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Wired in Uganda: ICTs for
Development
 While
there are a variety of interesting ICT-related
projects taking place throughout Africa, Uganda has
emerged as a test-bed for new technology
implementations, specifically in the education
sector.
Despite being a relatively young democracy
(first open presidential election was held in 1996),
Uganda has a relatively stable political and
economic system.
Moreover, with a literacy rate of 64 per cent, the
country offers a favorable environment for deploying
and testing the effectiveness of ICTs in
marginalized communities.
Although Uganda has experienced some successes with
new technology deployments, specifically in the
wireless arena, many rural Ugandans remain
disconnected from the global information network.
However, collaborative efforts launched by
domestic private actors, NGOs and a variety of
international organizations promise to bring the
information age to all Ugandans.
Two such projects include the
(A)
World Banks’ World Links for Development programme (WorLD)
and (B)
Uganda Connect,
both of which seek to use ICTs to connect remote,
isolated schools to the global information network.
While wholly separate projects, the two
initiatives have already provided computers and
Internet connections to over 70 schools throughout
the country.
Additionally, by making school-based telecenters
available to community members after school hours,
these ICT-based development programmes help to not
only benefit students and teachers, but community
members as well.
Complementing these two development initiatives
is the (C)
ITU-sponsored Multipurpose
Community Telecentre (MCT)
project in Nakaseke, Uganda.
These initiatives are highlighted in greater
detail below.
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Insights
Although ICTs are not a
panacea for addressing all of the social and
economic problems facing Ugandans, they clearly have
had a positive effect on society.
Judging from the success of the projects
outlined above, widespread demand exists for access
to information and knowledge resources throughout
Uganda.
Whether they are using the Internet to get
information about price indexes for crops or for
distance learning, these projects highlight the
effectiveness of making information available via
public access points (PAPs) to all Ugandans.
Although it is still too early to determine the
long-term benefits/consequences of ICT deployments
in less developed regions of the country, it is
obvious, from a social perspective that these and
other ICT-focused development projects can help to
cultivate and nurture the untapped human potential
of all segments of society.
From a policy standpoint,
these PAPs are helping to meet the universal access
goals of the Ugandan Government, while helping to
sensitize the public to the power and usefulness of
ICTs.
Uganda embraced market liberalization,
privatization and regulatory reforms earlier than
most of its African counterparts, and now has a
thriving mobile telecommunication sector.
For instance, it is the first African country
to have mobile eclipse fixed line communications.
Moreover, by encouraging foreign investment in
the sector, Uganda Telecommunications Limited (UTL)
and MTN Uganda, the second network operator, are
beginning to benefit from technology and knowledge
transfers, which in turn could also benefit the user
community as well.
Similar to other telecentre
projects around the world, the modernization
initiatives in Uganda utilize existing
infrastructure (i.e. schools) to extend the network
to marginalized communities, thus significantly
reducing the overall cost of deploying ICTs for
development.
However, given that the incumbent telecom
carrier, UTL, is just beginning to embrace the
Internet, the high-tech future of Uganda remains
uncertain.
UTL’s lack of Internet experience, coupled with the
relatively high cost of service (USD 50 per month),
poses a significant challenge to policy makers as
they seek to bring the information age to Uganda.
Unlike many ICT development initiatives that take a
top-down approach, these Ugandan projects, while
funded and supported by a variety of international
actors, are based on a grassroots, bottom-up method.
The participatory projects outlined above
empower rural Ugandans by giving the access to
modern information resources, while offering an
innovative model (e.g. MCTs and SBTs) for
sustainable economic and social development.
By facilitating a cross-cultural dialogue
within and outside of Uganda, these initiatives, if
properly funded and managed, can help usher in a new
era of development for this developing country.
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A: World Links in Uganda
Introduction
In 1997, Uganda became the
first country to participate in the World Links’
project, a joint collaboration between the World
Bank’s World Links for Development programme (WorLD)
and the non-profit World Links Organization. Designed to help new generations learn about world cultures,
encourage school-to-school project collaboration
(both inside and outside of Uganda), and serve as an
information channel for teachers around the world,
World Links-Uganda and collaborating partners, have
connected over 32 schools to the global information
network, with more than 1,920 teachers and 30,000
students currently participating.
