Roger W. Harris

Challenges and Opportunities in Introducing Information and Communication Technologies to the Kelabit Community of North Central Borneo

This article describes an action-research pilot project to provide opportunities for the remote Kelabit community in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, to use information and communication technologies (ICTs) for sustainable human development. The project aims to establish a telecentre as a place for the community to use ICTs. Although many in the community have heard about computers, they have not seen or used them. In Phase 1 of this project, a team of University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) researchers were involved in the collection of base-line data to provide a socio-economic profile of the community, to establish existing patterns of communication and computer awareness and finally to determine the current attitudes towards computers in Barios secondary school (SMK Bario). Findings indicate that due to Barios relative isolation, community members cited their relatives to be the main source of information and face-to-face communication as the major channel of communication, and that a majority of school teachers had a positive attitude towards using ICTs. Recommendations for future directions in promoting the utilization of ICTs to lead to the establishment of a telecentre are discussed.

How ICT4D Research Fails the Poor

Research can improve development policies and practices and funders increasingly require evidence of such socioeconomic impact from their investments. This article questions whether information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) research conforms to the requirements for achieving socioeconomic impact. We report on a literature review of the impact of research in international development and a survey of ICT4D researchers who assessed the extent to which they follow practices for achieving socioeconomic impact. The findings suggest that while ICT4D researchers are interested in influencing both practice and policy, they are less inclined toward the activities that would make this happen, especially engaging with users of their research and communicating their findings to a wider audience. Their institutions do not provide incentives for researchers to adopt these practices. ICT4D researchers and their institutions should engage more closely with the users of their research through more and better communications with the public, especially through the use of information and communication technologies.

The e-transformation of western China

Western China is a vast area of just over four million square kilometers traditionally associated with the historic Silk Road connecting traders, manufacturers, and consumers in Europe and Asia. But for the past few hundred years, the Silk Road has largely been forgotten. Today, however, Chinas opening to the outside world and general trend toward technological modernization is starting to be felt in these far-western regions. The emergence of e-commerce in coastal China is well-documented [7]. Here, we report on the technological changes taking place in Western China, assessing the prospects for its economic and social development ahead. We focus on what we term the e-transformation of the Tibetan (Xizang), Xinjiang Uygur, and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions and Qinghai and Gansu provinces (see the Figure). These areas cover 43% of the land mass of China, yet include only 4% of the countrys overall population of more than 1.3 billion.

Information and Communication Technologies for Cultural Transmission among Indigenous Peoples

The global digital divide threatens to exclude millions of people from the potential benefits of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially computers and the Internet. Many of these people live in rural, isolated and remote places of developing countries and are unlikely to be able to afford the cost of owning their own computers. However, NGOs, international aid agencies and governments are becoming increasingly aware of the potential that ICTs offer for rural development and poverty reduction and are creating more opportunities for providing wider access to them. This paper looks at how ICTs have contributed to the social development of a rural indigenous ethnic community. It focuses on the benefits of ICTs in recording and passing on their unique culture and traditions, something that is of considerable importance to the community. The research builds an understanding of the nature of cultural transmission within an indigenous community in East Malaysia and demonstrates how ICTs can bridge the digital divide by accentuating the importance of family, friends and other social interactions within a community in strengthening the processes of cultural transmission. Based on the findings, suggestions are offered for reinforcing social processes of cultural transmission with ICTs, in the form of a virtual museum and a community radio station.

Rural Development with ICTs in Nepal: Integrating National Policy with Grassroots Resourcefulness

Two rural ICT telecentre projects are under way in Nepal. One small‐scale project focuses on a few communities participating in a social mobilisation programme and has the aim of deepening the socio‐economic impact of the programme. The other is a national pilot project involving around 15 communities with the aim of eventually rolling out to a nationwide implementation in hundreds of villages. As social mobilisation encompasses several aspects of communities that are thought to influence the development outcomes of rural telecentres, the two projects offer an opportunity to develop the process of social mobilisation into a methodology for preparing communities to make the most of a telecentre that will then be capable of implementing an agreed development agenda. Such a methodology, known as Infomobilisation, will help scale up telecentre implementations so that they can achieve their development objectives.

Ethnic dimensions of attitudes towards computers in developing societies: computer anxiety and PC involvement

Information systems (ISs) are implemented within a social context made up of economic, political, cultural and behavioural factors which differ greatly between societies. Failure to account for such differences can inhibit information technology (IT) adoption. The social contexts of developing countries differ from each other and from those of developed nations. To illustrate some of the behavioural differences between developing societies which contribute to the social context of IS implementations, this study examined the computer anxiety and involvement with personal computers (PCs) of six groups of computer-using students from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Tanzania and Thailand. Differences were found to exist between the computer anxiety of some of the groups but they were probably attributable to demographic factors. Differences were found to exist between the PC involvement of some of the groups which could be attributed to ethnic factors. Implications for research and practice are drawn.

True Value of Telecentre Contribution to Bario Community Development

Telecentres have been widely deployed worldwide particularly in the area of ICTD to bridge the gap between urban and rural development. This paper explores the value and impact of a telecentre on the community living in Bario, a small village in the highlands of Malaysia. The focus is mainly on the less studied tangible and intangible impacts of the telecentre on users and non-users. This topic is discussed based on stories collected through “Most Significant Change Technique (MSC)” providing facts from the insights of the local community. In nutshell, Bario community has greatly benefited from the use of the telecentre, whether directly or indirectly, particularly in the areas of connectedness, psychological empowerment, and financial improvement. Greater awareness and use of the telecentre shall continue to benefit this small rural community in their social and economic wellbeing.

Bario Community Radio: Engaging people making news

Bario Community Radio went on air in October 2011. Its intended public is the Kelabit people who are living within the 25-kilometer radius from the broadcast facility located at e-Bario telecentre. The station is administered by a manager who also serves as the broadcast journalist and radio announcer. He is assisted by two other broadcasters. The radio is broadcasted twice each day: two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening. A survey was conducted to assess the impact of the radio on the Kelabit community living in Bario. A total of 61 people participated in a survey that was conducted in December 2012. The findings indicate that the radio broadcast is well received by the community. Most of them are tuning in to the morning radio broadcast. The most sought information by the listeners on the radio is the national and community news. The national news read over the radio are obtained from the mainstream online newspapers. The community news is provided by the listeners who would pass the information to the station manager for broadcast.