Donor ICT Strategies Matrix CD-ROM: Introduction, Analysis, Note, and Acknowledgements

I. Introduction and Acknowledgements - II. Quantative and Qualitative Analysis - III. Note on Donors' Strategies and Practices

I. Introduction and Acknowledgements

This OECD-DAC Donor Information and Communication Technologies Strategies Matrix CD-Rom presents the latest information on how bilateral and multilateral donors have mainstreamed information and communication technologies (ICT) in their development assistance programmes in order to more effectively and efficiently achieve development goals, particularly the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This new compilation exercise builds on two previous ones: the first was conducted jointly by the OECD-DCD and IDRC in February 2001, the second was carried out by the OECD-DCD in February 2003. This latest version, prepared as a contribution to the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), is not only updated, it is also enriched with the inclusion of a large number of strategy papers and other related documents.

We would like to thank bilateral and multilateral donors who have responded to the questionnaire and/or provided information to feed into the matrix. Collection of information, analysis and presentation provided by Benoît d’Ansembourg working with Ichiro Tambo, Amanda Gautherin, Brian Hammond and Marc Tocatlian (OECD/DCD). The original concept and framework of the matrix was developed by Nancy Smyth of IDRC, to whom we are grateful.

II. Quantative and Qualitative Analysis

In the course of this new information compilation exercise, fourteen bilateral donors and fifteen multilateral donors provided new or updated contributions. As a result, the Matrix now contains information for all twenty-three DAC Members and twenty-five multilateral agencies. Twelve bilateral donors and seven multilateral donors prepared a detailed response to the questionnaire while twenty-three bilateral donors and twenty-three multilateral donors filled in the sample output matrix. Information for two multilateral agencies was completed by the Secretariat using the World Wide Web.

As in February 2003, this review focuses on bilateral and multilateral donors. Lack of time and resources did not permit extending the scope of the compilation exercise to other actors such as foundations and non-governmental organisations.

The survey findings reaffirm the trends identified in the February exercise:

The vast majority of donors recognise the potential of ICT as a catalyst for socio-economic development but not all of them have reached the same stage in using ICT to help meet development objectives. While some are planning to develop new ICT strategies, others have already used ICT for years and have drawn lessons from their past experience.
In all cases, donors put ICT to the service of the achievement of their broader strategic objectives in a number of development sectors (health, education, e-Commerce, e-Government, etc.). The focus is on meeting objectives not on technology per se.
Achieving the MDGs, particularly poverty reduction, is a frequently cited objective underpinning most donor ICT strategies. These strategies aim at creating an inclusive information society with special attention paid to underserved regions including least developed countries (LDCs) and vulnerable populations.
Most donors have built their ICT for development strategy on partnerships involving a number of actors from other bilateral and multilateral agencies, ministries (communication, education…), civil society, the private sector, universities and research institutions in both developed and developing countries.
Lessons learned include:
- Sustainable ICT projects need to be locally owned and accompanied by human capacity development.
- Capacity in effectively using ICT for development is often the main constraint, not equipment.
- The private sector is instrumental in expanding ICT for development access and applications.
- Governments play a key role in establishing a well-regulated, competitive enabling environment for ICT to flourish.
- For ICT to have a positive development impact, the various social groups must have equal access to them, particularly disadvantaged groups such as the poor, children, and indigenous people.
- Many important aspects of information and communication infrastructure are cross-border in nature, and therefore require international/regional co-operation.

Although this updated matrix provides more financial data on projects and programmes than the one prepared in February, it is still difficult to come up with an overall figure of the investment agencies have made in the field of ICT for development. The reasons for this remain the same as before. First, the ICT component of projects is neither separately identifiable or quantified; second, the partial coverage and mix of multi-year commitments in the information provided to the OECD-DCD makes estimates difficult; finally, as many initiatives are built on partnerships it is hard to reconcile specific contributions made by various partners.

III. Note on Donors' Strategies and Practices

This note is an attempt to highlight some practices donors have used to integrate ICT into their development assistance programmes. It does not claim to cover all aspects of this evolving issue. It has three main objectives: first, to share donors’ experience with the ICT4D community; second, to promote the discussion among ICT4D actors; finally, to identify good practices that could be replicated by other donors.

Donor practices in integrating ICT were studied from two main perspectives:

A. Policy/Strategy Focus
B. Organisational Set-up

A. Policy/Strategy Focus

A.1. Poverty Reduction Alignment

A number of donors have integrated ICT where and when technology can serve as an effective catalyst to help reduce poverty. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly eradicating extreme poverty, is a key objective underpinning the ICT strategy of several donors, notably the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries.

Box1. Integrating ICT in Donor Strategies: The DFID Experience

Several bilateral and multilateral donor organisations have sought in the past few years to move beyond an ad hoc and experimental approach to ICT to a systematic approach that focuses on mainstreaming ICT across all sectors of their work and in their approach to development and poverty reduction more broadly.

