Better Connected: Empowering People through Communications Technology

This briefing for journalists intends to set out the main issues around the topic of empowering people through information and communication technology (ICT) and shows how journalists can use academic research as both a starting point and a reference in their reporting.

The toolkit points to topical issues including: technology innovation (and its cost); the East Africa Submarine System project; the role of markets in providing access; the universal access fund and its mixed success; the importance of locally owned and controlled technology; the need to pay attention to culture and social systems - including social exclusion - that inhibit the use of ICTs; the lack of resources and institutional frameworks for implementing national policies and strategies for information infrastructures; and the need for a liberalised, rather than state-owned, telecommunications sector. It suggests questions available to journalists including:

1. "How much money has your government collected for the universal access fund? Is there a public plan for how this money will be spent?
   
2. How much money is being invested in infrastructure and is it enough to support telecommunications growth?
   
3. Where should your government invest to improve communications infrastructure? In rural or semi-urban areas? In wireless or broadband technology?
   
4. Who owns and controls new communications technology companies in your country?
   
5. Is local research needed to improve access to ICTs in your country or region?"

Specific areas of journalistic inquiry include technology for e-agriculture and for non-agricultural economic activity and government and its technology policies.

• e-Agriculture: This section: suggests the importance of two-way knowledge flows between agricultural workers and extension agents and researchers; questions the value of technology to farmers and fishermen using examples of contrasting results in research; and cites the importance of local language and demand-driven knowledge availability. Questions for journalists include the following:
  1.  "What methods of communication are regularly used by farmers in your country? Could they benefit from any developments in access to ICTs?
     
  2. Is there any research to show that greater knowledge-sharing has led to improvements in productivity within your country?
     
  3. What role do more traditional forms of communication such as radio and telephones play?
     
  4. What scope is there for the ministry of agriculture and farmers’ organisations to work together to develop viable information systems? Could any discussions be informed by local research?
     
  5. What role do ICTs play in improving the uptake of indigenous innovations?"
     
• Non-agricultural economic activity: This section recognises studies that assess whether increases in ICT availability lead to economic growth. It cites examples of the Grameen Village Phone Programme, M-pesa mobile banking, and social mobilisation through text messaging (SMS). Questions for journalists include the following:
  1. "What research has been done on the contribution of ICTs to economic growth in your country?
     
  2. What should your country do to better integrate ICTs into the development of utilities, education, transport and health?
     
  3. If there has been economic growth, has everyone felt the benefits? Or are the gains concentrated in the hands of a few people and some key organisations?
     
  4. What potential uses are there for ICTs in the future - for example, remittance sending - and is any research being done on this locally?"
     
• Government and policies: This section describes the e-readiness index - a tool that measures a population’s capacity to use ICTs - which shows that some governments have made use of ICTs for ‘e-government’. The projects cited include electronic bill payment and ticket reservation systems that reduce corruption and increase efficiency, as well as studies showing that specific legislation on anti-corruption is needed to prevent tech system sabotage for corrupt purposes. Still other studies show that e-government systems may fail unless closely aligned with other development agendas "such as education, investment policies, or telecoms deregulation" and unless aligned with user needs. Questions for journalists include the following:
  1. "Has there been any research in your country on whether e-government makes any difference to the potential for corruption or the quality of government? 2
  2. Are there any e-government applications that have had an impact on the lives of people in your country?
     
  3. Are there examples of citizens or communities who have particularly benefited from or lost out to e-governance?"
     
• Key issues for journalists include: the gap between academic research and what is currently happening in the information society; the need to ask specific and focused questions for more focused responses and clarity of information; choice of the most informative way of approaching an idea - often debating the pros and cons; innovative approaches to reporting the issues and advances of information society - those that move away from the traditional economic point of view; and the need to handle academic research carefully due to the range of organisations producing it and range of reasons for producing it. Questions for journalists include the following:
  1. "Who is doing the research and why? Are they working independently, or are they funded by government or a private company?
     
  2. Is the research designed to influence policy, or is it being done to confirm a previously held belief?
     
  3. How was the research done?
     
  4. How did the researchers react to the results of their research? Were they surprised by what they found?"