious establishments of all denominations established Nenasalas using project funds,” says Reshan Dewapura, Chief Operating Officer of ICTA.” “These Nenasalas, totaling 587 spread across the country, have served as rural outposts for internet cafés, computer literacy centres, and bases for rural outsourcing businesses that create jobs in rural areas”

The momentum and pace for creating an e-society did not leave behind the disabled. The most disadvantaged sections of Sri Lankan society has benefitted from the most advanced ICT technologies.

Visually impaired Biso Menike Grero graduated 31 years ago and is now employed as a Braille transcriber. Recalling the difficulties she encountered throughout her school and university days she is fully appreciative of the new technology. “The visually disabled can now make a success of their lives, study about many new subjects and topics as a result of this new technology.”

The e-society Development initiative also provides grants of $5,000 for specific projects from communities or organisations with relevant experience in a Community Assistance Programme. These grants cover many areas including indigenous content, educational content, ICT-based competitions to promote ICT literacy and support for setting up income generating websites. Some of the Highlights include:
*Obtaining satellite information on fish movements over the Internet and sending longitudinal and latitude co-ordinates via sms to fishermen;

*Training for SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) open source accounting packages;
*Creating digital content related to indigenous medicine;
*English language learning via Satellite;
*Documenting violence against women using ICT.

E-Government -- Bringing
government services closer to the people
From birth to death, and practically everything in between, sums up all the services available through a clear A-Z index at the online Government Information Centre. For example, it shows the steps needed to get the birth of a child registered, even if the birth happened in a remote village in Sri Lanka.

The e-Government programme is aimed at making access to government services much more efficient through streamlined ICT-enabled processes. When the Indian Ocean tsunami hit Sri Lanka in 2004, hundreds of thousands of lives and homes were washed away along with their birth, marriage, death certificates and identity cards. Rebuilding lives necessitated speedy access to getting replacement for the valuable documents lost.

ICTA responded by developing low-cost applications in several provisional administrative offices that allowed survivors to easily search a central digitized data repository to retrieve birth certificates within 10-30 minutes without having to travel to the capital Colombo. E-Government software applications now include e-population (for birth, marriage and death registrations), e-foreign employment bureau (a data base for jobs postings, immigration and emigration), e-pensions etc.

E-Knowledge and job creation

Other elements of the project are e-Knowledge and ICT for private sector development and Jobs. E-Knowledge focuses on building the country’s human capacity in ICT. Specialised training modules on network administration, advanced technical skills and IT management are now incorporated into university curricula, certification programmes, distance learning, and MBA programmes.

In terms of job creation, over 45,000 new jobs have been created in Sri Lanka’s Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector since 2005. IT Enabled Service exports have already become the 5th largest foreign exchange earner in the country with US$250 million in 2008. By 2015, it is expected that the IT/BPO industry will be the country’s number one export revenue earner with exports of $2 billion and 103,025 jobs.

Sri Lanka is also being recognised as an emerging centre of excellence for Financial and Accounting Outsourcing. Today Colombo ranks 5th in the world in this area of expertise, and, most recently, AT Kearney (2009) reported that Sri Lanka moved 13 points on the off-shoring index, the biggest improvement amongst 50 countries.

In a recent message to celebrate the launch of a joint rural development initiative with Microsoft, Bill Gates commended the Government’s ICT strategy.

The future of ICT in Sri Lanka’s development

Over the years, e-Sri Lanka has endured and overcome many implementation challenges and has been both resilient and responsive to the demands of multiple stake-holders in a challenging implementation environment. By successfully adapting to changes to implement e-Sri Lanka in what can be called a turbulent environment, ICTA is demonstrating a replicable true multi-stakeholder model,
Going forward, the project is expected to focus on inclusive growth by taking the dividends of ICT to northern and eastern areas of the country. “We need broadband Internet services that will enable us to lead on new developments and research in the medical field,” said Ramanathan Archchuna, an undergraduate medical student at the University of Jaffna, located in the conflict-affected Northern part of the country.

The focus will be on replicating ICT successes in those areas and deploying several quick-win low cost e-Government solutions to improve efficiency of service delivery in previously conflict affected areas. The follow-up efforts are likely to focus on the areas of devolution, governance, and innovation for inclusive growth.

