Weekly news roundup - Asia, 08 October 2007

Created By: vignesh on 8-Oct-2007 12:00 AM

* World Bank says India needs to focus more on R&D
* Rural knowledge centers has helped to increase the ICT literacy in Sri Lanka
* PFNet to provide e-mail access for rural centers across the Solomons islands
* BSNL to invite tenders for setting up 50K WiMax kiosks
* UN launches new 'e-Agriculture' platform to support rural development
* Indian IT Minister to focus on rural connectivity
* KOICA's development assistance to Nepal
* Malaysian budget to boost broadband reach
* Research shows wide digital divide in South Pacific
* Pakistan launches local government information system

 

 

World Bank says India needs to focus more on R&D

The World Bank has released a new report titled, Unleashing India’s innovation: Towards sustainable and inclusive growth. According to the report “The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, partnered with the government and a local cooperative to redefine the way Baluchari saris are woven—it figured out how this could be done on a jacquard loom, or a loom that can create intricately brocaded fabric. The result: The time taken to complete a sari dropped from six months to a week, and the price halved. Drishtee.com, a for-profit initiative, delivers fee-based governance, education and insurance services to rural people in North and North-East India through 700 kiosks owned and operated by local entrepreneurs. The two case are cited as innovative efforts that target the poor.” India’s basic knowledge is stupendous. The challenge is to make it more commercial and market-driven. The main reason for India’s low research and development (R&D) investment is its policy “regulatory environment that discourages risk taking”, specifically, barriers to beginning and closing a business, said Mark Dutz, the Bank’s Washington-based senior economist and editor of the report.

Rural knowledge centers has helped to increase the ICT literacy in Sri Lanka

In a survey carried out by the Department of Census and Statistics, Government of Sri Lanka in 2005, it was revealed that Sri Lanka had an ICT literacy of around 9%. Today, it is estimated that close to 20% of the Sri Lankan population is ICT literate. That means during the last 2 years there has been significant increase in the ICT literacy in the country. The establishment of Nenasalas since 2005 has been one single factor that contributed to the increase of ICT literacy in Sri Lanka. A Nenasala is a Rural Knowledge Centre that provides about 10-15 computers each with Internet connection. These are mainly established in temples, churches, kovils and mosques particularly in rural Sri Lanka. To date, 400 odd Nenasalas have been established thus serving many rural areas. The government’s target, as set by the President of Sri Lanka, is to have 1000 Nenasalas in all parts of the country to serve all communities by the end of 2008 and the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) is charged with that onerous task.

PFNet to provide e-mail access for rural centers across the Solomon islands

PACINET 2007 conference was organised by the Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society and its Solomon Islands members. Many ICT professionals from around the globe participated in the conference. A pilot project in the Solomon Islands is now being developed in conjunction with the Ministry of Education’s Distance Learning centers Project. These centers will be set up by the innovative local People First Network (PFNet). PFNet uses high-frequency radio links to provide email access for rural centers across the far-flung islands of the Solomons. Now it is setting up the Distance Learning centers using the VSAT technology to provide broadband Internet links. Vurinamala is one of these centers. Those promoting One Laptop Per Child in the Pacific are planning to introduce the use of the laptops in two stages. First, they will be set up in the pilot project in the Solomon Islands. Then, across the region, equipping one village at a time. The laptops provided to a village would probably be linked to a village server. This would be linked, via a satellite or wireless link, to an Internet access point, said Ian Thomson, ICT Specialist.

BSNL to invite tenders for setting up 50K WiMax kiosks

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a public sector telecom company is set to issue tenders for setting up 50,000 Common Service Centers (CSCs) across the country. This will be one of the largest deployment of WiMax (Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access) in the world, as these will be connected by wireless broadband (WiMax). All CSCs set up in the first phase used the traditional method of connecting to high speed Internet and providing other ICT services via fibre cable. These CSCs will primarily cater to semi-urban and rural areas across the country and is expected to be completed by August 2008.

UN launches new 'e-Agriculture' platform to support rural development

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched a new interactive web site, underscoring the important role information and communication technology (ICT) can play in promoting agriculture and rural development. Users can exchange experiences, opinions and good practices on the platform, www.e-agriculture.org. The platform is part of the Community of Expertise - a global initiative to boost sustainable agricultural development and food security through increased use of ICT –that includes policymakers, rural service providers, development practitioners, farmers, researchers and ICT specialists.

Indian IT Minister to focus on rural connectivity

Mr. A.Raja, Minister of Communications and Information Technology in Government of India has emphasised the need to develop telecom infrastructure at a fast pace as it goes hand in hand with the economic development. Poverty and unemployment in the rural sector are major challenges that the country faces today. Companies, while ensuring profits for themselves, should also focus on how they can use new technologies to address these problems. New innovative technologies in Next Generation Networks (NGN) could be used to support ICT to accelerate the present rate of rural coverage. India could look at a model where engineers could become entrepreneurs and multiply the wealth of the country. “We have therefore to ensure that the benefits of new technologies like NGN are delivered to rural masses and that they bring value-addition in their lives through increased agricultural production and make life easier for the rural masses”, he added.

KOICA's development assistance to Nepal

To strengthen the friendly and co-operative relationship between the Republic of Korea and Nepal, the Korean government has worked since 1991 to assist in the socio-economic development of Nepal through various development programmes implemented by the Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA). In 2007, KOICA provided about US$ 3.3 million in assistance to Nepal. The amount is expected to double next year as KOICA has placed priority on fields such as education, health, rural development and ICT.

Malaysian budget to boost broadband reach

The Malaysian government’s recent budget provides incentives to help increase broadband penetration to 50 per cent by 2010 in the country. The first incentive grants providers of last-mile network facilities, such as fibre optic cable or wireless, with a significant tax break. The government will give broadband providers an Investment Allowance of 100 per cent of all capital expenditure necessary to set up broadband infrastructure until December 31, 2010. The second incentive grants service and equipment providers with sales tax and import duty exemptions for broadband equipment and consumer access devices. However, the critical issue is still broadband subscription costs, which he feels are relatively high. The third incentive grants tax deductions to employers who buy new PCs and pay for their employees’ broadband subscription.

Among other ICT-related incentives in the budget, telecommunications industry regulator, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, will spend RM45 million on providing Internet services to rural schools.

Research shows wide digital divide in South Pacific

The Pacific eLearning Observatory at the University of the South Pacific surveyed 60 ICT and education experts across the region to assess their opinions on ICT in education, its current status in the Pacific, the perceived challenges to development, and recent developments. The survey showed that training and capacity building, curriculum development, infrastructure, policy planning and top-down government support are perceived as the most important factors in ICT development. Rural students and rural teachers have far lower ICT access that urban students and teachers, the survey showed, putting rural Pacific Islanders at a social and economic disadvantage.

Pakistan launches local government information system

In its bid to monitor and support local governments, Pakistan’s National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) has decided to extend the National Reconstruction Information Management System (NRIMS) across the country. The NRIMS is an IT-based support programme to develop the process of e-Governance at the district level in the country. According to Daniyal Aziz, NRB Chairman “The system would be a powerful tool for good governance and a reliable source to get prompt and detailed information about the local government.”

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