Abstract

Information is a key resource in sustaining and developing the lives of poor women and men.  Information and communication technologies  (ICTs) provide many opportunities for improving the flow of information to and from poor communities.  It has been postulated that emerging policy environments and the spread of new but cheaper methods of ICTs also make access to it more diffused and helps reduce poverty.  This is why programmes of universal access to ICTs is important.

Such programmes are shaped by government policies and by private sector provider strategies.  Yet empirical evidence on the nature and effects of such policies and strategies is lacking.  Further evidence is needed, which this project seeks to provide, focusing specifically on diffusion of ICTs to poor communities in the Philippines.

The project’s main objective is to assess the relevance and the impact of public policy and private strategy on access to ICTs within poor communities.  This assessment will focus on two particular gaps:

(1) the gap between policy/strategy as planned and policy/strategy as implemented;

(2) the gap between policy/strategy and the livelihoods and needs of poor communities. This will be assessed by interview, questionnaire, and focus group discussion at all levels: policy/strategy makers, implementers, and within two poor communities (one rural, one urban).

The project outputs will be two handbooks; one for those involved in government policy-making (policy-makers, advisers, and policy advocacy groups), one for strategy-planners in the private sector.  Handbooks will be disseminated to relevant community organisations (including those in the target communities) to assist them with advocacy work, project design and implementation.

Introduction

There are different views about the impact of information and communications technology (ICT) on development. On one hand, there are those who extol ICT’s virtues and see that it will spur more opportunities and increase development. There are also the more subdued who caution about ICTs widening the gap between the rich and the poor, and those who have access to information and those who don’t. The fear is that the fast pace of technological change could leave out the majority from the electronic flow of information (Neumann, 1992).  Last, there is also the view that ICTs are unnecessary ‘evils’ that negatively impact on the culture and lives of people.

Both the optimistic and the subdued views support the proposition that access to ICTs is crucial to development. It is argued that information technologies have become diffused “in all areas of human activity (and) is accelerating change in economies and society” (Gaudette, 1995 as cited in Bedi, 1999:1).  By subscribing to the view that ICTs expands opportunities, then the provision of ICT is clearly important. Giving access and making sure it is utilized is also crucial to prevent the expansion of the gaps between the rich and the poor.  On the other hand, the position that it is better to leave rural people without ICTs is criticized as being “myopic”, as it takes the assumption that people could not decide or think for themselves (Richardson, 2000).  Restating what was mentioned earlier, ICTs is about expanding people’s choices and not about making choices for them.

Universal Access

Assets are “the basic building blocks upon which households are able to undertake production, engage in labour markets, and participate in reciprocal exchanges with other households” (Ellis, 2000: 31).  In this respect ICTs are potential assets for development. They are crucial for accessing information, which in turn expands choices for which to base decisions and assist in poverty alleviation (Duncombe, 2001). While access to ICTs is not seen at the same level as access to water, electricity and education, it is nonetheless seen as a means for expanding opportunities (Prosser, 1997; World Bank, 1998).  Because of this, access to ICTs is now considered crucial in the development agenda of many countries. As such, one important facet in the regulation of the telecommunications industry is the task of providing universal service or access. Universal service is defined as “making affordable a defined minimum service of specified quality to all users at an affordable price ” (OFTEL Definition of Universal Service. Prosser, 2000:80). This definition essentially covers both physical access and affordability.   Universal access, in turn, is defined as “a situation where every person has a reasonable means of access to a publicly available telephone.  It may be provided through pay telephones, community telephone centres, teleboutiques, community internet access terminals and similar means” (Intven, et al., 2001). It has been postulated that emerging policy environments and the spread of new but cheaper methods of ICTs also make access to information more diffused and helps reduce poverty. This is why programmes of universal access to ICTs is important. Such programmes are shaped by government policies and by private sector provider strategies.  However, empirical evidence on the nature and effects of such policies and strategies is lacking, especially from developing countries. Further research is also needed to determine who uses these technologies and how its benefits are distributed (Bedi, 1999).

Implementation Gaps and Failure

The access to ICTs and its use is a function of the effectiveness in the implementation of policies and strategies to make this possible. This issue of implementation can be framed in two levels.  First is on the policy implementation level, and second is on the level of information systems and information needs of communities.

On Policy Implementation

Research Questions and Hypothesis

The main hypothesis this research looks into is the question of whether policies or strategies by the state and by corporations for providing universal telecommunications access is consistent with the needs and uses of the poor. 