Ideas are thus being actioned, local and global Knowledge harnessed, dividends distributed to citizens, services being re-engineered. Post conflict Sri Lanka is well poised on the electronic bridge to make the leap that will take it to a middle income country in peace.

“ICT can impact lives provided there is a big enough vision behind it and genuine intentions to realize that vision” - http://icta.lk/

Thyra Riley and Chulie de Silva wrote this article with input from the current Task Team Leaders, Tatiana Nenova and Sandra Sargent, Manju Haththotuwa, (Founding Managing Director of ICTA, now Senior ICT Policy Specialist, World Bank), Nagy Hanna ( Sr. Consultant and Author on e-Development strategies), Ismail Radwan, (Senior PSD Specialist), Asya Alhaque (Senior PSD Specialist), Simon Bell, Sector Manager, Finance and Private Sector Development, and Philippe Dongier, Sector Manager, Policy Division, Global ICT.

By Thyra Riley and Chulie de Silva

source - icta.lk/

e-Sri Lanka and ICT for all

2010-12-12T22:40:00.000-08:00

Rural Knowledge Centres (Nanasalas) to be established throughout Sri Lanka

Colombo Fort Railway Station Nenasala

The Government of Sri Lanka aims to provide access to “diverse and unrestricted sources of information and means of communication” to all citizens through the establishment of Nenasalas. The Nenasala Project is one implemented under the e-Sri Lanka Initiative. ICTA has included it under the “Nenasala” label to introduce several models of the telecentres or knowledge centres to be established in all parts of Sri Lanka to spread ICT services to the rural and semi-urban population. Through the establishment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) the democratic processes of the country can be strengthened, the quality of life of the people can be improved, there will be an advancement of the peace process as well as enhancing the social and economic development of the nation.

In addition to providing ICT to rural areas, the main objective of a Nenasala is to assist communities in poverty reduction, social and economic development, and peace building. It is important to note that all the services and support to be provided by the Nenasalas are done in such a way as to aim /guarantee long-term sustainability.

There are different types of Nenasalas that offer different services. These are:

Rural Knowledge Centres,
e-Libraries,
Distance & e-Learning centres
Tsunami camp computer kiosks.

In addition to providing ICT to rural areas, the main objective of a Nenasala is to assist communities in poverty reduction, social and economic development and peace building.

1. Rural Knowlege Centres

These are centers which allow people to have access to many ICT services which include e-mail, telephones, fax, photocopy, internet as well as computer training classes. The centers are known as “Vishwa Dcnuma Gamata” whose services are long term and are effective with regard to social and economic development, peace building and poverty reduction in rural areas. 100 centers have been created in Grama Niladhari Divisions in the South and North East regions where there was little or no access to information and more will be established in other parts of Sri Lanka.

2. e-Library Nenasala

e-library is a smaller version of the Rural Knowledge Centres that have telephones and computers with high speed internet to access national, international and local information. Certain services will be free while some are paid so as to maintain the centers sustainability. Computer based training media is available to use off-line in Sinhala, Tamil and English. The center also has a large e-library of books and periodicals for the use of students of all ages. The e- libraries recruit IT trained clergy as instructors and these libraries will be established at the center of villages.

3. Distance & e-learning Centres

These centers will be established in key urban areas outside the Colombo area, the Jaffna University and the South Eastern University, Oluvil campus. This center includes all infrastructure facilities such as a video conferencing room, multimedia computer laboratory and a playback room. The intention of the Centre is to cater to a larger group of users providing new information, sharing and learning opportunities. This is done through the establishment of an interactive, multi-channel network linking to existing domestic e-learning networks, and global networks for distance and e-learning, such as the Global Development Learning Network.

4. Tsunami Camp Nenasala

Small computer kiosks have been established in welfare camps for those displaced as a result of the tsunami. The services are free and vital information on health, education, and other relevant content in local languages are provided. Tsunami Voices” database contains information on the victims of the area thus providing information to donors, the Government and well wishers who want to assist the residents of the camps. The database will have information such as what they require to begin a new life and even medical information and ailments.

The ICTA desires to create awareness amongst the people about ICT through these Tsunami Camp Nanasalas. The people learn about its benefits and how it can make a difference. It will provide vocational training to those who may need to look for alternative employment. Most importantly, this initiative will look into human resources available within the camps themselves and find the personnel to run the centers from amongst the youth in the camps. These young people will be trained by volunteers of Volunteer-Sri Lanka. If these centers are a success, ICTA will consider converting them into permanent Nenasalas.

