An ambitious plan to ensure that every village in the world has Internet connection 10 years from now has been unveiled at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
Experts from various United Nations agencies and its partners in global funding, such as the World Bank, have come together and formulated multiple approaches to connect all villages by 2015.
This revolutionary plan has already had success in some of the most remote pockets of the world, according to speakers at an Infopoverty Seminar at WSIS in Geneva. The Infopoverty programme focuses on creating digital villages in disadvantaged areas of the world so that the aims of the WSIS can be translated from words to reality.
According to Enrico Guicciardi, from the Italian Foreign Office, Italy has developed a technology called Wi-Fi Satellite (WISAT), which can operate in extremely damp climates.
Speaking to Highway Africa News Agency (HANA) soon after his formal presentation, Guicciardi said the WISAT model is cheap and can be adapted by any country regardless of its economic status. Apart from addressing issues of access, he said, the model has other benefits, which could enable people to develop their own content relevant to their needs.
‘The model uses solar power, which is stored in a Universal Compact Kit (UCK) that can operate in extreme climates. The UCK can connect through the satellite to the external world via telephone lines and Internet,” said Guiciardi. He said the Kit can also connect directly to wireless gadgets such as televisions sets, computers and mobile phones.
Other examples of successful technology use came from the Jiva Institute in India where a rural clinic has successfully pioneered Ayurvedic (indigenous) telemedicine services. The services have integrated Ayurvedic and modern health systems and delivery methods by using innovative technologies.
Dr Edmund Gable from the institute said it costs a rural peasant only USD 1.50 per week to access telemedicine healthcare. He said the services are designed to accommodate even users with the lowest literacy.
Developing countries have been urged to include ICTs as a crucial component in all their development programmes.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) representative Ichiro Tambo said he regretted that only 12% of the Least Developed Countries have included ICTs as a component in their national development programmes.
Tambo advised that such countries risk donor snubbing and integrate ICTs in their Poverty Reduction Strategy Programmes in order to attract funding. — Hana