Full Text of the speach:
Global fight against poverty or global access to information and communication?
The position of German development policy
ILF – International Learntec Forum, Baden-Baden, 9-13 Feb. 2004
Keynote speech by
Mr. Bernd Schleich – Managing Director InWEnt GmbH
Distinguished Parliamentary Secretary,
Honourable Madam Mayor,
my colleagues from UNESCO and UNEVOC,
ladies and gentlemen,
First I would like to thank the conference organisers, Professors Sommer and Beck, for the opportunity to give the keynote address on such an interesting topic:
„Global fight against poverty or global access to information and communication?”
It is, no doubt, an exciting title, but one that I cannot allow to stand without one important correction.
The fundamental question is not whether to combat poverty OR have access to information and communications technology, or I.C.T. Rather the question is, can we combat poverty WITH ICT?
For what we are speaking of here is the global fight against poverty, and technology has an important role to play in that.
We are speaking of actions, results and examples that have already proven successful in that context.
And we are here to ask the question: "can we combat poverty with technology?"
The secretary general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, gave prominence to the subject of "IT and development" in his programme-oriented "millennium speech", when he spoke of the digital divide between the industrialised and the developing countries.
He stated that:
“There are more computers in the USA than in the rest of the world combined. There are as many telephones in Tokyo as in all Africa (...)”.
The secretary general was emphatic in demanding that the Southern hemisphere be integrated into the continuing digital revolution; that all people have access to information and communication technology.
Kofi Annan's millennium speech was the impetus for the vast funds that are currently being made available to enable the developing world to participate in the evolving global information society.
A cooperative project launched in August of 2001 by the World Bank and the Australian government, the virtual Colombo plan alone has made a large volume of financing available for ICT development in developing countries. World Bank President James Wolfensohn has brought a high degree of commitment to the task of getting other governments to participate in the programme.
The Japanese government is also providing support for ICT development in the developing countries with its Comprehensive Development Package.
Other positive examples of World Bank IT initiatives in and for the developing countries are the set-up of the Global Development Learning Network, the African Virtual University and the Global Gateway.
Germany is also involved in numerous initiatives, among them the G8 Dot Force, or Digital Opportunity Task Force.
With strong participation from the German side, the task force was able to develop an action programme to bridge the digital divide - the Genoa Plan of Action, endorsed at the G8 summit in 2001.
In general, the German government bundles its development programmes under the umbrella "Aktionsprogramm, or Action Programme, 2015".
With this programme, Germany has committed itself to actively working to cut world poverty in half, thereby contributing to the implementation of the United Nations' millennium goals.
The German government feels bound by those Millennium Development Goals, or MDG, guiding principles that are the key to building a bridge between the fight against poverty and the widespread use of ICT.
The eighth millennium goal is to "develop a global partnership for development", further defined as to "make available the benefits of new technologies—especially information and communications technologies". This, of course, also applies to the fight against poverty, as stated in the first goal.
The German Minister for economic cooperation and development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, has outlined a clear course of action to combat poverty.
In the Action Programme 2015, she stated:
"Fighting poverty means changing structures, so that the poor have a chance at a humane and dignified life. The fight against poverty means enabling them to make use of their political and civil rights. It means opening up economic opportunity for them, and helping them achieve social justice."
The minister has defined the fight against poverty as the "structural fight against poverty", which goes far beyond alleviating daily need in developing countries.
Poverty does not just mean scant income. It also means scant chances to participate in political and social life, increased risk of danger, disregard of human dignity and human rights and a lack of access to resources.
Fighting poverty structurally means not distributing alms, but helping the poor to develop their productive and creative skills.
That is why the German government supports the efforts of the low and middle income countries to devise and implement national, participative, strategies to combat poverty (PRSP - Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers). The PRSPs represent an integrated approach that requires the involvement of all state and non-governmental organisations, and therefore the involvement of society. ICT play an important role in this, as the most efficient tools for communication between the constituents.
Among the approaches and strategies that I have mentioned in brief here, it is the goal of the German government, in addition to other initiatives, to put modern information technology at the service of the structural fight against poverty.
The head of the relevant department at the federal ministry calls ICT an "enabler". ICT applications fulfil an important cross-referencing function. They "... serve to achieve goals like the modernisation of government and the economy, improving health care and providing better educational and training opportunities more effectively, at lower cost and more sustainably".
The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development supplies aid of 180 million euros to support developing countries in introducing ICT infrastructure and applications.
Everyone involved in Action Programme 2015 - the government, industry, private citizens, the organisations responsible for implementing the plan and all the others - is fully aware that modern information technology is not an easy answer to everything, but can make many things function more efficiently.
Given that limitation, the new technology can, however, greatly contribute to improving the quality of life in developing countries.
ICT can be particularly useful in providing tools for the following:
Access to information and education
Participation in an increasingly digital, global economy
Participation in inter-regional and international knowledge networks
Promoting civil rights
To elaborate:
Increased participation by developing countries in global trade can only happen with their integration into the digital economic network;
Developing effective education systems requires massive digital support, at least in the training and further education of teachers, in developing curricula and in providing teaching materials.