Areas covered

According to the Census and Statistics Department, there are 319 District Secretariat Divisions in Sri Lanka, which are divided into 14,009 Gramasevaka Niladari (GNs) and 38,259 villages. As the objective of the first phase of the Nanasala Project is to establish 100 Nanasalas in the Deep South and North & East Region. The Districts covered under the Deep South Region include Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Monoragala, Ratnapura and Badulla. The Districts covered under the North & East Region include Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura and Trincomalee.

Courtesy: Target magazine,

Competitiveness Strategy for Sri Lanka's ICT Industry

2010-12-12T22:38:00.000-08:00

Sri Lanka has a promising opportunity to compete in information and communications technology (ICT). International companies are seeking high-quality, cost-effective providers of ICT products and services and increasingly choose offshore providers. Sri Lankan firms have made a good start as offshore providers, but face brisk competition from far better positioned providers in other countries, such as India. But with a sound infrastructure and policy environment and the right mix of industry coordination and public support, Sri Lanka could gain a greater share of a market worth an estimated US$120-200 billion.

This report presents a strategy for boosting the competitiveness of Sri Lanka's ICT industry through three activities: centers of excellence, virtual business indicators, and advocacy of a sound policy environment.

Inaugural Global Savings Forum hosted in Seattle

2010-12-12T22:27:00.000-08:00

Short teaser:

Gates Foundation pledged $500 million over the next five years to expand savings.

At the first-ever Global Savings Forum, convened by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Foundation November 16 - 17, 2010, participants discuss how to provide the world’s poor with access to financial services, especially savings.

The following is a press release from the Gates Foundation regarding the forum:

November 16, 2010

Melinda Gates Challenges Global Leaders: Create Savings Accounts and Bring Financial Security to the World’s Poorest

Heads of government, banking, technology, and international development gather for first-ever Global Savings Forum; foundation pledges $500 million and announces new grants to increase access to savings

SEATTLE -- Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, today hailed a historic moment that will help bring financial services, particularly savings accounts, to hundreds of millions of people living on less than $2 a day. Speaking at the foundation-hosted Global Savings Forum in Seattle, the first global gathering focused on the role of savings in the developing world, Gates urged leaders in government, banking, mobile communications, and international development to work together to build a new kind of financial infrastructure to bring savings to the poor. She also pledged $500 million from the foundation over the next five years to expand savings.

“This is an amazing moment. The stage is set for incredible breakthroughs,” Gates told nearly 200 influential world leaders who gathered for the two-day forum. “As last week’s statement on savings by the G20 proves, financial inclusion is on the global agenda at the highest level. And innovations are happening so fast that, for the first time, the world has the opportunity to provide even the poorest people with access to financial services.”

Savings accounts are in great demand by the poor in the developing world. Research shows that when they are offered side by side with loans, people chose savings over loans at rates of up to 12:1. In one study, Malawian farmers who were given the option to put aside some of their earnings toward the next planting season increased their farming inputs by 64 percent, resulting in 54 percent higher farm revenues, and 30 percent higher day-to-day expenditures. New research also shows that safe savings options can empower women, help people manage risks, like illness and job loss, and increase investment in livelihoods. Still, less than 10 percent of the world’s 2.5 billion poor have access to formal financial tools.

“Savings doesn’t just help people mitigate the risks posed by a medical emergency or a bad crop,” said Gates. “It also gives them the ability to marshal their resources to build something better for themselves and their children. It allows them to fund their own businesses, to look ahead with confidence. Savings helps families to take the giant leap from reacting to events to planning for a healthier, happier future.”

Gates was joined by influential leaders who discussed the vital role financial services play in improving the lives of the poor, including Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, U.N. Secretary General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development.

“I am a strong believer in the power of financial inclusion,” said Princess Máxima. “When financial services are provided properly, they can help people grow their businesses, shield themselves against unforeseen shocks and make better lives. And I cannot stress enough the importance of savings accounts. Savings is a debt-free way to make investments and take advantage of opportunities, whether starting a business or sending a child to school.”

