Poll Comments - New Technologies #1 Priority for Funders
This poll was conducted March 2-14, 2002:
Supporting investments in the new technologies by organisations working "on-the-ground" should be the number one communication priority for funders.
Do you agree? Disagree? Unsure?
| AGREE | DISAGREE |
AGREE
"Efficient communication facilated by state of the art technology enhances organizational performace specially those who are in the frontliners" [Philippines]
"I confess to being biased. I live in the UK and represent a digital bridge community development project in Nigeria. The committee there need internet access. At present they cannot access or exchange information effectively on behalf of the development project. They have a plan to achieve this in a sustainable way - a way that will fund itself, and possibly generate additional income for other projects. Instead of simply trying to establish an administrative office where they could have internet access they plan to open a telecentre (in an urban area where demand for email services exceeds supply and where there is local expertise). They plan to use part of this telecentre as their office. They say that all they need to get started is eight to ten computers (recycled would do) and around £2,000 to pay for two years rent in advance and furnishings etc for the premises. They do not have this money yet, but it is hardly more than petty cash or expense accounts to some projects. The expertise they will get in running the centre, and the information access they will have will prepare them for the next stage of the project - which involves setting up a Community Digital Information Centre in a rural area. This centre will later co-ordinate ten Community Digital Information Centres and a Community Radio Service. Providing the committee with the resources they need to get started, plus someone to monitor and evaluate the project so that others could learn from their learning curve, would surely be a good investment for a funding agency. It is worth noting that the people involved in this project are mature respected community leaders. For details see http://www.cawd.info" [UK]
"It gives the people a immediate platform to voice and access information and thus be at the cutting edge of being contributors and developers of their own destiny rather than receivers and dependables who are driven by the goals and dreams of others - slaves!!!." [India]
"But these local organisations and information needs should be in the driving seat right from the start." [Netherlands]
"Monitoring and evaluation should be a prequisite for any such project ( and its funding)." [UK]
"More realistic approach..." [Tanzania]
"There is a never before opportunity to bring the information of the world to the world. Moving to counter poverty starts with moving against ignorance and fear." [USA]
"Without investigations in the new techs on-the-ground there would be several probabilities to fail, in a changing world. I´m very fond of making a "pilot test", first. We have to take a real spiritual, cultural, material contact with facts after any kind of hypothesis and before financial initiatives." [Argentina]
"Too much money is lost by working through governments and organisations not connected to "real people with real problems". The majority of funds need now to go to building infrastructure and training people and far less into the endless research projects that seem to swallow the available funds and produce no improvement in the lives of the people the funds are supposed to benefit." [ ]
"It is a great and cost-saving way to make the vast potential of local knowledge directly available to the complex development arena." [Bhutan]
"Very necesary for sustainable development and reduce poverty." [Bolivia]
"Communication can only be really effective if the "audience" is provided with the means (facilities & services) to improve personal & community life. Funding of technologies at local level would also prove that programme agencies are genuine in their "communicated" promise to enable people to work for a better life." [ ]
"As Head of Fundraising for an independent commercial company, I can provide extremely cost effectvie results for our charity and not for profit clients through the use and better use of new technologies. By using such technologies I am able to keep fundraiaing costs as low as possible and return the maximum to our not for profit sector clients." [UK]
"It is the best tool to communicate & have awwareness for the issues that affect the nature." [Jordan]
"I hope it might be very wise for the funders to invest in organisations working on the ground, because these are the poeple who understand the problems facing the poeple and they understand the ways how to solve thier problems. If needed be local community leaders should be also involved." [Kenya]
"I agree because I see that there is very little funding for organizations working on the ground for ICT development and lot of exercise on impact evaluation of new ICT especially Internet. The Internet has been with us only in the past few years and has hardly begun in many of the areas that impact assessment studies are being made. Investment first must be made on ICT and then only can its impact be assessed." [The Netherlands]
"Instead of producing fully predeternimed and wide programs, governments and multilateral agencies would be better inspired in defining flexible schemes to support real grassroot initiatives." [ ]
"Given that Information is a key resource in transforming communities across multi-culturalenvironment and again that the globaleconomy is knowledge based it is imperative to fund innovative Information and Communication Technologies proposal that want to explore Information and Communication Technologies to tranform their societies especvially those dealing witth using information to empower rural population with emphasis on gender desparaties. Today it said information and information technology itself has come to stay and therfore may be it is the new gateway to building new and free communities that can use information as a transformative tool." [Botswana]