World Links also helped create SchoolNet
Uganda, which was the country’s first NGO dedicated
to ICT-based education, and now serves as World
Links’
national operating partner. In a more recent pioneering project, World Links is also
participating in a bilateral initiative with Schools
Online and the Gates Foundation to use Very Small
Aperture Terminals (VSATs) to connect 15 rural
schools to the Internet.
Implementation
Created to be scalable,
transferable, sustainable, and affordable, the
Ugandan school-based telecentre pilot project (see
box A below) is designed to help develop the
capacities of students and teachers in remote areas
of the country.
Moreover, the project’s initial aim was to
study the viability and effectiveness of wireless
connectivity, specifically VSATs, in Uganda.
After approximately five years, the results
suggest that wireless technology, if employed
correctly, can work in remote and marginalized areas
of the country.
One school administrator mentioned that the
“telecollaboration has made the whole world become
as small as a family.”
By assessing the community’s
needs and understanding of ICTs, the project
organizers were able to tailor their initiatives to
local contexts.
Not surprisingly, they found that there was a
high level of interest among community members in
having access to the global information network.
While the project’s overall goal was to help
disconnected schools utilize the power of the
Internet, interest in the project also came from the
business community and local governments as well.
Similar to ICT-focused education projects in
other LDCs, Uganda’s Internet-enabled schools
quickly became a resource for the community at large
by offering “after-hours” IT training, which
bolstered the overall understanding of the ways that
new technologies can empower all Ugandans.
Global participants
 The
multilateral effort to connect some of Uganda’s most
remote schools to the Internet via VSATs began in
January 2002 and is planned to continue through
2004.
The project is an international effort that
draws on the indigenous knowledge of SchoolNet
Uganda for implementation, the California-based NGO
Schools Online for equipment, the Gates Foundation
for funding, and the Ministry of Education and
Sports as the government-level champion for the
continuance of the project. World Links provided the
initial training activity in establishing
school-based telecenters, and is providing the
ongoing professional and technical support. Perhaps
most importantly, the project relies on the
participation of students, teachers and community
members for sustainability.
While these and other actors provided the
majority of the start-up resources gratis, the
participating schools are responsible for recurrent
costs, including desks, telephone charges, and
maintenance.
The approximately USD 18 per year paid by students
as ICT fees on their tuition, coupled with the
nominal fee charged to community members to use the
computer labs, also helps to lessen the financial
burden on the consortium of schools.
Moreover, the participating
schools also work with surrounding educational
institutions and businesses to sponsor workshops and
training seminars that also help to underwrite the
operation of the computer labs.
For instance at the Duhaga school-based
telecentre, the
majority of users from the community are civil
servants such as doctors, accountants, forestry
officers, economists, pastors and students.
Additionally, according to the usage records in the
Lango College school-based telecentre, where six
hours each day is dedicated to community access, an
average of 20 people a day use the facilities for
e-mail, SMS communication and Internet research.
From helping students find scholarships on the
Internet to allowing NGOs and government personnel
send and receive information via e-mail, the
regional school-based telecentres have become an
invaluable resource for many Ugandans.
Measuring success
While the VSATs are capable of
expanding to new schools throughout the country, the
regulatory and policy environment remains uncertain.
However, in the past six months the pilot
project has proved to have a very positive effect on
students, teachers and community members alike.
For example, Dr Ojala Robert of the Life Stock
Extension Programme in Moroto, said, “The telecentre
is a blessing to us because we can be able to carry
out our sensitization work on animal health in this
facility.
The telecentre makes me feel happy because it now
leaves the community with IT skills and the people
will regard IT as being part of them and a tool for
learning.”
Below are a select few examples of real life
illustrations of the positive effects that the
project has had on Ugandans:
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The
Lango College computer lab has not only been host to
an award winning student poet in an online
competition, but has also afforded a number of
teachers an opportunity to take online courses in
how to effectively use ICTs in the classroom.
Except for these two examples, most visitors
to the Lango College lab use the lab for e-mailing
and research.
The lab has been so successful at connecting
the local community that the majority of the
competing telecentres in the area have capitulated
to the Lango College school-based telecentre.
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In the Duhga secondary school the school has become
an active participant in the World Links’ AIDSWEB
project, and some of the students are using the
computer lab to design a website to represent the
school’s participation in the this AIDS/HIV project.
