This page explains how to assess existing ICT resources and implementation issues in urban planning for upgrading Internet infrastructure.
Introduction
Information communication technologies (ICT) are changing the way we work, learn, and interact with one another. Access to ICT—and the subsequent multiplier gains in productivity, earnings, and social capital—have not been equally distributed throughout the world. Although the UN and other agencies are working toward a global policy of telecommunications infrastructure, network access and integrity have largely developed under a market-driven, corporate-protectionist model, resulting in a highly polarized “digital divide.”
This digital divide encompasses many existing inequities and threatens to reinforce them: disparities in access to resources, educational opportunities, and socioeconomic mobility. With the rise and acceleration of the information economy, these disparities are at risk of becoming more deeply entrenched. More and more, access to ICT and the vastly expanding knowledge commons is seen as a public right, much like access to food, water and health services. And as a public resource, the deployment of ICT faces many of the same challenges as deployment of other public resources.
To address these issues, numerous NPOs and municipalities have undertaken initiatives to ensure affordable, high-speed access to those communities underserved by traditional telecommunications. However, even as the public sector attempts to correct the unequal distributions of the market for physical access, other embedded institutions prevent physical access from being the panacea for the digital divide. A comprehensive, pluralistic, participatory and long-term planning strategy must be involved in the deployment of ICT access.
ICT Sustainability
It is now widely accepted that ICT access and sustainability are related but not identical. ICT access, particularly in developing regions and disadvantaged communities, typically refers to the implementation of “last-mile” access, the removal of prohibitive cost barriers, and transference of the tools necessary to get users online. Developing regions of no to low-bandwidth face many challenges in gaining Internet access. This section will provide resources and recommendations for these regions looking to either implement seed information communication technologies (ICT) or to upgrade existing infrastructures.
Assessing Existing Resources
To deploy minimum ICT infrastructure, a region must have access to baseline resources, assessing existing resources among the following topics:
- Human Resources
- Electrical Requirements
- Telephony
- Housing and Hardware
- Internet Technologies
1. Human Resources
The first step is to assess the human resources available in your region with a comprehensive stakeholder review. Make a list of stakeholders in your community, including community members, leaders, entrepreneurs, political figures, NGOs and NPOs, public facilities such as medical centers or schools, and corporations. Next, look at neighboring communities—particularly if your region is extremely rural and lacking in human resources. The stakeholder review should consist of what function each individual or collective plays, the resources to which they have access, and their areas of expertise.
Resources
If you need assistance conducting a stakeholder review, consult:
- Consensus Building Institute: The Consensus Building Institute (CBI) improves the way leaders use negotiations to make organizational decisions, achieve agreements, and manage multiparty conflicts and planning efforts. We use proven principles, processes, and techniques that improve group decision-making on complex public and organizational issues.
- New Horizons Consulting group This is a PDF called "How to Conduct a Stakeholder Analysis."
- The Open Society Institute has launched an Information Initiative and a Media Initiative aimed at increasing access to ICT, tackling policies that may hamper democratic flow of information.
2. Electrical Requirements
Next, assess the electrical resources of your region. If there is no power grid, are there singular electrical points, such as solar panels? Many developing regions are located in the equatorial zones and are therefore prime candidates for solar power. Many isolated communities that are unconnected to a grid may generate power for medical centers or schools and can be a tremendous resource for the minimal amounts of electricity needed to power computer hardware.
Any medical facility running refrigeration units will have enough electric capacity to power the hardware needed for Internet access.
3. Telephony
Areas with telephone access have more numerous ICT options, as they can utilize existing phone lines for dial-up connectivity. The downside is that hardware must be relocated to specific access points, and dial-up pricing is often cost-prohibitive. It can oftentimes be a good stepping stone when upgrading to more sustainable, higher-bandwidth strategies. Existing telephony infrastructure, particularly when dealing with subterranean cables, can provide an ideal structure to upgrade to fiberoptics or cable wiring.
4. Housing and Hardware
PCs can be easily obtained though a variety of donation programs; however the units will need to find housing that is:
- sheltered from the elements
- appropriately accessible to the community
- secured
Schools, post offices, places of religious worship, and other institutions may be available to provide suitable housing for computers.
Resources
New Media Tools for Accessing International Cooperation
Organizations for Computer Donations:
5. Internet Technologies
Computers must have appropriate operating systems and programs installed for use. A large body of research favors open source software and servers for their cost-effectiveness, ease of customization, autonomy, and relative accessibility of technical support in the ubiquitous open source community.
This section will go over two models of access to:
(a) extend the quality (bandwidth, integrity) of Internet access where there is currently low-quality access.
(b) implement Internet access where there is currently no access.
In both these situations, we assume a degree or intermediate goal of literacy, and so will not discuss the significance of voice-over internet protocol (VoIP), which is often reliant on higher bandwidth telephony structures anyway.
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