DISAGREE [top]
"Education and health should be the number one priorities." [USA]
"I think radio is the most important medium, and is still quite underused." [USA]
"The No. 1 communication priority for funders should be the integration of communications planning into "on the ground" programs to enable managers to select and use the most appropriate communications mix; many agencies are simply throwing money at ICT-based approaches, many of which are solutions looking for problems. After several decades of crying in the wilderness, disciples of Erskine Childers and other pioneers are beginning to see a turn-around as planning officers in development agencies have become more aware of the benefits to be had in enhanced impact by integrating communications elements from the start; but much of the impetus is coming from the bedazzelment of the technology. Let's not compound previous mistakes by ignoring the need to integrate the communications planning at the very start!" [Canada]
"I do not think it is the technological support that is needed. It much more than that. People need to empowered throgh transfer of skills and knowledge first and then they can best avail the technoogical support." [Pakistan]
"There are far more important issues! Terrorism is not a development issue. Your question appears very loaded & leading - as a researcher I object to shoddy efforts like this being passed off as "research". Please advise me of the results & how the data is intended to be used." [South Africa]
"Supporting investments need to be strategically placed. People working "on-the-ground" should be listened to with great attention when deciding where money can best be placed. Funding agencies need to set their priorities but they should focus on broad goals and not a specific means. Technology is one tool that can be applied to improve the broader goal of communications." [USA]
"Support for capacity building of on the ground orgs. should be #1. New technology should only be in the service of bringing more atention and support to grassroots orgs." [USA]
"technology especially ICT is creating ever more inequities bith among and within countries - communication is not only made up of the medium and we seem overly focused on that as we get into technology." [ ]
"Technology is not the problem in devcom. Even good old steam radio has not been systematically used to help promote change and development. The real problems lie in the attitudes and priorities of those planning and implementing development activities. The only exception that I would make is that investmwent in community media, particularly radio, is important." [Colombia/Italy]
"Supporting investments in communication, depending on the needs of the communities and the organisations working on the ground (and depending on how much grounded they are) should be number one priority for funders interested in making development work. New technologies should be combined intelligently with other "old" technologies, such as telephony, television, radio, printed materials, conversation, dance..., creation of indigenous content etc...as well as with thorough research on what organisations and communities (all levels: from government to rural villages or youth gangs) agree are their needs." [Colombia]
"Priority should be given to health development and education because you can not introduce technologies to people who suffer big health problems and are lacking education that lead them to reason and look further in life for technologies. In Egypt, we are suffering from semi educated who are not willing to move further in their knowledge. this is to say that priority should be given to basic education and its efficient practical systems rather than counting on filling the mind with tons of useless information ignoring the quality of knowledge recieved." [ ]
"I disagree if it means making a trade-off between communication technologies and other types of technologies that are badly needed (and which are not necessarily given the same attention as communication technologies) to support development on the ground. These technological choices have to be made with respect to the specific circumstances that prevail on the ground." [ ]
"What is required is a close coordination between those who work on ground and the new ICT operators. If there is no coordination between the two, the funding alone will not serve the cause." [India]
"Technology driven development is a danger because the human needs are put on the back burner, what is required is to work in acocrdance with the proprities of a community - rather than fall for technologically determined development initiatives - which may reflect the needs of agencies rather than the people they claim to be serving - first what are the human needs for development? second - what are the tools to meet these needs? technology is just a tool sometimes old technology is better suited to the development needs of communities???" [Namibia]
"New technology is not the answer to most of the problems faced by the world. While understanding the need for new technology, I support appropriate communication technology which will address the development issue rather than the "new" technology, which may not be capable of addressing most of the development issues in the developing world." [Sri Lanka]
"I would agree if new technologies mean training in behavioural change communications management, although this is, in effect, not a new technology but one not widely practiced well." [USA]
"First of all, the questions is not formulated logically, hence cannot be clearly answered.Second, communicaition is a subsidiary function, or a derivative, dependent on the larger objectives/purposes." [Puerto Rico]
"As opposed to, for instance, policy? Not sure I agree with that, but I do agree that strengthening local capacity, and supporting local initiatives, is always the best approach." [ ]
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