The ambitious goal of providing basic schooling to 130 million children by the year 2015 can only be achieved with the help of technology.
An integration of developing countries into the emerging international knowledge networks is increasingly within reach. And finally, building strong societies with rule of law requires international communication and the exchange of information via the world wide web.
In this context, it is important to remember that the basic pre-requisites of infrastructure for the use ICT are available to the developing countries. A massive effort by the developing countries and considerable support from the industrialised world means that today, every developing country has Internet access.
However, that does not mean all problems have been solved:
Connection speeds in developing countries are slow, Internet access is often too expensive and rural areas do not yet have access at all. Experience shows that, while in Asia it is often governmental institutions that have limited access, in Africa, it is the private sector that is likely to be excluded.
It's important to realise that technical solutions for all these problems are available and can be implemented in the near future.
This does not mean that every last rural hut or cabin will, or should, have a computer. But it does mean that an easy-to-use, centrally-located telecenter with Internet access should be available within a reasonable distance.
InWEnt, a venture formed by the merger of the Carl Duisberg Society (CDG) and the German Foundation for International Development (DSE), is aggressively taking on those challenges:
Together with the GTZ, the association for technical cooperation and the KfW development bank, InWEnt has focussed in particular on the issue of "education and knowledge".
This means education and knowledge in a broad spectrum of different fields:
from health to agriculture, from economics to technology, and from modern administration to further training.
Approximately 40,000 participants avail themselves each year of the educational opportunities provided by InWEnt in the form of traditional courses, seminars and workshops. Another 10,000 or more take part in virtual programmes supported by the Internet.
Our work is directed primarily at training people from developing countries; people who can then initiate and implement development processes in their respective countries, institutions and companies based on a solid foundation of knowledge and experience. We target "capacity building" and we believe that "capacity building" always begins with people.
ICT has played a decisive role in the course of those important tasks for many years. In that time, we have noticed significant changes:
While in the 1990s, the emphasis was on technology issues - hardware, software, networks and connectivity - the demands have clearly changed:
A survey of developing countries by our specialised department shows that access and active participation in Internet-supported "knowledge networks" is extremely important.
Those networks comprise education, health, science, civil rights and the economy.
How do we explain these results?
Let me clarify using an example from industry:
Important trade and financial streams are organised these days over digital networks. In the economies of industrialised countries, there is an increasing reference to "extended enterprises" - the digital networking of companies, suppliers and service providers.
Therefore, the capacity to actively participate in those networks becomes a high-priority strategic issue for the developing countries.
I would like to go so far as to suggest that opening up Northern markets to Southern products, and further implementation of World Trade Organisation plans, only provide new prospects for the developing countries if, simultaneously, their access to data and information networks is guaranteed.
Sociologist Manuel Castells formulated this concept quite simply:
“Be in the network, and you can share and, over time, increase your chances. Be out of the network, or become switched off, and your chances vanish, since everything that counts is organised around a world wide web of interacting networks.”
The central challenges facing the development community today are participation in international knowledge networks and access to education and training.
I would like to underline this by presenting a few best practice examples:
Best practise example 1: developing commercial networks
With the support of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation, InWEnt has, in recent years, launched a large business oriented network in Southern Africa, which covers seven SADC countries. More than 30 institutions and companies are already taking part in the network, called it@ab, or Information Technology in African Business.
Across the network, "movers and shakers" in information technology from across Africa cooperate: university computing centres, Internet service providers, Internet application providers, training institutions, IT consulting firms, but also organisations for the promotion of trade.
The participating institutions are organised at the national level, use the network for cross-regional cooperation and develop international contacts. They advise and train small businesses in introducing IT systems, and implement local e-business projects.
The network not only adopts and localises international knowledge, but also brings the flow of local knowledge into international networks.
InWEnt promotes the build-up of know-how on the network and ensures standards of quality.
With these tools, the it@ab network can have a widespread effect, and can open the doors for the region's companies and institutions to international networks; to invitations for tender and cooperation; to regional and international commerce.
There has been a very positive response in the international debate over "ICT and development" to this initiative to stimulate and set-up knowledge networks in the Southern hemisphere.
In the context of the "Third Impoverty World Conference" of the United Nations last year, it@ab activities in Soweto were honoured as a "best practice example for ICT in rural development". And the Tanzanian Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete recently underlined the important contribution the network had made to the implementation of the SADC trade protocol.
Spurred by the encouraging results of that network, we are currently organising similar initiatives in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. We will report on those efforts at the next ILF.
My first example was based on activities designed to build capacity in the region. I would like to present two additional successful initiatives that intensify virtual global cooperation and establish e-learning as a lasting method of capacity building.
Best practise example 2: Global Campus 21
"Global Campus 21" is InWEnt's virtual platform - a knowledge portal for international advanced training and cooperation - that provides German development work with new impetus and opportunities in capacity building.
