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Geometry of
Information Flows: The missing element
"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
-
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:
-
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.
DigitalGovernance.org
Initiative is conceived and managed by: Vikas
Nath
www.vikasnath.org
v.nath-alumni@lse.ac.uk
Inlaks Fellow (2000-1),
London School of Economics, UK
Founder,
KnowNet.org Initiative
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