Additionally, some students have also used
the Internet to join into the ongoing debate about
global issues, such as environmental protection and
poverty eradication.
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NGOs,
businesses and government officials often share the
Moroto secondary school Internet lab with students.
While business professionals and government
officials use the lab for research and e-mail, NGOs
go to the school-based telecentre to check up on
their favourite international magazines and
coordinate with their colleagues around the world.
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Some
students have created websites to market and improve
the image of their respective schools.
For example, students in the Ndejje secondary
school have created a basic website to provide
contact information, including a brief presentation
of the school.
Alternatively, at the Kigezi school-based
telecentre, teachers are encouraging students to
make the computer lab an integral part of their
academic studies, thus helping to demystify ICTs
among Ugandan youths.
Despite the positive benefits,
the World Links’
Uganda initiative still
faces some institutional, technical and
organizational challenges, including stable
electricity, personnel time constraints and
identifying ways that the school-based telecentres
can benefit the community at large.
Regardless of these challenges, the pilot project’s
success to date suggests a promising future for all
Ugandans.
Summing up the benefits that the Internet will
bring to Ugandan youth, Srila LaRochelle, director
of business development at Schools Online, said,
“the Internet is the catalyst that will enable
children to see a future without boundaries.”
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Box A:
School-based
telecentres in Uganda
While many development
agencies have embraced multipurpose community
telecentres (MCTs) as a way to bridge the
digital divide, their value for sustainable
economic and social development over the
long-term is as yet undetermined.
Despite the
uncertainty, the school-based telecentres (SBTs)
approach, modeled by World Links in a number of
its country programmes, utilizes existing
infrastructure (i.e. schools) to connect all
members of the community to the Internet, has
proved to be an effective mechanism for helping
marginalized communities move from the periphery
of the global society.
Moreover, the SBT model provides a solid
organizational structure by using mostly school
staff to oversee the operations.
The Uganda SBTs are connected to the
Internet via VSATs that provide 256kbit/s
download and 32kbit/s upload rates, for a cost
of approximately USD 200 per month. (For two
years, World Links is subsidizing the other USD
200 per month for each of the school sites)
By maximizing Internet and
computer resources, after-school uses of the
schools’ computer labs, the Ugandan helps to
offset the operational costs of running the
schools’ high-technology programmes, which
include IT training.
Throughout Uganda, professionals, government
representatives and civil society are all
utilizing the SBTs expand their skills and
identify new growth opportunities for themselves
and their families.
From healthcare information to e-commerce
and online university lectures, these SBTs allow
Uganda to tap into the true human potential of
the society.
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For additional information on the school-based
telecentres pilot project in Uganda visit:
B: Uganda Connect: Tapping an
untapped resource
Introduction
 Beginning
as a computer literacy project, Uganda Connect (Uconnect)
has evolved into a key source of information and
technology transfers to this underdeveloped, yet
potentially ICT savvy country.
However, after realizing the social benefits of
Internet access, the project administrators quickly
expanded its scope.
Rather than simply training students and
teachers about how to use computers, Uconnect set
out to empower them by giving them access to the
global information pool via the Internet and e-mail.
Equipped with a Swiss military truck, second
hand PCs and other ICT equipment donated from a
variety of sources, the project volunteers began
their mission to modernize Uganda.
Background
Faced with the reality that connecting Ugandans to
the Internet required matching ICTs not only with
human capacities, but also with a highly
underdeveloped communication infrastructure and
dated institutional structures, the project
administrators faced an uphill battle. One of their biggest hurdles was winning approval from
skeptical government authorities.
The Uconnect staff set out to find a “champion”
who would help them sensitize the Government to the
need for the widespread diffusion of the Internet
and e-mail.
Their search didn’t take long, and it wasn’t
too difficult to create a positive feedback loop
within government.
After installing a local area network at the
headquarters of the Ministry of Education and Sports
(MoES), Uconnect helped to train ministers and their
staff on how to use the Internet to increase
productivity.
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"The
people of this fertile country desperately needed
the communications capabilities provided by the
Internet to help them emerge from despondency into
which so many fine and gifted people had fallen."
Kelly
Mitchell, Ukhozi Productions, producers of the
documentary film on Uganda Connect
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After demonstrating to the
Government the important role that ICTs,
specifically the Internet, plays in social and
economic development, the Uconnect team launched the
mobile component of the project.