As a part of the foundation’s $500 million pledge, Gates announced a package of six new grants totaling $40 million. The grants support projects and partnerships to improve access to savings and other financial services, including:

Expansion of bank and microfinance services to include savings accounts
Implementation of new approaches to reach the poor with savings, such as branchless banking and mobile money
Research to identify how people use formal and informal financial tools, including savings, credit, insurance, and payment services, and to analyze the impact of financial services on the lives of the poor

Technologies such as mobile phones are already providing safe, reliable, and easy options for people to access financial services. Sixty-nine percent of the developing world already has a mobile connection, and this number is expected to climb to 98 percent within five years.

“Technologies like mobile phones are powering a next-generation banking system,” said Chris Locke, managing director of the GSMA Development Fund. “We now have the opportunity to put this to work for the developing world, offering the poorest people tools to manage their assets and build financial security.”

Other leaders who joined Gates included Janamitra Devan, vice president and head of network, financial, and private sector development for the World Bank–International Finance Corporation (IFC); Njuguna Ndung’u, governor of the Central Bank of Kenya and steering committee chair of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI); Chris De Noose, managing director, World Savings Banks Institute; Yongbeom Kim, director general of Global Financial Architecture Bureau in the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit; and Luis Urrutia, president, Financial Action Task Force.

The foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor initiative is working with a wide range of public and private partners to harness technology and innovation to bring quality, affordable, and safe savings accounts and other financial services to the doorsteps of the poor in the developing world. Since 2006, Financial Services for the Poor has already committed more than $530 million to explore ways to increase access to financial services.

source- microlinks.kdid.org/

IFAD 2011 Rural Poverty Report just released

2010-12-12T22:25:00.000-08:00

Author Organization:

IFAD

Short teaser:

The report provides a comprehensive look at the global consequences of rural poverty and the prospects for eradicating it.

From the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)'s website release of the report:

New realities, new challenges: new opportunities for tomorrow's generation

The Rural Poverty Report 2011 provides a coherent and comprehensive look at rural poverty, its global consequences and the prospects for eradicating it.

Released on 6 December 2010, the report contains updated estimates by IFAD regarding how many rural poor people there are in the developing world, poverty rates in rural areas, and the percentage of poor people residing in rural areas.

Since the last Rural Poverty Report was published by IFAD in 2001, more than 350 million rural people have lifted themselves out of extreme poverty. But the new report notes that global poverty remains a massive and predominantly rural phenomenon – with 70 per cent of the developing world’s 1.4 billion extremely poor people living in rural areas. Key areas of concern are Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Increasingly volatile food prices, the uncertainties and effects of climate change, and a range of natural resource constraints will complicate further efforts to reduce rural poverty, the report says.

But the report also emphasizes that profound changes in agricultural markets are giving rise to new and promising opportunities for the developing world’s smallholder farmers to significantly boost their productivity, which will be necessary to ensure enough food for an increasingly urbanized global population estimated to reach at least 9 billion by 2050.

Accordingly, “there remains an urgent need…to invest more and better in agriculture and rural areas” based on “a new approach to smallholder agriculture that is both market-oriented and sustainable,” the report says. “The report makes clear that it is time to look at poor smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs in a completely new way – not as charity cases but as people whose innovation, dynamism and hard work will bring prosperity to their communities and greater food security to the world in the decades ahead,” said Kanayo F. Nwanze, IFAD’s President.

“We need to focus on creating an enabling environment for rural women and men to overcome the risks and challenges they face as they work to make their farms and other businesses successful,” he said.

source - microlinks.kdid.org/

Establishment of the USAID Bureau for Food Security

2010-12-12T21:57:00.000-08:00

Author Organization:

United States Agency for International Development

Short teaser:

USAID Administrator Shah announces new Bureau for Food Security

On November 22, Administrator Shah announced the creation of a Bureau of Food Security (BFS), “charged with driving the collective action necessary to end world hunger.” The bureau will lead the government-wide effort to implement President Obama's Feed the Future initiative, a multi-billion dollar international effort led by USAID to develop the agricultural sectors of a number of countries throughout the developing world.

Along with partners and stakeholders, the BFS will address the needs of smallholder farmers and agribusinesses; support women to deliver lasting economic growth; build on research, innovation, and private sector-led growth; and increase investments in agricultural development and nutrition, while maintaining our support for humanitarian food assistance.

