Liberalization of the telecommunications sector is progressing across Africa. One of the most important benefits of this trend is that it will make value-added services, particularly internet access, more affordable and reliable for telecommunications users in the continent. The internet need not be a useful tool only for industrial societies. The poor in many African countries, struggling to meet basic needs, often remain poor not only- because they are denied access to physical and human capital, but also because they lack the information necessary to best convert that capital into wealth. By opening wide the door to a huge store of global knowledge, the Internet offers untapped possibilities to address the blight of information poverty. This toolkit is inspired by the African experience where access to the World Wide Web is helping doctors to save patients, schools to educate children, and communities to create businesses that will lift them out of destitution. This toolkit closely examines these issues. It finds that, in the long term, the internet cannot be looked upon as a threat to telecommunications companies. It is true that it is one of a range of technological advances that are forcing changes in the operation of telecommunications systems, but it also presents opportunities for new sources of revenues and new ways to meet the demands of society. The Internet has become a tool for development, with its ability to facilitate the delivery of social services, disaster mitigation, and poverty relief. The Toolkit also finds that the move toward liberalization is likely to have a beneficial effect on Internet roll out, just as it has on basic service provision.

There are few examples of village kiosks or telecenters working well in terms of anancial self-sufaciency and economic impact on citizens in rural areas in South Asia. Reaching these twin goals of commercial proatability and economic empowerment is complex in rural settings. Here, it costs more to extend access to public infrastructure (roads, telecom, and power) and to social services (health, education, and government services) for low-density population distributed over sometimes difacult terrain than it does for high-density urban area dwellers. Lower income levels also mean service providers must accept lower average revenue per user. With few exceptions, the vast majority of pilot rural telecenters ananced in the 1990s by bilateral and multilateral donor agencies have not proven sustainable without long-term outside funding (Fillip & Foote, 2007). Despite the Tunis 2005 Commitment (WSIS, 2005) to bridge the digital divide, and despite all the good intentions of international organizations to overcome the digital divide and eliminate such traditional development problems as illiteracy and social inequalities, throughout the Africa and South Asia regions, most telecenters have been relegated to the “dustbin of history,” to borrow from Leon Trotsky. Competing models of telecenters, rural access points, and/or kiosks are already employed in India in states with quite distinct political economies, namely Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, and Karnataka, among others. Recent studies have looked closely at the kiosks currently functioning in the former two states (Kuriyan, Ray & Toyama, 2008; Kuriyan & Ray, 2007). The rural business kiosk project, known as Nemmadi in Karnataka, is worth highlighting for two reasons: (1) it is providing anancially viable rural kiosks that are realizing “development” beneats in terms of delivering government-to-citizen services (G2C) and business-to-citizen services (B2C); and (2) Nemmadi is increasing employability prospects through education and rural Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services. It is too early for a comprehensive impact analysis of the Nemmadi model, which was introduced in 2004, yet early indications are that this public-private partnership may distinguish itself in bringing network infrastructure, services, and job opportunities to “the bottom of the pyramid.” The Karnataka government facilitates the Nemmadi project as part of a build-own-operate (BOO) model. Nemmadi, meaning “peace of mind” in Kannada language, was coined by the Government of Karnataka. The role of the public sector is limited to providing data and strictly enforcing a competitively bid, consortium-based service level agreement (SLA) that has been established between the state government and the three Indian private sector companies: Comat Technologies, 3i Infotech, and n-Logue

The track record of sustainable e-Government initiatives in rural areas is short, complex and difficult to measure. It has already been 5 years since Richard Heeks's classic paper on e-Government, "Most e-Government-for-Development Projects Fail," came out. The paper claimed that 85% of e-Government projects in developing countries fail; out of which 35% are total failures, 50% are partial failures, and only 15% are successes. Soon thereafter, the World Bank reported in a "Task Managers' ICT Toolkit" that its sectoral based projects with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) components had an "alarmingly high failure rate", with 50% suffering disputes and 80% requiring contract amendments. It would seem that a lot of e-Government/ICT projects aimed at rural areas can waste precious resources that could be devoted to competing development needs. This panel is twofold. First, reasons of lack of sustainable e-Government initiatives in rural communities will be discussed. Second, successful projects presenting examples of good practices will be analyzed in order to summarize lessons to be learned.

Delivering Electronic Public Services (EPS) to rural areas presents scale-up challenges, such as the cost for extending access to public infrastructure and for providing social services to low density population. Rural business centers implemented in partnership with the public sector is a new and possible sustainable model for addressing these challenges. This paper presents some issues to be considered when planning and implementing rural business centers offering EPS.