Gaps in the design, system failure or implementation failure could arise in two fronts (Figure 1): between policy and implementation, and between household needs and policy implementation. The former assumes that the state has a good policy to begin with, or the firm has the right strategy, except that the policy or strategy is not implemented correctly.  The latter on the other hand, deals with the failure of policy or strategy due to poor design (because of wrong assumptions about the target group/client). Because the design is defective, its implementation is not achieving its desired outcome, ergo, policies are not responsive to the ICT needs of households. The research will focus more on the latter kind of implementation failure.  

Framework

Given the above hypothesis, the capabilities approach as espoused by Sen will be used to analyse the fit between policy and implementation.  According to Sen, “ if the object is to concentrate on the individual’s real opportunity to pursue her objectives (as Rawl’s explicitly recommends), then account would have to be taken not only of the primary goods the persons respectfully hold, but also of the relevant personal characteristics that govern the conversion of primary goods into the person’s ability to promote her ends” (Sen, 1999:74).  Based on this, the research will analyze whether given ICTs that are made accessible (i.e. public phones, call boxes, telecenters, cellular networks, Internet, etc.), are actually utilized by people to promote their ends, and explore capability sets (i.e. literacy, gender, illness, etc) that may be crucial for them to function.

Methodology

To test this hypothesis, three areas will be looked into.  First are the policies, views and perceptions of the state with regard to the problem. Second are the policies and strategies of private firms and corporations in providing public access.  Third would be capabilities, attitudes and practices, and importance placed by poor households on ICT.  The policies and views of the first two stakeholders will then be compared if they are consistent with the primary data collected from the households.

The particular ICT-models to be considered are the utilization of public calling offices or telecenters, the Internet and cellular networks in previously “un-serviced” areas.  Primary data will be collected through household surveys of two communities, one rural and one urban.  These will be complemented by focus group discussions (FGDs) with community members in the selected areas. Interviews will be conducted with key Philippine government officials from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).  Interviews will also be held with the management of all the major ICT providers (e.g. PLDT, SMART, Globe Telecom, BayanTel, etc.) and  consumer groups. Secondary data will also be collected to frame the Philippine situation in the context of trends in the industry and in other countries.  Secondary data will also be used in order to present the larger picture in terms of access to various ICT technologies from 1950 to the present.  This is to show whether the development of newer technologies has hastened the pace of access to un-served areas, or whether it has simply superseded areas already served by older technologies.   The IDPM’s Centre for Regulation and Competition (CRC) will provide inputs in the development of key issues and in designing the interview schedules.  The CRC will also contribute in the analysis of field data and on the final write-up of results by framing it in the context of related research being done in other areas of the world. 

Relevance of the project

The project’s main objective is to assess the relevance and the impact of public policy and private strategies on poor communities’ ability to access ICTs.  In particular, this means looking at how competition and regulatory policies and technological developments advance the pursuit of universal access to ICTs. This will fill an existing gap on the empirical evidence on the impact of ICTs, especially in developing countries. This study will also test whether access strategies, based on the assumption that technology, physical access and reduced cost due to competition provide the necessary ingredients for ensuring universal access. It investigates potential design-reality gaps and implementation failure that may result from this limited framework. It investigates the value local communities place on information and put social constraints at the heart of the universal access issue. The provision of a handbook that cover comprehensive issues, strategies and models on access to ICTs will hopefully lead to better policies, better implementation of ICT programs and greater impact in poor communities.  This will put ICT’s place in development into a better perspective. 

Project Beneficiaries

The main intended beneficiaries of this project will be:

1. Poor communities who are in dire need of access to information and communication technologies
2. Government Regulatory Officials and Policy-makers who are interested in improving universal access to ICTs given the rapidly changing nature of the industry.
3. Corporate Strategic Planners who are interested in tapping potential markets in marginalized communities
4. Local Government Units and Community Organizations who want to use ICTs in development projects.  

Project Outputs

The physical outputs of the research will be:

1. Handbooks on Universal Access to ICTs. The handbook that will be useful for policy-makers, strategists and planners in designing comprehensive models and policies for the universal access to ICTs.  Handbooks will also be made available to local government units (LGUs) and community organizations because the success of any community intervention relies heavily in the participation of users and beneficiaries.  This will be useful in the design, implementation, and advocacy of ICT projects at the local-level.  
2. An interim research paper that analyses preliminary findings from the project.  This will be presented in an International Conference on Governance to be held in November 2002 in the Philippines.  
3. A final research report and paper including: a summary of interim research issues and recommendations on universal access strategies and policies.  

Research Timetable (Refer to Gantt Chart in Annex)