According to Administrator Shah, the "new Bureau will ensure Feed the Future is led inclusively, welcoming our expanded partnership with the State Department, the Department of Agriculture, the office of the US Trade Representative, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, amongst a host of other private sector and NGO partners."

Ambassador William Garvelink will head the new Bureau. Ambassador Garvelink has been serving for six months as Deputy Coordinator for Development of Feed the Future and for the past three years, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Greg Gottlieb has been named BFS Senior Deputy Assistant and also brings a wealth of experience in domestic and overseas assignments involving food assistance and food security issues.

source- microlinks.kdid.org/

Workshops introduce Youth Employment Accelerator Grants in the Caribbean

2010-12-12T21:55:00.001-08:00

Author Organization:

AED

Institutional Sponsor

United States Agency for International Development

Short teaser:

The Eastern Caribbean Youth Microenterprise Program helps local organizations deliver youth entrepreneurship programs.

The Eastern Caribbean Youth Microenterprise Program (ECYMP) employs a unique participatory methodology to support local institutions in designing and delivering market-oriented youth entrepreneurship programs. Over the last few months, ECYMP has held workshops to help local partners identify strategies for translating youth–oriented market assessments into plans to strengthen new youth enterprise opportunities.

At the workshops, partners design interventions to promote self-employment strategies through microenterprise development, with a focus on improving linkages between entrepreneurship development programs and market demand. They are encouraged to build off of the high priority opportunities and sectors that are identified in the market assessments.

Accelerator Grants can also be used by local youth-serving organizations to help them realize their own youth livelihood strategy objectives, thereby mitigating barriers that might inhibit NGOs from investing in growth areas or forming partnerships with private sector players, for example. In order to ensure sustainable capacity building, ECYMP is also providing technical assistance for local organizations wishing to expand their scope of internal capabilities or are seeking help in developing their grant proposals.

The Eastern Caribbean Youth Microenterprise Program is managed by AED and implemented in partnership with EcoVentures International (EVI) as part of the FIELD-Support LWA Cooperative Agreement.

source - microlinks.kdid.org/

Mobilizing remittances for enterprise finance in Guatemala

2010-12-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Author Organization:

AED

Institutional Sponsor

United States Agency for International Development

Short teaser:

FIELD-Support has prepared a new Brief about their Migrant-Backed Loan Program in Guatemala.

It is widely accepted that remittances sent by migrants to their families back home have several beneficial effects including helping households out of poverty, improving child school attendance, and facilitating investments.

Under FIELD-Support, with these benefits in mind, WDI’s Migrant-Backed Loan pilot activity was initiated in Guatemala to encourage migrants to send more resources home and to facilitate access to entrepreneurial finance. The new financial product designed during the course of this project, the Migrant-Backed Loan (MBL), made it easier for poor households who want a loan, but do not have adequate collateral, to start a new business or expand an existing business.

A new FIELD Brief available in the Microlinks Library—“Migrant-Backed Loans: Mobilizing Remittances for Enterprise Finance”—provides an overview of the project, including detailed data from the market research and lessons learned through the development of this new loan product.

source - microlinks.kdid.org/

Microfinance Gateway Spotlight: India at a Crossroads

2010-12-12T21:52:00.000-08:00

Author Organization:

CGAP

Short teaser:

Microfinance Gateway has new resources pages with news, opinion pieces, and research on microfinance and it spotlights India.

Beginning with the SKS IPO in summer 2010, and more recently with the ordinance introduced by the state government in Andhra Pradesh, events have spurred discussion on critical issues at the heart of microfinance.

Microfinance Gateway has created resources pages which compile national and international news from the press, opinion pieces, as well as the latest research. Spotlight: Microfinance at a Crossroads will be updated frequently with new content. Contributions of content ideas are welcome. Please email submissions to webmaster@microfinancegateway.org.

source- microlinks.kdid.org/

Branchless Banking 2010: Who’s Served? At What Price? What’s Next?

2010-12-12T21:49:00.001-08:00

Author Organization:

CGAP

Short teaser:

CGAP's focus note looks at the reach, pricing and services available in 18 branchless banking provider examples.

Does branchless banking reach large numbers of low-income and unbanked clients?
Are prices for branchless banking lower than prices for traditional banking for the kinds of transactions low-income and unbanked people want to do?
What other services do these customers want from branchless banking?

