[UgaBYTES] Digital Inclusion Forum in Maputo

[Polly Gaster]

Dear all

Various list members have expressed an interest in the Forums being organised
by SANGONet as part of its Thetha regional research project (called Tlhangano
in Mozambique, by the way). So we want to give you a quick report on the
Mozambique Forum, which as you know from SANGONet took place on 30 June.
SANGONet also circulated the address for downloading our report, so maybe some
of you have already had a look - and I won't repeat what's in it!

We chose as the main theme for our report on ICT4D in Mozambique the challenge
of digital inclusion, as a way of highlighting the needs of ordinary citizens
and particularly people living in the rural areas (70% of the population). So
our report discussed the advances in ICTs, state of implementation of
government policies, etc, from this point of view - we didn't want to do a big
survey because that's already been done. Our main findings from the research
were that there have been important advances in implementing the ICT Policy,
but so far the tendency has been very technology-oriented and top-down rather
than citizen-centred - starting from defining people's needs. Of course
establishing the infrastructure is a precondition for inclusion, but it is
definitely not the solution. So we made various recommendations, as you will
see in the report.

The Forum therefore made a special effort to bring together different sectors,
and in particular civil society organisations, to sit in the same room and
discuss some of these questions. Around 80 people altogether attended at some
time during the day, including half a dozen ministries and various public
institutions and companies (such as telecomms, the  regulator, agricultural
research and others). Civil society was represented by 5 rural
telecentres/community multimedia centres as well as organisations such as the
Community Radio Forum, the Women's Forum, the National Union of Peasants,
Association of Visually Handicapped (who shamed us by saying that they had
been to our new university central library and there was no provision at all
for their needs!) and national education and development NGOs. Private IT
companies, public and private universities and journalists were also there.

The Forum was opened by the Vice-Rector of Eduardo Mondlane University, and
the Minister of Science and Technology came to give a keynote speech and
stayed for some of the discussion. We had formal presentations summarising the
report, and from our regional research coordinator Tina James to give is some
insights into the situation in the Southern African region. As a way of
helping open up the plenary debate we asked 4 "commenters" to give their
personal opinions on the report and the issues in general - 2 from government
and 2 from civil society. This tactic definitely helped to provide a good
environment in which people were at ease to speak up and express their opinions.

We ended up with a series of recommendations, some confirming the proposals in
the report and others adding to and improving them. 

Perhaps some of the most relevant ones for list members are the following:
- Revisit the ICT Policy, but first carry out analysis and evaluation of
what's been done;
- Strategies for changing attitudes; 
- Involving the private sector in digital inclusion plans;
- Need to be truly inclusive of all citizens;
- Content in local languages;
- Government transparency in its relations with the private sector;
- create a group to study and propose measures for the migration to digital
radio (by 2015);

Most important, create a working or lobby group to try to ensure inclusion of
digital inclusion/ICT4D in the next Government Poverty Reduction Plan or
5-year Programme. We have elections in October and then there will be a new
round of planning, so it is a good opportunity.

This is already too long so will stop here. Hope you find it useful.

polly




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Polly Gaster
TICs para Desenvolvimento/ICT4D
Centro de Informatica da Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (CIUEM)
Campus Universitario, Maputo, Mozambique
e-mail: polly.gaster at uem.mz
cel: +258-82-3264540
tel/fax: +258-21-485779
Skype: polly_gaster


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