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PROJECTS & PARTICIPATION
CONSULTANCY
NATIONAL PORTALS
ABOUT US
geometry of information flow
"Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest
man whom you have seen, and ask yourself, if the steps you contemplate are
going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it ? Will it restore
to him control over his own life and destiny ?"
... Mahatma Gandhi
The term "disadvantaged communities" is not an
abstract term. Some sections of communities can clearly be identified by
this term. They include, among others:
-
Small Farmers and those practising subsistence
agriculture
-
People unable to afford basic health care
costs
-
Communities deprived of exercising political
rights
-
Children unable to get basic education
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Poor people without employment
-
People lacking opportunities to benefit from
surrounding economic growth and development
The percentage of people who can be identified
as "disadvantaged" are a significant proportion of the total population in
developing countries. And if the ICT for Development projects are to provide
benefits to these "disadvantaged communities" (and as they rightfully
should), then project designs have to be more focused on how to best reach
these communities. Studying and influencing "Geometry of Information Flows"
becomes an important parameter for such project designs.
What do we mean by Geometry of Information
Flows?
Geometry of Information Flows is a detailed
human-centric picture of information flows in a society. It focuses on "Who
are the people" getting connected and are benefiting when there is
an increase in information access and flow.
The aim is to understand the distribution of
"information" and "information flows" in the society, instead of focusing
solely on enhanced communication. Some of the questions the study of
geometry of information flows should answer are:
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Which new constituencies/ target groups have
been brought under the ICT networks?
-
Has any relevant content started to flow to
communities newly brought under the ICT networks?
-
Does information flow to the disadvantaged
communities increase, when there is a total increase in information access
and flow?
-
Why is the study of Geometry of
Information Flows important?
The study of the geometry of flows is important
because the aim is to use ICT for development purposes--- those that
bring real, significant changes in the lives of disadvantaged communities
rather than simple embedding of ICT in the society.
And the development outcomes will be very
different (To whom they will accrue? What kinds of benefits will be accrued?
How soon they will accrue?) depending on how ICT projects are conceived and
in what ways they change the access and flow of information in the society.
The impact of increasing the communication
frequency between two already connected people/institutions using ICT is not
the same as opening up a communication channel between two
people/institutions where none existed (eventhough in both the cases there
is an increase in information access and flow). And then there is a
positive externality or a network effect: as more unconnected people get
connected, the number of communication channels increase geometrically since
each new person who enters the network can possibly communicate with others
in the network and the existing network members can communicate with the
"new entrant".
When the "new entrant" to the network are
"disadvantaged communities" or "institutions working for betterment of these
disadvantaged communities", and the information that starts to flow is
relevant to these communities and opens opportunities for their growth and
development, then the impact is almost revolutionary.
But creating a pro-disadvantaged community
information access and flows requires targeted and innovative application of
ICT models. They are rarely the automatic outcomes of an ICT project. It is
important for Government, NGOs and UN organizations to understand this,
because if they do not, then there is a greater possibility that
disadvantaged communities may remain marginalized or bypassed by ICT
interventions than benefit from then. To conclude, what is required is a
planned and determined intervention to ensure ICT for development projects
are centred around disadvantaged communities and there specific needs.
Shaping Geometry of Information Flows for
the benefit of disadvantaged communities: Implications for ICT
for Development Projects
It is clear that there can be no one approach to
designing ICT for Development projects that can benefit the disadvantaged
communities. Instead a guidelines exist: answers to a series of questions
should first be found out and based on them a project design can be created.
The table below explains the suggested guidelines to approach ICT for
Development projects. Examples have been taken in context of ICT for
Agriculture Development and E-governance projects.
| Guidelines
for Shaping Geometry of Infomation Flows |
Questions
to be Asked |
Possible
Answers |
Impact on
Project Design |
| Who are our Target groups
that we want to reach out to, through ICT for Development projects?
|
Here we identify the
disadvantaged target group and differentiate them from broader groups
?
Which are the groups that are difficult to reach
?
Which groups will not automatically benefit from the project
?
Which groups really need to benefit directly from the project
|
For ICT for
Agriculture Development Projects
Small farmers with less than 1 acre of
land
Farmers who have land away from roads
and markets
Farmers farming in ecologically
fragile areas
Newly turned farmers, young and women
farmers (for instance in HIV/Affected villages)
Farmers lacking credit, tools to
enhance land productivity
For E-Governance Projects
People living in rural areas
People who are illiterate and cannot
read documents
Rural people who are dependent on
government schemes and projects for their subsistence
NGos/ Champions working for political
empowerment of people
Marginalized groups: those migrating
seasonally
|
It is important to understand the
difference between direct benefits and trickle-down benefits
Often the design of projects are such
that they deliver only trickle-down benefits to disadvantaged
communities. Direct benefits usually accrue to communities who are
comparatively better-off and are not the intended beneficiaries of the
project
|
| What are the key
information needs of the disadvantaged community? |
Here we try to identify
information which ICT projects should produce or source, and then
deliver
?
Is there any useful information which exists but does not flow to these
people
?
Is there any information which exists but is denied to these people
?
