Sudip Aryal Nepal Rural Information Technology Development Society (NRIDS), Syangja

1. Rural Transformation by the establishment of Community Information Centers (CICs) in the remote villages of Nepal: A Pilot Project Sudip Aryal Nepal Rural Information Technology Development Society (NRIDS), Syangja For the community, by the community and to the community.

2. Rural Transformation • Focus on learning and experiences sharing • Change in the perspective of looking at things • focus on equal opportunity for access to ICT facilities to reach up to the marginalized community • transformation of our traditional society into knowledge based society through the exploitation and maximum usage of ICT and contemporary educational tools. • Contribution for the quality of life for the marginalized communities and individuals by increasing their knowledge, skills and concept to uplift their standard of life • The village needs to become a self-sustaining unit, and at the same time integrated with the rest of the ecosystem

3. Digital Divide Factors • Difference between • Developed country and developing country • Urban areas and rural areas • Differences caused by; • Income • Education and job training • Opportunities • Status • Race • Gender • Age

4. Problem Statement • Lack of information access and training to rural areas in Nepal • Very little is being done to rectify the information shortage. • Access to Telephones, computers and the Internet is very low in Rural areas. • Lack of rigid plans/policies and strategies • Lack of technical manpower

5. Project Detail • Goal • Rural Transformation through ICT • Villages need disruptive innovations to make the village giant leap forward • Objectives • Develop institutional and individual ICT capacity • Demonstrate innovative ICT applications • Encouraging Policy Reform • Enabling Businesses to succeed • Using ICT to Improve Approaches to Development

6. Methods • Identification of four stakeholders: villagers, village administration, district administration and rural marketing organizations. • The establishment of a Community Information Centers (CICs) in villages • Providing information on Agriculture, Jobs, Conflict Management, Democracy and good Governance etc.

7. From a villager’s point of view • Access to computing resources and the Internet. • A program to ensure that he and his family can be made literate and e-literate. • Access to various eServices for government interactions • Computer-enabled education for his/her children in schools • Access to electronic markets where he/she can sell his products directly without middlemen • Programs to upgrade his and his family’s skill sets • Protection of data, so that unauthorized access does not happen. • All of this to be available for a monthly minimal charge from one family .

8. Village administration viewpoint, the solution should: • Help in village planning and monitoring. • Share and discuss best practices with other village administrators eg.community web blogs • Provide a micro-credit facility to enable villagers to save money and get loans when required.

9. District administration would like to see in the solution: • Two-way information flows: the administration can update the village and its residents on various government programs and schemes • Electronic accounting for the funds which are disseminated by the state/district administration for village activities. • Ability to provide better services to the citizens (for example, telemedicine). • Provide comparisons across villages on various parameters, to be able to identify success stories and enable their replication across other villages.

10. Rural marketing organizations would like to: • Use a medium by which they can reach out to villagers for their products and services. • Get a distribution point for eCommerce • Have a mechanism by which they can collect payments for their offerings.

11. Three key ideas in using technology to transform rural Nepal • Setting up a CIC in every village. • Networking these CICs through a Community web-portal to ensure communication between villages. • Computerize key government operations in an eGovernance initiative, starting with those that can have the greatest impact for the villagers.

12. Sustainability Approaches • Minimum charges for services • Can take up data entry jobs or other such work to better leverage the computers that it has. • Computer training programs, desktop work for local schools and institutions • Some funds could be allocated from the village for the operation of the CIC, since the village administration will also be a significant user and beneficiary. • Additional services can be offered for the villagers beyond the base set, which can result in more revenue.

13. We can involve community only if.. • A package of applications is made available to the villagers for a minimal charge • It Offer hopes of additional income as a growth in livelihood • Remove pain from their lives • Improve their skill and learn to do things better and retraining • Make them more productive in agriculture and other profession • Offer their children a brighter future in terms of education and jobs. • Provide them a voice to and response from government within a specified time period

14. Classification of CICs • Rural Community Information Center- RCIC • Village Community Information Center- VCIC • District Community Information Center- DCIC • Zonal Community Information Center- ZCIC • Regional Community Information Center- CICR • Central Community Information Center- CCIC

15. Overall Structure of CIC

16. Internet based Community web-portal

17. What Can Government do to encourage the establishment of CICs? • Authentic information dissemination • Facilitates for the good Internet Access • Give technical knowledge and trainings • Provide Outdated equipments and devices like Computer in the first phase etc. • Provide old racks and cupboards, tables and furniture • Publication houses can give free copies of their publication to CICs. • Cooperation between NGOs/ INGOs and private sector companies • Reporting :RCIC-VCIC-DCIC-ZCIC-CICR-CCIC .Help the government make decision in reference to the voices and the wants of the Grass root Level. • Volunteering program by technical college students as the partial fulfillment of their course.

18. STAFF / ADMINISTRATION

19. Projected Setup Costs • Set up cost for 30 Small CICs: 30*Rs.59500 =Rs. 17, 85,000 only • Set up cost for 30 big CICs: 30*Rs.3, 01,660= Rs.90, 49,800 only (Minimum) • Set up cost for 30 big CICs: 30*Rs.4, 87,300= Rs.1, 46, 79,000 only (Optimum) • Note: Set up Cost will be negligible if the concerned authority could provide the second hand Computers, Fax machine, Photocopy Machine, Scanners, Printers, and the furniture.

20. EVALUATION PLAN Formative Evaluation • Qualitative in nature-conducted through interviews and questionnaires. • Local people and student volunteers will be asked about the day-to-day operation of the Center, the topics covered in the training programs and the workshops, the attractiveness of the training materials, and other questions to provide feedback for the ongoing improvement of the operation of the Project. • Meet regularly with CIC staff to share findings from the formative evaluation effort. • Periodic reports for formative evaluation and how they have been used to improve Project operation.

21. Summative Evaluation • Primarily quantitative in nature, will begin with the establishment of baseline data at the beginning of the project (using a random sample Local people to assess their ICT knowledge) and then be conducted at 6 month intervals (just prior to each group of volunteers completing their Project service). • A yearly report will be issued that presents the formative and summative findings.

22. NRIDS activities • This work began with the endorsement of the Syangja DDC the members of NRIDS have been formulating a blueprint to convert Syangja into the model district for an information revolution in Nepal. • Extended in Kaski and Dang District. • A CIC, with the involvement and support of local business people, teachers, serviceman, and young people, have been established in different villages • Mayatari, Syangja • Karen dada, Syangja • Bagalthok, Syangja • Lampata, Syangja • Bayatari, Sayngja • Helu, Syangja • Kaskikot, Kaski • Dhital, Kaski • Rampur, Dang • Laxmipur, Dang

23. Services provided in the First phase • Market information of agricultural products to the local people. • Basic functionalities of library and the meeting point of people for various discussions and decision making. • Daily newspapers and monthly magazines • Notice board for advertisement • Wall newspaper • Data collection-Village profile • Sustainability-e.g. local people can submit their electricity bills in CIC • Conducting Tuition Classes for the local Students

24. Service provided in the Second Phase • Providing knowledge to the people about computers. • There will be around 5-10 networked computers in each CICs . • Location: Schools, Youth Club, Amma Group based on the community decision. • There will be two phone lines in each CIC one for the PCO and other for the Internet Connection • The main aim of CIC is the concept of “IT Chautari” • It will provide real time applications • It will act as an inquiry system • All the Desktop works • Computer training institute

25. Third Phase Implementation • Developing web based CIC portal for the CIC connectivity.

26. Last words Dreams Come true for those who work while they dream! Let us together generate the workflow to transform rural Nepal