Reposting from a friend....I may not agree with all she says, but most of it makes a lot of sense to me.
Shem J. Ochuodho, MSc (Eng), PhD, LLD (Hon) Chairman African Regional Centre for Computing (ARCC) www.arcc.or.ke -----Original Message----- From: Brightwater <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 4:57 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] How Can ICT Create New Business Partnerships? My responses to the questions posed are to be found immediately below each question. These responses against the following backdrop: That "development" is not just about poverty reduction but also about building a middle class from amongst the poor. Poverty in Kenya will not go down unless there is a shift in inequality between the poor and the rich. While it is possible to experience substantial economic growth, the wealth created can stay within the rich few leaving the poor to stay where they are as has happened in Kenya where the few rich now control the bulk of the wealth (incomes & assets). Redistribution of wealth requires that we address all the" Key Development Handles" of education, health, micro-/micro finance, real time information (use of telephony etc), agri businesses, governance, environment and other livelihood activities. Only when we combine productive assets with social capital and provide these to the poor, will they be able to participate in the formal markets and improve their wealth and assets. Take for example agri-based economy on which Kenya's 80% of the population still depends and where the bulk of the poor are to be found. Unless this lot is moved from the "poor pool" to middle class through the development of agriculture and agri-based businesses, economic development will not reduce poverty. And what are the current main hurdles that prevent the poor from migrating to the middle class? Basically their inability to accumulate wealth or capital. To be able to do this the poor therefore need the following: Land, Credit, Technology, the latter two directly linked to ICT. To escape poverty, the poor must be linked to higher value added activities. To escape poverty, the poor must be linked to and participate in well working markets to improve their incomes. To escape poverty, the poor must overcome their capacity deficiencies through social capitalisation, which requires education, good public health, micro credit etc. ICT can and must therefore play a key role in all the development "handles" for the redistribution of wealth to take place. Without such redistribution of wealth there may be economic growth but with no reduction in poverty in Kenya. Now to the Key Questions: > Key Questions: > > 1) Do you know of examples where ICT helped create win-win partnerships > between an international corporation and local entrepreneurs? What > factors made it successful? The software sector in India has grown by over 50% since the 1990s creating not only jobs but also acting as a magnet for international investment. India's global reputation for software engineering was recognised when MIT chose Bombay for its third Media Lab in 2001. The other two are in Dublin and Boston. > 2) Are there examples of small companies using ICTs to thrive in local > contexts, and to collaborate when international corporations demand > large-scale production? Please give concrete examples. The closest I am aware of is in the case of corporate members in the UK Government's Policy Action Team on ICT & Social Exclusion where rather than purchase commercial ICT support for example to develop a web site, companies sponsor young ICT providers to do the work. > 3) How can ICTs be used to encourage corporate investment that creates > productive partnerships with the poor in developing countries, and not > just expanded consumerism? Technology firm CISCO provides equipment to internet cafes in poor areas, developing countries, and to schools and training centers. It is committed to establishing ICT Training Academies in 24 of the poorest nations. > 4) What role can NGOs and universities play with regard to "ICT and > pro-poor business approaches"? Should they partner with businesses to > expand ICT-based products and services offered to poor communities? > Should they take on a "watch-dog" role to monitor business practices? These are two separate entities whose roles in ICT will differ. Universities should partner with businesses in as far as carrying out research on integrated ICT set-ups goes. In our early stages of ICT capacity building they should ensure that ICT is used in all courses offered. NGO services would be better utilized as watch-dogs of the standards set by the ICT industry. NGOs have not proven themselves as the best in capacity building. In most cases the resources put under NGO management have not been properly, productively and efficiently used to build capacity. > 5) What role should donor agencies play? Should they just focus on > improving the ICT regulatory and enabling environment for business? > Build more private sector roles into "ICT for development" projects? > Create incubators or investment funds to stimulate local ICT > entrepreneurship? They should support innovative ICT models which can then be taken up by the private sector. Additionally they should support ICT capacity building in government institutions for the latter to be able to provide better and timely services to the private sector. > 6) How serious is the threat of intellectual property violations for > potential partnerships between international corporations and local > companies? What are the best solutions for addressing this problem? Pretty serious I guess. One just has to look at the pirating of software programmes and the downloading of movies and music from the Internet. Solution is through developing software that bars people from downloading programmes or instituting strict licensing procedures between agencies. > 7) Are there times when developing countries should shut their borders > to foreign imports in order to protect their nascent ICT industries? I don't think that this is possible anymore in the globalised market. Plus it would cut the country off from being part of the cutting-edge ICT initiatives. Regards, Bella Ochola -Wilson ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