Source - microlinks.kdid.org/

FACET Project offers Briefing Papers on agriculture and ICT

2010-12-12T21:46:00.000-08:00

Author Organization:

AED

Institutional Sponsor

United States Agency for International Development

Short teaser:

These briefs give an overview of FACET, discuss applications for ICT interventions, and document lessons learned.

The Fostering Agriculture Competitiveness Employing Information Communication Technologies (FACET) project aims to help USAID missions and their implementing partners in Sub-Saharan Africa use information and communications technology in sustainable and scalable approaches to improve the impact of their agriculture related development projects.

Key objectives of the project include: 1) finding sustainable and scalable ways to employ Information Communication Technologies (ICT) that do not rely on donor subsides, 2) building upon best practices, and 3) using cross-border solutions to address agricultural program challenges. To achieve its objectives, FACET has two components: knowledge sharing across missions using ICT to increase successful activity and short term technical assistance to projects to help them improve their uses of ICT, especially in ways that may be helpful to other projects as well.

A series of Briefing Papers gives an overview of the project and its components, discusses applications for ICT interventions, and documents lessons learned in the field. Check out the Microlinks library to read more.

FACET is project of the FIELD-Support LWA which is managed by the Academy for Educational Development (AED) and implemented in partnership with ACDI/VOCA, Action for Enterprise (AFE), and University of Maryland’s IRIS Center.

source- microlinks.kdid.org/

USAID launches Microenterprise Results Reporting for FY2010

2010-12-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

Institutional Sponsor

United States Agency for International Development

Short teaser:

It's time for USAID Missions to report their microenterprise results at www.mrreporting.org.

Microenterprise Results Reporting (MRR) data collection for USAID Missions is underway. Visit www.mrreporting.org to report your FY2010 data. Implementing partner data collection will follow in February, and USAID thanks all MRR participants.

During phase one of MRR’s annual reporting cycle, USAID Missions report on their microenterprise obligations and allocations. Then, in phase two, USAID partners submit their project results data. USAID reminds respondents of its revised definition of a microenterprise as it greatly affects MRR reporting.

The current definition of a microenterprise is “a very small enterprise owned and operated by poor people, usually in the informal sector. For USAID purposes, the term is restricted to enterprises with 10 or fewer workers, including the microentrepreneur and any unpaid family workers. Crop production activities, previously excluded from the scope of the definition, are now included as long as they otherwise qualify on the basis of enterprise size and the economic status of the owner-operator and employees.”

Missions and partners report directly to the MRR website. The MRR team will send login information, detailed instructions, and specific deadlines to the individuals responsible for reporting. You may also contact mrr@mrreporting.org with any questions.

Source - microlinks.kdid.org/

Note From Malawi: Encouraging Microenterprise Development Through Milk Bulking Groups

2010-12-12T21:39:00.000-08:00

Author(s):

Jennifer Hyman

Author Organization:

Land O'Lakes International Development

Institutional Sponsor:

United States Agency for International Development

Lucy Chimeta’s decision to purchase livestock insurance for her cow months before its untimely death was more than fortuitous; it signaled a paradigm shift. In fact, just two years ago, it would have been nearly impossible for a struggling smallholder like Lucy to purchase insurance for her family, let alone her cattle. But as a member of the Magomero Milk Bulking Group (MBG), Lucy found a reliable buyer for her milk and also gained access to a wide range of agricultural inputs and financial services to improve production.

Creating full-service, commercially viable MBGs is a cornerstone of the USAID-funded Malawi Dairy Development Alliance (MDDA), as it creates sustainable output markets for farmers to generate household income from milk sales, in tandem with developing viable markets for input and service providers. Since January 2007, Land O'Lakes International Development has worked with Alliance partners to improve livelihoods, business development services and household nutrition for approximately 2,600 smallholder farmer-members within 23 MBGs, as well as their 15,000 family members in Malawi’s central and northern regions.

The Malawi Dairy Development Alliance supports 23 milk bulking groups.By building economies of scale through producer groups such as these MBGs, MDDA is also supporting Malawi’s smallholder dairy industry to finally meet local demand, diminishing the country’s heavy reliance on imports. MDDA is strengthening 14 private sector input suppliers and 4 dairy producer associations by helping them offer the right products and services, at the right price, to a customer base of MBG members.

