A quick response to John Hibbs response, he wrote:
> How does ICT happen, commercially, in places where
> tecno-entrepreneurial skills are as rare as a good working telephone?
I believe the Grammen Bank micro-credit intitiative raises question
marks over the notion of a lack of entrepreneurial skills in developing
countries. I think that the Village Pay phone scheme demonstrates that
technical capacities can be introduced via microcredit initiatives. I
think the cases of the "simputer" and the "world space foundation" show
that developing country based techno-entrepreneurial intitiatives can
lead to new and useful applications of existing technologies.
There is a political problem related to "recipient" agency involved here
that is general to most development discussions: If "they" are capable
of less "we" need to do more, and that gives "us" something to do with
our lives. I do agree with the idea of a "multi stranded approach"
involving donors large and small and also local skills etc. But never
underestimate "them." It is "their" lives after all.
Daniel Taghioff
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