One example of these efforts is the strategy paper published by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in January 2002. The paper, "The Significance of Information and Communication Technologies for Reducing Poverty" proposed an approach to "mainstreaming" ICT in development programmes that was distinctive in two ways.

First, the paper focused on the information, communication and knowledge-related aspects of persistent poverty, and the impact of "information-poor environments" not only on the daily lives and livelihoods of the poor but on the institutions (government bureaucracies, markets, education and health care institutions) that affect them. This approach provides a lens for understanding the information and communication dimensions of a broad range of problems facing developing countries, and thus a way to target ICT more effectively to address those problems.

Second, the paper argues that ICT-for-development programmes must be understood as subordinate to, and in service to the pursuit of, the Millennium Development Goals. Thus, the benchmark against which these programmes should be measured is not the increase in access to ICT but the impact of those ICT on progress toward realising the MDGs.

A.2. Focus on Knowledge Sharing

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) defines “Knowledge for Development (KD) as integrating into development programs the ability of beneficiaries to access, utilize, and disseminate information and knowledge”. CIDA has been active in this field since the late 1980’s. Knowledge is a key factor for poverty reduction and development as demonstrated in CIDA’s strategy paper entitled “CIDA’s Strategy on Knowledge for Development through Information and Communication Technologies”, February 2003.

In June 1997, Canada and the World Bank hosted the first Global Knowledge Conference, which was the first conference of its kind to address Information Age challenges facing developing countries and the international community. The conference led to the creation of the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), a worldwide network committed to harnessing the potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) for sustainable and equitable development.

A.3. Focus on Sectors

Some donors have adopted a broad comprehensive approach with no specific sectoral focus, while others have specialised in a particular sector. A good example of this is Italy with the “Italian Initiative of e-Government for Development” which was officially launched in April 2002.

The Italian e-Government Initiative focuses on government-to-government know-how transfer, particularly on the “Big Picture” of designing and implementing e-Government programmes and on how to pull together all the elements of an e-Government programme. The initiative, organised in co-operation with several international partners, takes a three-step approach: pre-assessment of needs; feasibility studies/pilot projects; and implementation of full-scale projects. Areas of intervention include public accounting, government Intranet development, e-Government national strategies, land registry, online tax reporting and payment, and statistical systems.

The Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (Sida) focuses on the key issues of infrastructure and competence development for universities in Africa and Asia. For more information, see Sida’s paper “ICT – Transforming the World by Transforming Universities”, July 2002.

The Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation (NORAD) focuses on capacity building in developing countries especially in Africa through networking institutions (e.g. universities, ministries). Priority areas for ICT integration in this regard are:

Institutional development
Knowledge and human resource development
Promotion of co-operation between institutions in the South or between institutions in the North and South on different aspects of ICT as a tool for development.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Germany’s Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) have a clear focus on infrastructure development, particularly telecommunications projects.

B. Organisational Set-up

B.1. Organisational Mandate

Among development agencies, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada is the one that devotes the highest share of resources – with over one third of the budget – to research on ICT4D issues. IDRC’s mandate, as stated in the “International Development Research Centre Act 1970” is:

“To initiate, encourage, support, and conduct research into the problems of the developing regions of the world and into the means for applying and adapting scientific, technical, and other knowledge to the economic and social advancement of those regions.”

This mandate has served as the root for the Centre’s emphasis on ICT for development. IDRC’s innovative forward thinking initiated in 1970 remains a source of great inspiration for ICT4D practitioners today. IDRC prefers to be called a “partner” rather than a “donor” when reference is made to the Centre’s mandate.

B.2. Organisational mechanism to support the field

USAID’s primary investments in ICT are made directly through its worldwide network of field missions. These investments are typically part and parcel of broader programmatic investments in such areas as health, democracy, agriculture, economic growth, and the environment. USAID in Washington plays a supporting role, offering technical advice and promoting ICT implementations in field programmes.

Box2. Focusing on the field – The U.S. experience in Mali

Building on the vision provided by the “Africa Leland Initiative”, the United States Government has launched pilot projects for the use of Internet technology for development in 22 countries of Africa. Among the first was that of Mali, for which the national Internet gateway, its framework legislation and regulations, and a range of technical assistance and training have been funded since 1996 by the Leland team and the USAID mission in Bamako.

The Washington-based Leland team played the role of initiator and resource link at the level of Internet technology and the USAID mission sought to adapt the technology as a development tool to the specific field conditions found in Mali. The Mali mission created a small “Communication for Development” team around the concept of “accelerating development by making information accessible through innovative communication techniques and appropriate tools”. As USAID evolved its thinking along these lines, it quickly made the logical next link from Internet to the far more widespread communication tool of rural radio and moved to integrate both technologies across the USAID portfolio, which included objectives in economic growth, health, education and democracy.

Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, has responded enthusiastically to the development opportunities offered by international Internet access. USAID’s ability to harness this demand depended on its strong local capacity within the mission. Effective use of new communication technology required an understanding of local realities and the targeting of support for (frequently small) activities that supported the concept of “accelerating development”. This also has permitted the resources of Leland and USAID to be flexibly shaped around the evolving needs of local development, rather than upstream supply side considerations. Specific attention, from the beginning, to the sustainability of this effort caused the local team to avoid unduly expensive hardware or construction, and to emphasise local organisational structures and partnerships that are sensitive to issues of recurrent cost and sustainability. The rural radio link is opening up use of the information highway to the majority of Malians living in rural areas without electricity and other modern infrastructure. USAID now believes that, within five years, an astonishing 95% of Malians will have access to a local radio station broadcasting in their local language.

B.3. Organisational restructuring

Integrating the new ICT4D component within existing development assistance programmes imposes a number of modalities that in most cases include institutional restructuring. Examples include:

B.3.1. Outsourcing

The Dutch Government expressly decided not to build up expensive expertise within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself but to create a specialised independent organisation.

Box3. The Netherlands’ Experience

The Netherlands was among the first countries to realize the potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) for development. At that stage, the key issue was to see how to integrate this potential into the Dutch Directorate General for International Co-operation (DGIS) programmes. Instead of creating a specialised division within DGIS, the Minister for Development Co-operation decided in 1996 to adopt a different approach by establishing an independent non-profit organisation called the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD).

The rationale behind this decision was two fold. First, by setting up an independent, external, more flexible structure, the Minister’s intention was to encourage the founding of public-private partnerships to effectively harness the potential of ICT for socio-economic development. Second, the Institute was designed to be a “carrier of best practices” and an “international disseminator of experience” learned at field level.

The result is that in less than ten years, IICD has become a well-respected expert in using ICT as catalysts in demand-led, locally owned projects. Furthermore, the organisation has excelled in forging complementary strategic partnerships with a number of actors in both developed and developing countries: IICD has multiplied its sources of funding involving new bilateral donors (SDC, DFID, CIDA), though DGIS currently remains the main contributor; IICD works with a number of non-profit organisations (e.g. Cordaid and Hivos); the private sector has provided expertise to strengthen the Institute’s knowledge base; and last but not least, IICD works with a network of local partners in each of its country programmes.

B.3.2. Creation of a New Division

The Swiss Agency for Development Co-operation (SDC) created a new “ICT for Development Division” (ICT4D), which is the Focal Point of SDC and the Swiss Government regarding ICT for development. The Division supports networks and organisations with a focus on strengthening the institutional and organisational basis for effective use of ICT, strengthening the voice of developing countries and disadvantaged communities in the global policy dialogue, empowering local networks and organisations, and facilitating South-South co-operation through local knowledge and content. The Division supports ICT4D mainly through multi-stakeholder partnerships as well as through multilateral institutions and initiatives. It also has organised a large ICT4D Platform as a parallel event to the WSIS. The ICT4D Division co-operates with the SDC operational divisions and field offices through ICT4D Focal Points, focusing on mainstreaming ICT4D as a cross-cutting component. For more details, please visit the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site.

B.3.3. Creation of an Inter-Directorate Type Mechanism

ICT can serve as a catalyst in several development sectors. Instead of establishing a new Division which could have led to in house competition, Sweden's Sida created an ICT for Development Secretariat which oversees ICT4D activities throughout the organisation.

B.3.4. Creation of a Task Force

The Japanese aid agencies faced a different type of challenge at the G8 Kyushu-Okinawa Summit where the Japanese Government announced a comprehensive co-operation package for bridging the digital divide consisting of non-ODA (Other Official Flows) and ODA public funding worth a total of 15 billion USD over five years.

In order to implement this package in a timely and effective manner both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and JICA opted for the creation of Task Forces that involved relevant officers from various divisions/departments. In contrast to the costly, time consuming establishment of a formal Division, the applied approach provided flexibility and efficiency.

Concluding Remarks

Technology is by nature not static, but an ever-evolving field that is difficult to keep pace with. Donors who want to use ICT to help meet their development objectives face a number of difficulties in effectively and efficiently integrating ICT within their programmes. As this brief note has shown, it appears that there is no “one size fits all” solution. Donors have opted for a variety of organisational set-ups based on their own institutional arrangements, as well as policy/strategy focused on their own priorities. In order not to continually reinvent the wheel, it is important to share good practices and lessons learned with other donors, particularly newcomers in the field of ICT for development.

This note is a snapshot of current practice. It is a living document. Your feedback and comments are most welcome.