ICTs for Sustainable Development and Poverty Alleviation
Ditulis oleh Setyanto P. Santosa
Rabu, 11 Oktober 2000
An Assessment of What Governments Can Do To Support the Emergence of New Technologies and New Access Opportunities*
Background Information Communications and Technology (ICTs) through its products i.e. internet, has rapidly grown to cover the world. Everyday more computers attach to existing networks and every computer adds to the user base- at least two hundreds millions of people are interconnected today. We are seeing a revitalization of society. The framework are beings redesigned from the bottom up. A new more democratic world is becoming possible. The internet has immeasurably increased the quality of life. It seems to open a new lease on life for people. Social connection which never before were possible, or relatively hard to achieve, are now facilitated by the internet. Geography and time are no longer boundaries. Social limitations and conventions no longer prevent potential friendships or partnerships. A new world of connections between people- either privately from individual to individual or publicly from individuals to the collective mass of many in the internet is possible.
We recognize that Information Communication and Technology (ICTs) are essential :
To make life much easier and to achieve a better quality of life. To develop and maintain competitive advantage, To deliver public administration, social services and development programs, and To contribute to poverty alleviation. As indicated by G-8 Okinawa Summit ( July 2000), poverty goes beyond lack of income. It encompasses economic, social and governance dimensions. Economically, the poor are not only deprived of income and resources, but of opportunities. Markets and jobs are often difficult to access because of low capabilities and geographical and social exclusion. Limited access to education affects the ability of the poor to get jobs and to obtain information that could improve the quality of their lives. The situation is made worse by the structure of societies and institutions that tends to exclude the poor from participating in decision-making over the direction of social and economic development. Poverty in the midst of plenty is one of the central challenges in today's global economy and society. Fighting poverty is both a moral imperative and a necessity for a stable world. So it is our responsibility to work together, hands in hands solving the problem of poverty alleviation.
As an example to implement poverty alleviation is what has been done by Mastel (Indonesian Telecommunications Society). Since 1998 Mastel introducing and examining the concept of CTC (Community Tele-service Center). CTC is a public venue in rural areas where information and telecommunications services are provided to the public in its vicinity. The service rendered is telephone, facsimile and internet. The objective of CTC is to empower the local community including SMEs to encourage to widely use of IT in all spheres of their lives especially towards life long learning and knowledge renewal. The concept has not implemented yet due to the unavailability of financial backup.
What Government Can Do?
Many similar concepts I believe , being developed by NGO and private organizations, however governments should have more important role to play enabling ICTs in solving poverty alleviation. In this regard we would like to draw the attention the governments of APEC member countries to take a necessary steps in order to share the benefits of modern technology such as ICTs to the poor.
Measures identified might include the following :
Developing and improving the ICTs infrastructure across the APEC region to facilitate citizens use their rights to access and connected to the facilities. Including expand the availability, accessibility and affordability of the services. Raising the awareness, confidence and familiarity of the community in the use of IT, including creating an information friendly environment consistent with priorities on ICTs infrastructure development program. Introducing a new access opportunity by encouraging the private sector to build ICTs facilities in rural areas such as Warnet/internet kiosk or café, and CTC (Community Tele-service Center) as introduced by Mastel (the Indonesian Telecommunications Society). Improving the quality of education especially in primary and secondary schools by introducing the IT-base schools, to incorporate IT elements in the school curriculum, to progressively increase IT facilities for schools. Developing the capacity, capability and commitment of officers and staffs at all levels within government to take full advantage of the benefits and opportunities offered by IT. In conclusion, ICTs for sustainable development and poverty alleviation are both challenging and complex. Although we are able to identify what government must do to support the emergence of new technologies and new access opportunities, but the main constraint is the availability of funding for the ICTs development program. Therefore, governments APEC member countries should cooperate to reach our goals for a better tomorrow. We must join hands in our APEC community of neighboring countries with unique cultures and languages. Let us unite and work together. Let us succeed together. Thank you
