Digital Reach

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VER THE PAST

decade, Information and Communication

Technology (ICT) has transformed much of our world.

The changes go far beyond evolution, to revolution.

From e-mail and the Internet, to mobile telephones and digital

media, everyday activities have undergone major changes.

Conventional media of mass communication such as print,

radio, television and films have also undergone major changes.

This is the case for many of us – but not for all. This is why

the two meetings of the World Summit on the Information

Society (WSIS) are landmark events.

The WSIS Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action at the

Geneva Summit meeting in 2003 committed nations to taking

action to narrow the digital divide and work towards interna-

tional development goals. But work is urgently needed if this

rapid technological progress is to be distributed more fairly.

To this end, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO) is driving a shift in focus. At this year’s

second Summit meeting in Tunis, UNESCO continued to advo-

cate broadening the concept of the ‘Information Society’ to the

more inclusive concept of building ‘knowledge societies’. This

new definition is founded on four principles that are central to the

Organization’s mandate: freedom of expression, respect for

human dignity and cultural and linguistic diversity, universal

access to information and knowledge, and quality education for

all.

In order to build knowledge societies, we have a powerful

tool at our disposal – and that is (ICT). It is a means to devel-

opment rather than to an end, where information is an

opportunity with the potential to benefit people in all areas of

their lives – social, political, cultural and economic. The follow-

ing practical examples illustrate how UNESCO is actively

fulfilling its commitments under the WSIS Action Lines, partic-

ularly under access to information and knowledge; capacity

building; cultural diversity and identity; linguistic diversity and

local content; and media. The examples range from putting ICT

in the hands of impoverished rural women, building

Community Multimedia Centres (CMCs) to developing local

content and innovative software applications.

Putting ICT in the hands of the poor

A group of 45 impoverished rural women from the remote

Baduria district in the Indian state of West Bengal are brought

together to form a network as part of a UNESCO research

program. They call it ‘Nabanna’ – a Bengali word meaning ‘first

rice’. The women meet regularly in ICT centres, are taught basic

computer and research skills, and publish a community newslet-

ter to share their experiences with other local women. The

newsletter is widely read, reaching 450 local women from four

distinct geographical areas.

The women learn skills, gain confidence, and share information

on agriculture, the environment, health, sanitation, family plan-

ning, education, literacy and law. Questions are answered with the

help of Internet access and re-circulated in the publication.

In one example, a meeting on polio vaccine awareness was

organized whereas before local health workers had been strug-

gling to gain community interest.

Within a year, a project researcher noted Nabanna project’s

dramatic effect on the community: “Now they have a say in their

family. Their parents, husbands, in-laws and of course their siblings

feel proud as they see them use the most sophisticated technical

device. They are also admired because they are coming out of home

to know good things and exchanging information with others. Some

of them are now part of the decision-making unit in their family.

They realized that women have the right to speak.”

Since 2002, the UNESCO project ‘ICT in the hands of the

poor’, has investigated the links between improved access to ICT

and poverty reduction. From nine project sites across South Asia,

researchers have taken a grassroots approach, looking for the most

effective interventions and the key barriers to ICT usage.

A key finding of the research is that ICT enhances the capac-

ity for poor people to interact with others through developed

social networks, help them articulate their problems and try to

find solutions. However, ICT must be tailored to community

needs rather than follow one-size-fits-all development models.

Above all, the community should be empowered to decide not

only which tools are most relevant to their needs, but which

media mixes best serve the distribution of their knowledge.

The CMC: A gateway to the global knowledge society

UNESCO gives high priority to providing and strengthening

communication and information facilities at the level of some of

the poorest communities of the developing world.

Building knowledge societies

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

A woman learns audiovisual editing at a CMC