A presentation later this morning will explain Global Campus 21 in greater detail. At this point, I would simply like to address the basic concept of the campus.
The campus is a platform for virtual cooperation and e-learning. It fosters North-South dialogue, but in particular, it also supports South-South dialogue. Since its inception in 2000, the absolute number of participants has grown to almost 20,000. More than 70 percent of those come from developing countries.
Proof of the high demand generated in this field are the more than 400 e-learning opportunities, virtual workspaces, web conferences and follow-up and discussion forums available.
At this point, I would like to explicitly point out that Global Campus 21 is available for use by anyone who is interested, including other development organisations. Numerous partner organisations from developing countries, as well as the German Development Service and the GTZ already make use of the opportunities it affords.
In order to reinforce the effects of virtual cooperation and e-learning, we are currently establishing regional satellite campuses. For instance, just a few weeks ago in Vietnam, where a self-administered campus was set up with the country's largest Internet service provider, "Vietnam Datacommunications Company", in cooperation with the "Vietnam Country Gateway". It is the start of a future network of learning and cooperation that will span the region. Similar projects are planned for the SADC region, as well as for Central America and the Middle and Eastern European states.
Best practise example 3: World Chat
And now one final example.
As outlined at the beginning, general structural measures are particularly important in alleviating poverty. And those measures must take effect early on. By early on, I mean at a young age, when young people have the future before them and can play an active role in helping to create our future.
This was clearly demonstrated at last year's GTZ conference in Eschborn. In contrast to us, the older generation, children and young people today grow up with globalisation and ICT networking.
An example of this at the conference was the dialogue project called "Chat der Welten", or "World Chat", a cooperative project of InWEnt and the European "Climate Alliance", national school boards and institutions and, of course, numerous schools.
One goal of the pilot project "World Chat" was to draw attention to the links between the exploitation of oil resources and the problems it creates for people and the environment in the Amazon region, as well as to our own consumer lifestyle that is associated with it.
In numerous multi-lingual online conferences, young people from the Amazon region and Germany entered into intense discussions with representatives of indigenous organisations, the oil industry and governments. The aim was for the young people to hammer out their own viewpoint, which they did. The results can be seen on the project's web site.
It is not only we from InWEnt who consider these projects right and important, but also the organisers of the educational market "millennium goal poverty reduction", the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the relevant departments in Germany's state governments. They honoured the project as an example of successful cooperation between non-governmental organisations in development and state educational work.
For this reason, we intend to continue and further develop the "World Chat" concept, a worldwide dialogue between young people and representatives of government and industry.
Within the context of the "millennium goal poverty reduction", additional issues have been worked on for that arena. For instance: protection of natural resources and water use. The next series of dialogues is slated to start in just a few weeks.
As I wrap up my remarks, I would like to touch briefly upon the "World Summit of the Information Society".
I would like to summarise my remarks today using some presentations made at the world summit.
The world summit was intended to define the conditions that allow the developing countries’ fair participation in the evolving information society.
And it was intended to contribute to bridging the digital divide between industrial and developing countries.
Those goals need to be viewed in tandem with the "structural measures to combat poverty". In fact, more than that - they are an important part of those structural measures.
As I have said, there are no easy solutions. However, the information and communications technologies, and with them in particular then the operators of information and communications networks, face the task of ensuring open global access to unbiased information, and therefore to knowledge.
Whatever structural measures are undertaken, it will take financing to implement them. One of the demands put forth at the world summit was a "Digital Solidarity Fund". A decision on that was postponed until 2005 at the world summit in Tunis. One of the reasons presented for the delay by the donor nations was that there are already numerous financing packages and programmes (as mentioned at the beginning).
The question is, will those packages and programmes be enough? Where does the future of development financing lie - in the public or the private sector? And does that mean that non-disadvantaged areas or commercially unattractive regions will be neglected?
I don't intend to take up that discussion here, but I would like to examine the term "digital solidarity".
The world summit showed that what's important for developing countries is equal opportunity in access to the information society - the dismantling of barriers to access - and, in particular, participation in moulding the information society.
"Good governance" as a structural measure has an important role to play here. But not just "good governance" in developing countries, also a global "good governance" that takes "digital solidarity" seriously.
To that end, we need a joint effort, by governmental as well as non-governmental organisations, by the governments of the North as well as the South, and by the private sector. Only such an effort can guarantee access for all to the information society and make a structural contribution to reducing poverty.
I would like to close with a quote from Bruno Lanvin, head of the World Bank's infoDev programme:
„Poverty, limited growth, and inequality in developing countries are not simply the result of uneven access to material and financial resources. Persistent poverty, at both an individual and societal level, has deeper and more systemic roots. The material deprivations of the poor are compounded by their lack of access to education, information and knowledge, their lack of voice in the institutions and societal processes that shape their lives, and their inability to communicate effectively their needs, hopes, and expectations to those who have control over them.“ (Bruno Lanvin, infoDev, Annual Report 2002)
Thank you for your attention!
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