For example, Land O’Lakes began partnering with NICO General Insurance Company, a Malawian firm, to develop an appropriate insurance product tailored for local smallholder dairy farmers organized through MBGs in early 2008. By going through MBGs, members can now access livestock insurance under a blanket policy that reduces the premium cost per cow to an affordable $21 to $67 USD, depending on the breed.

Lucy Chimeta paid $31 for a one-year insurance policy to cover her cross-breed cow, which was producing an average of 10 liters a day and providing the family with $140 a month in earnings. Lucy noted, "The income from the cow allowed me to send my children to school and buy clothing and other food for my children, like meat and eggs that they wouldn’t otherwise have."

The death of Lucy’s cow due to calving complications could have had a disastrous impact on her family’s quality of life. But since she had purchased an insurance policy a few months before, Lucy was able to replace the cow and even purchase a second female calf that is providing the family with additional milk income. To date, MDDA farmer beneficiaries have paid a total of $28,472 in premiums to insure 770 dairy cows with NICO – policies are worth an estimated $1.5 million. Seven claims totaling $7,586 have already been paid out, and four more are in process.

As much as insurance has helped, MDDA beneficiary farmers also face additional challenges in accessing secure and efficient banking systems to capture milk proceeds from dairy processors. To manage this challenge, Land O'Lakes partnered with NBS Bank to bring a mobile bank to the MBGs, a service that allowed them to access banking at their front door. MDDA is currently working to integrate cell phone banking into the program so that farmers can move and access funds more efficiently from remote locales.

Lucy Chimeta, a member of the Magomero MBG.From supporting the development of supplementary mineral feeds to boost milk production, to artificial insemination and veterinary services for improved herds and animal health, MDDA’s innovative financing mechanisms—such as banking, insurance and one-time matching grants—stimulate investments in the value chain. By supporting private sector enterprises that have difficulty accessing financial services, Land O’Lakes and its partners are working to accelerate the growth of the value chain while mitigating the risks of such ventures.

One MDDA grant enabled the firm Ndatani Investments to begin selling the urea mineral licking blocks and dairy mash feed smallholders desired to improve their cows’ production. As a result, Ndatani was able to roll out its new Premier Feeds brand of dairy mash, which it now sells to farmers by traveling to MBGs on a weekly basis. Sales are often done on credit: farmers receive a 50 kg bag of dairy mash at the beginning of the month and the cost is deducted by the MBG at month’s end. Some farmers are now crediting Premier Feeds with enabling yields as high as 40 liters a day from their pure bred dairy cattle.

As integral as private sector approaches are to MDDA’s success, responding to smallholders’ demand-driven needs is equally fundamental. For many, the most urgent need is access to dairy cows to begin their own businesses or expand existing herds. To meet this demand, MDDA developed a sustainable heifer loan scheme, worked with the government to formalize corresponding national policy, expanded the availability of heifers through breeding services, and improved animal health and breeding rates with veterinary care. On average, farmers receiving a single cow through MDDA have increased their incomes by at least $1,454 a year in a country with an average annual income of $250.

At the Chitsanzo Milk Bulking Group, 63 km south of Lilongwe, MDDA’s model has been so successful in improving incomes and food security that its members are now donating 15 liters of milk each week to a local childcare center, which supports over 70 orphans and vulnerable children. Their donated milk is used to create an enriched porridge fed to at-risk children, with the local community also donating flour towards the meal. Land O’Lakes also provides training on nutrition, milk handling and hygiene to staff and caregivers at the childcare center.

Many MBGs have also capitalized on their success by using the model to diversify investment strategies and business lines. In turn, this has helped insulate the groups from “shock” in the dairy market. For example, Chitsanzo MBG also raises funds by selling various types of oil produced through a collectively owned oil press that they use to grind nuts and sunflower seeds.

The MBG structure has also proven effective as an access point for nutrition and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention activities, which would not have been possible otherwise. The legitimacy MBG structures provide through their roles in improving livelihoods also makes them an excellent venue for raising awareness of health issues. With funding from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), MDDA and its partners have already conducted HIV prevention and education efforts at all 23 MBGs, including at Lucy Chimeta's group, Magomero. To date, a total of 2,658 farmers have been reached through behavior change communications efforts, of whom 1,186 (44.6 percent) have accessed HIV counseling and testing services.

Acknowledgments

This publication was produced for review by the U.S. Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Jennifer Hyman of Land O'Lakes International Development.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the U.S. Government.