Harking back to 1994, when the World Food
Program (WFP) used HF radios and a special radio
modem to send spreadsheets by e-mail from remote
field locations to coordinate logistical operations,
the Uconnect team decided to use a similar system to
overcome the lack of telecommunication
infrastructure and connect rural communities to the
Internet.
Uconnect also persuaded WFP to collaborate on
connecting schools, hospitals and agricultural
research stations.
Implementation
In 1997, the first HF-based
e-mail pilot project began in Arua, a rural village
about 500 kilometers north of Kampala, the capital.
The pilot e-mail project was a success, and clearly
demonstrated that HF radio could serve as a viable
connection technology for underdeveloped societies.
The rationale used by the project’s staff was
that HF-based connectivity would serve as a
preparatory communications system for Uganda, thus
serving as a catalyst for deploying other, higher
bandwidth access technologies (e.g. GSM data,
microwave, satellite).
Uganda Connect, for instance, has since moved
into connection projects using GSM and microwave
radio networks, relying on hardware and software
from a variety of international donor organizations
and regional telecom companies. Beyond the human development benefits of the project, it is
also contributing to the Government’s vision for
universal access to the Internet for all Ugandans.
Success Factors
 While
the HF radio connection to the Internet was a
stopgap solution to the digital divide, the use of
HF radios to retrieve data played an important role
in the timely introduction of a broad range of ICTs
to areas deprived of basic infrastructures. In
essence, the use of HF radio connections helped to
usher in more sophisticated technologies to remote
areas of the country. The telecentre
established on the border of the Democratic Republic
of Congo in 1999 presents an example of how HF radio
connections
served as a gateway to other, more advanced
technologies. Using a laptop run powered by
solar energy, the telecentre provided e-mail
services via a HF radio connection to the Kihihi
Hospital, which in turn offered the telecentre a
permanent electricity link. The partnership
between the telecentre and the hospital eventually
facilitated the expansion of the telecentre, which
now has a half dozen desktop computers. The
hospital's usage of the Internet also aided in the
installation of a Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) mast in the area.
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Cultivating indigenous capabilities
While the Uconnect team initially faced many
bureaucratic hurdles, they quickly won over the
Government with their efforts to tap into the
wealth of the country’s human potential.
Equipped with approximately 25 PCs, some
printers and an Internet connection, the staff
began to provide basic and practical computer
lessons to anyone who wanted to learn.
From the beginning, the project
organizers intended to recruit and train an
indigenous cadre of youth to assist them in
their training efforts. By cultivating the skills of indigenous Ugandans, Uconnect
ensured the reproducibility and sustainability
of the project over the long term.
For instance, one young volunteer,
Bernadette, caught on to the training so quickly
that the day after she learned the program she
was teaching newcomers how to input data.
Moreover, the original six volunteers who began
training in March 1997 were training over 100
Ugandans by the end of that same year.
One of the original six trainers, Peter
Kiwanuka, is now studying at the University of
Louisiana in the United States.
The “Train the Trainer” programme was so
successful that a consortium of UNESCO, IDRC,
and the ITU tapped the Uconnect team to train
their volunteers at the Multipurpose Community
Telecentre (MCT) in Nakaseke.
Moreover, the Uconnect team was asked to
create a curriculum for the MCT pilot project in
Nakaseke. From multimedia, to interactive
CD-ROMs, and surfing the Web, Uconnect continues
to help government officials and citizens
appreciate the power of modern ICTs.
The initial offices sat up at the MoE are
now being run by community members with little
exogenous supervision, which is a testament to
the effectiveness of Uconnect’s efforts. |
For additional information on the Ugandan Connectivity project visit the
following links:
Uganda Connect
International
Telecommunications Union
INET : “Overcoming the Digital
Divide in Eduction - Establishing a Bridgehead in
Uganda
C:
Multipurpose community
telecentres (MCTs) in Uganda
Introduction
Multipurpose community
telecenters (MCTs), unlike their cybercafe
counterparts, offer users a variety of ICTs with
which to access and use information.
From the Internet to training and VCRs, MCTs
enable visitors to get more out of the available
resources, while also giving them the tools to
become knowledge producers.
In March 1999, a consortium of international
and domestic organizations teamed up to launch an
MCT in a remote village about 50 kilometers from
Kampala, Uganda’s capital.
