Still waiting for the information revolution

Southern African policymakers are pitting their desire to expand information and communications technology (ICTs) in their countries against the stark reality of affordability. "It would be nice to put a computer in every classroom, but what if the school's priority is to have a desk for every student?" May Muluzi, an education consultant from Malawi, told IRIN. Several hundred high-tech specialists in the public and private sectors and civil society were assembled this week by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to find ways to apply new computer technology to governance at the third meeting of the Committee on Development Information (CODI). "What can we do to improve governance in Africa? How can we use statistics, ICT, virtual libraries and geoinformation to achieve the visions and meet the challenges that governance faces?" ECA Executive Secretary K.Y. Amoako asked delegates. "Good governance depends on the availability of adequate knowledge and information resources. Decision makers need this to make good decisions. The general public needs this to participate in the decision-making process and follow the implementation of agreed decisions," said Amoako. "ICTs means government cannot monopolise information on governance," a Zimbabwean delegate told IRIN. "There is more oppression of journalists in my country. But the authorities cannot shut down every Internet user." For Isabella Hlope, assistant director for the Department of Statistics of Swaziland's Ministry of Finance, "Better and more efficient information technology will make governance more transparent by allowing for the dissemination of information widely. There will be fewer opportunities for corruption if public information is available to the public on the Internet." Zambia's information ministry was optimistic in its position paper. "E-governance is a tool for governments to use new technologies to provide people with more convenient access to government information and services, and provide opportunities to participate in democratic institutions and processes of governing a nation." Zambia was one of the first Southern African countries to have Internet access, which soon became a staple of communication for NGOs working with government, or on social and developmental initiatives. However, Zambia only has 11,647 Internet subscribers at present. Low subscriber numbers and lack of telephone lines are hobbling the dream of using the Internet as a tool of democracy. Out of a population of 18 million, Mozambique has 60,000 Internet subscribers. Namibia has only 45,000 and Malawi just 35,000. "If people equate the Internet with democracy, it is obviously a democracy of the elite, because only a few can afford the service," said one Malawian delegate. "Educational inequities have to be remedied before new computer technology can really be of widespread usefulness. The gender imbalance in literacy must be addressed. In Malawi, 72.8 percent of men know how to read and write. Only 43.4 percent of women do," Muluzi said. "Economic growth is directly linked to levels of telecommunications and digital infrastructure," the Zambian delegation asserted, urging that international funding go to increasing computer literacy. The digital or "virtual" library was one of the new technologies emphasised as a facilitator for good governance and development. Buildings full of books can now be accessed via a keystroke in areas far distant from urban centres. "In a region like ours, where computers and other knowledge technologies are beyond the reach of most people, libraries made possible by virtual networks are considered important to deliver knowledge and information to the masses," said Amoako. During the last CODI meeting, the African Virtual Library Network (AVLIN) was launched as a hub for the exchange of data among African researchers and policy makers. This week, delegates grappled with ways to "downstream" the institution to the grassroots, providing governance information at the community level to involve people in development project decision-making. Geoinformation, or data acquired by satellite and downloaded via computer networks, not only dazzled delegates with "bird's eye" views of Southern Africa's capital cities – from which computer users could zoom down onto an intersection from a distance of 20 km to a few metres – but also generated ideas for usage. "Geoinformation systems have been evolving toward grassroots community involvement, even as we move towards virtual communities that have made national borders almost irrelevant. There is now greater understanding that all economic development and administrative processes eventually ask a 'where' question: Where are the resources? Where are the electorates? Where should we be focusing our attention? Geoinformation provides the answer to the 'where' questions," said an ECA statement. In Mozambique, a project working with communities to lessen infant mortality used satellite mapping to locate informal semi-rural townships and urban slums that are not on formal maps, but where thousands of people reside. "We also employed satellite imagery to analyse pollution levels of streams and water sources used by the people," Mozambican delegate Artemisia Domingos told IRIN. NGOs and government ministries commission the data. "They go to parliament and say, 'This is the situation on the ground. How do we help the people with what we now know?'"