This volume examines a wide range of issues related to e-development, with a focus on the requirements and realities of using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to advance development goals. This report defines the four chapters. Chapter one examines the limited data available on the impact of e-development at the macroeconomic level and reviews the major requirements of successful implementation of ICT-based development projects. Chapter two reviews the components of an enabling policy environment for e-development, including the need to facilitate the market penetration of personal computers to tap the full benefits of the information age. Chapter three explores the design of effective strategies for e-development, noting that they must be rooted in a nation's broader development strategy and utilizes rigorous monitoring and evaluation. Chapter four looks at the qualities of leadership needed to successfully implement e-strategies and features the observations of a number of individuals who have led e-development efforts in countries around the world.

Many developing countries are in the initial phases of adopting electronic government (e‐government) programs to improve public services and deliver them as efficiently and conveniently as possible. Our experience with a variety of governments throughout the developing world at different stages of implementing e‐government programs with citizens (G2C), businesses (G2B), and other entities of government (G2G) suggests that a major reason behind the success or failure of e‐government projects is the extent to which, first, the governments address technological infrastructure encouraged by appropriate telecommunications policies; and second, the legal and regulatory instruments required for e‐government. Information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure (the “I”) development is at the heart of successful deployment and sustainability of e‐government programs.

A growing number of small states are in the process of establishing ICT agencies to address information society issues of e‐government, e‐infrastructure, e‐industry, e‐learning, and e‐commerce. Some large countries are in the process of integrating telecommunications, IT, and broadcasting into a single ICT agency. This paper outlines the functional requirements for such an agency, and presents a range of international best practices for their focus and operation. The paper also suggests interim measures that can be taken before such agencies are legally established.

Looks at a reform, supported by a World Bank loan for technical assistance and equipment, by five member countries of the Organisation of East Caribbean States that are undergoing a unique experiment in telecommunications liberalization. Sums up that experience suggest this may be an awkward case to make, as there is mounting pressure to deregulate and open up telecommunications markets. Employs a table to emphasize service provider telephone rate reductions.

Nowadays, the role of information technology in education is being continuously tested in countries all over the world, each with their unique learning environment and culture. In Turkey, the Computer Experimental School (CES) project is a dynamic example of the country’s commitment to opening up educational opportunities to a wider population and accelerating the development of human capital to support the acquisition of a whole new set of twenty-first century skills. There is not much evidence that learning is significantly enhanced by the use of computing systems. The Turkish example discussed in this paper shows how the use of technology must be grounded in curriculum goals, integrated with subject-matter content, and how its introduction may unleash unexpected system-changing forces.

The focus of this report is on world wide experience and identification of factors which make for trade facilitation through successful application of information technology (IT). Economic advantages from best practice based on the use of electronic commerce in trade management and trade facilitation are described and several case studies referenced. The case studies cover national, industry and enterprise level experiences from several countries. An analysis of information and cargo flows in international trade accompanies a discussion of the efficiency of transport and logistics and the concept of IT based best practice, with particular emphasis on electronic commerce and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The opportunities for these technologies to open up world trade are considered, as are the technologies and services themselves. Barriers to use and participation are discussed and means by which these may be overcome. The task, time scales and costs involved in setting up and implementing a national initiative are identified, as are the potential revenue streams which accompany service provision, and the national benefits of such a program. A selection of national case studies is prefaced by a global review of participation in IT assisted trade facilitation and best practice. National case studies from Brazil, Hong Kong, Hungary, Singapore and Taiwan are followed by a status report of the World Bank's experience in this area, with particular reference to the Mauritius model. The summary contains a discussion of the main challenges and dangers resulting from technological disenfranchisement, followed by a comprehensive list of participating agencies and organizations.

Two themes run through the following analysis. First, countries without a relatively active and up-to-date software sector will find it increasingly difficult to "catch up" in terms of capital outlays, labor, skills, and the growing importance of technology changes, organization and management in software production. They will not have, for example, software management experience to undertake increasingly large and complex software development projects; a quality consciousness; and the institutional and support infrastructure for marketing and forming product development alliances with dominant international firms in the sector. Second, the learning curves for domestic and international market activities are quite different, the domestic software market being an important base for skills, experience and establishing a track record that may later be applied to exports. Two developing countries - India and Brazil - have used different development strategies for their software industries and, as could be expected, with disparate results. Both the Brazilian and the Indian software industries are trying to "walk on one leg," the domestic leg in the case of Brazil and the export leg in the case of India. Both countries have at least some potential for moving to a two-legged model. Assessment of these two industries suggests that countries need to pay more attention to domestic opportunities, since these have high returns in terms of gaining experience and innovation in software production, and provide training that allows a broadening of software exports.

Governments' agencies are the dominant information technology (IT) users in Africa. As in the developed countries, the returns of the use of IT are mixed. Analysis of 76 World Bank projects in Africa shows that government and aid agencies alike need to make more intensive efforts in the design of projects with IT components, taking into account clients' limited absorptive capacity. Specific examples of IT use show the core constraining factors to lie in limited human and organizational capabilities.