Source - microlinks.kdid.org/

Hatton Nenasala Center second visit - Comments from Banumathi

2010-12-09T23:05:00.000-08:00

Hatton Nenasala Center second visit - Comments from young boy

2010-12-09T01:23:00.000-08:00

Kothmale Research Second Visit - Comments from Irosha

2010-12-05T10:12:00.001-08:00

Kothmale Research Second Visit - Comments from Sunil

2010-12-05T10:11:00.002-08:00

Kothmale Research Second Visit - Comments from Kapila

2010-12-05T10:11:00.001-08:00

Rikillagaskada Research Second Visit - Comments from Sujatha

2010-12-05T10:10:00.001-08:00

Rikillagaskada Research Second Visit - Comments from Namal.

2010-12-05T10:09:00.000-08:00

Kothmale Research Second Visit - Comments from Bowala

2010-12-05T09:53:00.000-08:00

Kothmale Research Second Visit - Comments from Chandrika

2010-12-05T09:52:00.000-08:00

kothmale Research second visit - Comments from Nishani

2010-12-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

Pof Athukorala - University of Peradeniya

2010-11-08T03:26:00.000-08:00

Hurikaduwa Nenasala Center 01

2010-11-08T00:57:00.001-08:00

Kothmale Community radio & Multimedia Centre 02

2010-11-08T00:42:00.001-08:00

Kothmale Community radio & Multimedia Centre 01

2010-11-08T00:37:00.000-08:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Digital Story - A woman from the Village - Story 04

2010-10-23T02:36:00.001-07:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Digital Story - Telecenter Committee Member - Story 03

2010-10-23T02:34:00.000-07:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Digital Story - A telecenter user - Story 02

2010-10-18T03:51:00.000-07:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Digital Story - A Buddhist priest - Story 01

2010-10-18T03:33:00.000-07:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Research Part 10

2010-07-15T03:54:00.002-07:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Research Part 08

2010-07-15T03:54:00.001-07:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Research Part 07

2010-07-15T03:53:00.001-07:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Research Part 06

2010-07-15T03:39:00.000-07:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Research Part 05

2010-07-15T03:38:00.000-07:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Research Part 04

2010-07-15T03:37:00.002-07:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Research Part 03

2010-07-15T03:37:00.001-07:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Research Part 02

2010-07-15T03:36:00.000-07:00

Rikillagaskada Nenasala Research Part 01

2010-07-15T03:32:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka - Hurikaduwa Nenasala Research Workshop

2010-07-14T02:34:00.000-07:00

Kothmale Nenasala Research Workshop

2010-07-14T02:17:00.000-07:00

kothmale Radio Nenasala - Research Workshop 02

2010-06-17T02:05:00.000-07:00

kothmale Radio Nenasala - Research Workshop 01

2010-06-17T02:04:00.000-07:00

Hurikaduwa Nenasala - Research Worksop 03

2010-06-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

Hurikaduwa Nenasala - Research Workshop 02

2010-06-17T01:51:00.000-07:00

Hurikaduwa Nenasala - Research Workshop 01

2010-06-17T01:44:00.000-07:00

Hatton Nenasala - Research Workshop DST 01

2010-06-17T01:11:00.000-07:00

Abayapura Nenasala

2010-06-17T01:05:00.001-07:00

Badulla Nenasala

2010-06-17T01:00:00.002-07:00

Nivithigala Nenasala

2010-06-17T01:00:00.001-07:00

Hambantota Del Centre

2010-06-17T00:59:00.000-07:00

Balangoda Nenasala

2010-06-17T00:53:00.000-07:00

Manikhinna Nenasala - Research Gallery

2010-06-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

Hatton Nenasala - Research Gallery

2010-06-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

Kothmale Nenasala Centre - Research Gallery

2010-06-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

Interview with Mr.Sidney Jayawardena (NIE)

2010-06-11T02:08:00.000-07:00

Untitled from buddhika darshana on Vimeo.

Interview with Mr.Sidney Jayawardena (NIE)

Interview with Mr.Gavashkar Subramanium (ICTA)

2010-06-10T06:36:00.000-07:00

Interview with Mr.Gavashkar Subramanium working in Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka

Interview with Mr.Gavashkar Subramanium (ICTA) from buddhika darshana on Vimeo.