Designed to introduce ICTs to remote villagers,
the Nakaseke MCT demonstrates the positive impact
that new technologies can have on marginalized
societies.
Background
 In
an effort to demonstrate the impact that ICTs can
have on the social and economic development of rural
areas, the Nakaseke MCT began as a three-year pilot
project in 1999.
Realizing that the success of the project depended
on buy in from the public, the project organizers,
which included the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU), United Nations Education, Science and
Culture Organization (UNESCO), International
Development Research Center (IDRC) and the British
Council, worked with local community members to
assess the information needs of Nakaseke’s 31,000
inhabitants.
By engaging domestic partners, specifically
Uganda Telecom Ltd and the Uganda Public Library
Board, the international consortium was able to
create a model that would help bridge the
rural-urban digital divide in Uganda.
What differentiates the MCT
model from the more traditional telecentre/cybercafe
model is its wide array of resources and services.
For example, the Nakaseke MCT is equipped with
one TV, a VCR, five computers, a printer, two
telephone lines, a scanner, a fax machine and a
photocopier—the latter item being the most popular
among users, as it is the easiest way for users to
share information with a wider audience.
In terms of services, the Nakaseke MCT offers
users computer and Internet training, technical
support and professional skills development that
allows users to develop electronic information based
on local knowledge.
Additionally, the MCT is tied to the Nakaseke
public library, thus further bolstering the
project’s information resource base.
With its open door policy, the
Nakaseke MCT (the only ICT facility in the area) has
become a centre for telecommunications, computing
and information sharing for the community.
While its target group includes small and
medium sized businesses, farmers, women’s
organizations and NGOs, it also serves as a point of
access to the global information network for local
schools and colleges.
The local hospital staff also uses the MCT to
keep in contact with and consult colleagues in
Kampala, Uganda’s capital.
Joyce Namayanja, a local resident who designs
school badges and banners, said, “Before I attended
computer lessons at the telecentre, I was using the
freehand style to design my work.
Computer knowledge has helped me improve on the
quality of my work, making it faster and easier.”
Implementation
As with any developing country or transitional
economy there are always obstacles when deploying
new technologies.
In Nakaseke, the project coordinators faced two
key hurdles as they sought to connect this remote
village to the global information network:
infrastructure and computer literacy.
From the beginning, the project organizers
realized that the sporadic availability of power to
the Nakaseke MCT threatened its long-term viability.
Rather than relying solely on the unreliable
government-controlled power supply, the project
organizers created a back-up battery supply to avert
downtime during power outages.
Also, given that they were trying to implement
ICTs in a community that rarely, if ever, used the
term the Internet, the project faced an
uphill battle in terms of educating the potential
user community.
To address this latter social barrier, the project
organizers decided to offer a variety of training
and professional development courses for users of
the Nakaseke MCT.
Despite the infrastructure and
literacy obstacles, the Nakaseke MCT has made good
progress towards community involvement.
Throughout the implementation stage, the project was
guided by the principles of participatory
development, thus helping to ensure its
sustainability.
The project organizers created three separate
committees to manage the MCT: a local management
committee, a local steering committee and a
core-user group committee.
While the former two committees are comprised
of domestic (UTL) international (UNESCO)
stakeholders, the core-user group committee consists
of local farmers, doctors and youth.
Together these committees work closely together
to design policies to best serve the information and
communication needs of the community.
Is it working?
 In
a recent survey of the Nakaseke user community, the
project organizers found that usage among the number
of potential users remains below average at 44.2 per
cent.
However, they were pleased to see that over 60 per
cent of respondents from the most rural parts of
Nakaseke are using the MCT.
Compared to MCTs in surrounding areas, the Nakaseke
MCT is the most heavily used, largely because users
are taking advantage of the library services
accompanying the MCT. During 1999, MCTs were also
launched in Nabweru and Bunyoro, two other periphery
villages in Uganda.
While it is still too early to gauge the
effectiveness of MCTs for rural Ugandans, it is
clear that, where appropriately designed, they can
play a key role in narrowing the digital divide. As
the Ugandan MCT has proven, to be effective however,
MCT deployments must be sponsored, implemented and
managed by a bi- or multilateral consortium that
engages indigenous peoples at the community and/or
village level.
For further information on
MCTs in Uganda visit:
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