Is there any information which can be generated and will open up
opportunities for these people?
|
For ICT for
Agriculture Development Projects
Information on identifying and dealing
crop pests and livestock diseases
Technical inputs on how to carry
contour bunding, land-leveling, water harvesting activities, composting
to increase productivity
Information on government and NGO
subsidies and schemes on seeds, fertilizers, horticulture and minimum
support price
Information on new crop varieties,
irrigation frequency, setting up farm-based enterprises
Information on market prices of the
crops, availability of credit, agriculture fairs, soil-testing labs and
training programmes
For E-Governance Projects
Information on how to deal with the
government (which government department and who is the responsible
officer to whom the query should be addressed).
Information on government schemes,
employment opportunities, budgets and implementation guidelines
Information on government forms and
application processes
Information on corrupt officers and
corrupt departments who will delay/stall / not act upon any requests
made |
Several projects focus only
on providing very general information which diverse communities may find
useful, or simply digitizing the information available in print format
The focus should also be on providing
information specifically needed by targeted communities. This could also
mean simplifying existing information, exploring new sources of
information, or channeling information from existing sources to these
targeted communities or providing more updated information
|
| What are the existing
channels by which information reaches to thedisadvantaged community? |
Here we recognise that
disadvantaged communities are not living in complete information
isolation at the start of the project. Instead there are existing
information sources and channels from where these people get information
? From
where do disadvantaged communities currently receive information?
? Are
the existing information sources and channels trusted by these people?
?Do
these information source and channels provide objective, comprehensive
and updated information
|
For ICT for
Agriculture Development Projects
Through other farmers, progressive
farmers, money lenders, teachers, public phone operator, postman and
health workers
Through government officials,
agriculture extensionists, agriculture fairs, agricultural universities
and NGOs
Through radios, televisions, folk
songs and newspapers
For E-Governance Projects
Through radios, televisions, and
newspapers
Through government officials, NGOs,
teachers, postman, banks, public phone operators
Through private agents, urban
relatives, village leaders |
We should understand these
existing channels which have been embedded and accepted for a long time,
and where favourable build upon or enlist support of these channels in
design of the project
This could imply bring existing
information sources and channels (which are trusted by and are useful to
the disadvantaged communiites) under ICT networks. Connecting the
existing information providers (Agriculture extensionists, NGOs, local
radio stations) to wider information networks so that they can provide
updated and useful information to the disadvantaged communities
This will create a more inclusive network
where we strengthen the existing information networks and recognize
their ability to identify and disseminate knowledge which is locally
relevant
This will also be more acceptable and
sustainable project design
|
| What is the weakest link
in the chain of information flows: from source to the disadvantaged
communities?
|
Here we try to understand
the existing bottlenecks to information flows to the disadvantaged
communities and then aim at innovative use of ICT to remove these
bottlenecks
?
Where does the information useful for disadvantaged communities gets
lost, weakened or stifled
? Why
do these bottlenecks exist. Is it for a intentional or unintentional
|
For ICT for
Agriculture Development Projects
Information may be available at local
agricultural centres or in markets but these are not easily accessible
by farmers
High levels of illiteracy prevents
farmers to benefit from available information
Agriculture extensionists are
knowledgeable but do not visit farmlands away from roads or in remote
areas
Agriculture extensionists and local
agricultural centres do not have updated knowledege of new crop
varieties, pest control and government schemes and subsidies
For E-Governance Projects:
Government officials may be
restricting information access and flow
Lack of information sharing culture
Government information may only be
available online and thus not accessible to all
Lack of resources or expertise to make
information available digitally
Lack of access to radios, TVs, and
newspapers to stay informed of governmental information |
ICT projects should not
always focus on creating a new information channel from information
source to information recepient. Instead the focus should be on
loosening the bottlenecks to communications or creating parallel
information channels that bypass the botteneck section of the existing
information channel
This could be done by updating the
knowledge of key people along the existing information channel or
providing multiple information channels at some stages. For instance
digitizing critical information and making it available through NGOs,
public phone operators, and schools
|
Only after following the above guidelines, can
we design an ICT for Development project which shapes the geometry of
information flow in the society in favour of disadvantaged communities, and
thereby justify the project itself.
Guiding Principles of Designing ICT for
Development Projects
To sum up the discussion on geometry of
information flow, the guiding principles are:
-
Focus on disadvantaged communities, who
otherwise will be excluded
-
Provide that information or service which
otherwise will not be provided
-
Focus on utilizing and where possible building
upon what is existing rather than thrusting a new intervention
-
Create an outcome which in absence of ICT will
not be produced efficiently or timely
If the above guiding principles are followed,
then it is more likely that ICT for Development project will:
Last but not the least, one can never
overestimate the 2 reasons why ICT for Development projects can fail even
with the best of intentions and innovations. These are:
i. Lack of information sharing culture among
people and institutions. For instance, when people and institutions,
including media, NGOs, government officials are more inclined to restricting
information flows rather than enhancing it.
ii. General inapathy of the people and
institutions to act upon information available to them. For instance when
the acceptance of corrupt practices or criminalization of politics is so
deeply embedded in the society that people and institution fail to act
against corrupt practices and criminal scandals unearthed through
e-Governance.
comments and feedback: vikas.nath@gmail.com
or v.nath-alumni@lse.ac.uk
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